Straight from the Consultants: Three Tips for Building a Culture of Philanthropy
If you would like to improve the culture of philanthropy in your organization, CFA Senior Consultant Rob Ruchotzke provides three steps that you can undertake on your own to get the ball rolling.
1. Understand the current internal culture: In order to improve your culture of philanthropy, you need to know where you’re starting from. You may have already taken some steps, but you can further understand your staff and board by having one-on-one conversations or surveying these groups to gather their feedback. Important information to know is if they understand the purpose of fundraising; do they feel your department has effectively communicated its purpose; and specifically ask them how you can better communicate the purpose and impact of your work. Understanding how fundraising is perceived in your organization will be key to developing a communication and engagement strategy that will work.
2. Recruit some internal champions: Find heads of departments, highly engaged board members, or program staff who “get it” and recruit them to be advocates for philanthropy. People respond to their peers, and having these internal champions will help you get greater buy-in for a culture of philanthropy. Observe some of the ways that these individuals stand out in their engagement and understanding of fundraising in your organization, and build processes that enable others to follow their path.
3. Form an organizational communication plan: It’s important that you internally communicate your impact and purpose as you would externally. How can you share successes with the organization staff so they will get excited by these wins and want to be a part of it themselves? What have you learned through your information gathering that you can use to inform your internal communication strategies? How do people want to be approached?
Use these recommendations to develop a customized strategy that makes sense for your organization and the unique individuals who choose to dedicate their careers or spare time to you. Culture is not developed overnight, but with an understanding of the unique preferences of your community, recruiting champions to advocate for you, and customizing your approach, you can build a stronger culture of philanthropy in your nonprofit.
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Could the culture of philanthropy in your organization use a boost? CFA’s consulting team can help you understand how your unique internal culture is functioning and where there may be opportunities to strengthen the culture of philanthropy and optimize your fundraising success. Contact CFA today.
Rob Ruchotzke, Senior Consultant
As a Senior Consultant with CFA, Rob focuses on providing annual giving strategy, development assessments, campaign feasibility studies and campaign counsel. Rob uses his past annual giving experience and passion for building relationships to find the right solution for CFA’s partners.
Since joining CFA in 2022, Rob has provided counsel to clients including the Community School of Naples, Goodwill-Easter Seals of Minnesota, the Jacques Pépin Foundation, Quarry Hill Nature Center, and the University of Northern Iowa Foundation.
Rob brings more than nine years of annual giving experience in higher education and university organizations. His career began at Ruffalo Noel Levitz as a Project Center Manager (PCM) for Missouri S&T. In that role, Rob supervised student fundraisers and became a PCM trainer and mentor. Then, he joined the Missouri S&T Advancement team as an Annual Giving Officer, managing his own portfolio of donors and assisting with multi-channel mass donor outreach.
Most recently, Rob served as the Director of Annual Giving at Wartburg College and then at his alma mater, the University of Northern Iowa (UNI). As Director of Annual Giving, Rob led multi-channel campaigns, developed crowdfunding platforms, served as the primary contact for annual giving vendors, redesigned giving forms for ease of use, supported annual giving staff leading the student engagement center outreach and served as the lead for UNI’s Day of Giving strategy.
A native of Camanche, Iowa, Rob holds a BA in Public Relations from UNI. He currently resides in Cedar Falls, IA, enjoying virtual meeting appearances from his cat Loki and participating in any outdoor activity.