“Naked a man comes into the world, and naked he leaves it; after his toil, he carries away nothing except the deeds he leaves behind.”
– Koheleth Rabba
One of the things I love about being a consultant is helping charities build a major donor engagement continuum. One of the first things I do is start to interview the subject charity’s existing major donors. The purpose of the interview is to find out if the charity is doing a good job. Do the donors understand the impact their donations are having? Are they being sufficiently thanked? Is the charity amoung the top three charities the donor supports and if not what can be done differently to earn a higher level of support.
This is deeply satisfying work and I love it. However, one question in particular consistently drives me crazy. When I ask:
“When you are considering making a donation what is the most important thing you look for in a charity?”
Far too often the answer is: “How much the charity spends on administration and overhead.”
While I would love to educate the donor at this point – it would be inappropriate. So today I would like to suggest that we all do a little bit more to educate our donors about how to choose a charity.
Here are a few other questions donors could ask at when choosing a charity:
1. What plans do you have for the future and do you have the resources needed to deliver them?
Is there a strategic plan in place? Knowing where an organization is going and how they are getting there is fundamentally important for any business including charities.
2. What kind of impact will you have on the world?
Philanthropy and fundraising is not about the money – it is about the change we want to make in the world. Look beyond the audited financial statements and talk more about the changes in society as a result of increased revenue.
3. Is your board of directors engaged in the organization? May I meet them?
Nonprofit board members have a legal responsibility to the charities they run. Yet, governance is often the weakest link.
Is sufficient investment being made into board training? Can they read and understand the audited financial statements? Can they talk about them? Are they passionate about the cause? Do they donate to the cause? Attend the meetings? What is the recruitment process?
4. What is the turnover rate of your staff?
One of the biggest challenges in the nonprofit sector is staff turnover. Due to lack of investment in salaries, technology and resources the sector has a very challenging time keeping good employees.
5. What didn’t work and how will you change it? Can I trust you?
Building trust between donors and charities is essential. Any investor understands that failure is going to happen if progress is to be made. Once we start to release the charitable sector from the starvation cycle they can start taking more risks and being more innovative.
When charity staff know that donors support risk, innovation and failure they will be able to make more progress, faster.
In summary
I hope and dream for a day when charities and donors stop worrying about overhead and start thinking about whether sufficient tools and resources are in place. When donors start asking charities about critical areas like governance, staff retention and communicating impact, they will focus on them in order to develop and better meet society’s demands.
Together, philanthropists and charities can have extraordinary impact on the world. It is time for charities and philanthropists to work harder at changing the conversation about what truly makes a strong, viable, noteworthy organization and, as a result, the charitable sector in Canada. Let’s get started today.
As a practitioner and consultant Kimberley MacKenzie works with a variety of organizations to advance a culture of philanthropy, transform fundraising departments and raise more money for their missions.
You can contact her on twitter via @kimberleycanada email her k@kimberleymackenzie.ca at, phone her directly 289-231-1339 or visit her website at www.kimberleymackenzie.ca,
