Avoid the ‘Also-ran’ Trap

As a fundraising consultant, I tend to get the same requests for advice. That’s understandable when they pertain to:

• How can we increase our income from UK donors?
• Could you guide us in arranging a fundraising event in London?
• Please write up a fundraising strategy, advise us on the ‘fund ability’ of our proposal, guide us on setting up a powerful crowdfunding campaign – all the standard requests.

However, it disturbs me when I get a flurry of similar requests from clients wanting my paid advice, around the same time. They can be relied on:

• How can we increase our income from Giving Tuesday?
• How can we ‘get in’ with The Big Give?
• How can we motivate individual donors to give more at Christmas? Why the also-ran? Why jump on the same bandwagon? Surely it’s time for innovation? I am on an inordinate number of non-profits’ mailing lists and receive the usual deluge of emailed requests for funding. I should unsubscribe but I don’t as I feel it to be important to know what charities are sending to people. Winning organisations set trends. They don’t follow them. And, when others follow, they’re ahead and implementing new innovative ideas, even though these too will be copied.

I’d love to receive requests for consulting time on topics such as:

• I’d like to discuss our new concept.
• I’d like to share our idea, which we hope is legal.
• We have secured the support of a celeb and need your guidance on how to maximise this relationship.

Hope springs eternal…