Insight: Commitment is a 2-way street

Patrick Boggon of Tarnside Consulting challenges us to look afresh at how we employ and train fundraisers. Professionals in our sector are allegedly spending only 18 months working for a cause before moving on, particularly the younger and fresher recruits. Why? Can this fast staff turnover possibly provide best value for the cause - or indeed for the sector?

At Tarnside Consulting we aim to help clients analyse the level of commitment of potential donors using the Curve of Involvement ©. The background to this is that people will give more to a cause as they become more involved and committed.

Tarnside Curve of Involvement ©

When looking at the curve it's clear that if we replace the '£ GIVEN' axis with 'EFFECTIVENESS' the same curve could be applied to fundraising staff. How involved are they, and is it true that the more involved and committed they are the more effective they will be? Common sense (and a hundred presentation skills courses) suggest that when fundraising staff are passionate about their cause it will be easier for them to inspire potential donors. If that's true, we must wonder how committed, and therefore how effective, staff who are moving jobs every 18 months can possibly be.

Fundraising depends on people feeling so committed to a cause that they will freely contribute their hard earned money. Yet the professionals who are trying to facilitate this are moving on after a very short time and arguably cannot be as committed. It is useful to explore the Curve of Involvement © to understand how we can increase the commitment, involvement and effectiveness of professional fundraisers.

Start by asking yourself these questions:

  • Where do you personally feel you are on the Curve of Involvement © and why?
  • What would make you move up or down the curve?

But commitment is a two way street. The way charities treat their staff will inevitably effect how employees feel about their jobs. It is therefore worth considering:

  • How do organisations demonstrate their commitment to their fundraisers?
  • What could organisations do to enhance their commitment to fundraisers and thereby increase staff commitment to the cause?
  • What two concrete things could improve commitment in your team?

Charities need results and tend to work on short timescales. Investment in career development can appear a low priority. But the total cost of a staff change in lost effectiveness, recruitment and training expenses could easily be as high as £35k per person. From a managerial position people need not only to think about how to maximise income but also how to minimise costs. Directors and managers should be asking themselves:

  • What level of involvement do fundraisers actually need to make them effective?
  • How does the level of commitment of a member of staff affect potential funders?
  • What level of commitment is needed to ensure that staff will stay longer?
  • How much should be invested in developing the commitment of their staff?

Time and effort spent considering these questions can affect the bottom line.

If you are feeling philosophical here are a couple of other questions for you:

  • Are commitment and passion the same thing?
  • Is passion a prerequisite to being a good professional - or can it get in the way of objectivity?
  • Can people have a commitment to making a difference through fundraising and then become passionate about individual causes?
  • Do people actually have a sense of guilt about moving from cause to cause if fundraising becomes a career?

The Curve of Involvement © aims to show that the simple 'for us or against us' attitude is not helpful. Clearly there are no simple answers here, but hopefully enough questions to start individuals and causes on a re-assessment of the real benefits of staff commitment and the true cost of the apparently all too common short term alternative.

(July 2005)