Hello Fundraising Directors

This is your 2021 fundraising strategy calling, just thought I would have a word before we get going.

I heard my predecessor the "2020 fundraising strategy" got a huge kicking.  And frankly, was not looking too hot during our handover Zoom even on “enhanced mode”…..

So, I was wondering is there a “silver lining” you and I can pull out of 2020? 

If this pandemic has torn through everything, can we just pick up the good stuff and leave anything that no longer serves fundraising (behind a locked door) in the past?

I’m no Tory (just a fictional talking strategy) – but can we build back better too?

I made a list:

• Please can I be more than just a target to hand out to individual fundraisers to reach in any way they can. 
• Please can I be a realistic plan. We both know the more realistic I am the more faith the fundraisers will have in bringing me to life. I want to be a motivator and guide - not a financial burden.
• Rather than an automatic focus on growing the income year on year, can we put as much emphasis on building a longer financial runway year on year. The more time you can give your fundraisers to find and convert prospects into donors the better quality, value and loyalty of the donor.  Can we recognise the hand to mouth existence is fuelled by an inadequate turn-around time. 
• Can we start to look at a healthy mix of high value fundraising and scalability. Or at least recognise as the value of the donation goes down the scalability can go up, or as the value  goes up the scalability will go down. But to expect low value to be bespoke or high value to be scalable - just scales unrealistic expectations externally and internally.
• Can we stop waiting for ships to come in when no one had a chance to send any out. We all know your network is your net worth. So, can we please help your non-fundraising colleagues understand proactively building up connectivity to networks, is time well spent. Fundraising needs to reap what it sows, but if it isn’t given time and space to cultivate, that just sustains the risky hand to mouth existence. 
• Can we ditch the hunter-gatherer thinking. Let’s, move to modern day farming of growing and tendering very large crops. Even the smallest of charities can now scale their connectivity to a targeted audience with the right strategy.
• Can we agree the goal of fundraising is not to save money but to make it. The low investment in fundraising is a high price to pay if you need money to move your mission.
• Fast, cheap or good fundraising. Pick two, everyone under the sun can only have two. 
• If we want the case of support to sell can we make sure we are good at creating it.
• A flawed case of support shows up everywhere. On the website, on social, in proposals, out of mouths. Can we agree all donor communications delivers value for the reader/listener and never just facts about the charity.
• The highest form of value in the donors’ eyes is the result they want. Can we make sure we know what that is, so we can show how we meet their needs – and not be the needy new friend that makes them want to run a mile.
• As a strategy, I may give birth to a new fundraising idea or income stream. If I do it will be “our newborn” can we treat it as such. If another charity has been running the same thing for the last 5 years, please can we not compare our newborn to their 5 year old. Newborns are newborns older children are older children and should not be compared.

The pandemic has created an opportunity to break from the past and re-imagine the future in many ways. As your next fundraising strategy, we have a chance to jump off from a completely new starting line, I hope this short list helps. 

Here’s to your success.