Jason Lewis has struck a deep nerve in our industry with The War For Fundraising Talent. The book challenges conventional wisdom, and is a critical read for boards and nonprofit leaders.
If you don’t have a copy of this bestselling critique of the state of nonprofit talent development and fundraising in our country you need to get one now.
Jason’s basic premise is that nonprofit organizations — especially small shops (though the big ones are guilty too)– have become overly reliant on “arms length” fundraising tactics like special events, online charity competitions, cheap direct mail, and online giving days. The result is that, largely, nonprofits have accumulated thousands (or tens of thousands) of individual donor records, yet very few have deep relationships with those donors.
Jason argues that this “addiction” to cheap fundraising tactics perpetuates our industry’s inability to retain top major gift fundraising talent because many organizations aren’t structured and resourced to support that talent — simply because the majority of focus and investment is on low value, low impact, “cheap” fundraising tactics.
As someone who built my career primarily in direct response fundraising, I am conflicted. On some level I feel like I should object to Jason’s assertions simply out of self preservation. But here’s the thing…He’s 100% correct.
Many nonprofits (maybe most — I’m not entirely sure) are much more comfortable spending tens of thousands of dollars on more direct mail, more golf tournaments and galas, and other activities that keep them from having to do the hard and emotionally vulnerable work of building deep relationships with their donors.
Often when I meet with nonprofit leaders to assess their fundraising programs, we get to the point in our conversation where I say something like, “You’re spending a ton in new donor acquisition. But you have several thousand donors who are likely to upgrade to major donors if you engage them better. How’bout you shift 15% of your acquisition budget over to major gifts to hire another development officer?” And almost every time I’m met with a blank stare. It’s like I’m speaking a different language. Often this recommendation gets ignored simply because it is easier to keep turning up the investment in donor acquisition than it is to create real structural change that is required to be successful in major gift fundraising.
I’m not suggesting that organizations should cut these other fundraising programs completely (though I think Jason might be closer to this) and only focus on developing major gift relationships. However, most organizations should reduce the amount of time, money, and staff they allocate to other fundraising initiatives and shift more of each into major donor relationship development. Without robust major gift programs (and the talent required to deliver them), organizations will only be able to limp along in their work, unable to truly achieve their mission goals.
If you’re a nonprofit leader who is tired of investing so much in arms length fundraising tactics and feeling like no matter how much you spend you never have enough net income to advance your mission, you need to start thinking differently. And start acting differently. Get a copy of The War For Fundraising Talent today, and you’ll have a road map that can take you successfully into the future.
Cheers!
Andrew
I do not have an affiliate relationship with Jason Lewis or Amazon. I received no compensation for promoting this book — I simply think it’s a valuable contribution to our sector, and I want you to know about it.