The Authenticity Trap

I’ve written before about how making sure your fundraising is “authentic” isn’t always useful. 

And here’s a new idea: to grow, most nonprofits must do things that do not feel authentic.

• Keeping detailed records about each major donor doesn’t feel authentic – in fact it feels weird at first.  Yet it’s part of a professional approach to major donor fundraising and is part of any major donor management system.
• Sending 70+ e-appeals a year doesn’t feel authentic – what kind of person would do that, and who even has the time to do that?!?  But it’s part of a professional email fundraising program, and has been for several years.
• Having an appeal letter that’s not in the Executive Director’s “voice” doesn’t feel authentic.  Yet at larger organizations the ED doesn’t even see the appeals, because there’s a staff of professionals who have been given the authority to replace the ED’s voice with whatever tactics and approaches raise the most money. 

Here’s the thing: none of those activities feel authentic, but they sure are effective.

They might not feel authentic to you at your stage of growth, but they absolutely feel authentic to the larger organizations that do them every day.

So as your nonprofit thinks about how to grow, don’t get stuck in the authenticity trap.  Focus instead on what will get you to your next stage of growth and impact.