Before you fire your fundraiser, read this

Many charities are taking stock of their last fiscal year this week. And, if you are an Executive Director and your donations are down this year, you may be thinking about letting your fundraiser go. Here are some questions you should ask your fundraiser first –

What is the 3 year trend of donations for your charity? You are looking for – Does this year look like a blip or a trend?

What is the 3 year trend for NET revenue? Are donations down but is net revenue up?An explanation may be – If net revenue is up your fundraiser may be working smarter.

How many active donors (donor who has given within the last 12 month) has your charity had each year for the last 3 years? Donors are your building block for the future – If your number of active donors is increasing, this is important. 

What is your donor renewal rate each year for the last 3 years? What you are looking for – If this is sinking, that is as big (or bigger) a concern than revenue.

Here are 2 hard questions to ask yourself?

Did your fundraiser have an active hand in setting their target or did the fundraiser argue that the target was way too ambitious?

And, as the Executive Director, how much time each month do you spend on fundraising yourself? There is good research shows that a highly engaged Executive Director is directly related to fundraising success.

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