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Transforming Fundraising
by Judith E. Nichols
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Reprinted by permission of Jossey-Bass, a company of John Wiley & Sons. |
When Does Conducting a Development Assessment Make Most Sense?
Just as a not-for-profit organization should conduct overall strategic planning every few years, it should carry out development assessments on a regular basis to help everyone involved understand both the history and the potential of the fundraising program. A full review should be done every three to five years.
Although there’s never a wrong time to step back from your day-to-day activities and look at the larger picture, there are some particular moments that might trigger a need for a development assessment. It is especially helpful to get "out of the box" when
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WHERE TO OBTAIN THIS ITEM Jossey-Bass Customer Service 350 Sansome Street San Francisco, Calif. 94104 Local phone: (415) 433-1740 Fax: (415) 433-0499 Toll-free phone: (800) 956-7739 Toll-free fax: (800) 605-2665 Web site: http://www.jbp.com To purchase this item online, choose a bookseller:
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- The organization needs to hire a new development officer and wants a clear understanding of what can be accomplished in fundraising, how it can best be done, and what the costs and the time commitments will be to do it.
- The development officer is new to the organization and, before plunging into the day-to-day fundraising, wants all parties to have a clear understanding of what can be accomplished in fundraising, how it can best be done, and what the costs and the time commitments will be to do it.
- The organization has reached a plateau in its current fundraising efforts and wants to move to the next level of achievement; before this can happen, all parties need a clear understanding of what can be accomplished in fundraising, how it can best be done, and what the costs and the time commitments will be to do it.
- The organization has reached the end of a strategic planning cycle that resulted in recommendations for several new programs; before launching the new programs or launching into another planning cycle, it wants to assess the current programs.
- Those associated with the organization believe that the current fundraising is far from its potential capacity, and they want to conduct an assessment to analyze the areas of potential.
- The organization has several development divisions within a larger development office; the larger development office will not undertake a complete assessment for some time but wants to assess the programs in one area of responsibility.
- The organization has a new executive director, or CEO, who is urging different fundraising programs; before the board and staff make decisions to change programs, the organization conducts an assessment to evaluate what is currently working well.
- The organization’s funding from sources such as government and United Way is shifting, and the leadership wants an assessment to identify new sources to make up for potential shortfalls.
By opening up a dialogue among key players and structuring information gathering for more accurate decision making, the Development Assessment Process encourages staff and volunteers to take an active role in development planning. The assessment provides a pragmatic analysis of the organization’s development strategy. The objective is to gather unbiased information. The goal is to dramatically increase fundraising results.
A development assessment can take as little as four weeks to complete, but twelve weeks is a more realistic timeline -- especially if this is your first attempt. During this period you prepare the personalized assessment survey, gather the information using the survey, review the materials, and hold on-site meetings (both one-on-one and in groups) and telephone meetings with key staff, volunteers, donors, and members of the community who are involved in the program or influential in the community. Once the background materials have been gathered and evaluated and the necessary interviews held, a written analysis is prepared. The analysis defines the key areas of concern, the roles of volunteers and staff, and the priorities for implementation and recommends a timeline for achievement within the context of realistic, yet challenging, goal setting.
In addition to analyzing the fundraising strategy, the assessment should review and recommend needed infrastructural steps and examine image building, public relations, donor constituency relations, community outreach, and fundraising, sponsorship, and promotional opportunities if relevant.
Again, the goal is to provide specific recommendations that can be logically incorporated into current operations.
A development assessment helps your organization maximize its fund development efforts in three major ways:
- It evaluates what the organization is currently doing and what competition the organization faces in generating financial support.
- It realistically assesses the organization’s potential for generating financial support from different audiences.
- It suggests strategic steps and tools to solicit financial support cost effectively from the identified target audiences.
The development assessment focuses on fundraising. It does not do a thorough management analysis of the not-for-profit, nor does it do a study on the actual function of the service(s) the organization delivers. It will measure public perception and donor perception of the function and management of the organization as well as internal perception of the fundraising operation.
Many development assessments are conducted by consultants. This is often the case in larger organizations such as colleges and universities, where the process involves a number of fundraising departments and requires a commitment of time that a staff person cannot give. Sometimes it might be politically advisable to use an outsider—for example, if the head of fundraising is leaving and the assessment recommendations are needed in looking for a replacement, or if the director of development is suspected to be the problem.
But, especially if your not-for-profit is smaller, has a tight budget, or has strong leadership, conducting the assessment yourself can be extremely satisfactory. Once an organization is committed to this internal approach, it must determine who will guide the effort. Although input from numerous parties is vital, one individual must be in charge and ultimately have the responsibility for making -- and defending -- the assessment’s recommendations.
The Role of the Assessment Coordinator
Chances are that you will serve as the assessment coordinator. Typically, the assessment coordinator is the staff person in charge of fundraising at the organization. The coordinator will most likely have the title of director of development, director of fund development, development coordinator, or director of fundraising or a variation on these titles. If a not-for-profit does not have a paid staff position devoted to fundraising, the assessment coordinator should be the individual who currently has the responsibility for coordinating fund development efforts. In many smaller or grassroots charities, this person will be the executive director. Occasionally this person will be a volunteer.
The assessment coordinator is responsible for preparing and conducting the development assessment survey. The responsibilities include all the elements mentioned earlier:
- Collecting the requested internal data
- Seeking out the necessary demographic data
- Conducting one-on-one interviews with key staff, board members, volunteers, donors, and members
- Facilitating focus group meetings with key members of the greater community
- Reviewing and analyzing the written materials gathered for the survey
- Reviewing and analyzing the input from participants in the interviews and focus groups
- Creating the written report
- Facilitating board and staff meetings and retreats to conduct a dialogue about the assessment’s findings
- Carrying out the specific recommendations of the report
- Preparing ongoing evaluations of progress toward development goals and objectives
Conducting a development assessment requires a major commitment of time and energy. Unless the organization’s leadership truly buys in to the process and is willing to accept the trade-offs involved (for example, the assessment coordinator will have to limit other activities while the assessment is underway), there is a strong possibility that the coordinator will find himself or herself caught between responsibilities. For that reason, it is imperative that gatekeepers have true understanding and full buy-in.