Be honest: of all the responsibilities you have as a fundraiser, some are more exciting or fulfilling than others, right?
Cleaning up your donor database, sending tax letters and writing gift policies aren’t the type of things that get you out of bed in the morning, are they?
When we think about fundraising – and why we got into the profession –it’s all about our passion for an important mission, doing work for a cause that matters, building relationships with others who care and inspiring people to give (and give again).
We don’t generally pine for the administrative or technical tasks!
As fundraisers, we all know that raising money for our organizations is both an art AND a science. The science comes in the form of infrastructure, best practices, routines and consistency. The art, of course, is building relationships and harnessing passion and empathy to inspire others.
As the team at Raising Momentum reflects on launching a new platform, designed to help fundraisers identify the foundations that need reinforcing so they can sustain higher level fundraising strategies, these are exactly the things we will focus on.
Building a foundation might not be the most fun, but it’s the building block to raising momentum toward mission fulfillment.
Our orgs’ infrastructure – things like gift policies and procedures, budgets and financial planning, and technology (including our donor database and our strategies for maximizing its use) – are fundamentals of any program that need to be in place in order for anything else to stand on top of it, including campaigns, repeat giving, communications and marketing, and hiring and retaining staff.
When one fundamental is missing – like a brick within the base of a home – the whole thing can fall apart! That makes building those foundations one of the most important things you can do to strengthen your fundraising program.
The good thing? Many of the above are transactional functions: they are one and – for the most part – done (other than some regular review and updating, of course). They aren’t ongoing. Check ‘em off the list and move on to the transformational strategies!
And the best thing of all? Raising Momentum is launching a new tool called RM Propel that includes a comprehensive Fundraising Health Assessment that can “diagnose” your needs, as well as a library of customizable templates you can use (instead of re-creating the wheel) to check many fundamental best practices off your list!
It just takes intentionality to get them done, then you’ll be on your way to changing the world!
How can we help?
Contact us now to learn more about how to access our online membership service, RM Propel, as well as the other consulting and coaching services Raising Momentum offers!
