They stopped fundraising -- and it worked

This story might not describe your organization.

But the mistake it reveals probably does.

I spoke with a tiny, volunteer-run group last week. No staff. Very little funding. And they'd noticed something uncomfortable: fundraising was costing them more than it was giving them.

Not in fees. In work. In attention. Energy. Goodwill.

So they made a choice. Instead of trying to "fundraise harder," the small group running things each decided to give a little more money themselves -- and eliminated most of the process.

At first glance, that may sound irresponsible. Or unfair. Or "not scalable."

But that reaction assumes the problem is "not enough money".

For them, the problem was simpler: their effort wasn't paying for itself, so they paid another way.

Here's the thing:

This isn't a lesson about volunteers paying for everything. It's about realizing that donations are just one resource.

And it's usually a mistake to expect just one resource to solve all the problems.

Sometimes the right question isn't, "How do we raise more money?"

It's: "What is this process really costing us -- and what would it look like to buy our time back?"

All the best,
A.