What would your organization do with an additional $35,000 next year? Is that a new staff position, or a new program to support your mission, or piece of equipment to deliver your mission (like replacing that 20 year old 15 passenger van)? First, there is no magic wand or super software that will find all the half pennies on TPS* reports at local banks. However, it is a simple concept that will, most likely, impact your bottom line in more ways than one.
What is it? Professional development!
I am sure you have heard this argument before, but what have you done? At the conclusion of this article, there are multiple suggestions from costly to free. If you are reading this blog, then you are on the right track?
Congratulations!
In 2016, Bloomerang and DonorSearch, et al. funded a research project led by Dr. Adrian Seargent, et al. called Major Gift Fundraising: Unlocking the Potential for Smaller Non-profits. In this report, it concluded that regular professional development correlated to an average $37,000 increase in revenue per fundraiser. I would suggest that a properly trained 1st year fundraiser could cover their expense in that first year.
Why?
Reduces Turnover – Providing the opportunity for professional development sends the message that you value staff and the organization wants to invest in their people. It is also another form of compensation that yields results in multiple ways. Read on.
Provides results – Regardless of the number of conferences I attend, I always find a few golden nuggets. Sometimes it is a new software or report I find valuable. Other times it is a bit of creativity that allows an organization to connect their mission with the donors or prospective donors. One time it was a simple “trick” that resulted in over $800 in 6 months (twice the costs of the conference). A presenter suggested that there be a request for support in every staff members email signature. A simple “Please support our mission….” with a link to a donation page. All the contributions were new donors. My guess is that the majority of gifts came as a result of the non-development staff.
More efficient – Whether it is as a result of relationships formed at a conference or knowledge gained, I have witnessed processes become more effective and results greater from people attending a class or a conference. Where it most often does not have a recognizable impact on results, it most often returns time to your staff member and improves morale or reduces costs and improves the bottom line.
How?
There are many ways that you can do professional development. Here is a good list to get you started. They are placed in order of costs.
Hire a consultant – This may seem like a shameless plug, but what we are talking about is an outside perspective that can offer the wisdom of other organizations challenges. Consultants also have the wisdom of many organizations and often have observed the challenges you face at other organizations they have worked with. Consultants don’t only provide results in increased funds raised, but also in time saved and reduced costs.
Take a class/ Attend a conference outside of Fundraising – There are many great organizations that train people and have ideas and principles that can be applied to fundraising. One that comes to mind is the Disney Leadership Institute, a great education on outstanding service and connecting individually with your guest (like you would want to connect with donors). Another is a Zig Ziglar seminar that focuses on relationship selling and can educate you how to leverage relationships to yield greater results.
Take a class/ Attend a conference – This has been discussed in the “Why?”. It gets results in multiple ways.
Join a local association – These associations often sponsor worthwhile sessions that help you connect with other non-profits in the area. They also have sponsor research and webinars that are limited to members only. Membership often pays for itself in the relationships and the knowledge shared through those relationships.
Use existing resources – if you have a cloud based donor management system, chances are high that they have a blog published with helpful resources. They also frequently offer webinars that provide more information than just how to use their software. If you joined a local association, they usually have roundtables that are as valuable as what you bring to the session. Be sure to participate, some of the most valuable information you can receive is from fellow non-profit executives.
Read a book – Matthew Kelly, renowned business author and founder of Floyd Consulting says that reading a book is some of the most cost-effective personal and professional development you can participate in. If you read just 5 pages a day, you can read 4-6 books a year.
Find a mentor – Find a mentor, or find several. A mentor is anyone who can help you learn and drives you to improve yourself personally and/ or professionally. Mentors do not always need to be experienced professionals, they can also be the new person with lots of energy. As long as they drive and challenge you, that is the value.
If you read this article to conclusion, you have begun improving your results. What idea will you start in the next week? The sooner you begin, the sooner you will raise that additional and much needed funding. $37,000 is an average, so you can do more. The more you implement, the greater the opportunity to exceed $50,000.
PB&J marComm is happy to guide yu to any of these resources in your area. Good luck!