Fundraising Handover Time
Changing Committee Chairs and finding volunteers at the start of the fundraising year is traditionally a volatile and uncertain time for fundraising committees. Energy that could be going into preparing the year’s program is diverted into worrying about setting up the committee, working out what happened last year, figuring out roles and responsibilities.
In short, many committees have to learn the same lessons every single year. Here are some ideas to help your committee get more organised and think long term:
• Build a strong and deep volunteer reserve force. Easier said than done, but the more professional looking and organised your operation is, the more likely people will want to be on board
• Seek a multi year commitment from your Chairperson. Some committees require the Chair to serve for two years – one year to learn the ropes under the guidance of the previous year, and one year to run the show whilst mentoring the next Chair.
• Document everything! No note or idea will be too small for future committees trying to get a picture of what your committee did and lessons you learned. Think of it as noting down for someone else the things you wish you knew when you started!
• Create a fundraising calendar which can be easily updated each year – include timelines for recruiting volunteers, running events, promotion and so on.
• Previous Chairs should try to be available to current Chairs for advice – though be careful not to take over.
In business they call this sort of thinking ‘retaining corporate knowledge’, and they do it because it means they can put all their energy into making money. Take a leaf out of this book – try and retain your corporate knowledge for future fundraising committees.
Mandy Stevens
Fundraising Directory
(c) Direct Digital 2011
