Jim Langley

Fundraising Strategist | Unlocking Hidden Donor Potential | Major Gift Coach | Raiser's Edge Expert

View Amanda Smith, MBA, MPA, bCRE-PRO’s profile

The outcome of fundraising is public. The "Big Check" photo, the building dedication, the annual report numbers.
But the act of fundraising is quiet. And beautiful.
It’s the invisible work that happens when nobody is watching:
It’s the handwritten note sent just check in, with no ask attached.
It’s the 20 minutes spent listening to a donor talk about their grandchildren, just because you know it matters to them.
It’s the delicate care you take to spell a name right, to honor a memory, to get the details perfect.

This isn’t just "administrative work." It is the work of community building.

You aren't just raising money. You are weaving a safety net of relationships that holds your community together.
To every fundraiser finishing up a long week of "invisible work"—we see you. And it matters.

When You Need to Raise Money Fast

There's only one way.  Bring a stronger value proposition to donors with the deepest affiliation.  

The strongest of value propositions is how a higher level of support could advance a purpose they care most about.

Those with the deepest affiliation are:

🔸 Living donors who have already made estate commitments
🔸 Loyal donors of two decades or more, irrespective of amount given
🔸 Multiple major gift donors
🔸 Long-term employees

Yes, those people will be most receptive to anything you have to say but you will erode their trust and loyalty if you ask them for more support without a strong why.  Yes, some may respond if you say your organization is going through a hard patch but you'd better show how the additional support you are requesting from them could build a bridge to a brighter future.  Otherwise your request will come across as a bailout request for an organization with an increasingly untenable business model.  

Lots of organizations have tried to raise money fast by pouring out more requests, tasking their fundraisers to make more frequent and fervent calls, using every event and donor interaction to stress the organization's goals and needs, and by coming up with all sorts of schemes like trying to raise $25 million for your organization's 25th anniversary.  Not only do they not work, they repel donors.  Penelope Burk's research has shown that the primary reason for donor loss is "asking too often."  Those losses will be further accelerated if you ask too often without tying the requests to more clear, concrete and compelling mission delivery opportunities. 

While trying to raise money fast is usually unrealistic and unwise, advancement leaders need to show short-term results to buy themselves the time and credibility to build long-term relationships and the systems that will support them.  These same precepts apply.   You won't do yourself or your future any favors by trying to goose up results with gimmicks or greater gusto but by asking how you can take a stronger value proposition to your most connected constituents.

A remarkable act of philanthropy, both in volume and purpose. Community building should emerge as a great cause. 

https://lnkd.in/eG-jAubH

Open article: Glen Taylor commits $100 million to southern Minnesota philanthropy by philanthropynewsdigest.org

Glen Taylor commits $100 million to southern Minnesota philanthropy

Ah, if we could only grasp this.  So much time spent so unproductively in the name of "overhead."

Nobody wakes up excited to pay your electric bill.

Stop asking donors for "General Operating Support." It is the laziest ask in our industry.

The Fix:
Donors do not buy plane fuel; they buy the destination.
If you need $50k for operations, don't pitch the overhead. Pitch the result that the overhead enables.

Boring: "Help us keep the lights on."
Compelling: "Ensure no child is turned away this winter."

The money goes to the same bank account. But one pitch inspires, and the other feels like a tax.
Sell the vision. Spend the money where it is needed.

How do you frame "boring" needs to make them compelling?

How The Best Volunteers Evaluate Which Nonprofits to Serve 

Let us learn from a generous board member who I interviewed earlier this week for a feasibility study. Due largely to the financial success he had achieved, he was asked to serve on any number of nonprofit boards. Feeling grateful for his success and a call to civic duty, he agreed to serve on many. He came to realize it was too many. He decided to stay with those that “allowed me to use my head” and cut those “that only wanted my money.” The long list was cut to three that then benefitted quite handsomely from his more concentrated time and financial support.

Volunteers know when we want their talent and when we’re just humoring them to get their money. Our research continues to reveal that the most prized volunteers say, “They use too much of my time, and too little of my talent.” Given that volunteers contribute ten times more over their lifetimes than non-engaged donors, more effort needs to be given to identifying the talents your organization most needs and to ensuring talented people, once recruited, feel as if their time is being put to good use. The questions below, best administered in confidential polls or interviews, are a good way of making sure they are.

I am struck, in conducting donor interviews, how much volunteer talent many nonprofits have at their disposal yet put to little use. Why?

▫️ Do they not know how to assess talent?
▫️ Do they not know how to put it to good use?
▫️ Are they afraid of letting talented people in lest they look bad?
▫️ Are they afraid of volunteers meddling?
▫️ Why are they paying consultants so much "to meddle" but rebuffing volunteers with talents they can't afford?
▫️ Do they assume “volunteer = board member” not explore the many other ways of selectively tapping volunteer talent?
▫️ Do they think they need a lot of resources to manage volunteers?

It is a puzzlement. The upsides of creative, strategic volunteer engagement are far greater than the downsides and most nonprofits have significant gaps in their skillsets.

If you want money, put talent first. If you put money first, you will lose your best talent and your most likely source of generous, sustained support.

Leaders That the Nonprofit World Most Needs

We have too many nonprofit leaders who think their job is running an organization, often using the corporation as their model.

We have too few who see their role as that of a mayor of a village of shared purpose. 

Too few organizational leaders fail to realize the reason they're losing donors and failing to attract new ones is that they are asking more in financial support than they are providing in community.  

In this week's newsletter, I describe the attributes of the community builder - the mayor/leader.  Without more mayor/leaders no amount of traditional stewardship will work.   In such places, stewardship has become a bandaid that a single office tries to place on disenchanted or disaffected donors.  It won't stick no matter how good the staff might be.  

The newsletter is free.  To subscribe:  https://t.ly/bqoKF

The Far Side of Fundraising Tip of the Week

There's nothing purely good or purely bad about any technology.  Its use is determined by human intention.  

AI could be used to create a fearful monster or to develop stronger philanthropic partnerships.  What can each of us do to ensure that it is used to build stronger communities of shared purpose, not to exploit for purpose of meeting arbitrary. ego-driven numerical goals?

What 75 Years of Fundraising History Should Have Taught Us

If we step back from our day-to-day reactivity and look at all fundraising done by all organizations in the last 75 years, we see powerful lessons being taught. Yet all too rarely do we acknowledge them much less learn and apply them. 

I this week's newsletter I share the three big lessons that we've taught and still struggle to learn, and challenge the notion of being too busy to provide a meaningful experience for the "small donor". Bah, humbug.  

The newsletter is free.  To subscribe: https://t.ly/bqoKF

We're Losing Our Best Fundraisers

Louis says:

The best fundraising organizations I've seen:
• Include fundraisers in strategic planning
• Invest in professional development
• Create ethical frameworks for fundraising practices
• Measure relationship-building alongside revenue
• Build cultures where fundraisers are valued as mission-critical

Relationships, Powered by Intelligence 💡

We're losing our best fundraisers.

The data is alarming:
• 51% plan to leave their current role within 2 years
• 30% plan to leave fundraising entirely
• Average tenure for a development director: 16 months

The real reasons they're leaving (it's not just salary):

Unrealistic expectations
• Pressure to raise more with fewer resources
• Metrics disconnected from relationship building
• Expected to be "miracle workers" without support

Lack of professional respect
• Excluded from strategic decisions
• Treated as "necessary evil" rather than mission-critical
• Limited growth and advancement opportunities

Moral conflicts
• Pushed to use tactics that feel manipulative
• Forced to prioritize dollars over relationships
• Required to implement short-term strategies that harm long-term success

The best fundraising organizations I've seen:
• Include fundraisers in strategic planning
• Invest in professional development
• Create ethical frameworks for fundraising practices
• Measure relationship-building alongside revenue
• Build cultures where fundraisers are valued as mission-critical

What would make you stay in (or leave) the fundraising profession?

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