I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts by Ramit Sethi the other day and there was a statement made that struck me.

That statement?

Most people (even if they are failing) are more comfortable with choosing the same thing over and over again as opposed to trying something new.

My answer? I agreed with it.

I was chatting with a visionary leader the other day and she made a comment that saddened me. “When I present a simple opportunity or new idea to my board or even my development team, I feel like I have to fight to convince them that we can do it.”

Sound familiar?

The next time you present an idea that was unbudgeted or a new opportunity that requires an investment and you’re met with resistance from your team, you’ve got to look what’s really behind that!

Recently I was being interviewed by a Board of Directors and they asked what I meant by a phrase I use fairly often.

That phrase?

The business behind fundraising.

It's even the name of my podcast. Well, here's what I mean . . .

The other day I saw a post that read something like “A fancy pitch deck doesn't get major donors to give more money.”

Do I agree with that statement?

Ummm…only, somewhat.

Here’s why:

In the nonprofit world, so many fundraisers kinda found themselves in fundraising. You know, they came up through the program side, moved over from corporate, or were really good at writing grants and found themselves leading the department. That’s cool and frankly one of the most favorite parts of my job.

I find that fundraisers need something in hand to help them lead donors to the best gift.

Have you ever heard, "Donors only want to fund projects."

Actually, that’s not true.

Sure, are there some donors who will only fund projects. But it’s a small percentage of donors.

Nonprofit CEOs - If you’ve heard your fundraising team say this repeatedly, you might have a problem. Why? Because they have way more control over this than they think.

There’s a pretty famous quote, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” I’d like to add to that by saying that a plan is just a plan until there’s action.

When it comes to growing (thus, funding) your nonprofit, that action also needs to be really well-defined. In my recent discussion with Katie Appold, on the Nonprofit Hub’s podcast, “Good to Growth,” we delved into why nonprofit organizations—even the most ambitious ones—aren’t able to fund what is in their strategic plans.

When it comes to scaling revenue, one culprit is rooted in nonaction, or misguided action. Too often, the nonprofit’s leaders, team members, and board aren’t fully (or effectively) communicating the true financial need of the organization to its donors. The invitation to shift and stop focusing on the same old transactional activities you’ve done in the past is now.

One of my favorite client's uses a sports metaphor for everything! I've learned so much about sports I knew nothing about! Thankfully he's learned lots from me too as he's added 7-figures of gen-ops revenue to his bottom line.

So, today, I'll ask you . . .

Is your nonprofit playing defense or offense with your money?

Recently I was sitting in an interview with a candidate for a potential leadership position within a nonprofit. This is a longtime client that's growing by leaps and bounds. And they'd identified a super sharp individual who’s coming out of corporate as a potential candidate.

And although the majority of the job description isn't fundraising, there will be some donor interface. The topic of fundraising came up twice . . .

First comment: “I don’t want to stand on a corner and beg for money.”

And…

Second comment: “I hate begging companies for gift cards. I had to do that for my kids' school.”

You know, people wouldn’t hate fundraising if they actually understood what it REALLY is.

If your development team kinda raises the same amount of money every year and you rarely have enough unrestricted cash to build your reserve, you don’t need more fundraising activities.

Really - no new grant, appeal, event, board member, or even shout-out from Oprah.

What do you need?

You need more gas in the engine.

You need to know you’re spending enough money. Enough money that generates the dollars you need to even think about fulfilling your strategic plan.

In one word, OVERHEAD.

Picture this . . .

MacKenzie Scott just gave you $10M. Your leadership team gathers to discuss where the funds can be used for maximum impact. . .

Will you start new programs? Maybe.
Invest in technology to deliver current programs faster and further? Probably.
Replicate your local model through the region? Pretty cool.


If it were me? I’d advocate for a hefty overhead allocation.

Why?

Because steady and growing investments into both administrative and fundraising are likely the two areas that have trailed behind for too long. Sometimes, decades.

What do 81% of major donors have in common?

It takes 6-24 months from prospect identification to gift close.

Yes, process that for a moment.

Imagine that the donor you met yesterday may not give until next Fiscal Year.

Right. Kinda feels like a sock in the gut.

So, what to do?

PIPELINE.
PIPELINE.
PIPELINE.

Today’s pipeline means YOU REACHING your revenue goals in two years.

There’s no quick fix.

Are your fundraising staff or board members hiding from your donors? To answer why it’s important to ask that question you’d have to ask my client, Emma whose $100 donor just gave $50,000.

Yep, you read that right.

That's a 500X gift size.

Back to this concept of hiding. There are lots of reasons we hide…here are examples:

🗨️ “First I’ve got to get my [insert: database, major donor pitch deck, annual appeal, leave-behinds or board] ready and THEN, I can go talk to that donor.”

🗨️ “What would I even say to them? What’s my reason for reaching out?”

🗨️”I don’t have time to go meet everyone in person, so let’s just send an email or letter.”

🗨️ “I hope they don’t ask me about the budget or percentages.”

🗨️ “Yes, we solicit our donors. We make asks at events.”