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By Covita Moroney, CFRE and Joyce Penland, CFRE
With nearly 59 years between us as development officers, we had a conversation recently about what 20/20 hindsight has afforded us as we look at our efforts to connect with donors, board members, and other significant investors in the organizations we have served. We hope this conversation encourages development officers, particularly those new to the profession or new to a position, to “make the most important thing the most important thing” and that’s building relationships with donors.
Covita:
As a development director I always found it a challenge to make sufficient time for donors, and I never really solved the problem. I went into positions where the department was either nonexistent and had to be built, or so dysfunctional that I had to build a team and/or system. In hindsight, I would let the chaos “be” and spend the time with the board and donors.
Joyce
I agree. The internal issues work themselves out, but you can never replace the time you spend with your donors or members of the board. In one position, I didn’t take my own advice and regret the time spent on things that ended up being inconsequential. That’s not to say you ignore a staffing issue or blow off the annual fundraiser but staying focused on donor visits is essential. The challenge for all of us is how to make it happen.
Covita
And the number one reason someone hasn’t donated to our organization is we never asked them! It’s an irrefutable fact that if you don’t ask, they won’t support your cause. I know of a donor who said recently about a nonprofit, ‘If I don’t hear from them, I guess that means they don’t need my help.’ There’s no way that a person will give unless we ask them, no matter how much money they have. I have a friend in the one percent rank, and when philanthropy comes up, I’m aware of how thoughtful and careful she is about her philanthropic decisions. She has great admiration for the development people she hears from…but there’s no way she would call a random nonprofit and say, ‘Don’t you want some money?’
Joyce
It’s also a challenge in smaller shops when executive directors and boards hobble development officers by placing too many demands on them…and that keeps them from making visits. Development staff members are often the nonprofit’s “concierge” figures, doing all manner of hosting, touring, etc. Too often development directors also have to handle public relations and marketing efforts. They’re expected to craft the newsletter, write for the ED, promote the nonprofit in the community, keep the board minutes, plan and execute the special events…and, oh by the way, make visits to donors. That’s a lot of hats to wear.
Covita
There are two ways we make it worse for ourselves. The development director often puts demands on himself/herself and we have that dilemma because we are overachievers, we have a high level of self confidence and we have a psychology that makes us believe we can raise lots of money. We go into the job with the knowledge of what to do, but on top of that you’ve got your own self expectations. Then we are rudely awakened when we also have to manage a staff. But do we ever talk about that? HR management is HUGE, along with marketing, etc. and grant writers who miss deadlines and you have to mentor and coach them. The second dilemma is when you discover the department isn’t functioning well and you have to get systems running well. I always said, “I’ve got to get my rain buckets placed so when it starts to rain, I’m ready!” For me, that translated into having my staff go through 30 hours of software training. But looking back, ‘Did we ever spend 30 hours scheduling donor visits?’ You really have to understand gaps of staff knowledge and correct them. That’s a literal example of my own experience.
Joyce
I recently read on the AFP website that the average American donor receives nearly 18 messages — eight mailings and 10 emails — from nonprofits in a typical week, based on a study of the Grey Matter Research team in a series of reports forThe Donor Mindset Study. These messages didn’t include social media, texts, advertising or other forms of communication. This bombardment of messages to our donors and prospects must feel overwhelming. So we need to ask ourselves, ‘What separates us from other nonprofits?’ and we need to make our messages very personal. More importantly, we have to get out from behind our desks and go see our donors.
Covita
This is where we acknowledge the beauty of making a phone call and finding time with donors can be FUN. You find something you know will resonate with the donor and that’s a guaranteed way to break through all the other messages…because YOU’RE the one who calls them. You say, ‘I know you’re in love with this program…and we finally got funding for the new XYZ–fill in the blank.’ It’s our jobs to know who we need to engage with and get to know. As a new hire, especially, you can call and say ‘I’m the new development director and I‘d like to get to know you.’ So how do we replicate that newness, that enthusiasm and curiosity on both sides of the coin, for board members and us the fundraisers?
Joyce
I think it comes down to carving out the time and not letting anything else take precedence, putting our donors and prospects first, turning off our cell phones, listening to them, and allowing them to tell us why they support our organizations. Some nonprofits definitely do this right. Stewarding donors well is in their DNA. Yet we continue to hear from donors about agencies that don’t spend time with them but still expect them to write a check each year.
Covita
I heard about an organization where the development director was never around and the board and staff grew very upset because she was never in the office. A year went by and suddenly all these huge gifts came in and they wondered why? It was because she was out there spending time getting donors to renew their gifts. In an ideal world it’s a balancing act between managing staff and programs and seeing donors. Because I can control the responsibilities in the office…the newsletter, for example…I can schedule the time. But it’s hard to control the interaction with donors. It may take 2-3 phone calls to get on their calendar. So, in a way, we feel a sense of accomplishment when we do the administrative tasks. But we have to try to achieve balance. And with all those competing messages from other nonprofits we have to break through that by making our personal contacts really personal. Call or email them to go for coffee, attend a rehearsal, or invite them for a tour…make up an opportunity if you have to!
Have a tip on how you’ve been successful balancing donor visits with other responsibilities? We’d like to hear from you! Email us at cmoroney@leeplusassociates.com or jpenland@leeplusassociates.com