STAYING POWER
It’s tough out there. Across the country, Campbell & Company consultants are hearing a chorus of concerns. “How can we raise money when our donors are hurting too?” “How can we keep moving forward when we have to cut staff?” “How do we make our organization stand out when everyone else is after the same donors?”
You may be losing sleep over the very same questions, but worrying is not a fundraising strategy. Campbell & Company offers these actionable solutions that can give you the staying power you need to sustain your work even in a recession.
Stay on Track
A challenging fundraising environment can be made even more challenging by internal cuts to budgets, resources and especially staff. “I have several clients that are heavily dependent on endowment, and their market values have fallen considerably,” says Campbell & Company Vice President Marc Hilton. “One has cut staff and others have had to freeze hiring, so now they’re being asked to do much more with much less.”
Layoffs or hiring freezes threaten to derail fundraising efforts when organizations lack a solid plan for keeping operations on track, says Lynda McKay, Campbell & Company’s Director of Talent Management. A transition plan can help organizations manage layoffs appropriately and keep productivity and morale from dropping precipitously after staffing cuts.
Especially in organizations going through layoffs, cross-training can ensure that employees who have to take on additional responsibilities are prepared to handle their new roles. Even for those not experiencing cuts, training can equip major gift fundraisers with new strategies for raising money in a tough economic environment.
Passionate board members can be an organization’s most effective ambassadors and are especially valuable when staff fundraisers are spread thin. But they need to be properly prepared, says Campbell & Company Vice President Bruce Matthews, who has helped many universities train volunteers for their roles as fundraisers.
“A lot of volunteers get worried when the markets are down and want to put the brakes on fundraising programs altogether, but that’s the last thing they should do,” Matthews says. “Philanthropy in our country has been incredibly resilient, and once volunteers understand that, they are more confident in their organization’s sustainability and more effective at raising money.”
Stay Focused
While some nonprofits are experiencing organization-wide layoffs, many others are being strategic about any cuts they have to make, McKay says. “Across-the-board cuts really are a mistake. Fortunately, a lot of organizations are thinking very carefully about which of their programs have been most successful and visible and where their potential growth areas are. They may have to make cuts elsewhere, but they’re protecting the programs their constituents value most and the programs that generate revenue.”
That strategy not only helps an organization remain focused on its mission, but, when applied to the development office, also can maximize opportunities for fundraising success, says Campbell & Company Chair and CEO Edith Falk.
“Organizations need to understand what’s working for them and focus on the areas that offer the best return on investment,” Falk says. However, seeing those opportunities objectively can be difficult from inside a development office, so many organizations are looking to consultants to assess their fundraising strategies and help them align their resources appropriately. “It helps to have that objective, outside perspective and knowledge of best practices,” Falk says. “Even in a tight budget economy, assessments are a worthwhile investment that can greatly increase fundraising productivity.”
Stay in Motion
Whether fundraising results have slumped or not, it’s important that organizations keep moving their programs forward. After assessing development operations at Communities In Schools, national dropout prevention organization, Campbell & Company recommended that the group add a director of development so that the department’s vice president could spend more time meeting with top-level donors and prospects.
While searching for the new director, CIS asked Campbell & Company to provide interim staffing so that they could begin implementing other new development strategies the consulting team had recommended. Campbell & Company oversaw annual fund appeals, developed a new relationship management system and helped create strategies for the organization’s top prospects until the new director of development took office. “They wanted to get started on these new initiatives right away, but finding the right director was taking some time,” Associate Consultant Britt Moses Rothrock says. “By bringing in interim staff, they didn’t have to miss a beat.”
Quick, targeted fundraising efforts also can propel an organization forward in a short period of time and build energy for future fundraising. St. Catherine’s School in Richmond, Virginia, recently staged a focused faculty and staff giving effort in only 10 days. “They used the condensed timeframe to generate momentum and excitement, and it clearly worked,” Rothrock says. In previous years, St. Catherine’s has averaged about 67 percent faculty and staff participation; this year, the School secured 100 percent support.
Stay in Touch
“Right now, it’s important for organizations to emphasize the ‘thank you,’” says Bruce Matthews, who has worked with several universities to assess their donor relations and stewardship programs. “If donors don’t think their giving has an impact, they won’t keep giving.” As fundraising counsel, he’s encouraging clients to increase their visits with donors and prospects and to find out how they are doing during the recession.
“Some fundraisers think that they shouldn’t be asking for money because their donors might be struggling financially,” he says. “But you never know unless you ask. Let your donors tell you if it’s not a good time for them to give, and be flexible. Maybe they can give a little now and make a larger commitment when the markets bounce back.”
At one state university, where a dip in endowment of more than 30 percent has put scholarship awards in jeopardy, Matthews has worked with staff to develop a three-month-long, targeted effort to revive the awards. The university is contacting donors with endowed scholarship funds (or their family members) and asking whether they would like to make an outright gift in the amount the endowment normally would supply for a scholarship or add to the principal of the endowed fund to help rebuild its value.
“Donors often don’t realize they have these options after they’ve set up an endowed fund,” Matthews says. “Many are happy to write a check because they have seen, year after year, the impact these awards have on students.”
Stay on Message
A strong case that reflects the importance and endurance of an organization’s mission is critical at a time when donors are carefully considering where they’ll direct their philanthropy, Marc Hilton says.
“I’m a firm believer that an organization’s case is a living organism,” Hilton says. “Case refinement is an absolute necessity, especially as new opportunities and new challenges arise.” Many organizations put off adapting or revising their cases as other responsibilities take precedence, but he says now is an ideal time to revisit dated case statements and tired marketing materials.
“I’m working with many of my clients to develop their cases, whether they are in a campaign or not,” Hilton says. “This not only better prepares them to talk to potential investors, but it gives them an opportunity to reevaluate their own priorities and rearticulate why their work matters in today’s environment.”
Stay Ahead
As challenging as the fundraising climate may seem right now, the economy will turn around. When it does, nonprofit executives who postponed retirement during the recession could start retiring in huge numbers. “We’re poised for a wave of retirements once things stabilize,” Lynda McKay says. “That’s why it’s so important that organizations use this time to look at succession planning and develop their internal talent.”
It’s also a critical time to plan for future fundraising efforts, says Edith Falk. She notes that, while many of the firm’s clients are moving forward with campaign plans, some are postponing launch dates and using this time to prepare their staff, volunteers, systems and supporters—the kind of thoughtful planning that often gets short-changed in better economic times.
“Right now is an excellent time to take a good look at your long-term objectives and start putting the pieces in place to achieve them,” she says. “Everyone will be eager to start major fundraising efforts when the economy turns around, and if your organization has already laid the groundwork, you’ll be in a much better position.”