A few weeks ago, I received an email from a former colleague and friend. She asked me if I would consider leading a session about how to stay motivated at an upcoming staff retreat she was organizing for fundraisers.
My first thought was, “I don’t know what to say.” I sat with this thought for a while. It made me uncomfortable. This answer was probably not what she was looking for but it did prompt me to think about why it was my first response. I, like many of us, was struggling with motivation. And the reason was because I was tired. The more I thought about, the more I realized how significant a factor fundraising fatigue has become in our current environment. Let’s break it down:
Fundraising is already a hard job with a lot of churn. It’s a numbers game: the more people you ask to give, the more money you raise. Simple, right? But over time, this continued activity can be tiring. And when you add in factors like leadership changes, limited resources, and too few staff, exhaustion can quickly set in. Layer over that the very real stressors caused by the pandemic and fatigue kicks in or increases.
Here are a few way to fight fatigue:
1. Talk about it
We do ourselves a disservice when we gloss over how we feel in these challenging times. Fundraising is hard—meeting fundraising goals can be the difference between having sufficient resources to offer scholarships to students in need or being able to fully serve a vulnerable population. That’s a big load to carry, especially now. Take a moment to acknowledge this with colleagues. Ideally, managers and leaders are empathetic and can engage staff in conversation about these real challenges.
2. Urgent versus important
One of the greatest lessons I learned from a supervisor a number of years ago was to clearly distinguish between urgent and important. They are not the same. Urgent tasks are those that MUST happen: gift processing, gift thank you notes, executing a solicitation that is scheduled. Important things are just that— important, but not as timely as urgent matters. I encourage you to think critically about what is absolutely urgent. What must get done today in order to raise money and move key relationships forward? Write those tasks down and put all of your energy into completing them. Use the Pomodoro method to keep yourself on track. Don’t let those tasks drop.
Assess your bandwidth once you complete those urgent tasks. Should something from the important column move over to the urgent one? Can you break down an important task into pieces and complete one of those pieces? Calls and emails to set up meetings with donors and prospects are a great example. Break that task down into three steps: 1. Gather all the names and contact information, 2. Draft a message, 3. Personalize each note, enter in contact information and hit send or make the call. I find that just making a list of people to contact makes the task seem much more manageable
3. Don’t attempt to control what you can’t control
I often hear from clients that they could raise more money if they only had a printed annual report to give to a donor or a video to highlight their programs.. What do you have that you can utilize? You need to make do with what you have and mentally eliminate those perceived deficits. Reframe the narrative and develop a list of assets at your disposal. Think about what you can do, rather than what you can’t do. Many of my clients are effectively engaging donors and prospects through longer, more personal conversations over Zoom. Pre-pandemic it could be hard to pin down busy donors and prospects. That is a bit easier these days. Use the opportunity.
I invite you to share your experiences with fundraising fatigue and any strategies you employ to manage it. Don’t hesitate to reach out.