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Don't be a fundraising magpie in 2011!

As is typical in January there are a slew of posts on New Year's resolutions, predictions for the year ahead and suggestions on new ideas and developments in fundraising.

This is all well and good, but I had two timely reminders yesterday that if you don't get your bread and butter right then you end up no better than a magpie chasing the next shiny thing it sees.

First up was dealing with a justified donor complaint, where, frankly, we let him down.  I won't go into the specifics (e-mail me if you want to know) but we caused upset and I've had to write a very humble and grovelling apology.

Secondly, was a printing cock-up which has resulted in me sending a survey out with no donor's details lasered in.  The result of which is we are getting lots of lovely replies, but don't know who they are from.

I can easily pass point the finger of blame for both of these errors, but ultimately the buck stops with me and it's my responsibility to get these things right. 

Looking at the bigger picture and trying to develop your next big idea is important, but if you don't get the basics right then your fundraising is built on foundations of sand.

So, learn from my mistakes and keep looking for the next new, exciting idea but don't forget the fundraising fundamentals in 2011...

 

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