Do This. No, Do That.

Last week, Caitlin attended two webinars, both led by individuals who are nationally respected fundraising consultants. On Monday, one said, “If you’re NOT asking for money right now, you’re making a big mistake.” On Friday, the other said, “If you ARE asking for money right now, you’re making a big mistake.”

This reminds me of puppy training. Book One: Never give a nervous dog attention unless you want him to shred the furniture all day and howl at the moon all night. Book Two: Always give a nervous dog attention unless you want him to revenge pee in your shoes on the regular.

It makes sense that there is a vast range of fundraising advice right now. Why? Well…

Honestly, nobody really knows what they’re doing (hire us!). None of us have been development consultants during a global pandemic and the collapse of democracy (sorry, that snuck out). While there are things in history that may be similar, we’ve never done this thing. There isn’t a definitive strategy with proven results colorfully displayed on an infographic. This is new.

That said, while these are “unprecedented times” that doesn’t mean we should abandon everything we know about donor relationships. If you’re trying to decide what to do now, think about what drives your normal fundraising practices. Be authentic to what your organization is and does. Be empathetic to what a potential recipient might be experiencing and what you know others around the country are feeling.

I’ve always felt that development is more of an art than a science (maybe it’s because I prefer poetry to physics). In the past month, I’ve helped an organization mail an appeal to start an emergency fund. I’ve also counseled another that instead of asking, they should email their supporters a brief update about their virtual programming.

These are two different approaches for different organizations serving different populations with different programming in different phases of their life cycle and at different stages of their development effort. There won’t be a one-size fits all “answer” to whether or not you should send that appeal. Each organization is unique in how they approach development, nurture their supporters, and ask for support.

This is a long way of saying don’t let competing voices distract you. You know your donors best. At some point, you just have to go for it.

(For the record, I coddled the dog and my husband gave him tough love. He’s a great dog.)