Last
summer, the Canadian relief and development community got a shock when the Canadian Hunger Foundation suddenly closed down.
CHF,
as it was known, was no fly-by-night organization.
Founded
in 1961, it was well-respected by other NGOs and the Canadian government, which
provided generous funding for its programs in the developing world.
But
it all came to an end on July 31, 2015, when it shut down.
What
was the reason for the closure? Lack
of investment in fundraising.
“While
we were reaching more people [with international programs] than ever over the last couple of
years, we weren’t investing what some other organizations were on marketing to
donors, and ultimately that meant we couldn’t keep pace with our fundraising
needs,” said former President and CEO Stewart Hardacre.
At
the root of the problem was too much success: CHF was able to win a
number of matching grants from the federal government for its overseas
programs.
While
the grants helped the organization help many more people, CHF was required to come
up with $1 for each $3 or $4 provided by the government.
Unfortunately,
CHF couldn’t come up with the matching funds.
"The
fundamental problem was they were too successful in getting projects, and not
successful in raising in a very significant manner the donations to CHF,"
said management consultant Garry Comber, who also served as interim executive
director.
Adding
to their woes was the loss of a major foundation donor, which provided $1
million a year—a loss that was impossible to make up.
The
fundraising challenges came together “into sort of a perfect storm” that ultimately
meant CHF had to cease active operations, said former Director of
Communications Mike Jones.
So: What can other non-profits take away from CHF’s demise?
The number one lesson is the importance of investing in donor relations, marketing,
communications and fundraising.
It’s
all very well to have great programs; every NGO and non-profit should. But if you don’t have the money to
support them, it ultimately won’t matter in the end.
In
my experience, this is something many NGOs are loathe to do. Fundraising is
overheard, after all—and we want to keep that as low as possible.
Plus,
most NGO executive directors and presidents I know rose to their positions
through the program side of things. They're great people, but their primary interest is in the delivery of assistance overseas—not marketing and fundraising.
The
result is that many NGOs routinely underspend when it comes to resource gathering.
The result? Overworked and
under-resourced staff do their best, but there’s only so much a few people can
do to raise funds.
In
the end, it's sort of like the children of Israel in the
land of Egypt in the Old Testament who were told by their Egyptian overlords to make more bricks
with less straw.
You
can do that for a while. But one day the weakened bricks will give away and the whole
edifice can crumble—as it did with CHF.
In that respect, CHF has become a memento mori for other Canadian NGOs:
Memento mori is Latin for “Remember, you too will die.”
In
the middle ages, it was common for paintings to feature memento mori in the
form of skulls and other death motifs. (As in the picture above.)
It
was a reminder of how precious life is, and how quickly it can be over.
Instead
of a skull (too macabre), maybe every NGO leader should keep the CHF logo on
his or her desk or desktop screen.
It
will be a reminder that every NGO, like CHF, can die if they don’t invest in
fundraising and communications.
So,
farewell CHF. And for the rest of us: Memento mori.
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