Q. How has ISM’s guidance about fundraising changed over the years?

A. Successful development work has always been about building relationships between donors and your school and its mission — relationships that speak to the heart of your donors’ interests and values. So, while this core principle has not changed, ISM’s research about building a “culture of giving and getting involved,” as expressed in ISM’s recently released Stability Markers 6.0, calls for even more attention to be paid to your leadership donors and to building productive relationships, understanding that the nature of relationships has evolved as technology and the values of our donors have evolved.

Q. What’s the difference between fundraising, advancement, and development?

A. Advancement is the strategic process by which schools advance mission-appropriate constituent relations by integrating the school’s admission, development, and marketing/communications functions. Further, ISM defines development as “How schools identify, engage/cultivate, evaluate, solicit, recognize, and steward donors and prospects to establish and nurture relationships and to garner resources.” Consequent to the relationship-building that is central to this definition is fundraising. If your school is adept at building relationships with individual donors, then successful fundraising will follow.

Q. We host an annual golf tournament that our families seem to love. It brings in significant funds every spring and draws grandparents and community members into our school’s orbit. But it also requires a huge number of staff and volunteer hours. How can we determine if this fundraising event is worth the effort?

A. This is a great question — many schools wrestle with it. In our view, the chief reason for events such as these is to build relationships with the individuals who participate. Once relationships are built, quality fundraising will follow. The “friend-raising” purpose for these events is the central “why” behind having them. If that isn’t happening, the money realized will not be sustainable over time, and the event may not be worth the time and effort put into it.

Q. I’m a new head of school, and I’m not sure if my board qualifies as “strategic.” It includes well-meaning parents and a few local business owners, attorneys, and other community leaders. But I’m not sure about their wealth, their true interest in the school, or their understanding of how fundraising really works. Help!

A. Boards should start with a mission statement of their own, similar to the following: “[Our school’s] board of trustees exists to secure the future viability of the school for the next generations of students.” A focus on future viability requires that boards get out of the weeds and current events and focus on ensuring that the school will thrive well into the future. This requires strategic planning, strategic financial planning, and support for building a future-focused development program in which the board is a catalyst.

Q. We’ve had four development directors in the last 10 years. I know turnover is pretty high in the fundraising world. Is there any way to keep our development director for the long term?

A. Development directors thrive in an atmosphere of trust, understanding, predictability, and support. They prosper with challenging but achievable goals and support from the school head and board as they pursue the activities of the Donor Cycle.¹ They move forward with faith that their plans and the relationships they build will bear fruit in the long term. Further, development directors are most effective when boards and school heads recognize that there is no quick fix when it comes to achieving sustainable fundraising results. Rather, the development program must be supported with funding for adequate staffing (with appropriate salaries), professional development, and fundraising programming. Strong development directors motivate others and can easily serve as a chief of staff for the development function, providing informative data and designing execution plans that yield results.

^{1. See “Board Leadership in Fundraising: Strategies for Engagement and Growth,” Ideas & Perspectives, 50-3.}