4 Critical Factors when Hiring a Fundraising Firm
You’ve made the decision that you need help with the heavy lift of raising money for your non-profit. It doesn’t matter if it’s due to small staff size, a really large goal, or an oversaturated market of prospects; you need help.
Where do you start? What should you look for? What are four critical areas to deeply consider when searching for the right fundraising firm?
Their company culture fits with your company culture. Why does this matter, is this even a thing? Absolutely. Call them, speak with them, check out their website, read their bios, do they feel like the type of person/people you would hire onto your fundraising team? When hiring a fundraising firm, you’re doing just that, hiring additional fundraising FTE’s to help you bring philanthropic revenue through the door. If your culture is flexible, innovating, forward thinking, and built on a backbone of self sufficiency and trust, a firm with rigid timelines, high level oversight and input, demanding deliverables and a cookie cutter approach might not be a good fit. If you wouldn’t hire each person that will be working with your team actually onto your team, don’t hire them as your fundraising firm.
They have a proven track record of helping non-profits like your specific non-profit. Wait, aren’t all non-profits the same? Absolutely not. When you’re looking to hire a fundraising firm, take a look at their client list and make sure they have experience with smaller to middle sized non-profits, well established or completely fresh non-profits, truly mission immersed small profit missions, or take a look to see if they have clients within your specific sector. If you’re in hospice, make sure they have hospice clients. If you’re in a specialized sector, make sure they’ve worked with clients that have carved out their own niche. If they specialize in big high powered fundraising shops like major healthcare systems and within the higher education sector, make sure they have a healthy list of smaller shops as well. The language spoken in different sectors and sizes of non-profits can be quite different. Make sure your fundraising firm speaks your language.
They have glowing reviews from current and past clients. We don’t hire employees without asking their previous employers, bosses, coworkers, or connections we know of to speak to their character and work product, right? The same should be done when hiring a fundraising firm. Call a few of their current clients, but we also challenge you to ask for a list of prior clients or scope out their website and call them yourself. If their current clients and prior clients are thankful for their partnership together, you can trust their recommendation and ask clarifying questions to help you feel comfortable with “what’s behind the firm”.
Their mission is to help your mission raise money. This one seems like common sense, but make sure that the company you’re looking to hire has an end goal of helping your team raise more money for your mission. There are a hundred and one avenues to develop that aren’t bringing more money through the door at the end of the day, do not choose a firm that doesn’t focus on philanthropic ROI. They should be focused on making you more financially successful, first and foremost.
If you’ve determined it’s time to hire a fundraising firm, carefully consider the four critical areas to explore with the firms you are reviewing.
Want more info about how PRIDE Philanthropy can help boost your fundraising goals? Schedule a free call with us and we can learn more about your organization!
