So many ill-conceived ideas about metrics and other means of evaluating fundraising performance are rooted in the terribly false notion that fundraisers should function like lone wolves. All you have to do is release them into the wilds of wealth and they’ll come back with enough to feed the pack for a while. Yet even the best fundraisers will under-perform when put in a weak fundraising posture, and be out-performed by less capable practitioners who are able to operate from a strong posture.
High functioning organizations understand that fundraisers broker a value proposition, validated by past institutional performance and made appealing to potential philanthropic investors by the projection of specific, sustainable societal differences yet to be made.
The more rigorously organization measure their performance, and the more they obligate themselves to reach measurable mission milestones, they more they empower their fundraisers to do their best work.
My book, “The Future of Fundraising: Adapting to Changing Philanthropic Realities,” is available on the Academic Impressions website and through Amazon.
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.
