Most every institutional and advancement leader will say they want to raise more money in the future. In fact, most will say adamantly that they need to raise more money in the future.
However, many leaders will also say in the very next breath, “but we don’t have money to add a new gift officer position.” Or, “we can’t increase our budget for annual giving.”
Imagine if institutional leaders thought about investing time in advancement in the same way some think about investing money. “We need to raise more money, but we can’t spend one more minute engaging donors.”
Most will admit that taking such a discordant position would be laughable. Most embrace the concept that the way to raise more money is for institutional leaders and advancement team members to invest more time in advancement activities. Most will agree that when the institution invests more collective time in strategic advancement activities, gift income will increase.
In other words, we understand we have to invest the time in order to get a desired result. Wise and successful leaders apply that same logic when it comes to money.
Unfortunately, for many institutions, leaders can’t afford not to invest more money in advancement. Many just haven’t realized that yet.
