Consistency for What?
A Better Night’s Sleep, for Starters
Fundraising experts love to talk about consistency. The Chronicle of Philanthropy and others spent the last two months extolling the virtues of staying connected to donors all year long.
Of course, you already know you need to complete the Virtuous Cycle of Fundraising at least three times a year. That is …
Asking donors to give, usually with a high-return donation letter or integrated direct mail-digital campaign
Thanking donors for their gifts with a handwritten note or email, depending on gift size and resources
Reporting the clear impact of donor gifts back to them in a newsletter or annual report
Ask. Thank. Report. Repeat.
In other words, eat your oatmeal.
So why don’t more nonprofits follow this formula? Why do so many organizations “go dark” with their donor base in the first half of the year?
Or, where the real grief lies …
Why does the average nonprofit lose over 56 percent of its hard-won donors each year?
Theory #1 – Humans prefer intensity over consistency
Nonprofits are made up of humans. And as a flawed species, we prefer intensity over consistency.
Author Simon Sinek has a great video on this idea. He says that humans love doing intense things that are fixed in time and easily measured.
Some nonprofit examples of intensity include:
Online asks (a.k.a. 12% of total giving)
Chasing celebrities (Yes, our board made us call Oprah, too.)
On the other hand, it’s often hard to see the value of all the little routine things that are critical to retaining and upgrading donors over time. Things like:
Maintaining a clean donor database
Learning who your donors really are
Banking stories that match donor values
But over the course of 12-18 months, those little things fuel consistent donor touches that capture the heart of your donor.
And that doesn’t just strengthen your fundraising operations. It creates reliable revenue so you can achieve your mission.
Theory #2 – “We’re too busy to fundraise”
The corporate world’s addiction to busyness has infected Nonprofit Land. And it’s not healthy. One recent study suggests that as much as 30% of nonprofit employees may be burned out, and another 20% are in danger of it.
When you’re busy, you enter a state called “tunneling.” In this state, a person can focus only on the most immediate and often low-value tasks right in front of them.
And we lose about 13 IQ points in this state.
Yes, nonprofit folks are busy because they ARE often understaffed.
But it’s equally true to say that they’re overtasked. Because they care about their missions, they don’t say “NO” nearly enough.
Joan Garry has some marvelous examples of when “no” is the right response.
If you need more staff – unrestricted, ongoing funding – it only makes sense to invest in and grow your relationships with individual donors instead of going dark.
Because grants and corporate giving just aren’t as big or reliable as that 65-year-old average donor who writes you a check.
Theory #3 – You like consistency, but your nonprofit doesn’t
This one’s tough, because it speaks to changing the culture at your organization. And by insisting on consistency (say that 5X fast), you can be labeled the square, the negative one, or as some kid in the neighborhood recently wrote madly on the sidewalk:
Don’t be a party pooper. Instead, model consistency for others with your actions rather than verbally insist on it.
You can do that with consistent action in three areas: strategy, measurement, and communication.
Document your strategy
More nonprofits than in the past are creating written strategic plans. But sadly, a recent study suggests that the process used for planning often falls woefully short.
Most of us have been at nonprofits that at some point in time didn’t have data-informed fundraising plans. Or even real, numeric goals!
However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t document SMART goals within the sphere you control. Two frameworks that we’ve found useful are OKRs and OGSMs.
That’ll keep your team moving forward, and give you a ready and non-snarky response to the latest idea du jour: “A raffle, you say? What ROI do you project and what data-informed project do we need to drop to free up resources for that?”
Create a measurement dashboard
Boards and executives love a well-crafted dashboard of fundraising metrics. And as realist optimists, we believe most leaders will jump in and help you with the right things when they have a better idea of what’s really going on.
In short, it holds everyone accountable – in a good way. Here’s how to create your own dashboard.
It’s work upfront. But it’s going to help fix the holes in your retention bucket before your nonprofit tries to make it rain with expensive donor acquisition.
And a dashboard makes board reporting easier, too.
Communicate progress and setbacks
You have a plan. You know how to measure it. Now it’s time to tell everyone who will listen how things are going — and ask for their advice not opinions, says author Dr. Robert Cialdini.
Sure, there are formal ways to do this in meetings. But the real work comes during the one-to-one walks outside, coffees, and (sigh) Zoom small talk.
Depending on the size of your organization, these very important influencers may include:
That program officer who has access to great success stories
The executive assistant who enters gifts in the donor database
The longtime volunteer who takes amazing photos
The consultant who wants to make a meaningful impact
In short, show don’t tell others about consistency … and you could just go from party pooper to the life of the party.
What’s the Half Full?
We believe the most valuable thing nonprofits possess is the time and energy of their dedicated employees. A consistent fundraising plan that repeats the Virtuous Cycle of Fundraising throughout the year ensures:
Certainty: Staff in all departments know whether the ask, thank, or report is coming next, and they can adequately plan for it.
Encouragement: Fundraisers know they have a real shot at achieving their goals because the nonprofit prioritizes retaining hard-won donors.
Stability: Once developed, the steady unrestricted revenue from individual donors provides staff with the confidence that they will be able to keep the lights on and continue serving their community.
Not bad for the oatmeal of fundraising.
