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Tracks to Success

How to Build a Successful Fundraising Team
by Cynthia M. Adams, CEO GrantStation

In the Big Inning Part One
Part One

If you, as an Executive Director or Development Director, continually struggle with fundraising or often feel overwhelmed with the amount of fundraising work that needs to be done, then building a winning team should be of the utmost importance to you. Like a baseball team, an organization relies on individuals who excel in their positions. Selecting the players, assigning their positions, and creating a winning strategy are all part of the game.

To create a powerful fundraising team, it is critical to surround yourself with competent individuals whose skill sets and interests complement your own areas of expertise. Of course, you should continue to do the things you do well – and love to do. Those duties that you are less skilled in or which you simply haven't the time or energy to undertake, however, should be delegated to the staff, or position players, who can best do them.

Any team's success depends on its leader – that's you – being able to effectively delegate. After all, a baseball manager doesn't play the game; he manages it, from the starting line-up and batting order to signaling for a double-steal in the bottom of the fifth when his club is down by one run. Baseball managers know which of their players consistently lay down perfect bunts, which of their bullpen pitchers to rely on in a close game if their starter unexpectedly pulls up lame, which bench player is ready to pinch-run with no notice. Conversely, they also know who hasn't put in all of his time doing groundball drills, who skipped a round of weight training, and who has a cold. In order to manage his game effectively, the manager has to know both his players' strengths and their weaknesses, and he has to be able to adjust for any of the surprises that might arise during the course of the game.

The same goes for effectively managing your fundraising team. This doesn't mean simply handing out assignments. You always need to have a handle on what each team member is doing, their timelines for completion, and the information and tools they need to complete their tasks. You also have to keep your organization's overall funding strategy in mind.

So how do you as a busy Executive Director or Development Director start to build your team? By articulating what role you play in the process (i.e. for which duties you're responsible), which might include:

• developing the overall funding strategy;
• understanding the process and the goals and objectives of the funding strategy;
• communicating the strategy's goals and objectives clearly to team members, and monitor progress toward those goals and objectives;
• providing team members with all information necessary to do their jobs; and
• reviewing the process and progress frequently and updating the Board of Directors, administrative staff, and team players.

Once you have defined your role and developed a funding strategy, you need to determine what sorts of roles your team members (which may include not just your paid staff, but also unpaid volunteers and members of your Board) are going to play. Good baseball managers know they can't be everywhere at once; so do successful Executive Directors and Development Directors. It's critical that you can trust your players to do their best work. The key to building a strong fundraising team is to identify good people and enlist them in your cause. Once you've done that, your job is to manage the game.

In the next article, we'll review how to decide what skills you will need on your fundraising team.

Tracks to Success is edited by Katy Mulcrone. Questions, comments, suggestions, and useful tips for other Tracks readers can be sent to her at katy@grantstation.com. If you would like to suggest a topic for a future Tracks to Success series, or if you are interested in writing a series for us, please email Katy, or call our toll-free number: 877.784.7268.

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