Occasionally I like to share different perspectives on my blog. For this post, I connected with Canadian colleague Larissa Stoddart, Founder and CEO of Growth & Co., for her insights on effective nonprofit leadership.
Executive Director and Development Director: A Critical Relationship
AE: Larissa, let’s start with a relatively easy topic. Why are the interactions between the Executive Director and Development Director so critical?
LS: Fundraising success is dependent on a variety of people filling various roles. Board Directors, Executive Directors, fundraising staff, and donors all play a part in encouraging philanthropy for the organization.
The Development Director and the Executive Director play the two most active roles in raising money. The fundraiser creates and executes the fundraising plan, and the Executive Director supports them in that effort. Fundraising success will not be possible without clear and supportive communication between the two.
AE: I agree. Good communication between the ED and DOD is critical for fundraising success. What is the ED’s biggest hurdle when managing and supporting fundraising staff?
LS: Many Executive Directors I work with ask how to guide, support, and monitor fundraising activities and performance. Often, they have little or no fundraising experience.
In my experience, ED’s worry that some critical tasks are not occurring, but they are unsure which ones because they don’t know what to look for. They want their organization to raise more revenue without requiring intensive amounts of time so they can focus on oversight for the entire organization.
By learning about their role in fundraising, what they should monitor, and how they should monitor it, they can more easily lead the organization to raise more money.
AE: Yes. The ED plays a critical role in fundraising and the more they know, the better. I encourage ED’s to take at least one course or attend a fundraising conference each year.
The Role of the Executive Director in Fundraising
AE: What are the responsibilities of the Executive Director related to fundraising?
LS: The Executive Director’s overall role is to build a culture that values philanthropy at the organization and enables the fundraiser to be successful in their work. Leaders can do this by:
- Ensuring their organization offers meaningful programs or services, is financially stable, and has a strong reputation
- Acting as a fundraising ambassador by engaging staff, volunteers, boards, members, and partners in the philanthropic culture
- Considering fundraising when making organizational decisions
- Understanding fundraising basics to either execute (for small teams) or evaluate and oversee (for large teams)
- Ensuring fundraising staff have the tools and support required to do the work
- Actively participating in major gift solicitations and other fundraising initiatives when appropriate
- Finding experts to advise on complex fundraising nuances
- Ensuring that fundraising operating procedures are documented to ease future staffing transitions
AE: Yes, I love this list. What else do you think an ED needs to consider to be successful?
LS: The Executive Director also needs to evaluate their relationship with money. Do they believe there is an abundance of wealth available to the organization? Or do they believe there is a scarcity of wealth that potential donors will not readily give? A leader’s relationship with money will impact their view of fundraising and their approach to donors, for better or worse.
Signs of an Efficient and Effective Fundraising Operation
AE: Aside from how much money is being raised, what else should an Executive Director look for when overseeing their fundraising operation?
LS: Every fundraising department, regardless of size, needs a few foundational elements to make it efficient and effective.
1. Annual Assessment
An audit is an annual assessment of how your fundraising is performing. It assesses all components of fundraising operations:
- management and planning
- human resources
- the Case for Support
- information management
- prospect research
- how relationships with donors are built and maintained
- and what fundraising strategies are used to ask for money
An audit provides a performance baseline to measure progress and create a fundraising plan.
2. Fundraising Plan
The fundraising plan addresses challenges observed in the audit and outlines to fundraising staff members what to do and when. It includes financial and non-financial goals, diverse strategies, deadlines to complete tasks, and budget assigned to tasks. The plan also outlines how the department will be managed and how the knowledge and abilities of the team will be built.
3. Case for Support
The Executive Director should also support the fundraising team in creating and updating a Case for Support. The Case is a document that outlines to donors the impact the organization is making on people and how much money is needed to make that impact possible. This document forms the basis of all other fundraising communication, is aligned with the strategic plan, and provides the fundraiser with clarity on what to ask donors to fund.
The fundraising staff can complete the fundraising audit, plan, and Case for Support with the proper training and support or you can hire an external firm to complete this work for you.
Monitoring Progress with Development Staff
AE: As the organization’s leader with many responsibilities outside of fundraising, what specific things should the Executive Director focus on in regular discussions with their fundraising staff?
LS: Monitoring progress and supporting fundraising staff with moving fundraising plans forward is essential.
A leader can do this by setting weekly meetings focusing on progress towards goals in the fundraising plan. An agenda should include the following items:
- Discuss and celebrate progress on fundraising plan goals
- Review reports/CRM dashboards based on plan goals (number of donors gained, number of donors lost, number of meetings attended, amount of money raised, etc.)
- Discuss roadblocks to meeting fundraising plan goals
- Celebrate wins including progress on the plan that isn’t money related
- Provide feedback on fundraiser performance
- Determine the support fundraising staff require from Executive Director
- Agree to the following actions required to remove roadblocks to further progress
By holding regular meetings as outlined above, Executive Directors can focus their efforts on issues that will raise more money for the organization.
AE: That seems like an ambitious agenda for each week, but I agree that they are all good components of a regular review meeting.
My thanks to Larissa Stoddart for her time and insights. For more information, feel free to reach out to Larissa on LinkedIn or through her website.
Leave a Comment