When Fundraisers Lose Control

Don't rely on a single person. When all else fails, at least you still have your website, right? But what if you need to make a quick change, or you want to tweak your donation page to mention current needs given a weather-related situation, for example? If only one person can make that change, you better hope he or she is immune to every disease, hates time off and can work remotely from anywhere. Far better than relying on this super-employee, know everyone who can make the updates, how to reach them and who to call next if one isn't available. Your online presence is too important to not insist on cross-training.

Schedule your acquisition activities carefully. While you can't guarantee that nothing will go wrong, mailing your one acquisition appeal a year during the snowiest month in your region may be a gamble. An event that is designed to attract new donors that happens on the same day as the "big game" may not be exciting enough to overcome the halftime show. While some things are hard to plan around, other events that drain people's attention are scheduled well in advance. Pay attention to what is going on around you, and try to limit the competition for people's attention when you are hoping to show them why your organization is worthy of their support.

Monitor delivery of mail. Make sure every mailing you send out is "seeded" with names and addresses of people who will report to you when it is delivered. There are also services like U.S. Monitor that you can contract with to provide seed names and monitor delivery to these decoys. Knowing when your mailing was received — not just mailed — can prevent a lot of stress when income seems to be coming in more slowly than anticipated and can tell you if another form of communication would be wise. For example, if a mailing is delayed to one region, can you quickly send an email?