What to Do When Your Donor Dev/Comm Team Sounds Like Bilbo Baggins

Most development teams are doing an incredible amount of work… with way too few resources.

Is that your team?

While their efforts are admirable, even impressive, I find it utterly disheartening.

Because NP teams should not have to perpetually feel like Bilbo Baggins: “thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.”

Now, I can relate to this unfortunate butter-to-bread ratio. Back when I worked for NPs in-house, on staff, there were always more ideas for donor outreach than resources on hand to do them.

It was the definition of scarcity (resources) in the midst of plenty (options). So I tried to scrape the little bit of butter I had on hand over way too much bread. Which left our whole team worn out and discouraged. We tried to do a bit of this and that, as time and money allowed. We were definitely scrappy! But scrappy can only last so long and can only produce limited results without the traction gained from steady efforts.

Sure we knew how to save money being scrappy. But there’s a cost to spreading yourself too thin when it comes to donor engagement.

The real cost of trying to do it all?

Decision fatigue: Always second-guessing and flitting about because all the options are always on the table all the time.

Scattered results: Being busy isn’t the same as being effective.

Burnout: Working hard is discouraging when you always feel behind.

The solution isn’t doing more with less or making less stretch further. Your team needs a whole new way of approaching donor engagement that strips away the chaos and builds a highly customized framework that works for your team and your donors:

• A message that inspires donors & compels them to partnership

• A multi-layered segmentation approach that focuses efforts by donor audience, channel, & outreach

• A strategic annual communications plan & system to coordinate every donor journey

Helping teams customize and implement my signature framework is such a joy! Because it works. The chaos settles when teams know what to do—and what’s not worth their efforts. Freeing up time, resources, and effort for the donor engagement practices that truly work gives your team traction. No more scraping too little butter over too much bread.

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Ready for more? Here are two ways Erin can help you make your mission irresistible to donors:

1. Connect with me or follow me on LinkedIn.
Let’s talk all things in the NP realm, donor strategy ideas, and whatever catches our fancy.
 
2. Work with me.
I guide NP teams to fund their mission with effective, frenzy-free donor engagement strategies.
✴️ Donors fund irresistible missions… is yours?
Schedule your 15-minute Change Chat here; let’s see if we should work together!