Why you suck at fundraising

No matter where you are in the world, or what you’re doing, there is huge competition for the charity dollar, and unless you have a fundraising plan you are likely to find the going tough. 

Now is the time to also look at your previous fundraising efforts and see what worked and what didn’t. Repeat the good bits (if appropriate) and ditch the things that didn’t work, there’s no point repeating failures.

Some of the reasons your fundraising may not be successful: 

Lack of planning 
Lack of clarity
No emphasis on urgency of need
Scattered approach 

There are of course reasons that are likely to be out of your control, such as the economy, but lets not dwell on that, here lets focus instead on what you do have control of. 

If you are struggling with your fundraising have you reviewed previous fundraising activities and seen where they have succeeded, or miss the mark – If not why not? 

All fundraising activities have to be well thought out, you need a plan, if you haven’t set a plan of how, where and when you will fundraise, put all your fundraising thoughts aside until you have done it. 

You also need to think about who you are ‘targetting’ with your fundraising and this MUST be in your plan. Do you know who and where your potential donor are – if you have no idea, do some research, it will be worth the effort. 

Are you donors predominantly male or female, when do they give, what is their frequency of giving – don’t know this, then research. 

Are you only asking for a donation for the sake of it, or is there a real need, right here, right now – if there is then you must put urgency into your message. 

Often we see pleads for donations that don’t give a real message, such as ‘help us, we need your help’ but there’s no real message as to what a donation will help with – are you guilty of this, if so, change your approach. 

When soliciting a donation make sure the people you’re approaching know who you are, what you do and what their donation will help you achieve. 

Ensure every appeal you make for a donation is well planned, that it has urgency and is targeted at those who are more likely to give – there’s no point in flying over a city dropping a flyer unless you know the bricks they’re tide to will hit the people most likely to help. 

Every time you ask for a donation it costs you money, make every cent you spend count.