Four Signs You’re Failing At Fundraising

Non-profit fundraising is hard work and raising money for an organisation is a vital and challenging role. But your fundraisers may not always have their eye on the ball when it comes to income – and the result can be a fundraising fail, along with a consequent drop in your revenue. There can be many reasons for this and spotting what’s going wrong and where isn’t always easy, so here’s our top four signs that you’re failing at fundraising:

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Posted 30/08/2017

Failure to innovate

All non-profits have fundraising tactics they rely on, such as direct mail, street fundraising, events, sponsorship etc.

But it’s a bad sign if your organisation is failing to look beyond these tried and tested methods. Because, by only sticking to what you know, you are ignoring the possibility of there being new and more profitable fundraising methods out there.

So, if you are stuck in your ways, it’s time to cast an eye across the rest of the sector and see if there’s anything new thats’ working well, which you could adapt for your own organisation.

Fundraising has become a low priority

It’s the projects and services delivered by a charity that – quite rightly – take centre stage. These are the reason that any non-profit organisation actually exists.

But this can become a problem when it causes fundraising to be shunted down the priority list and not given the attention it deserves. This is a huge mistake, as fundraising is what drives your mission and makes all the good work you do possible.

So, if you see that time and energy is being diverted from fundraising into other areas of the organisation, then you must nip it in the bud. This will lead to an income problem and harm the very activities you exist to provide.

You Don’t Have A Plan

What are your fundraising strategies? What milestones do you have and how will you reach them? What is your plan for the next five years?

If you don’t have answers to questions like these, then it’s another sure sign your fundraising operation is in trouble. Without a plan that outlines where you want to get to and how you’re going to get there, you can’t hope to pull in significant funds.

High staff turnover

As with any other department, your fundraising team will rely on experienced people who know and understand your organisation and can teach others how to bring in the cash.

But if your staff turnover starts to rise then it’s a sign that all is not right and something is causing dissatisfaction. This could be wages, working conditions, management style, or something else – but whatever is causing people to leave must be addressed and rectified, as you need to hang on to your fundraisers.