‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast’ – this oft used phrase has become a bit of a cliché, but it’s worth taking a moment to consider what it means.

Put simply, you can have the best plan in the world, but if your organisation doesn’t have the people and processes to make it happen, then it’s doomed to failure.

I’ve seen this many times over the years. When consulting I see people get excited at the outcomes from a workshop or research project. However, day-to-day realities bite; when I follow up a month or two later the initial momentum has withered on the vine.

This is all to do with culture. If leadership doesn’t genuinely prioritise the supporter experience, then ultimately fundraisers will shift their energy elsewhere.

The PwC Global Consumer Insights report reveals  significant differences in the way management and rank-and-file employees view their organisation’s culture. Of those surveyed, 63% of C-suite executives and board members said their organisation’s culture was strong, but only 41% of non-management employees agreed.

Sound familiar?

Staff turnover in the fundraising world is chronically high and is a clear symptom of the poor culture in many organisations.  As Roger warned, there is an imminent talent crisis coming in fundraising.

There’s no excuse for us not to be better. Improving the culture isn’t just about better pay and benefits (though it helps), it is about creating an environment that respects each other, makes change and innovation possible and prioritises the supporter experience.

Our causes do important, life-changing work, yet in so many organisations bureaucracy and risk-aversion are norm. Until we address our culture  under-performance in our fundraising remains inevitable.

And we can’t rely solely on our leaders to do this. We need to be the change we want to see in the world. You can start with small acts of defiance: go the extra mile for a supporter, skip a meeting to makes some donor calls or record a video from a grateful beneficiary.

Civil rights leader Bayard Rustin famously said that every community needed a group of angelic troublemakers to make change happen.

Are you the ‘angelic troublemaker” in your organisation or do you encourage those who are?

Craig