Lessons from Benchmarking: Fast-Forwarding the Maturity of the Fundraising Operation offers nonprofit groups practical guidelines for measuring and improving fundraising program performance successfully.
Milwaukee, WI (PRWEB) August 19, 2007 -- Nonprofit organizations know only too well the constant challenges of fundraising. Help has arrived in the form of a handy new guidebook. In Lessons from Benchmarking: Fast-Forwarding the Maturity of the Fundraising Operation (Hubbell and Reinders, $40.00), coauthors Gary J. Hubbell and Mary K. Reinders focus on collecting and using data to implement and continuously improve fundraising efforts.
After analyzing accumulated data from more than forty organizations in the fields of health care and higher education, Hubbell and Reinders discovered that the problem is not a lack of information, but a lack of knowledge of how to convert that massive data into higher returns.
"We concluded that one variable more than any other signaled the effectiveness of the fundraising program. That variable...is the degree of program maturity," the authors write. Their book explores the concept of maturity (not just the program's age) and steps an organization can take to quickly advance it, thus shortening the gap between program implementation and attainment of fundraising goals.
The secret? Apply business-model benchmarking to nonprofit funding efforts. The benchmarking process provides for data analysis and performance measurement techniques, helping leaders to understand the philanthropy trends currently at work in their organizations. Lessons from Benchmarking explores building a true culture of philanthropy, hiring the right people, investing in targeted research, and concentrating emphasis on coaching and training.
Nonprofit leaders just beginning or contemplating fundraising performance benchmarking will use Lessons from Benchmarking to create strategies for data monitoring to ensure stronger performance. Leaders from established fundraising benchmarking initiatives will also find helpful trend analysis and tools to optimize their efforts.
True experts in the nonprofit fundraising field, the book's coauthors have nearly forty years' experience between them. Hubbell, founder and president of Gary Hubbell Consulting, works with organizations retooling business income and philanthropy strategies, engaging board members and community in unprecedented ways, and raising more money than ever before. Reinders, senior consultant of Reinders Research, is backed by research expertise and wisdom gained in the trenches. The positions she has played in her clients' success are comprehensive, ranging from project design to data collection and report writing with strategic recommendations. Both consultants have assisted a diverse range of nonprofits, including those in health care, social services, education, and arts and culture.
The consultants' experience translates into a guidebook that would benefit any fund development program, but Lessons from Benchmarking is especially good news for struggling fundraisers. Though "it takes much more than luck to stimulate success...fundraisers have more control over fundraising performance than once thought," Hubbell and Reinders assert.
Lessons from Benchmarking is now available through http://www.amazon.com/Lessons-Benchmarking-Gary-Hubbell-Reinders/dp/1604022019/ref=sr_1_3/104-9722815-4892753?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185293427&sr=1-3[Amazon] and the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy http://www.ahp.org/book-store/index.php[Association for Healthcare Philanthropy].
Gary J. Hubbell is founder and president of Gary Hubbell Consulting, LLC, and has nearly thirty years of experience helping nonprofit organizations fulfill their missions through planning, adaptation strategies and resource development. Mary Reinders of Reinders Research is a senior consultant serving-mission driven organizations in the fields of health care, higher education, arts/culture, religion and social services.
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