Fundraising is a team sport; successful fundraisers know we can’t go it alone. In part II of this two-part series, Anonymous shows us the importance of working effectively with internal constituencies and a process for doing so which turned a weakened donor relationship into a renewed relationship.

You can turn things around if you do what Anonymous and the director of a certain research centre did.

Sincerely,

Murray

“One of our school’s research centres had changed leadership and had trouble articulating a compelling, new vision. As a consequence, one of their key donors began hinting that he was reconsidering whether to continue with his gifts which supported the director’s position.

This donor had a storied career. He was an alumnus of our school who led a successful business in the U.S. before retiring back in Canada. He was used to business plans and big, ambitious ideas. He also knew the power of images and storytelling in persuading audiences to commit to a vision.

I met with the donor and learned that he was tired with the centre. He felt that the former director had made many promises, a number of which were never delivered, and he feared that our new director would not be able to fulfill these commitments. The research centre had been relying on this donor’s gifts for several years, but with the change in leadership, and with the history of not having managed expectations, he felt the centre would never meet its potential and that his previous gifts would have been for naught.

The new director and I met with the donor, and the donor agreed to continue his support of the director’s salary for one more year. He asked that we provide a report on what was left to complete of the former director’s projects and for the new director to list some of his ideas for what he might like to do with the research centre.

After the meeting, the new director felt that he was being held responsible for his predecessor’s excessive promises and poor results. He also felt overwhelmed by the donor’s lack of faith. I noted to the director that below the surface, I could see clues that the donor was asking for a reason to believe in the research centre; that we had a very narrow opportunity to reinvigorate the relationship; and that we could prove our commitment by designing a new mandate for the research centre. I asked the director to draw up the list of ideas and to separate them into categories: immediate ‘wins’ (items he could accomplish within the year that could show the donor that we were delivering on promises), objectives for the next five years, and aspirational dreams (very big picture ideas regardless of his ability to fulfill them).

I told him to devote 20 percent of his time to making an inventory of the old promises and the status of his predecessor’s projects and to spend the other 80 percent on his own vision. The new director had been promoted from a more junior position in the research centre, so he had extensive knowledge of how things had worked. And because of his history, I also knew he would have kept mental notes of what had bothered him and how he might change them should he ever have the opportunity to do so. I told him that this was his chance to finally draw an emotional line in the sand that would put the past in the past, assess where he stood in the present, and allow him to choose his direction for the future.

The director listed the items and returned them to me as a draft. I expected a document of jot notes, but to my surprise, the draft was extensive and included details for each of the ideas. He noted that the exercise and guidelines freed him up to regain his excitement for his work and the centre.

The director and I worked on revising and rewriting the vision document, keeping in mind that we were communicating to an intelligent non-specialist and must frame the language and story around that perspective. At the same time, the director was due to present his annual report to the dean. Typically this report was two pages of dense text with a list of activities and accomplishments. I noted to the director that we could also redevelop the annual report so that it could be distributed to current donors, future prospects, and partner organizations. I asked him to think of the annual report as a stewardship document that could help increase the centre’s visibility and brand. I also noted that the centre was rooted in certain specific types of research, and that his annual report might present its accomplishments with a visual narrative and design that would tell the centre’s story as strongly as any text we might write. We labored over these documents for several weeks, with the director providing ideas and content, and I providing extensive rewriting and design. My formal education was in several disciplines, and I pulled all of those skills and disciplines together so these documents could do what we needed them to do: confirm to the donor that his gifts were not in vain; that his faith in the centre and in our ability to deliver on our promises was warranted, and that if anything, he was getting an extraordinary return on his philanthropic investment.

 We sent those documents to the donor, and he returned the following note:

"This is a brief personal note to commend you on the report which you forwarded to me. I've just had an opportunity to read it: it's comprehensive, well written, and it has a very pleasant, positive and optimistic feeling and attitude to it. I think it's really quite excellent—nicely done. When it's published in finished form, please provide me with five copies—I would like to distribute some to other interested parties."

We had only developed our documents as electronic PDF files, so there was a subsequent, mad scramble to adapt the layout for print. When we presented the hardcopies at another lunch meeting, the donor mentioned to us that he had been approached by another organization (one which competes with us for his attention and for whom he was a former board member and past donor). Our donor told the other organization that his philanthropic commitments were to us and that he was now focused on our success.

Lessons:

Never neglect internal relationships and the need to communicate with internal constituents what we have to offer. As fundraisers, we have more to offer than just bringing in gifts. We are individuals with rich histories, skills, and insights that can make a researcher’s relationship with donors exponentially better.

Donors want to be inspired. While they sometimes don’t say it directly, if a donor hints at a waning interest, it’s a rallying cry to step up and show them what you can deliver.

If internal members aren’t inspired, there is no way a fundraiser can convince a donor to support the cause. Work with internal members as much as you work with donors.

All communications with planned and major gift donors must be personalized and speak to the heart of a donor’s interest. If we really understand what a donor is telling us, we can respond in a way that respects their background and perspective.

Develop and expand your communication skills. This goes beyond learning to write, which is a technical skill. Learn how to think, how to articulate complex ideas into digestible chunks, how to draw up a business plan, and how to teach these skills to others.”

People working in smaller organizations may wonder: “how does this apply to us?”.

All organizations have internal constituencies. In an arts organization, you could partner with the executive director or artistic director. In a health organization, it could be a doctor or researcher. If you work in animal welfare, consider the executive director, animal care staff, or vet. In an environmental organization, look at the conservation director or similar person who can speak with authority and passion. In some organizations, a board member might be a good candidate.

The key is to identify which internal person or persons you should team up with. That depends on the circumstances, including donor priorities, the knowledge and skill sets of your various internal constituents, and their availability to work with the donor and you.

By Anonymous, with introduction and closing comments from Murray Landa, Senior Consultant and B.C. Marketing Director, PGgrowth Inc.