This is an unedited and unproofed excerpt from a forthcoming book: Transformational External funding for Zoos, Botanic Gardens, Aquariums and similar site based organisations By John Regan and J.J.W Edwards to be published in 2010.
Shortly before he died under a hail of FBI bullets emerging from the Biograph Cinema, Chicago, the USA’s public enemy No I gave his last radio interview. “Mr Dillinger”, asked the very brave radio journalist “Why do you rob banks..?” “Because”, Dillinger replied “that is where the money is.”
It may seem obvious and not worth the stating, but a good fundraising strategy should focus on those opportunities where the largest opportunities and the best return on investment is to be found. However, the authors have found this truism is often ignored. The Pareto principle (business management guru Joe Juran named the idea after Italian economist Wilfredo Pareto, otherwise known as the 80/20 rule, that in any given economic system 80% of productivity will come from 20% of producers) holds as good in fundraising as in any other context.
It takes much more effort and expense to raise £1,000 from 1,000 sources, than it does to raise £1,000,000 from one source. One can only surmise why do organisations persist in pursuing many small pots of funding, rather than carefully targeting large opportunities. It may be because:
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Operatives are scared of ambitious fundraising
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A profusion of frequent small wins seems more successful and more stimulating than a very occasional large one
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Small scale fundraising is the kind of activity most of us are exposed to and so assumed to be the norm
