To really inspire your supporters, you should be putting your best people forward – so why not put your most experienced fundraisers on the front line where they can directly connect with supporters? Richard Turner of SolarAid explains.
It's time for a paradigm shift in fundraising. A different way to look at the world as a senior fundraiser: from the front!
Professional fundraising has developed as an accepted career over the last 30 years. It's not unusual to find fundraisers with 20 years' experience or more. The traditional, upward career path sees fundraisers become fundraising directors, with responsibility for managing ever-growing teams.
I recently found myself joining two peers — both directors of fundraising for impressive charities — over a drink. I noted that most of their discussion was about staffing, recruitment, and performance. These were the issues at the forefront of their minds. And so they should be. They are time consuming. But it doesn't leave them a lot of time for fundraising.
Getting fundraisers back to basics
I would like to suggest an alternative; one that is so appropriate for the time. Why not put your most experienced fundraisers on the front line? This would enable them to use their skills and experience to engage supporters, removing the burden of management and freeing them up to focus purely on fundraising, paying them in accordance with their experience. It's commonplace in other sectors — think doctors and pilots — where management is often separated out.
This is what we have done at SolarAid. I am now 'chief fundraiser'. I have no line reports. With no one-on-ones, appraisals, or recruitment to handle, I have space to think about prospects and donors. Here on the front line, I can scout out opportunities. I can also better support others in a coaching and mentoring role. In return I have fantastic support, which allows me to remain customer facing.
When it comes to developing donor relationships, it means I can focus on the small details that really make the difference. I'm using my 25 years of experience to its best. Believe me, it works like a dream.
Roll with the changes
Why is this so important and relevant now? Well, in case you haven't noticed, the world has changed. Marketing is no longer about shouting about your cause. It's what your customers say about you. So, you need to build an extended fundraising department that includes your supporters; supporters who are willing to advocate on your behalf. I'm not just talking about community fundraising. I'm talking about every area: major giving, trusts, even acquisition. It's your supporters who have the social capital that provides that essential ingredient needed to open doors: trust.
To inspire those supporters and lead the way, you should put your best and most experienced people forward. Why? Because they will have the instinct for fundraising that comes only from experience, and the influence among colleagues that comes out of respect for their track record.
For large organisations, such a structure could be ideal for those major appeals that cut across teams, with a fundraiser who is free to make it so. For smaller organisations, it could shape your entire fundraising team — align management with another role, and assign support functions to help make the most of your experienced fundraisers. These support functions could in turn learn the craft to take over in the future.
Now we have a career choice within fundraising. Do you want to be great at managing, or great at fundraising? I know which I prefer.
Richard Turner is chief fundraiser at SolarAid.
