Choose your budget-cut battles wisely

Here's my column in this month's FundRaising Success magazine, Choose your budget-cut battles wisely.

Teaser: ... cuts to donor acquisition are why this recession is going to go on hurting many nonprofits for several years after the economy has recovered and giving is back on a growth path. Don't be one of those organizations that scrapes by and survives the recession, only to go under a year or two afterward because it made destructive cuts to its acquisition lifeline.

Comments

[Jeff Schreifels]

Jeff, another way to combat the slashers is to do an audit of your major donor program. From what I've seen with most MD programs,up to 80-90% of a major donor file is built by direct-response acquisition donors. Very simply, Development Directors should do a source check on their major donors and show their net-present value.

Additionally, many donors who become major donors also "recruit" other major donors and if you can show how these DR acquired donors also "recruited" MD's you can show a powerful case not to slash that budget.

Now, another way to appease the slashers during this down time, is to get the MD program in order. Most non-profits I've worked with have a lousy MD program and really don't have discipline nor a solid strategy in place.

I'm telling you, even in a down economy there is money out there on a non-profit's file just waiting for them...but they have no plan to get it.

If the MD house is in order, it can do a lot to keep the non-profit going during a rough time. And stop the slashers dead in their tracks.