Donor Thinking

WHAT DONORS THINK....

WHAT MAKES A SUCESSFUL FUNDRAISER? • Sincere relationship & Personal integrity — Above all, successful fundraisers are sincere upfront and genuine • Knowledge of their work • Clearly defined goals — Successful fundraisers clearly state their mission, the needs they are meeting, and can describe the opportunity a donor has to help accomplish the mission.

• Regular communication — Successful fundraisers keep donors up to date.

• Assurance of cost effectiveness — Successful fundraisers show donors that their money is doing what was promised.

• Matching Funds — Successful fundraisers show how their efforts and other donors funds match with the donors’ gifts so that they are multiplied.

• Persistence — Successful fundraisers are persistent without being offensive.

• Quality presentation — Successful fundraisers present the organisation in an attractive, clear, and consistent way.

WHY DO FUNDRAISERS FAIL? • Lack of personal relationship — One of the most common reasons that fundraisers fail is that they haven’t established a relationship with the donor.

• Negative characteristics portrayed — If something is said or done that alarms the donor, the fundraiser will most likely fail.

• Lack of sincerity and belief — If fundraisers are not sincere and do not seem to have a strong belief in their organisation and its mission • Poor communication — including providing updates about the organisation and keeping in touch with the donor.

• Lack of clear organisational goals • Lack of integrity — Any sign of a fundraiser’s lack of integrity, and the donor will slow down, back up, or demand answers.

• Lack of knowledge — Fundraisers fail because they cannot answer the questions that donors ask.

• Inaction — Many fundraisers fail because they are not getting the message out to enough people

DONORS COMMENTS….

“Yes I have heard of that NGO. And I notice that every time we shift our strategy, they change theirs….so we don’t fund them…..”

“They have been doing the same thing in the same locations for the last 8 years, they don’t seem to analyse or question what they are doing…”

“They don’t seem to want to work with either the commune councils or other NGOs in the area, as though they believe they have all the answers…”

DONORS COMMENTS….

“We like their work, but we notice they have had the same director and senior management team for a long time – and we think the approach of those managers is quite autocratic –so we are wary of them.”

“They are using terms such Human Rights Based Approach, Social Accountability and Gender Mainstreaming, but we think they don’t really know what these terms mean – its difficult to trust that they mean what they say

DONORS COMMENTS….

• Yes we received their proposal – but they didn’t write it themselves…”

• “Yes we received their proposal –But they didn’t come to meet us before they wrote it….

• “Their board is weak and their director is powerful – and the staff seem afraid to disagree – so we are suspicious” • “They seem unable or unwilling to adapt their M&E system to suit ours –and there are so many other willing organisations”

DONORS WORRIES….

• DONORS MUST FUND SOMEBODY • DONORS ARE OFTEN IN COMPETITION WITH EACHOTHER • DONORS MUST DEMONSTRATE AID EFFECTIVENESS [Paris Declaration 2005 & Ghana 2009] • DONORS HAVE DONORS!

REMEMBER INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT HAS FASHIONS & TRENDS AND DONORS CHANGE STRATEGY & THE WORDS THEY USE EVERY FEW YEARS. THE KEY IS TO BE READY WHEN THEY DO….

SO WHAT ARE THE LATEST SHIFTS IN CAMBODIA? • • • •

• • • • •

DECENTRALISATION MAINSTREAMING HUMAN RIGHTS GRASS ROOTS MOVEMENTS LIVELIHOODS DEVELOPMENT THROUGH SOCIAL ENTERPRISE, NRM & ACCOUNTABILITY SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND VOICE DEMAND AND SUPPLY SIDE GOVERNANCE BUILDING PEACE CIVIC EDUCATION OTHER?