If money to support new staff or outside consultants wasn’t an issue, hiring your fundraising done would be an easy fix. As board members, CEOs, and earnest program administrators, you’d never have to ask for another cent. What a time saver. Without this tiresome and unpredictable responsibility you could devote your full attention to what’s really needed… building new buildings, implementing dead-on programs, solving real needs. But this is where reality gets in the way. Money doesn’t grow on trees even for good causes, and fundraising is definitely a team sport.
The absence of money trees is easily explainable, but what’s this about fundraising being a team sport? Think on the following:
1. Regardless of title, those who know the need for funds most are usually the same individuals who are getting their hands dirty every day. Who do you want to talk to potential donors considering a major gift to your organization? Who can communicate/encapsulate the need in the best possible fashion?
2. Asking complete strangers for money regardless of the size of gift or cause is difficult. “People give to people – who they know – who represent great causes.”
3. How can we motivate donors to give for the first time or substantially increase their gift? Should we pursue a planned giving program and how do we get started?
Just with these three examples alone, we at IvyPartners would argue that a team approach to fundraising is your most successful avenue to generating serious funds. Volunteers, board members, staff, and consultants can all benefit by working together and exploiting every ounce of personal expertise, experience and professional networking that each individual brings to the table. Success can be found in this synergy. Synergy means “with energy,” added or multiplied.
Consider the following:
• One horse can pull 6,000 to 7,000 pounds
• Two horses can pull roughly 18,000 pounds
• Two horses trained to pull together can pull 25,000 pounds
When synergy happens between two or more people, the result can be equally amazing, exhilarating, and productive for your development program. Stay tuned to our next blog when we discuss how horses can be great fundraisers!