Components of an Assessment

So you’re thinking it’s time to assess what’s working and what’s not when it comes to fundraising. Welcome to step 1: assessment. Getting a good read on your current situation is critical to making sure you can chart the best path forward, and it takes both the right mindset, questions and action steps. Let’s start.

With the right mindset in place, it’s time to get a plan in place. We’ll look at helpful exercises later, but for now, let’s talk about the kinds of questions you need to ask.

First, make sure you ask Yes/No questions. These are the quantitative analysis questions that allow you to be a little more objective about even some subjective issues. So, for example, the question, “Are we financially healthy today?” can probably be answered from all sorts of angles. And that’s important. But, turning the question to, “Do we have 6+ months cash reserves?” begins to create a more binary look at your current situation. As you come up with a set of questions, see if there’s a chance to turn it into a yes or no question to help get that objective look. Of course, this is an easier approach for questions like, “Do we have/like our donor database?” and “Have we segmented our donors in the past?”

Second, pay attention to qualitative questions and answers. These are the ones where you might need to spend a little more time reflecting on challenges and opportunities, how happy you are with your communications or your systems, or similar questions. The key here is to ask “why” about everything you’re assessing. You don’t need a novel for each answer. Choose a style that works for you - a list of words, bullet points of thoughts, or just stream of consciousness writing that captures your thoughts.

Third, talk inside your organization’s walls. Set intentional meetings and also have the side conversations (and capture their outcomes later) that help illuminate your situation. Have one-on-one conversations that allow for maximum candidness or sensitive issues to be addressed, and schedule day-long retreats to really get into perspectives on the issues. Each of those conversations matter.

Fourth, look outside. You certainly know what’s going on, but an outside expert or a trusted donor may have a perspective you are missing. They don’t need to know all the nitty-gritty of what you do. Even their somewhat misinformed perspective can bring insight as to how your efforts are perceived outside of your walls, brain or efforts.

Next, we’ll look at tools to make the approach and the components come to life!