Episode 158: The Science of Managing Fundraisers

We spend a lot of time, energy, and attention on engaging the right donors, building relationships with them, and reaching other key objectives. But those are mostly external activities, and one of the keys to improvement is looking inward. That’s where the idea of performance management comes into play.

Joining the podcast today is Stacy Rooney, a Principal Business Consultant at Blackbaud, to discuss the concept of fundraiser performance management. Listen in to hear Stacy and host Steve MacLaughlin talk about managing gift officers for optimal performance, portfolio management, and the effects of COVID-19 on fundraising and performance data.

 

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• Demystifying the topic of performance management
• How to optimize how portfolios are managed by gift officers
• Maturity models
• Using data to identify good performance and benchmark against peers
• The connection between activity and outcome
• Investing in officers as fundraisers
• Understanding where the focus currently is and where the focus should be
• How feedback and coaching factors in to fundraising success
• The impacts of COVID-19 on fundraising and data

 

Resources:

Stacy Rooney

Blackbaud Fundraiser Performance Management

8 Things Resilient Fundraisers Should be Doing Now

10 Things Fundraisers Can Do to Adapt During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

 

Quotes: 

“It’s just like looking in a mirror. Do you like what you see? Is this where you want to be as an organization?”

“We’ve had various profiles that we’ve thought of with the types of officers that might be really good at a certain aspect, and then you have some officers that are good at everything.”

“There are fundraisers out in the world that don’t like asking for money.”