On asking my advice about pretty much anything, everyone I coach has to wrestle with this response:
“What does success look like?!”
Those I’ve coached for a while will sometimes ask me a question and then immediately say “I know what you’re going to say: what does success look like?”
Q: So why do I think this is the key question?
A: Considering the bigger goal raises our sights out of the immediate situation we are wading through, directing us towards our intended destination.
For example, an organisation I was working with were organising their annual donor stewardship event. It’s a fixture in the calendar, it’s well-attended and it works well.
The fundraiser I was coaching wanted help to draft the invite and running order for the event.
Instead of jumping into the task, I offered my awkward, big-picture question! Their first response was spiky; the gist was ‘that’s not what I asked, that doesn’t help me get this task done, that’s not even my area to comment on!’
However, when I cajoled them into answering the question anyway, it was enlightening; they realised that they did know the answer – ‘success’ was to get the donors along who don’t come to this event, with a particular focus on lapsed donors.
This focused our efforts on using the invitation and the content of the event to entice the harder-to-reach to come this year. We also added other steps, knowing that an invitation alone would not secure their attendance.
The result was impressive; 5 lapsed donors and 8 donors who had never attended before came. 3 of the lapsed donors then reinstated their gifts.
We face multiple tasks every day. Sometimes the tasks must just be done and no strategic thinking is required, but even then, it’s important to keep an eye on “what success looks like”.
Let’s take 3 common “get it done” tasks that come up:
1. Sign Christmas cards to all your donors
2. Deliver an event that goes smoothly
3. Offer a volunteering opportunity out to existing and prospective volunteers
1. Christmas cards: what does success look like?
We don’t often ask that question when faced with a task like signing Christmas cards, but if you think about the effort you invest and then contrast it to the experience of the person receiving your card, you might question why you bother. Therefore, this question is vital.
My own answer to the ‘success’ question is that it moves the relationship forward, for example, you secure a long-overdue face-to-face meeting with a donor or one of your devoted donors is moved by the stewardship you include.
Counterintuitively, a task like signing Christmas cards requires significantly more thought and time to make it worth doing at all i.e. if you’re just going to sign your name at the bottom of the Christmas card, do you think it would make any difference if you didn’t send one at all?
2. Delivering a ‘smooth’ event: what does success look like?
With a task like delivering an event, it is usual to apply a very logistics-focused lens i.e. success is guests come, the food arrives, the tech works and the timing and content goes to plan.
I challenge this focus to ask:
- why we are having the event in the first place?
- What ‘wins’ we want this event to precipitate over the next 6 months?
If you are hosting an event, there will be a capital cost, a staff cost and therefore an opportunity cost. For that reason, you need to know that the event will:
- Introduce you to new donors,
- Inspire your existing donors to keep or increase giving
- Bring new people into your orbit who you couldn’t reach otherwise.
Once you know what success looks like, you can outline how you will measure the return on investment, and you will have an event that drives your agenda forward.
3. Telling volunteers about a volunteering opportunity: what does success look like?
With this kind of task, we might prioritise simply finding enough people to take on the task.
However, volunteering opportunities are a powerful way to bring people closer to your cause, to show them your impact and inspire them to get more involved. Therefore, it makes sense to focus efforts on drawing in people with the propensity and capacity to partner with you on your long-term goals.
In brief: it may feel like overkill to consider long-term vision and strategy when faced with seemingly ‘tick box’ tasks, but taking time to focus on ‘what success looks like’ will ensure that even more of your daily activities drive you even more quickly towards your key objectives.
Ilana Jackman is a Fundraising Coach & Consultant working with charities small and large across the sector; equipping them to raise more money to do even more good.
You can contact Ilana at ilana@ilanajackman.com to discuss what success looks like or anything else about fundraising. You can check out more of Ilana’s blogs about fundraising at www.ilanajackman.com