Go from putting out fires to putting in infrastructure

Today’s topic is essentially a high-level how-to for getting out of scattered effort and into a result-oriented approach to building a diverse, sustainable, and growing donor base.

Some people thrive in an environment where crisis flourish, there are always more things to do than hours in the day, and long-term means "by next week." This post is not for them.

Generally speaking, healthy organizations put in place the infrastructure to achieve long term prosperity versus pursuing the crisis (or opportunity) du jour.

In fundraising, creating a diverse, sustainable and growing donor base does not happen by accident. With time being a rare commodity only a focused effort that constantly builds upon work already completed can produce the donor base being sought. In short, it takes great “infrastructure.”

With good infrastructure organizations focus their efforts on those things that achieve the greatest success at the lowest cost. A new opportunity can quickly be put in perspective and the choice to pursue it or not is properly balanced between the short-term gain and the long-term goals of the organization.

For individual fundraisers the results are reduced distractions, saved time, improved donor relationships, and momentum to achieve greater success year after year.

For organizations, the results of good infrastructure can be improved fundraising with greater diversity, higher renewal rates, lower costs, decreased risk, and better results across the board. Not to mention, your staff will be thankful for the less stressful work environment.

So for a fundraiser, what is good infrastructure and how do you get it?

Vision:
Define your BAHG (big, hairy, audacious goal). Get Zen-like and tell us where and what you are going to be in the far off future! Doing so gives your team something to shoot for, provides perspective for every decision, and gives donors a chance to connect for the long-term.

Mission, Values, Beliefs:
Who you are and what you do. Telling everyone from donors to staff to executives the “who, what, and how” of the organization creates accountability and fosters teamwork.

Strategies:
Now that you have your Vision, Mission, Values, and Beliefs outline the big picture strategies associated with everything you do. Think of it like this: “these efforts are going to get your mission accomplished!” At this point you'll want to add a couple lines about the diverse, sustainable and growing donor base you're pursuing.

Management Framework:
Collectively, this is the playbook that defines the tactics you’ll use to execute your strategies. Processes, milestones, and measurement systems are all defined in advance so you can monitor your progress and make adjustments as you move forward.

Tools & Technology:
These are the tools that amplify and support your people, processes, and resources. Investing in the productivity of your people saves time, improves accuracy, and gets better results across the whole team. For fundraisers, think CRM, email, and website.

Implementation
Transition your team to the new “way” of doing things where every move supports a common directive comprised of everything we've just discussed. Change can be a very disruptive process and should not be taken lightly. Whole books are written on managing change so I won’t attempt to sum up the best practices in two sentences. Hints are easy though. Here’s one: involve your team in every step of the process to get their “buy-in.” Having contributed to the new solution they’re more likely to use it.

Operations
With your new Vision, strategy, protocols, and tools in place “Be” the organization you want to be! It will feel new and different at first but as each day goes by the team will gain more confidence.

Maintenance
Run the protocols you defined in the Management Framework to measure and support your new “way.” Also, continue to involve the whole team by periodically asking “how well this working?” and “what can be improved?”

Now that you know the components of good infrastructure and the roadmap for getting it, the limiting factors are time, expertise & change management. Hire the right consultant to facilitate the transition and this short-term expense will produce many years of gain and a healthy, sustainable, and successful organization.

Brian Pickett helps business & nonprofits with the key components of sustainable growth. Relationships are an organization’s greatest asset; a fact PickettCRM leverages to help organizations expand their customer/donor base using Strategic CRM Solutions. Houston, TX based for more information visit www.PickettCRM.com.