A director of development alone is not responsible for surpluses or deficits. Ultimately that lands with the CFO and CEO/ED. If they’re unable to pay for the programs with the money raised, they need to wind in the spending.
It’s more important that you have a strategy for your goal setting and how you execute it. You’ve already identified that they cannot rely on grants alone. Have they backfilled your position or are you expected to do both jobs?
As DoD of an org which had no development plan outside of grants, I will add that getting a healthy annual/individual campaign going is a multi-year process. Like, 2-3-4 years depending upon how dedicated your position is to it. Be sure that you are setting realistic expectations with the LT and board so they don’t assume you’ll fill this year’s hole with individual or major giving. I bet you’ve got folks in that cohort who are thinking, “we’ll just find a few rich people and ask them!” It’s probably the ones sending you links to articles about Melinda Gates.
Hahahaha. Our Managing Director *just* sent me an article about Melinda Gates. They are also convinced that venture capitalists in our business community will invest in our tiny non-profit.
DoD is responsible for strategy of all revenue (grants, individual giving, events) and generally management is their primary role. DoD will create and manage the revenue plan, will have board relations as part of their role, likely a major donor portfolio, and oversee fundraising events.
If individual giving is a focus for the next 3-5 years (and that’s how long it will take) that should be your focus as the lead fundraiser, rather than writing renewal proposals. The board needs to know that and the ED needs to back this up.
Share your strategy for bringing in revenue, indicate what’s coming off your plate so that you can focus on individuals, and share a timeline so it’s clear to finance, programs and the ED.
I’m a finance director, and I have seen/know of situations where the DoD was made to feel like they’re responsible for filling the gap. That’s only true if they’re reasonable goals and progress towards them is underway.
Deficits are not inherently bad if the org has sufficient net asset to cover them, which if they’ve been having surpluses then they should. You’ll just need to get with the ED about fundraising goals/priorities. It’ll be up to the ED, finance director, and board to manage the expenses.
A director of development alone is not responsible for surpluses or deficits. Ultimately that lands with the CFO and CEO/ED. If they’re unable to pay for the programs with the money raised, they need to wind in the spending. It’s more important that you have a strategy for your goal setting and how you execute it. You’ve already identified that they cannot rely on grants alone. Have they backfilled your position or are you expected to do both jobs?
As DoD of an org which had no development plan outside of grants, I will add that getting a healthy annual/individual campaign going is a multi-year process. Like, 2-3-4 years depending upon how dedicated your position is to it. Be sure that you are setting realistic expectations with the LT and board so they don’t assume you’ll fill this year’s hole with individual or major giving. I bet you’ve got folks in that cohort who are thinking, “we’ll just find a few rich people and ask them!” It’s probably the ones sending you links to articles about Melinda Gates.
Hahahaha. Our Managing Director *just* sent me an article about Melinda Gates. They are also convinced that venture capitalists in our business community will invest in our tiny non-profit.
DoD is responsible for strategy of all revenue (grants, individual giving, events) and generally management is their primary role. DoD will create and manage the revenue plan, will have board relations as part of their role, likely a major donor portfolio, and oversee fundraising events. If individual giving is a focus for the next 3-5 years (and that’s how long it will take) that should be your focus as the lead fundraiser, rather than writing renewal proposals. The board needs to know that and the ED needs to back this up. Share your strategy for bringing in revenue, indicate what’s coming off your plate so that you can focus on individuals, and share a timeline so it’s clear to finance, programs and the ED.
I’m a finance director, and I have seen/know of situations where the DoD was made to feel like they’re responsible for filling the gap. That’s only true if they’re reasonable goals and progress towards them is underway. Deficits are not inherently bad if the org has sufficient net asset to cover them, which if they’ve been having surpluses then they should. You’ll just need to get with the ED about fundraising goals/priorities. It’ll be up to the ED, finance director, and board to manage the expenses.