The balancing act
Short term targets vs longer term capacity
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The balancing act
Short term targets vs longer term capacity
by Caroline Danks
Picture description: a set of very delicate gold scales sat on some colourful wooden panels
Q: “How can I make the case for investing in my toolkit? My pipeline has very few good prospects in it and our CRM has been used inconsistently.
I’m quite new to my organisation and have a big fundraising target. I really need to spend some time getting the basics together, but there’s a lot of pressure and I’m often being asked ‘how many applications I’ve sent out’ so it’s hard to make the case to spend time on activities which will benefit us longer term”.
Not investing in your fundraising toolkit is the equivalent of trying to mow your lawn with a pair of scissors.
It’s like trying to be a successful influencer on Instagram with an iPhone2.
It’s like trying to cook Michelin starred dishes on a camping stove.
You get the gist.
It can be done. It’s possible (apart from the influencer one).
But it’s also completely bonkers when by simply investing a little bit of time and money in the things you need to do your job well, the quality of the outcome will be exponentially increased.
With many charities now under extreme pressure to raise a lot of money very quickly, the investment in time needed to get your basic tools up to scratch feels for many, like a luxury they can’t afford.
Here are some ideas for those of you trying to balance short and long term priorities:
Nail down your objectives
Non-financial KPI’s are sensible for fundraisers because ultimately, financial success is out of our hands. I believe that if you do if you do enough of the right things, the money will likely come.
Decide with your line manager your objectives for the year. Make sure they include the numbers of:
Proposals sent
Expressions of interest sent
Phone conversations
Reports / stewardship activities completed
With objectives that you both agree on, the potential for unrealistic demands or expectations about the number of proposals you’re sending is reduced.
Alongside the objective setting, make sure your target is sensible. Here’s a quick guide to setting a realistic, evidence based fundraising target.
Explain the benefits of investing in your toolkit
Think about why you want to spend some time getting the basics right.
What is it you’re currently missing?
What day to day systems and processes are not as efficient as they could be?
Write them down. I’ve helped you make a start, for example:
“Without regular research, it will be hard to predict where future income comes from.”
“It’s important to me that our targets are reflective of the actual opportunities out there so our colleagues can plan their work better and so that long term, we don’t let our beneficiaries down.”
“A solid case for support / template application will make it much easier and quicker for me to prepare applications. If I work on it this month and send out fewer applications, I can increase my output by X for subsequent months.”
A poorly kept CRM is an organisational risk, especially as we grow our pool of supporters. It’s better to get our house in order earlier rather than later.
“If people use the database in different ways it makes it difficult to induct new staff. Inconsistent record keeping makes it impossible to pull accurate reports which means it will be harder to accurately report back to donors meaning we might miss out on future donations.”
Then propose that these activities are added to your objectives:
Case for support written, tested and reviewed.
Standard Operating Procedures for database use created and shared
20 new trusts researched each month.
Accept that you’ll need to compromise
Realistically, given the tough financial climate in which we’re all operating, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to drop your fundraising work in its entirety for a month or so whilst you perfect your case for support or painstakingly right all previous database wrongs.
There may need to be a compromise between getting your house in order and continuing to actively raise money.
You can do both, just not at the pace you’d like.
But this is ok, because no-one can spend every single hour of every single day writing epic funding proposals.
Writing is exhausting work and needs to be broken up with other tasks.
Make a plan and break it down
Make a plan for the improvements you’d like to see.
Start with a big vision and then break it down into smaller tasks which can be completed over a period of time which enables progress but doesn’t leave you completely hanging and reaching for the gin by Friday afternoons. For example:
‘Rewrite organisational case for support’ becomes…
Gather up to date information from annual report / impact report / recent funding proposals
Read some other cases for support and decide on your headings / structure
Look at the funding application processes of some of those you’d like to apply to and incorporate their questions into your template
Decide which projects you’d like to create ‘inserts’ for
Start to write individual sections
Create a hierarchy of messages and values – challenge existing wording if appropriate (and by ‘appropriate’ I mean, if you think it’s a bit woolly / generic / saccharine and needs focus, honesty and specificity).
Decide which sections are most lacking in up to date information
Interview staff to help with missing information
Gather case studies, quotes and photos
Choose colleagues to redraft / edit
Ask select donors to give feedback
Once you have a plan, share it with your boss, get their agreement.
Add these tasks to your objectives over an acheivable timescale.
Chip away
Once you’ve got the go ahead, find ways to work chunks of time into your diary dedicated to chipping away at getting your toolkit to where you’d like it to be.
Put recurring time slots in your diary to help you commit to progress.
A standing diary appointment for research and pipeline development on a Thursday morning?
Every Monday spent focusing on your case for support?
Try to do these tasks away from the office. Distractions will ruin you.
Protect this time firecely.
But don’t forget to first build in focused time for connecting with trusts and writing proposals.
If your output is consistent and regular then no-one can complain about the additional ways in which you’re spending your time (especially if the plan is pre-agreed and your objectives are clear).
Draw a line
For anyone dealing with the combination of a messy CRM and no time to fix it, you might be best drawing a line under the past and starting afresh with a very simple set of data entry rules which all users agree to stick to ‘from now on’.
It can be hard to witness past database sins every time you open the app, but the more your new system beds in, the more useful it will become.
Keep data entry principles simple at first, focusing on the most common entries such as names, addresses, email addresses, gift information, actions / communications (proposals, phone calls, emails), connections.
And finally…remember that your role as ‘trust fundraiser’ does not make you 100% responsible for the financial health or sustainability of the charity you work for.
You have a right to a basic set of tools which allow you to do your job effectively.
Even if resources are stretched and budgets are a challenge, you cannot be expected to adhere to unrealistic expectations because those in charge would like the world to be different.
You can only do what you can do.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk!
I hope this helped and that it made you feel less alone in the proverbial juggle that is ‘being a fundraiser’.
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Emergency appeals (raising a lot of money, very quickly)
Ultimate fundraiser productivity guide
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