The best fundraisers quickly see the gaps between what their organizations hope to receive from donors and what donors expect of the organizations they represent. They alert the powers-that-be at their organizations to those gaps, in the hope that they will make reasonable and timely corrections. If they don’t, the best fundraisers seek to fill those gaps themselves. By default, they become:
- Institutional strategists, attempting to help their organizations comprehend and navigate realities that will be visited on them, or pointing to opportunities that might otherwise be missed
- Menders of damaged or neglected relationships, assuring donors that previous breakdowns or missteps were inadvertent and not reflective of a larger lack of recognition or appreciation
- Speechwriters, producing material for their CEOs or other key officials that resonates most with donors’ hopes and concerns
- Principal if not exclusive proposal writers, using their go-between experience to turn broad promotional copy into philanthropically compelling material
- Marketing mavens, attempting to reposition their institutions as more relevant and responsive to issues that donors care most about, and are increasingly giving more to
- Emotionally intelligent researchers, seeking to read between the lines of biographical and financial information to discover the animating passion of their prospects
- Stewards-in-chief, striving to make sure donors know of the differences they have made and trying to create more rewarding donor experiences
- Strategic event planners, making sure that organizations’ most impressive people and most compelling plans are shared in ways that promote the most positive interactions with current and prospective donors
Taken together, these responsibilities reveal a truth that many boards and senior leaders overlook: exceptional fundraisers are not merely revenue generators. They are organizational translators, culture builders, strategic advisors, and relationship managers operating across virtually every dimension of institutional life.
That’s why the best fundraisers would be seen as the most likely CEOs in waiting – if the powers-that-be only knew.
Jim Langley is the president of Langley Innovations. Langley Innovations provides a range of services to its clients to help them understand the cultural underpinnings of philanthropy and the psychology of donors and, with that knowledge, to develop the most effective strategies and tactics to build broader and more lasting communities of support. Jim has authored numerous books, including his most recent book, The Future of Fundraising: Adapting to New Philanthropic Realities, published by Academic Impressions in 2020.
