I have the joy of providing practical coaching sessions with fundraisers and other charity professionals. Through those sessions, I have supported a variety of people reflecting various degrees of experience, various causes, and various charity sizes. And yet through all the differences, something remains constant – the pressure for fundraising to be ‘successful’* first time out the gate.

Many of us will have been there – we have to reach best practice ROI for a first-time activity. Falling short means a hard stop. And perhaps more pervasive is we’re often trying to get new projects off the ground with a team that’s already stretched thin (if you have a team).

As a sector we readily embrace pilots in other areas of work. For example, many of us would be surprised to see a new service line introduced without some sort of trial run. Those pilots are rarely perfect because that’s the point – we learn from them. Yet how many charity leaders are proactively and purposefully incorporating fundraising pilots into their growth strategies? And for those who are looking for proof of concept, who is delivering that work? What is being put down to pick this work up? We can’t add 10% more work to teams already at 100% capacity. In short, if you’re keen to introduce or grow your income, what investment are you prepared to make?

Perhaps we could begin having conversations with funders and donors about supporting fundraising pilots. We already have similar conversations about match funding and its potential to increase overall donations, so much of the language already exists.

And for those of you anticipating push back because funds would go to fundraising rather than a direct impact – I hear you. Not every funder or donor will rally behind an ask like this. But the fact remains that for countless charities, fundraising is an essential fuel that enables teams to deliver the mission. If we invested time, energy and capacity in trial runs, we would raise more through fundraising activities we’re confident will succeed. And that will lead to greater direct impact.

*Expect a future piece on KPIs and success measures.