249 | When it comes to fundraising, perhaps less can really mean more?

How often do we ask ourselves whether half as much effort might yield the same results? Perhaps these are the types of questions that the pandemic has afforded us the opportunity to ask; and I suspect that a few of us, like Mike Hoffman at the US Naval Academy, have been taking good notes. Today, Theresa and I had the pleasure of talking with Mike who shared with us some of the lessons he and his team have learned in the last year. The first among them, when it comes to fundraising, perhaps less can really mean more.I believe a lot of fundraisers like Mike have paid close attention to what actually worked in their favor and what didn’t matter in the slightest in the midst of the recent pandemic. This experience has allowed us an opportunity to take notice of what actually contributes to our success and, perhaps more importantly, what is really just getting in our way. Enjoying genuine conversations with the half of our donors who actually want to talk with us, developing expertise in-house with our colleagues, and securing significant gifts without traveling across the country are just a few of the things that Mike has taken note of for us to contemplate for the road ahead.As always, we are grateful to our friends at CueBack for sponsoring The Fundraising Talent Podcast. And, if you’d like to download your free copy of Responsive’s latest edition of Carefully & Critically, just click here.  This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fundraisingtalent.substack.com