Don’t Settle, Grow

“Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.”

It’s no secret that the past few years have been challenging for fundraisers. Many of our clients have seen their results stagnate since 2009, and they are just now beginning to invest in new ways to grow their peer-to-peer programs. At Plenty, we believe the time is right to start thinking – and dreaming – big again. We are always excited to partner with organizations that are looking to grow after several years of hoping to not lose ground.

Over the past few weeks however, I’ve been working with two clients that have had a different experience. They have been achieving growth all along.

Two weeks ago, we were in New York with the National Hemophilia Foundation. NHF launched a series of walks just prior to the recession and, in five years, they have added nearly 30 walks from Florida to Alaska. This year, NHF expects 12,000 people to walk, fundraise and support their mission of finding better treatments and cures for inheritable bleeding disorders.

This trend continued last week in Alexandria, Virginia, where we were working with ZERO – The End of Prostate Cancer. ZERO started their run/walk series in 2008, and they have seen steady growth over the last five years. This year, runners from Baltimore, MD all the way to San Francisco, CA, will run, walk and fundraise for a world without prostate cancer.

What struck me about both organizations was that their peer-to-peer fundraising programs were already growing when they brought us in to help. Through tough economic times, both NHF and ZERO were seeing steady growth and increased support. Yet, neither group was satisfied with the pace of their growth. Too many people are still impacted by inheritable bleeding disorders; the walk needs to grow faster to help fund research. And there still isn’t a cure for prostate cancer, at least not yet; the current pace simply isn’t fast enough.

Change takes time and an unwavering dedication to mission. Both NHF and ZERO are great reminders to keep striving to do better until we’ve seen the impact we set out to create. This focus on continued improvement is one way both organizations exemplify excellence.

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