This past Saturday, I had the privilege of working with the Executive Director and the Board of DRU/Mondawmin Healthy Families Inc. ("DRUM") in Baltimore.  They are a growing organization, seeking to diversify their revenue streams and I have been working with them on developing a fundraising plan.

Saturday, we held a Board-Only session, that included discussions around:

• Drafting a Case for Support and creating a Fundraising Tool Kit
• The process of engaging individuals and other organizations
  
• The Board's role in fundraising 
• Creating a "menu" of ways the Board can help with fundraising
• Setting give/get expectations for Board members, which is included in the Board job description
• The infrastructure needed for fundraising (donor database, donor record-keeping, etc.)
  
• How communciations goes hand-in-hand with a fundraising program

These are just a few topics we covered in a very productive session on Saturday.  I am excited and proud to be a part of the transformation at DRUM and to be working with the dedicated members of their Baord and staff.

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So the event or campaign is over and for most part things went well.  Unfortunately, I don't think any fundraising effort is ever 100% perfect.  There is usually some room for improvement.  

After more than 20 years of planning fundraising efforts and events, I have been in post-event and post-project wrap meetings from a variety of perspectives.  As a staff member, a volunteer, a Board member, a consultant and so on.  I have been present at meetings that were just gripe sessions and ones that hashed and re-hashed all the things that went wrong; who was responsible, what was missed, etc., in such detail that it's painful.

While a recap of those things IS important, I have found that the more important thing is to focus on how to move forward.  How to take the lumps from the things that didn't go so well, and then discuss what to do for next time.  

Here are some suggestions:

• Gather the areas for improvement via an email request or during phone conversations with key parties. This should be done internally and externally.  Compile a comprehensive list.  Next to the issue, begin a ways to avoid, fix and/or improve those issues.

• Share these findings AND some preliminary solutions, IN ADVANCE of the wrap meeting.  Now your committee, Board, volunteers, others, etc.  will know that you are as concerned about these items as they are and that you have already begun thinking about how to mitigate those issues in the future.  You can also asked them to make additional suggestions on the items listed.
• Plan the agenda with more time on the future than the past.  Share the list of issues and improvement suggestions, but don't dwell on it.  Everyone should have already had an opportunity to give feedback. and you can offer an additional opportunity when you send the meeting notes.
• To maximize the event or project make sure agenda includes time to discuss attendees or participants and how they can be further engaged.  What are the next steps to bring them closer to your organization?  This discussion will be time well-spent!