Give Fundraising
Researchers More Influence and More Credit
By Armando Zumaya
When I
started out in fundraising several decades ago, I learned how to do a balancing
act to make it on time when visiting a donor in a new city. I became skilled at
driving rental cars, reading maps, and avoiding hitting pedestrians all at the
same time.
These
days fundraisers on business trips always take a GPS to guide them to their
destinations.
But
they wouldn’t think twice about doing the equivalent of stuffing the GPS in the
glove compartment when it comes to finding donors: In too many fundraising
offices, the people who can help us find the most lucrative sources of reliable
donations are tucked away in the lowest spots on the organizational chart and
often are not given opportunities to interact with the development officers
they need to collaborate with, guide, and influence.
For
front-line fundraisers, it’s like driving around town in circles.
When
people in the development office see front-line fundraisers and prospect
researchers as different types of staff members, they make a mistake. Even
worse, some people don’t even think of researchers as fundraisers. They have missed
an essential point: When front-line fundraisers work closely with prospect
researchers, far more money flows into an organization. Prospect researchers
not only identify new donors who can give big but also know that many
supporters are capable of giving much more than they do.
It’s
time to change this situation and start valuing the person who finds a
potential gift with the same kind of compensation, stature, and leadership
opportunities as the person who asks for the money.
If a
prospect researcher identifies a person who gives $5-million, credit for that
gift should go to the researcher at least as much as to the major-gift
fundraiser. That’s often not easy for fundraising offices. But it’s possible to
create a system that can monitor just how much money flows into an institution
from people the researcher found out about. Salaries, performance bonuses, and
other rewards should flow from such a tracking system.
It’s
not just the computers that need to be programmed to provide proper credit.
Front-line fundraisers should always be willing to offer praise for their
partnership with a researcher who helped in landing a big gift.
Chief
development officers would also benefit from relying more heavily on
researchers for advice and demonstrating to the entire office how much they
value them. Advice from, and even debates with, my prospect researcher has
helped me raise millions of dollars.
When I
have been in leadership roles, I have often found that the best people to give
impartial, data-driven advice on any topic are those in prospect research and
management. They can tell me where the strengths and weaknesses are in the way
the organization is attracting money from foundations, individuals, and
corporations.
That’s
why every senior fundraising official would be wise to meet more regularly with
researchers to find out what they are learning and give them some say in which
fundraisers should be working with which potential big donors.
Too
often, opportunities for attracting new donors have died quiet deaths on a
front-line fundraiser’s desk. We all need to do better in deciding where to
invest the time of front-line officers. Relying on a researcher’s analysis of
who has the most potential to give the most is the best way to do that.
What’s
more, researchers also often know which front-line fundraisers are doing a
great job of building ties with potential donors or squandering opportunities
with a poor approach.
When I
am assisted by a strong researcher, I am totally prepared for a first visit
with a person who has the potential to give big sums. So often the prospective
supporter tells me, “You have done your research,” which means I am talking
about what that person cares about.
But
it’s not just front-line fundraisers and top development officials who need to
change. Prospect researchers themselves need to learn to step up to the
challenge and speak out for themselves more often and more loudly. By the
nature of their work, prospect researchers like to be behind the scenes. But
they must develop strong relationships with everyone in the development office
and speak up at meetings and other settings where they can influence their
peers.
In
today’s economy, in which fundraisers already have to work harder than ever to
attract gifts, we need to recognize the full value of every professional in the
development office. We need to create an environment in which everyone is held
accountable and everyone is recognized for the dollars he or she helped bring
in.
Don’t
leave out the people who know the directions to the destinations with the most
money for your nonprofit: the prospect researchers.
Armando Zumaya is vice
president for fund development at Bridge Housing, in San Francisco.
