Financing Not Fundraising: Abandoning Ineffective Fundraisers

Key to any smart nonprofit financing strategy is an analytical approach to focusing on your most profitable activities. Part of this requires calculating the cost of fundraising of every revenue-generating activity your organization engages in. But the more important, and difficult, part is deciding when to stop an activity that doesn’t make financial sense anymore, which is the topic of today’s installment of our regular Financing Not Fundraising blog series.

To recap, our Financing Not Fundraising blog series was born out of the reality that fundraising in the nonprofit sector is broken. Nonprofits have to break out of the narrow view that traditional FUNDRAISING (individual donor appeals, events, foundation grants) will completely fund all of their activities and instead work to create a broader approach to securing the overall FINANCING necessary to create social change. You can read the entire series here.

In the world of fundraising, nonprofit leaders often make decisions based on what will ruffle the fewest feathers rather than what is financially best for the organization. For example, a nonprofit shouldn’t continue hosting their annual gala year after year simply because they always have, or because their board, donors or staff think it should continue, or because of some vague “goodwill” it creates.

Rather a nonprofit’s leaders should make a data-driven decision each and every year. When a fundraising activity starts to cost an organization more than it brings in, it’s time to abandon that activity. The same is true of a foundation grant that takes many more resources than it generates, a direct mail campaign that costs the organization more than it brings in, or any other revenue-generating event that is financially ineffective.

I know that the idea of abandoning what an organization has done in the past could cause tremendous political upheaval, so it is absolutely necessary that you follow a disciplined and defensible approach to uncovering and then abandoning costly activities. Because if you don’t, they will eventually bleed your nonprofit dry.

Here is the approach to take:

1. Calculate. You need to know the net revenue and cost to raise a dollar of every revenue-generating activity your organization engages in. This includes each event, each direct mail and email campaign, the grants you write, your major donor campaign, and so on. Here’s how to do those calculations.

1. Compare. Then compare the net revenue and cost to raise a dollar calculations of every one of your activities to see how they stack up against each other.

1. Create 3 Lists. Assign each of your revenue-generating activities to one of three lists:
   1. Abandon: Activities with a cost to raise a dollar above $1.00 should be put here.
   2. Evaluate: Activities with a cost to raise a dollar just under $1.00 go here. You may want to investigate whether you can cut direct or indirect costs in order to lower the cost to raise a dollar.
   3. Invest: Activities with the lowest cost to raise a dollar are the most profitable to your nonprofit, so you should work to invest more time and resources in these activities.
2. Gather Support. It’s not enough to have the executive director and/or development director on board with a decision to abandon an activity. You have to make the case to the entire staff and board, and possibly some invested donors (like event sponsors). Walk them through your net revenue and cost to raise a dollar calculations. Help them understand that this particular event, campaign, foundation proposal actually costs the organization money. Focus on how you could reallocate resources to more financially lucrative activities.

1. Pull the Plug. Please, please, please don’t do the analysis, build your case and then get cold feet. It takes real courage to make hard decisions, especially in the face of opposition. But if you know you must end something then DO IT! Don’t let anyone talk you out of making a smart financial decision.

I would love to see more nonprofit leaders abandon financially draining activities. It is not easy, I know, but it is the only path toward financial sustainability.

If you want to learn more about calculating the cost of fundraising, sign up for our September 26th webinar here.

Photo Credit: Skley

About the Author: Nell Edgington is President of Social Velocity (www.socialvelocity.net), a management consulting firm leading nonprofits to greater social impact and financial sustainability. Social Velocity helps nonprofits grow their programs, bring more money in the door, and use resources more effectively. For more information, check out Social Velocity consulting services and clients.

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Related posts:

1. Financing Not Fundraising: Calculating the Cost of Fundraising
2. Financing Not Fundraising Webinar Series
3. A New Approach to Nonprofit Funding: Financing Not Fundraising Webinar Series

Tags:  social responsibility, social velocity

About Nell Edgington

Nell Edgington is President of Social Velocity (www.socialvelocity.net), a management consulting firm leading nonprofits to greater social impact and financial sustainability. Social Velocity helps nonprofits grow their programs, bring more money in the door, and use resources more effectively. For more information, check out Social Velocity services and clients.