This is our third and last report on The Agitator’s 2010 Fundraising Plans survey. In our previous two reports (here and here), we’ve described fundraisers’ mood as "creeping optimism," with 51% of our respondents expecting to raise more money in 2010, placing their highest expectations on recovery of major gifts and continued growth of online giving.

But we also asked fundraisers to identify the "single biggest challenge your fundraising program faces in 2010" … and we were a bit surprised at some of the responses.

Way ahead as the #1 challenge — expressed in a variety of ways — was getting Board  and senior executive buy-in, including direct participation, for more aggressive fundraising efforts. In response after response, the "top brass" was described as uninvolved, unengaged, too cautious, in denial, etc. For example …

• "Getting board members involved and energized"
• "The perception that direct mail doesn’t work and that investment in acquisition isn’t worth it"
• "Panic and short-sightedness of top management"
• "A board that doesn’t get it"
• "Persuading management to try new approaches and techniques in both direct mail appeals and technology"

Some comments were even more caustic! One respondent said simply: "Our CEO!"

"Selling" marketing programs and investment to the "corner office" and to Boards can indeed be challenging. Especially if management has felt surprised by previous unmet fundraising goals, or is simply shell-shocked by the impact of the recession on the last 18-24 months of fundraising.

It’s unfortunate, but probably true, that just as leadership needs to be considering re-investing in fundraising and looking for opportunities, they are feeling most cautious and skeptical and stressed.

While candor should always be the watchword, it is super-important in adverse climates. Candor is a prerequisite for credibility. Fundraisers need to make their cases based on accurate, well-analyzed data about the past, and defensible, explicit assumptions about the future. We’ve helped clients and their Boards through this process in the past, and will comment more in future posts.

The second theme in our open-ended responses is related to the first. Many respondents commented about diminished capacity and resources to get the job done — even more pressure to produce the funds, but less support to do it. Expressed as …

• "Achieving more with fewer dollars"
• "Too much work for too few people"
• "More effort is needed to raise the same amount of dollars, so without more capacity, even staying the course is challenging"
• "We’re exhausted. It took three times the effort to stay flat last year"

Part of this is inevitable … less income, cuts must be made — 24% of our respondents said that their organization’s fundraising staff had been decreased in 2009 (as we reported yesterday, 22% expect to invest more in staff in 2010). Part of it reflects less working capital — as all parts of the organization are called upon to absorb budget cuts — available to invest in fundraising operations (excluding staff).

But, finally, some of it undoubtedly reflects the timidity of Boards and senior management in the face of the recession … what one respondent called "the lack of confidence by senior decisionmakers."

Fundraisers need to be watching the numbers carefully in the coming months, in order to be prepared to make their case for more resources as soon as the right "upticks" in key metrics begin to appear.

Staff "depression" and fatigue are tough challenges. There’s no silver bullet we’re aware of. But we’d stress candor again … here in the sense of getting all parties in the organization on the same page in terms of what level of performance and outcomes are fair and reasonable to expect.

We see these results as a serious "heads-up" to senior nonprofit executives and Boards. Be attentive to staff morale and take steps to nurture it. Set realistic expectations. Be open to the case for more fundraising investment when it comes knocking on your door.

We’ll comment more in the future about spending out of the trough. One key is to focus on extracting more value (i.e., net, re-investable income) from current donors. We’re surprised more respondents don’t appear to be pointed in that direction … despite all The Agitator’s haranguing on this subject!

The third major theme is definitely one we would anticipate — funding new donors! For example …

• "Recruitment of 1st time donors, even at very small levels, has really fallen off"
• "Identifying broader pool of potential donors"
• "Finding new donors in a climate where more people are staying with the organizations they have supported in the past"

Wouldn’t we all like to have the answer to that one?! Another area for future focus by The Agitator.

Thanks again to our readers who provided all this intelligence and shared your plans. As we’ve indicated, your responses — with the interests and challenges you’ve expressed — will guide our editorial direction in coming months.

Roger and Tom

P.S. Complete results of our 2010 Fundraising Plans survey, including  all stats and verbatim comments, will be emailed to The Agitator’s Premium subscribers on Friday.