The Secret to Breaking Entrenched Silos

Fundraisers keep score.

The other day, I facilitated a frank discussion between midlevel and major gifts fundraisers at a non profit undertaking a major change initiative. These seasoned professionals are working together — in good faith — to redefine both their donor tiers and supporter experience into one cohesive donor journey with an aim of raising more money across the organization.

During big change moments like these, entrenched silos between membership, midlevel and major gifts do arise. At stake during this conversation? The liminal group of donors who by the new tier definition would fall into midlevel if they choose not to make an upgrade gift.

I asked, “So what’s the number we’re talking about here?” A chorus rang out with the exact # of donors and the exact amount up for grabs.

I wasn’t surprised. I was talking to skilled fundraisers — who live and die by hitting their numbers. Each group was eyeing this liminal pool as a primary prospect segment for THEIR particular program.

But this only gets sticky, if you track performance in a silo. What happens when membership, midlevel and major gifts teams create a unified executive dashboard measuring performance longitudinally as a unified team?

What happens when each “department/division” sees the interdependencies of their decisions and activities through holistic KPI’s that showcase the fundraising health of the organization, not the specific team?

Does your organization do this? Hit me up and let me know what you measure and how it works. Thanks!