Fundraising Means Developing Relationships

So many non-profit leaders today see the objective as staying financially viable. The best way to ensure this is to work hard and keep raising money.

BUT FINANCIAL VIABILITY ISN'T THE PURPOSE OF A NON-PROFIT.

THE PURPOSE IS TO HAVE AN IMPACT.

And having an impact means you need others to make this big impact happen. 

In your fundraising efforts, developing relationships is THE most important thing. It's not dollars raised, it's not how efficiently you can bring a dollar in the door. It's how much of your impact your donors own. How much do they understand the strategy, how much do they trust the leadership, how committed are they to seeing this thing through? All of this is built on relationships. 

IN YOUR FUNDRAISING EFFORTS, DEVELOPING RELATIONSHIPS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.

As the experts at Veritas Group explain so well, the temptation (often the objective given from directors) is to do the most effective thing to get the dollar is so strong these days. More and more fundraising is being reduced to making the transaction easy and efficient so that fundraising success is simply a matter of volume - i.e., if we can perfect our email funnel, or our Giving Tuesday communication enough, all we have to do is get more email addresses and we'll be fine.

But don't give in to that temptation.

That kind of fundraising behavior WILL NOT work in the long run. And the long run is so much more important, not because of you, but because of the impact. You may move on to a different role or organization where fundraising isn't important. But there will continue to be a people who need this impact - who still need sustainable strategies, resources, and partners to continue to change the world. For their sakes, please don't promote a quick, transactional fundraising approach!

Invest in relationships with donors, so they will invest in the lives of the people you reach together.

Kiley Hawkins, Co-Founder