There was a discussion recently on Pamela Grow’s Grantwriting blog about how program people and foundation staff don’t like to talk to fundraisers. Heidi Massey’s guest post got a lot of comments. She’s a program staff person who can’t stand to talk to fundraisers, and she’s met foundation staff who feel the same way.
This is ridiculous because fundraisers are there to help program staff get the money to do their job. And foundation staff would never find out about a nonprofit unless someone was acting in a fundraising capacity.
Why are fundraisers so hated? Because we have to talk to others and convince them to give to the cause? Because we seem fake if we’re trying to market the cause? Because we can seem out of touch with program realities?
If it weren’t for fundraising, we would not have the president! Barack Obama raised just under a billion dollars over two years. How did he do this? He hired fundraisers. He poured a lot of money into his campaign, and it gave him a lot of return. He got what he wanted. Until we have better campaign finance reform, fundraising is necessary for politics.
It’s also necessary for nonprofits to exist, period. Do you think it just happens by accident? Do you think fundraising is a necessary evil? If it weren’t for us, you wouldn’t have the money to do your programs. Is that what you want? Less resources? Or for the nonprofit to go out of business entirely? What’s the deal?
It may be overstating the obvious, but fundraising keeps you afloat. Like you, fundraisers have a hard job with little reward. If your fundraisers seem out of touch, then INFORM them how you would like to communicate. TELL them about programs. HELP them understand what it means to be a program staff person on a day to day basis. They’ll be happy to listen, and tell you about their reality too. Stop hiding yourself in your part of the building.
Fundraisers are there to build relationships, and that includes relationships with you. They really do want to talk with you. They believe in the mission too. You have things in common. Go out for coffee together. Tell them one thing that annoys you about them. Tell them one thing that you like. You’ll start to trust each other, and open some doors. If they are a good fundraiser, they are going to be open to building relationships with you. You can ask them for help with your programs, and they will ask you for help with theirs. You can both get a lot out of this relationship.
If you’re foundation staff and you’d rather not talk to fundraisers, then say you’d rather talk with program people and leave it at that. The fundraiser has plenty of other things to do.
Personally, I did not experience hostility from foundation staff, but I did experience some hostility from program staff at a former workplace. When programs are in a different place than fundraiser offices, it’s easy to lose track of what’s happening in the field or at another location. It’s easy to start to make assumptions about program staff, to have an “us versus them” mentality.
Quit it!
Start building trust! First of all, who is a person you trust? How did you build trust with them? Think of two more people. Then look at your nonprofit. How can you build trust with program staff or fundraising staff? Start to reach out.
Set up Systems for inter-organizational communication to help mitigate this gap. Do you have a system for communication in your organization? If not, why not?
What do you think?
Have you experienced hostility from program staff or foundation staff as a fundraiser?
How did you handle it?
Thanks for the post. It provides some great insight into some of the legitimate frustrations of being a fundraiser. Without a doubt, organizations cannot exist if they do not have the necessary funds. Fundraisers get organizations where they need to be. Incredibly important and difficult work.
Unfortunately, I think you have badly misinterpreted the post I wrote on Pamela Grow’s blog. (“She’s a program staff person who can’t stand to talk to fundraisers, and she’s met foundation staff who feel the same way.”)
I wrote it from a perspective of a program person, but then went on to say that I would guess that fundraisers have the same feelings and that none of us are doing things correctly. I used self deprecating humor and lots of irony to show that the statements were intended to be “tongue in cheek” I had no interest in placing blame, but in launching a conversation about the issue. It isn’t about blame. It is about communicating so that the organization functions at a higher level.
Dear Heidi,
I did have a strong reaction to what you wrote, and I am sorry if there was any misinterpretation.
If people are frustrated with fundraisers, they need to tell them. It’s all about communication, as you have related above.
Thanks so much for the clarification! I appreciate it!
Mazarine
Thanks for your response. Sorry you first read it as a “dis” of fundraisers. Not intended to be at any level. I am hoping you have had the opportunity to re-read it and to understand what was truly being said-that there is tension between the 2 groups of people. We need to begin the conversation because it is not taking place. And then we need to move on to working collaboratively for the benefit of the organizations.
It isn’t just “If people are frustrated with fundraisers, they need to tell them,” as you stated above in your response. That is definitely true but it isn’t the whole answer. What’s missing is that the same is true if fundraisers are frustrated with program pros. Both groups need to do more of the good stuff, like communicating, to facilitate higher functioning organizations. As long as the finger pointing and exclamations about what others need to do continues, nothing will improve. We need to move to higher level thinking which includes things like considering what differences in personality types make someone a great program planner or a great fundraiser. This will allow us to appreciate the differences and hopefully lead to respect and more opportunity for positive interactions.