the top ten fundraising mistakes - dunham + company · application of the fundamentals. top ten...

The Top Ten Fundraising Mistakes

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© 2011 Dunham+Company

Top Ten Fundraising Mistakes

#10 Treating donors more like commodities than people and therefore failing to engage their hearts.

•  At the core of any effective donor development program is a genuine human relationship which must be captured in both personal interaction as well as mass communication.


•  This means building genuine knowledge of your donors and creating ways of authentic interaction/insight.

•  Many organizations fail to build a communication stream that moves donors from the first date to a serious relationship.

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The High Impact Cycle™


#9 Believing there is a magic bullet that will lead to successful fundraising rather than doing the hard work of consistently executing the fundamentals well.

•  Fundraising is just hard work that has its highest level of potential success when there is consistent, effective application of the fundamentals.


•  This principle mirrors what is true about successful sports franchises as champion teams are not necessarily those with the best talent, but rather those that execute the fundamentals consistently well.

•  Think Vince Lombardi.

•  This includes things like a regimen of testing… frequent, regular, integrated, multi-channel communication… effective segmentation… a timely and personal acknowledgement program.

#8 Driving a fundraising program by expense management.


•  The most effective fundraising programs are always driven by the effective investment of available funds, not managing expenses.


•  The question that should drive fundraising is not, “How can I do this most cheaply”, but “What will bring about the greatest return on investment.”

•  This is at the heart of Matthew 25:14-28 and the parable of the talents.

#7 Believing the growth of a fundraising program should be linear…

…with no dips along the way.


•  It’s a major mistake to believe you can grow your revenues on a straight line.


•  There needs to be room for fluctuations in the economic environment, natural/seasonal ups and downs and the fact there will just be months when you need to allow your donors to breathe.

#6 Believing that donors care about your organization.


•  Donors don’t care about your organization, they care about what you do and the impact you make in lives.


•  The most effective fundraising ties the heart of supporters to the story of your organization.

•  That story is the narrative of lives that are being transformed through the work of your organization.


#5 Failing to realize that an effective donor development program is built off of diversified streams of revenue.

•  Many charities put themselves in jeopardy because they fail to build a balanced portfolio of donated revenue.


•  A balanced portfolio includes among other things, income from direct mail, online efforts, newsletters, receipts/gift acknowledgement, major donors, bequests, planned gifts, foundations/trusts.

#4 Lacking a brand strategy.


•  Most organizations have failed to discern their “high ground” and what differentiates them from the rest of the field… the unique promise they make to the marketplace.


•  This leads to “thin” and organizationally-centric communications that fail to inspire or effectively engage donors.

•  The brand strategy is the personification of who you are as an organization that is the basis of your narrative… your story… the why.

#3 Believing your likes or dislikes are actually relevant to effective fundraising.


•  Never decide on a strategy because you or someone on your team thinks, “This is something I would never respond to.”


•  You need to drive your strategy by best practices, what you know about your donors and those strategies that will effectively engage their hearts.


#2 Believing your burnout on an idea or approach equates to donor fatigue.

•  There is no such thing as donor fatigue, just poor or boring communication that fails to inspire your supporters.


•  You get bored with certain messages because you live, eat and breathe your organization. Your donors don’t love you that much. You are not top of mind. You show up on their radar when you communicate with them.

#1 Believing different inputs will produce the same output.


•  Organizations too often assume that just doing a certain activity like sending an e-appeal equals a good strategy... and by doing that activity itself, the needed income will be generated.


•  But effective fundraising is directly correlated to the type of input, i.e., the strategy and the finesse and nuancing of that strategy based on effective testing, especially online.

•  When you think of effective fundraising, you need to think of Gordon Ramsey.

And finally…

Managing to the exception...

…not the rule.


•  Reacting to the complaints of a few and making decisions based on those few will actually damage your fundraising program.


•  This could include reducing your number of communications, not using a medium such as telemarketing or taking a donor off of your mailing list because she says she wants less mail.


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the top ten fundraising mistakes - dunham + company · application of the fundamentals. top ten...

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