With competition for donors and charitable dollars at an all-time high, and the economy still keeping many donors on the sidelines, it’s more important than ever to focus on getting things right.
These 63 fatal fundraising mistakes can have significant negative impacts on your fundraising results (both short and long-term).
If you’re like me, you’ll probably find a half dozen (or more) that sound very familiar. The good news is that once you identify the potential mistakes you can figure out how to avoid them (or how to recover if by chance you’ve already made a mistake or two).
- Not having a strategic plan
- Focusing too much on the process and not enough on the outcomes
- Assuming that your organization deserves support from anyone
- Not maintaining up-to-date policies and procedures manuals
- Refusing to integrate fundraising channels
- Not having a development plan
- Assuming cheap = good
- Thinking your desk is where you belong all day
- Assuming expensive = good
- Not being serious about your website and digital fundraising strategy
- Not measuring results
- Overlooking volunteers and GIK donors
- Believing it’s about you
- Assuming you know what your donors think or want
- Not measuring the right results
- Asking the wrong people
- Expecting your board members to know what to do without any formal training or support
- Asking for too little
- Allowing any one revenue line to provide more than 40% of your total revenue
- Not capturing the right data
- Asking for too much
- Not paying attention to planned giving opportunities
- Assuming your brand is critical to your fundraising results
- Using generic ask amounts
- Refusing to use a fundraising tactic because you don’t personally like it
- Not talking to your donors frequently enough
- Asking your board to do the wrong things
- Loading major gift officers up with non-revenue producing responsibilities
- Thinking you’ve got all the answers
- Having a poorly developed case for support (or none at all)
- Not investing in staff development
- Asking at the wrong time
- Not using personalization in your direct mail, e-mail and newsletters
- Believing your job is all about money
- Assuming donors don’t cross channels
- Writing internally-focused newsletters and appeal letters
- Not establishing term limits for your board
- Investing too little in donor acquisition
- Not investing in donor acquisition at all
- Rushing an ask
- Taking major donors out of your communication stream
- Having a poorly designed online donation page
- Not strategically engaging your board
- Focusing more on your creative than your audience or offer
- Not allowing your staff to learn by making mistakes
- Shifting your direct mail budget entirely to digital or social media
- Assuming social media can raise significant revenue for your organization
- Not maintaining strict integrity of your database
- Using generic thank you letter copy
- Making decisions based on how you feel instead of following the results
- Not segmenting
- Using facts and figures instead of emotion and stories to sell your mission
- Not clearly articulating board roles, responsibilities and expectations during the interview process
- Believing donors exist to support your organization
- Protecting your clients by refusing to tell their stories to the public
- Assuming your job is to educate donors about all you do
- Not returning donor calls and e-mails in a timely manner
- Disregarding a donor’s request or intentions
- Thinking it’s ok to get a thank you letter out 5-7 days after you receive a gift
- Not celebrating your staff’s wins
- Never seeking outside counsel
- Relying too heavily on special events
- Not holding staff responsible for their actions, attitudes and results
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