Why You Must Keep Learning as a Fundraiser: If You’re Not Growing, You’re Dying

Many nonprofit professionals tell me they can’t afford to attend fundraising conferences, workshops, or trainings. My response is, you can’t afford not to… literally.

While some national and international conferences may be out of reach (in terms of budget) for many professionals, there are plenty of local and online trainings which are affordable.

Fundraising Learning Opportunities Are Essential

The tips, best practices, and new ideas you learn at a fundraising training should be worth the price of admission. If you only pick up one new idea which helps you raise a small amount more in the coming weeks, months, and years, it should be a positive return on your investment.

If you’re not growing, you’re dying.

As the popular expression goes, if you’re not growing, you’re dying.

Successful fundraising relies on keeping up with best practices, trying new technologies, and experimenting to learn what works with your donors. The best place to expose yourself to new and time-tested ideas is at a conference or training.

And if your annual fundraising isn’t growing, it’s shrinking. That’s likely to be the case if you’re not applying new ideas, techniques, and best practices every year.

Recently I worked with a client at an organization that’s raising less and less each year. The development staff members had no idea why. It turns out, their donor retention rate is well below the national average.

More specifically, they are losing up to 80% of their donors each year, and they have no idea. If they had been to almost any fundraising conference in the last 5 years, they would have heard about donor retention rates and had some ideas about how to stop the hemorrhaging.

Ignorance is NOT bliss.

In the world of fundraising (and most other fields), knowledge is power. You are unlikely to become a better fundraiser without investing in continuing education.

As Adrian Sargeant likes to say (and I’m paraphrasing here… badly):

Many organizations are afraid to invest in their development staff for fear they will outgrow the organization and leave with their newfound knowledge and skills. Yet consider the alternative — what if we don’t invest in them and they decide to stay?!!!”

37,000 Reasons to Keep Learning as a Fundraising Professional

A few years back, I partnered with Dr. Adrian Sargeant, probably the most respected and well known researcher in our field. We conducted a formal research story and surveyed over 700 nonprofits (get the full report here).

Our research showed that continuing education and training had a direct correlation with an additional $37,000 raised (on average) at each organization. Incredible, right?

The researchers and statisticians couldn’t believe what they were seeing, so they ran test after test and found correlation after correlation linking fundraising training directly to increased fundraising revenue.

So you can see why continuing to learn in our field is so important.

Case In Point — My Learning Opportunities

Next week I’ll be speaking at Congress, Canada’s National AFP Conference. I’ll be speaking about How to Raise Major Gifts, as well as on the 6 Tools You Need to Lead a Successful Capital Campaign.

(Side note — if you’re interested in really learning the nuts and bolts of raising major gifts, take a look at my 7-week online course, Mastering Major Gifts.)

Not only will I be speaking, but I’ll be attending a number of sessions as well. There are so many great ones to choose from, it’s hard to pick. As of now, here are the sessions I’ll be attending at Congress:

Monday, November 25

11:00 – Coaching Staff to Ask the Right Questions (Bill Bartolini)

2:00 – How to Raise Major Gifts (yours truly)

4:00 – I can’t decide between several sessions, but the two calling my name are:

1. Challenging Othering: How to Navigate this Emerging Trend (Agapi Gessesse and Farheen Khan)
2. Everything we know about Fundraising is (mostly) wrong (Steve MacLaughlin)

Tuesday, November 26

9:00 – Considering a Capital Campaign? 6 Tools You Need to Succeed (yours truly)

11:00 – Can You Say 90% Open Rate? Adventures in Text Fundraising (David Smith and Rachel Zant)

1:00 – Luncheon Keynote (Kishshana Palmer)

See? These are just a fraction of the many growth and learning opportunities that await you at Congress and at other conferences in our sector.

So Will I See You at Congress or Another Conference?

Let me know in the comments below if I will see you at Congress or another fundraising conference this year. If so, I look forward to meeting you!

Not sure which conference or training session to attend?

Check out your local AFP (Association of Fundraising Professionals) Chapter and start investing in yourself and your organization. Don’t miss out on the chance to keep growing.