Back in the day, we taught our donors to ask, “What percentage of my donation goes to the cause?” I say we taught them to ask that question because we as fundraising professionals thought that was a viable measure of good stewardship and we proactively promoted that measure. We plastered it on every annual report and direct mail piece we sent through the bulk mail machine. Truth be told, we even got a little competitive (and sometimes smug) with our fellow social profit organizations vying for the “best” donation to cause ratios. This was a widely accepted and applied measure of efficiency in the social profit sector.
More recent data from Stanford Social Innovation Review, Harvard Business, NY Times best-seller Forces for Good indicates this is a false measure. In fact, there is overwhelming evidence indicating this is a misleading and inaccurate measure of social profit effectiveness and yet….we continue to promote it to our donors and funders. In this era of ponzi scandals and social profit mismanagement horror stories, isn’t it more important than ever to be transparent with our donors?
Then why do we continue to perpetuate the myth of overhead ratios as a measure of effectiveness? After all if .95 cents of every dollar raised goes toward program fulfillment, but only 25% of your consumers make it through the program, that is far from being effective stewards of the dollars invested in our mission, yes? By contrast, I would rather invest in an organization where only .75 cents of every dollar goes toward program fulfillment, resulting in a 90% consumer program completion.
If we are really commited to generating breakthrough results in our communities and developing deep, meaningful partnerships with our donors and funders, it’s time to change the game. Why do we keep taking the same actions and expecting a different result? If we want different results, we need to take different actions.
Our cultural interpretation of the word unreasonable is generally not favorable. Look at Webster’s definition of the word and you can feel the judgmental reference to being irrational and inappropriate. Un⋅rea⋅son⋅a⋅ble –adjective 1. Not reasonable or rational; acting at variance with or contrary to reason; not guided by reason or sound judgment; irrational: an unreasonable person. 2. Not in accordance with practical realities, as attitude or behavior; inappropriate.
Today I had a wonderful telephone conversation with a delightful man and long-time major donor; let’s call him Eric. As an executive retiree, he presently heads his own private family foundation. We discussed his family philosophies on philanthropy and growing the next generation of community leadership. He shared some of his most memorable gifting experiences and the circumstances surrounding them. He told me what a blessing it has been for his family to share the rewards of his career with others. I confess, I was teary-eyed as I became present to his deep gratitude for the privilege to contribute to the lives of others. As I began to end the call, he asked me, “Tammy, is that all you called for?” I replied, “Yes, I just wanted to update you on our organization and thank you for all you’ve done. I look forward to visiting with you when you return home in the Spring”. He began to laugh; that deep under your breath laugh that only comes from a lifetime of experience. I convinced him to clue me in on the joke. You see Eric had done more than his fair share of volunteer fundraising. In his day, philanthropy was all about strong-arming the rolodex; people giving to friends and colleagues based more on an I-O-U system than a connection to the organization’s mission. He laughed when he said, “I know for a fact, people would see me coming and cross the street to get away from me because I asked for money everytime I spoke with people”. He added, “I’m glad to see some things have changed”. Eric made my day….and I may have brightened his day too. Watch the attached clip and decide what type of fundraiser you choose to be. I choose relationship fundraising.
When I introduce myself as a self-employed Fundraising Practitioner, I am frequently asked, “What does that mean?” I’d like to explain what a Fundraising Practitioner does and to do so, let me first explain what a Fundraising Practitioner doesn’t do. A Fundraising Practitioner doesn’t serve as a fundraising coach, trainer or consultant (although I have previously been employed in all three of these roles). 
