How Much is Too Much?

Do you worry about keeping your fundraising costs low?  Rescigno’s understands. It’s an easy trap to fall into.

If this worry is causing your development department to think and act as a cost center instead of the profit center it’s supposed to be, I invite you to consider the following:

Money that you spend on fundraising brings in more money and more money spent on fundraising should also bring in even more money.  Will this approach add cost? Yes, but it’s a cost that’s an investment driving even more revenue.

You can’t save your way into an extra million dollars in  the budget by spending as little as possible. You generate a bigger budget by increasing your budget.

Is there some unnecessary spending at your organization? Probably. But that doesn’t mean it’s due to reckless spending on the part of the development office.

I’ve told the story before of the executive director of a community college who was very proud of how little her school spends on fundraising. They do run a tight ship and that’s good. They’re certainly efficient. However, what this ED failed to see is that she was severely hampering her organization’s future growth.

This school only does one appeal a year. So, only one ask. They do no newsletter and send out a cursory digital impact report. Did I forget to mention that she is a one-person shop by design?

It makes me wonder: what if she could take some of the cash reserves she bragged about having and hired someone to help her out with the data or marketing or annual giving or………….you get the idea.

I’ll bet that would free her up to do more major gift fundraising or retaining more donors or acquiring more.

There’s a key point to appreciate here: investing in fundraising is investing in more revenue, which means more ability to advance the mission of the organization you work for.  

This kind of thinking may require a mindset shift at your organization. If that’s the case, let’s talk about what a responsible investment would look like.

Contact Ron at ron@rescignos.com.