How deep a pit have you fallen into?

Is the sky falling on fundraisers?

According to quite a few sources, it might be.

Various polls have meaningful percentages of nonprofits experiencing much lower revenue in the last few months.

What they don't reveal is how many of those experiencing lost revenue are there because they aren't doing any fundraising?

It would be one thing if you were earnestly and competently doing fundraising, and donors just weren't responding. It's another thing entirely if you've gone silent on donors and they aren't giving.

So when you see the accounts of fundraising doom, ask how many of those doomed fundraisers are dooming themselves by not engaging with their donors.

Because those who are connecting with donors are doing very, very well right now. Donors are giving like it's some kind of Hyper-December.

The Passionate Giving Blog has a great take on this at Keeping the Glass Half Empty:

There’s a strong correlation between the financial struggle of the nonprofit and the lack of leadership in fundraising in that nonprofit. Virtually every situation where leadership stepped up and explained the need to their donors in a compelling and urgent way -- in every one of those situations the financial impact is minimal. Why? Because when donors truly understand what is needed, they’ll “save the day.”

No question, these are hard times: Revenue lost because of cancelled events is a problem -- though I've heard many stories of events that have gone "virtual" and did just fine. Lack of ticket sales is devastating many arts organizations.

But a lot of the suffering is self-imposed by organizations that have chosen silence and fear over connecting with wonderful donors who want to make a difference.

from Future Fundraising Now https://ift.tt/3eMHTZd