The Benchmarking Project’s data will help you identify where your opportunities lie compared to the market. However, have you considered how your organisation’s culture can significantly impact your ability to maximise these opportunities?
Teams managing high volume fundraising programs have navigated a few challenging years recently. Devastating bushfires in 2019/2020, COVID lockdowns, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the RBA raising the country’s cash rate, to name just a handful of significant events.
Fundraisers are fascinated by the results that come out of the Benchmarking Project. We can spend hours or days going through the minutiae of how our average gift compares to the market across different channels.
I remember the very first time I participated in benchmarking. I don’t mind admitting I was completely overwhelmed.
I was excited by the areas where we were doing better than most and immediately terrified about all the places where we could improve.
We all know the main aim of fundraising – to bring in income. As charities aim for bigger impact to meet increasing need, fundraisers find themselves with higher income targets year-on-year.
When starting out, or working to improve, a regular giving program, it’s easy to focus on ‘big ticket’ items – channel, pitch, product, acquisition targets, choice of supplier etc.
