Jed Barrett and Leo McGarry (for West Wing fans), Capt Kirk and Mr. Spock (for the sci-fi fans), Holmes and Watson (for literary fans). Famous duos in history. Truly great leaders supported by amazing people that brought out the best in their leadership and ability. However, I might suggest that throughout history we never truly know about the facilitators that make our IRL leaders so great. At the same time, we would never know about some of these amazing leaders in the way we do without the people that pushed them and challenged them to be all they can be.
For the person who is in charge of your fundraising activities and the person in charge of everything in the organization, this is a much needed and dependent relationship. Great leaders need someone to help focus their thoughts. It is hard to believe that in all my renderings on this blog I have never put my thoughts on the value of the relationship between the Executive Director and the Development Director. It may be that it has truly never seemed like an issue when I sit with clients and discuss the relationship.
As a fundraiser, relationships are the key to your success. As an Executive Director/ CEO/ Commander-n-Chief fundraising is important to insuring your mission is accomplished. For the person who is in charge of your fundraising activities and the person in charge of everything in the organization, this is a much needed and dependent relationship (yes, I purposely repeated that line). No different from Kirk and Spock or Holmes and Watson.
As important as this relationship is, both parties need to tend to it. Here is some guidance that will help. Remember to CHAT (I am a former sales manager and we try to create acronyms for everything).
COMMUNICATE – Obviously communication is key to any relationship. In business, there many ways that help you communicate. If you can, share your digital calendar with each other. Carbons copy each other appropriately in emails (and use the BCC from your donor management system to automatically add important donor emails to your donor files). Also, find enjoyable ways to communicate that include encouragement, whether that be post-it notes, e-cards, or “atta-boy” IMs.
HONESTY – This is a business relationship first, and BRUTAL honesty is necessary to push both of you and the organization. If someone is not doing their part in fundraising, say it. If an idea seems too crazy, make sure you talk it through to multiple conclusions before saying “no”. If you never try new things, then ask “why?”.
ACCOUNTABILITY – Hold each other accountable. Have metrics that define your roles. If you constantly exceed or constantly fall short, discuss and adjust the metrics (for each of you). This could be face-to-face (live or virtual) visits, or dollars made in asks, or another metric. It is necessary to win sometimes, to learn from failure and necessary to push each other.
TIME – Make a commitment to time to talk fundraising regularly. This is extremely important! Have a report(s) or a worksheet that stimulates this conversation. In working with different organizations, I have found a weekly 20 minute stand up meeting (that means no one sits during the meeting) combined with a monthly sit down for up to 90 minutes, works well. The monthly meeting works even better when it is off site, or in some neutral site (not in anyone’s office). That way you avoid distraction from others. These meetings should be as committed to as “date night” with your spouse.
To be clear, the Executive Director IS the chief fundraiser. The Development Director is the chief facilitator. Did I bury the lead? For the big gifts, unique and significant ASKs, it takes both roles and the top person needs to be involved. That could be as little as the one that receives the check for the photo opportunity, to the one that builds the relationship to an ASK. The outside relationship that counts is the donor’s relationship to the organization and its mission.
It is about the tasks, results and failures discussed in these regular meetings. It is the details of the activities that occur as a result of those meetings. It is the visual that this relationship creates to support the culture of philanthropy. It is about helping the organization accomplish its mission. A great relationship here can inspire an organization to be great.
