4 Crucial Steps for Fundraisers Facing a Failure
By Abbie Fine
It happens to the best of us. Sometimes, even the most successful teams fail. Our development team doesn’t meet a fundraising goal, the organization has a budget deficit, doesn’t meet a stated impact goal, or a new hire, program, initiative etc., doesn’t work out as expected. As fundraisers, we are sometimes faced with a failure. Your reaction to it and what you do next is critical.
Here are four key steps to take when facing a failure:
1) Don’t Panic
If fundraisers and nonprofits always met our goals, that might indicate that we’re playing it too safe. We’re in this work to have an impact, and that means sometimes taking a calculated risk. When there’s a miss of some kind, trust yourself and your colleagues to navigate it, and trust that loyal partners will face this hurdle with you.
2) Analyze to Learn from the Setback
Now that you’re not panicking, you have space to really analyze how the failure occurred. It’s important not to stop the analysis at the first, most basic explanation. It’s tempting to do this because nonprofits are so busy, but persevere!
For example, don’t stop at, “We didn’t close the year in the black because the year-end campaign didn’t meet goal.” Dig deeper and ask:
● What are all the factors that contributed to not meeting the year end fundraising goal? Was it the staff time allocated, the messaging, the timing, or something else?
● Was the goal unrealistic and there’s actually an issue to be addressed in the overall budgeting process?
Work with colleagues and potentially key stakeholders to understand what really happened and why. Use your findings to refine your strategies for future success.
3) Find the Bright Side
Hint: the bright side is usually uncovered in your analysis!
“We didn’t make our goal for the end-of-year campaign, but we realized that we can tell our story better.”
“We didn’t make our impact goal yet, but we analyzed our program and have a plan to be more efficient in Q3 and Q4.”
“We had to pause that initiative when a key program staff resigned, but it allowed us to focus on having a greater impact in our core program where we served more constituents.”
Take what you’ve learned and turn it into positive action steps. Maintain a positive attitude and focus on the bigger picture. Resilience in the face of failure is crucial for long-term success.
4) Craft Honest Messaging for Stakeholders
You don’t have to broadcast every failure or setback to the whole world, but you do want to be transparent with key funding partners and stakeholders: your board, grant makers, major donors, and loyal members.
Be transparent about the failure and the causes, in general terms. Keep your donors, team, and stakeholders informed about your plans to address the challenges. Transparent communication builds trust and demonstrates your commitment to overcoming obstacles.
It doesn’t help the organization in the long-run to gloss over issues. Your donors are smart, and they will spot razzle dazzle. Funding partnerships rely on trust, and if you hide information, you risk breaking trust.
Share that you overestimated the number of new grants you would get this year. Then highlight the bright side and the plan of action: we’ve refined our projections process and we’re in discussion with a long-time grantor for additional funding this year.
Practice telling this story of what happened and the action steps. When it’s time to send in grant proposals or reports, or have that sit down to renew with a major donor, make sure you’re ready to address the failures, proactively. Being proactive will show your commitment to growth, to having a big impact.
That is worth investing in.
What if You Can’t Figure out What’s Going Wrong?
You can overcome challenges, but you don’t have to do it alone. You can always look for a partner in The Angeletti Group to help you make changes and avoid future failures.
If your development department has experienced recent setbacks and identifying the root causes proves difficult, a TAG Development Assessment can help. TAG can conduct a quantitative and qualitative comprehensive review of your program, and make recommendations on the best possible organization and approach.
Contact Abbie Fine if you’re interested in learning more.
