Fundraising: Truth or Technique?

Fundraising:  Truth or Technique?

Keywords:  fundraising, association management
About 900 Words

(first printed in Connections as "What about fundraising?"  2012)

            A couple of years ago, I wrote a column in which I made a bold statement and put out a challenge for anyone to fix it.  The statement was, “there are only four ways in this world to make a living:  1) grow/hunt your own food, 2) sell something, 3) beg, or 4) steal.” That was it, and I challenged anyone to come up with another method of making a living. 

            Someone must have been cleaning out old magazines or finally purging their electronic archive, for as a follow up to that challenge it has now been brought to my attention that there may be a fifth way of making a living:  fundraising.  Well, kinda sorta, is my well-thought-out response. 

            Fundraising is not a new category so much as it is a hybrid of selling and begging.  Sometimes it’s more selling than begging (e.g., strategic partnerships) and sometimes it’s more begging than selling (e.g., anonymous scholarships), but it’s definitely a hybrid of the two.

            No matter which side it swings toward, selling or begging, fundraising should consist of two major elements:  a truth, and “techniques” which surround that truth.   Recently, I learned of a major association which suddenly--after the IRS started poking around-- decided it needed to embark on fundraising.  Apparently it earned so much of its revenue (and we’re talking tens of millions) in selling a simple product that it needed to diversify its revenue stream, and hence a sudden interest in fundraising (once the funds are raised, then they’ll find a cause toward which to apply the funds).  This doesn’t smack of a great truth to me. 

             Most not-for-profit organizations, however, do have a truth they can tell about for fundraising purposes.  Once there’s a truth to be had, it’s a matter of technique from then on.  This “technique” is where the art and science of communication and association management come in.  

            First, there is the technique of how to tell the organization’s “truth.”  This includes how to articulate the message, the branding of the organization, the position in the competitive landscape, and all those things from Marketing 101, 204, and 402 (nah skip 402, they threw lots of unnecessary calculus in that one just to make it seem like a science).  The take-away is that the technique of telling the truth is important.

            Secondly, there is great technique in targeting the audience.  You have to have the right people to hear your truth (no matter how well you tell it).  Here is where lists, contacts, networking, and old-fashioned research come in (better bring back a few things from Marketing 402 after all).

            Thirdly, there’s the technique of tracking the responses.  This is pure experimental science.  I’ve seen groups track whether the response is higher from mailings with the window on the right side of the envelope vs. the left side (hint, one looks more like an invoice, and the other like a friendly letter).  We all get solicitations with free customized labels in them, with handwritten notes, with attention-grabbing stickies, etc.  You can bet the response is tracked on every variation of these add-ons.  Even these techniques have techniques.   

             Fourthly, the triumphs must be told.  What’s the old joke, “are there sports cars in the Bible?---Sure, when David slew Goliath his triumph was heard throughout the land.”  There’s a lot of technique in how to tell about triumphs.  Just ask the lottery commission; they hoist up the lottery’s triumphant winner as something attainable for all of us to see—despite the 600 gillion-to-one odds (they have to be big on telling triumph, for if they told the real truth the lottery would be renamed an idiot tax).  

            Lastly, there’s technique in thanking the fundraising participant, the donor.  Usually, simple and timely messages are best here.  Notes from the benefactor and others involved and in some cases public acknowledgement are all part of the thanking technique.  Opinions differ, but I don’t like it when they ask for another donation while they’re still thanking me for the previous time.  Bad technique.   Or maybe not, depending on what the tracking indicates.     

      

To summarize, it’s easy to describe fundraising.  There are a Truth and the ensuing Techniques of:

-         telling the truth

-         targeting the telling of the truth to the right audience

-         tracking the targets’ responses to that telling

-         telling the triumph, and

-         thanking those who took part. 

           

The more the sponsor/donor gets in a tangible return for the fundraising exchange, the more it is like sales.  The less the sponsor/donor gets in the form of a measurable return, the less it is like sales and the more it is like begging.

There you have it. It may seem more a matter of using proper technique than it is a matter of enacting a truth.  Both are interesting, and knowing all about those techniques is what keeps the non-profit executive necessary.  Or is it?   I’m not too sure about the triumph verse with David and Goliath, but I’m certain that in the long run the old adage is correct:  “it’s the truth that will set us free,”  Or is it the technique?