Potential backers refused to donate to a cause they assumed was led by someone who lacked the required skill set to effectively manage their money. However, the response to this from granting agencies wasn't positive it was the opposite, in fact. Yet the reality is that with fewer and fewer wealthy foundations and government agencies providing basic operating funding to non-profits, the need for successful strategies to help cover operations is more critical than ever.įunds generated for a specific cause - say, teaching literacy in inner-city neighbourhoods - will likely be wasted unless an organization has the appropriate leadership talent to ensure a program is executed effectively.Īs an example, a fundraiser recently told me about one Canadian charity that was celebrating the fact that it only paid its executive director $35,000 year. No one likes funding the very unsexy core expenses of an organization. This is not to say there are not issues with professional or outside fundraising.īut tarring everyone with the same brush can only lead to increased donor skepticism and the kind of economic populism that would have funds go directly to the cause, rather than to fund operational costs, a practice that comes with its own set of problems. What's more, if it weren't for professional fundraisers, many organizations would be without the kind of critical expertise many clearly need to avoid failed campaigns and wasted advocacy. That can reduce the start-up costs dramatically, a fact acknowledged by Revenue Canada in its guidelines.Īlso, according to the CBC article, the cost of professional fundraisers equaled 10 per cent of the funds raised over a recent one-year period by charities (well below the suggested limit by Revenue Canada of 35 per cent).īut when you look more closely at the period in question, 2004-2008, $35 billion was raised by Canadian charities and the percentage that was paid to professional fundraisers drops to below two per cent. (CBC graphic)Īs the Association of Professional Fundraisers points out on its web site, a one-year snapshot of some group's fundraising practice is not always a fair sample size.įor starters, many fundraising campaigns do poorly in the first year, but pay off in spades over a two- to three-year timeframe. In today's tougher economic environment, more charities, representing more causes, appear to be chasing fewer dollars.
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