“I don’t beg for money. That’s why I hired a Vice President of Development.” – Anonymous Nonprofit CEO
On assignment several years ago I was working with a demanding nonprofit CEO. Prior to taking the leadership role at this organization, he spent 20+ years in corporate sales and operational leadership at a major manufacturing company in the Midwest. The board of this organization recruited him specifically because they were looking for someone who could turn around what they felt was an organization teetering on the edge of failure.
As the CEO and I discussed the organization’s challenges we started to explore the idea that they lacked a culture of philanthropy. This nonprofit had a Vice President of Development and a staff of four fundraisers. Beyond that, no one in the organization (from the bottom to the top of the org chart) had anything to do with the organization’s philanthropic efforts.
Attempting to explain to this CEO how critical it is for him to set and celebrate a culture of philanthropy — and how that requires his participation in the philanthropic process, he cut me off cold. Mid-sentence. He interrupted me, saying, “Let me be clear with you, Andrew. I’ll never be heavily involved in fundraising. I don’t beg for money. That’s why I hired a Vice President of development. That’s her job and her team’s job. The rest of us have real work to do.”
Ouch.
That’s not what I’d call a celebration of philanthropic culture. Would you?
I was stunned by this CEO’s utter lack of understanding of his role in the organization’s financial and operational success. After all, if they aren’t raising the money they won’t have much of a need for all the people doing “the real work.” Unfortunately, too many nonprofit leaders and board members share similar opinions. And it’s directly (and negatively) impacting their organization’s revenue, culture, staff turnover (and recruitment). And it ultimately limits their mission impact.
In Dickerson Bakker & Associates’ 2021 landmark research, HELP WANTED: A National Study of Staffing Challenges in Nonprofit Fundraising, the DBA team found several key connections between nonprofit CEO’s and their organizational fundraising impact, including:
- Only 12% of survey respondents (nonprofit fundraisers) reported that their boards and executive leadership were involved in organizational fundraising efforts
- Organizations that were rated as “development friendly” had a greater likelihood of experiencing moderate or large increases in fundraising results over the last 2 to 3 years
- CEO engagement in fundraising is critical to organizational success. In fact, the more a CEO enjoys and is involved in fundraising, the greater the likelihood that his or her organization achieved increases in fundraising results in recent years.
[Check out my podcast interview with Derric Bakker on this topic!]
CEO’s, Executive Directors, and Board Members must be their organization’s chief fundraisers. That’s not to say they need to be the person making the ask in every case. In fact, sometimes that’s a bad idea. However, these senior leaders need to do just that. They need to lead the team, lead all major fundraising initiatives, and make it a priority to engage with individual, corporate, and institutional funders. This means being heavily involved in major gift activities, including being in the room to share the organization’s mission and vision for the future, and to convey their deep (and hopefully sincere) appreciation for each of your key partners and funders.
Here are three other ways that all nonprofit staff need to be involved in your philanthropic efforts, and why they’re essential to the success of your fundraising efforts:
- Share: Every employee and volunteer in your organization has the ability to share the stories of impact from your nonprofit and promote the great work donors are making possible with their networks, friends, family, and others they reach daily.
- Attend: Staff and volunteer leaders should regularly attend the events hosted by and for your organization. One surprising thing I often see is that many nonprofits charge their employees to attend these events (and work at them!). This is just dumb. If you currently do that, stop it. If you don’t, don’t start. Having these advocates in the room will improve the collaboration and engagement with your current and potential supporters.
- Connect: Not every person working for your organization will be comfortable asking for money. That’s ok. But connecting you with others who might want to support your critical work is essential.