Columns partners Mark Wilkison and Wes Wicker joined host John Ray on North Fulton Business Radio X here in the Atlanta area to discuss nonprofits and nonprofit fundraising. They shared the needs they see when they engage with a client, some of the common issues nonprofits face, the state of giving in the current economic climate, and much more.
If you’d like to listen to the conversation, you will find the podcast here.
A valid criticism leveled at nonprofit organizations is their inability to keep professional staff. Indeed, development officers come and go so quickly, it’s difficult to establish meaningful relationships with a nonprofit when the faces are constantly changing.
When our firm begins a relationship with a new or prospective client, we often hear the same things over and over again from the staff of a non-profit organization. These include: “Our board members don’t attend meetings. Our board members are not engaged. Our board members don’t give to the organization. “ Conversely, from Board members we often hear: “I love the organization, but I’m not sure what they expect of me.” And, “I don’t know my terms of service. I don’t know how many times I can be (or have been) re-elected. I was asked to join the board, but no one told us how long we’d be on it.” A mutually enjoyable board-level relationship begins in the very first conversation about service. Here are five simple items the potential Board nominee and staff should discuss:
Our Message: Don’t Stop Fundraising // If you’re over 60 years old, you’ve lived and worked through five economic recessions, Black Friday in 1987, the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, the sub-prime mortgage real estate crash and the subsequent Great Recession of 2007-2009. Yet, most of our workforce in Georgia, and throughout the nation, is under 50 years old and they have only experienced 9/11 and the Great Recession.