Many of the non-profits I work with tell me they’re committed to moving away from saviourism. Over the past few years, I’ve encouraged them to try non-saviourist approaches in their fundraising.

They really want to do it. They understand the need for it (see my post here for a refresh). They’re keen to foster good relationships between their Fundraising, MarComms, and Programs teams and believe it will help with the appeal approval process.

So where’s the problem?

The trouble is fundraisers are not given the space to try alternatives to saviourism.

The directive from higher up is that the organisation needs to do fundraising differently. They need to tell stories differently. Yet the fundraising team still need to bring in the same (or more) income to run the programs – and they have the same (or less) budget to do it.

So where does this leave fundraisers?

Between a rock and a very hard place is where!

Fundraisers are forced to opt for the tried and true strategies of donor-as-hero saviourist narratives, simply because they have no other choice. They need to meet income and budget KPIs. And they know these proven strategies work.

Because of this, fundraisers are often viewed as being opposed to decolonisation. They can be seen as difficult and stubborn. In fact, they’re simply feeling the anxiety of not meeting income targets when one of their key tools for fundraising success is suddenly removed.

It’s like telling a carpenter to build a house without a hammer for the nails.

That’s why if we’re serious about moving away from saviourism, we need to give our fundraisers the chance to succeed.

We need to give our fundraisers the space to trial different narratives and non-saviourist approaches through A/B testing. And this is where another problem lies.

Nobody wants to invest in testing.

I’ve spoken to the head of a well-known fundraising agency who is thinking of funding the testing themselves, so we as a sector can get some data.

I’m considering the same – because without testing, the future is unknown and any planning is simply guesswork. With A/B testing and real data, we can move forward and make decisions about what we do.

It’s understandable that many non-profits are afraid of failing in this space. They ask me ‘What do we do if we test and find that non-saviourist approaches don’t perform better?’ That’s why I believe it’s useful to have an open conversation about this, and consider both possible outcomes of testing.

Scenario 1: You test and find viable alternatives.

Hooray! You’re able to keep on raising funds for your mission with non-saviourist approaches to storytelling.

Scenario 2: You test and don’t find alternatives that raise as much.

It may not seem like ‘hooray!’ but I believe it still is…

… because it means you work for a non-profit who is committed to moving away from saviourism

… because it means your organisation is giving you the space and respect as a fundraiser to test, gathering data we can all learn from

… and because it means you now know as an organisation what you’re dealing with.

Knowing the outcome of a test means you and your organisation can make choices moving forward:

• You might test again with some tweaks or another story
• You may choose to try something else completely different

OR

• Your organisation may be so committed to decolonising fundraising narratives, you may decide to wear the cost of this important work, raise less funds this way, and adjust fundraising targets accordingly.

Of course, this has far-reaching implications for the work you do, and these are critical conversations to have. That’s why investing in testing is so crucial: so you understand what you’re facing and can effectively plan for your organisation’s future.

Where to from here?

The challenge to charities committed to decolonisation? Create an environment that helps your fundraisers succeed:

• Reduce fundraising targets so your fundraisers have the space to try different approaches
• Allocate budget for A/B testing on alternative messages
• If your tested alternatives bring in less funds, try again with some tweaks
• Start small – you don’t have to change everything at once (in fact, it’s wise not to!)
• Calculate your probable funding gap and begin to consider other methods or sources of funding.

It’s exciting to see the progress being made on decolonising fundraising and non-profit work as a whole. Your fundraisers are on board. They really want to use non-saviourist approaches to raise money for your work, but you have to make it possible for them to succeed.