We have to do something about long donor cultivation cycle times

One of the biggest struggles facing development departments today is the cycle time length. Some of these cultivation cycles take years. The people and organizations Philanthropy Systems have worked with are not alone. Philanthropyworks.org sites the following:

• A mid-sized organization with a $10k major gift "typical time range is 8-12 months."

• Development director at a major medical foundation with a $100k major gift "2-3 years."

• Major gift is $50k: it will take 3-5 meetings/moves and six months to 3 years, with at least one $10k gift along the way."

• Development director at a large state university with a major gift at $25k" "18 months and above."

The problem is that donors who can give $250k are comfortable doing large dollar transactions. There is no other investment in their world- make no mistake, they see a $100k donation as an investment- that takes "2-3 years" to get over the finish line.

The gap between donor experience and nonprofit cycle time has three considerable implications for nonprofit organizations and donors:

1. This long cycle time costs your organization, your organization's constituents, and your mission dearly. Long cycle times mean less revenue (because a fundraiser can only work with so many donors in a year) and fewer major donors (because you must only add another donor to your portfolio if you cycle some out). Therefore your organization has less revenue to provide services to your constituents.

2. From a donor perspective, long cycle time must be "turn-offs" for a donor who is used to making large dollar decisions. They choose to buy a new vacation home, they choose to invest in real estate, and they choose to fund their grandchildren's education. These decisions do not take up to 36 months to execute.

3. Lastly, and certainly not insignificant, long cycle times create a challenging professional environment for professional fundraisers. Organizations I've worked with hire great people who are fantastic at building relationships, but these long cycle times mean that fundraisers may not meet goals, that donor touch points may be on track, but the only path forward is to submit a "proposal and pray." Talented staff members get discouraged, management gets frustrated, and good people leave the organization and maybe the field.
   

There are always exceptions. Every one of you fundraisers out there has had the opposite cultivation at least once, where the donor is great, they call back, never miss a meeting, email you asking about the next steps, and so forth. I would argue that this cultivation is where you, the fundraiser, aligned with the donor on their journey and did a great job guiding them through the giving journey.

Philanthropy Systems promise that if you incorporate the Philanthropy System methodology of donor cultivation and solicitation, you will have shorter cycle times, raise more money and have more "dream donors."