Jordan Jerkovich, Author at Spokes | Resources for Nonprofits

During a recent Development Directors Roundtable, a participant expressed disappointment that a new fundraising campaign, which she had been excited about and had high hopes for, was yielding low returns. A discussion ensued about whether to bolster efforts—or throw in the towel.

While everyone agreed the campaign seemed like a strong idea, it was suggested that some further analysis was necessary.

I found an article from OneCause that offers a few reasons why taking time to analyze your fundraising campaign or event is worthwhile:

It helps you track how your campaign is doing so you can make adjustments and improvements along the way.
It tells you how well the campaign performed against your goals.
It puts benchmark data in place that you can use to improve future fundraising campaigns.

HERE are their 5 Tips for Analyzing Your Online Fundraising Campaigns.

In our recent workshop, Cultivating a Robust and Collaborative Nonprofit Culture, the Applied Wisdom for Nonprofits leadership team introduced us to the idea of “porpoising.” This concept involves a deep-dive into your organization to uncover valuable insights at all levels. When nonprofit leaders periodically porpoise and practice observant listening amongst the organization’s diverse groups, they can detect signs of trouble before things spiral out of control. To build trust, be present, visible, and respectful when someone shares a problem or issue. To maintain trust, demonstrate action on the information given. Applied Wisdom for Nonprofits suggests that “no news is bad news” and “bad news is good news if you do something about it.” If things are quiet for too long, it may be time to porpoise. And if you find bad news, it presents a great opportunity to find—and celebrate—solutions together.

More information on the Applied Wisdom for Nonprofits principles, including porpoising and the Bad News is Good News philosophy, can be found here.

Analyzing a New Fundraising Campaign

The Culture-Building Concept of “Porpoising”

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