STUCK ON START

More than 90% of all nonprofits have operating budgets of under $1M.  More than 70% have operating budgets of under $50K.  Is it any mystery why most nonprofits can’t get ready, get set, and go?

Too often, when I work with clients who want to expand their fundraising, diversify their funding streams, and simply raise more money, I find myself frustrated that, after months of working together on a plan, they never seem to be able to get the plan started.  Or, as I try to do, we start the work, they don’t seem to be able to get off the mark and continue what we began.

Often, the development director I worked with, left.   Not surprising.  Development directors tend to last 18 months before they move elsewhere.  One way to ensure this doesn’t leave your organization high and dry is to build in redundancies.  Have more than one person in the development office, and make sure that the second in command is actually kept in the loop of everything that is being done. 
Another important piece is a robust fund development board committee.  Not all members of this committee need to be board members—just the chair.  The rest can be volunteers from the community who care passionately about the work you do and aren’t afraid of the F word!  They don’t all have to ask for funds.  But they can all be ambassadors, making friends, identifying possible donors, bringing them closer to the organization, and then thanking them, ensuring they know how important their generosity was, and keeping them close once they’ve made a gift.

But most of all, there has to be a commitment on the part of every person at the organization—particularly the CEO—that fund development is important; it must sit at the table equally with programs and administration.  And that working the fund development plan is a critical piece of making the organization one that can and will th