My Letter for Your Board: Key Points About Fundraising and Fundraisers

I started as a fundraiser in the 1980s. Back then I had a full head of hair and wore beads. Yes, yes I can hear the jokes now and see the laughing emojis.

From those days till right now I love fundraising. It’s the power of people to do great good. It’s the power to turn money, which can have many bad uses into good. Growing up in the 1960s and 1970s in East LA as a young Chicano I saw a lot of injustice. I have lived with injustice and inequality. I have had racism tossed right in my face. I have had guns pointed at me.

This changes a person. I decided when I was young that I would change the world. That my child would know less of what I knew. Our industry, nonprofit fundraising, is full of people like me. All we want to do is make a difference. Like many, I stumbled into fundraising.

I introduce myself because I want you to know us as a profession. I am not special, I am typical. We are people who literally have a calling, to change and improve the world. So firstly, honor the work and the people who do it.

Over the last 36 years, several key points about fundraising are now easier to see in hindsight. Themes that do not go away. So, I thought I would share those themes. But my audience today is your Board of Directors. Share this with them. I hope it might advance helping them to understand some of the basic points of fundraising. If I could get every nonprofit Board Member in a big stadium and talk to them this is what I would tell them.

Fundraising is Beautiful

It is. When you see people find their strength and give, find their resolve and give deeply of themselves. It’s beautiful. When you see communities rally and solve a problem and create new hope it’s beautiful. When a young person receives a full-ride scholarship because a fundraiser worked for years to create it, that’s beautiful. Fundraisers work behind the scenes. Commonly silent, commonly unrecognized. There will be no stamps or action figures of us. There are a whole host of people who are happy to take bows for our work.

There is so much negative sentiment and sarcastic comments about fundraising and fundraisers. When people ask what I do, I proudly say “I am a fundraiser”. I rarely hear “oh that’s wonderful”. Most people don’t understand what I am talking about, but about a third of the time I will hear “Oh I couldn’t do that!”, “Oh, you twist arms!” and other negative and sarcastic perceptions. It's always striking to me how a profession that does so much good, such a high calling gets so little respect.

Understand that Fundraising is the lifeblood of any nonprofit. Understand that it is job #1. It's not overhead, it's not a waste, it’s a profession, a trained professional. It takes experience and it takes courage. If you have a good fundraiser, treat them well, and pay them well. Respect us and our profession. Join us and learn to love fundraising.

Fundraising is Commonly Misunderstood

Indeed, our profession is not respected or understood. I know people want to tell me this has changed but I haven’t seen it. ?This is a chronic and historic problem I have seen for decades. One of the worst things we can hear a Board Member say is “I know fundraising”. It’s important to know what you don’t know. If I said, “I know corporate tax law” and I wasn’t a corporate tax lawyer, or I know Pediatric Dentistry and I wasn’t a Dentist people would roll their eyes and even laugh. But I can think of tons of people who feel like our work is easy and simple and anyone can do it.

Fundraisers in the US have an average 14-month tenure. Concurrently we are seeing a decline in individual giving in the US. I think the two are related. The top reason fundraisers leave is “unrealistic expectations”. So, the question is: How do you set realistic expectations?

Support your fundraisers by paying them well for the local market, providing them with professional development and learning opportunities, and going along with them on donor or prospect visits. The best way you can understand fundraising is to be part of it. Meet donors, meet new cold prospects. You will learn that fundraising is all about building relationships. This work takes time, and it’s fraught with risk and even failure. I have had awesome Board Members, successful and intelligent people, who opened themselves up to learn with me. That’s a recipe to raise a lot of money.

Fundraising Is Especially Important for People of Color

Fundraising and giving are both inherently empowering. This is especially important for fundraisers and donors of color. Many people of color are raised in environments that disempower them. We hear it from the outside world and amongst our own people too. When people of color are able to master fundraising, and bring in powerful new revenue to advance their nonprofits, it changes people. It embeds a spirit of the possible and of growth.

So, when supporting your fundraisers and your donors always look at your whole community through a lens of equity and justice. Does your nonprofit look like your community? And when I say your nonprofit I mean Staff, Board, Senior Staff, Donors, and Major Donors. Most nonprofits don’t have this healthy diversity. So, you get a double bang for your buck when your raise money for and with people of color. Money, and budget but also you change the power dynamic for staff and donors.

It's not all about the fundraiser

We always have to ask the question. What are we raising money for? Does the organization have great name recognition? Does it have controversy or negative PR? Is the mission understandable? Is there a great deal of competition in this area? How well your fundraising is going isn’t always about the fundraiser. It could be a larger indication of your organizational health. The health and results of your organization matter. What your selling matters.

Great Fundraising Isn’t All about Goals, It’s About Learning

Over these years I have learned that great fundraising is well-structured learning. Now a lot of Board Members will not want to hear that their Development Officer is “learning” on the job. But all of us are, even veteran old guys like me learn into each new job. Yes, we all want to raise lots of money, but growth fundraising, and expanding revenue is always about doing something new and innovative. And innovation requires learning and making mistakes.

I want to urge Board Members to really challenge prevailing attitudes about fundraising and have meaningful and deep discussions about the future of your organization and what fundraising you will need to get there. People treat fundraising like it’s something distasteful and to be avoided. Why? It all starts with changing attitudes about fundraising. I hope this little letter has been helpful! Good Luck.