It was one of those customer phone calls. A Monday morning special.

“We have always had good results with our VirtualGiving website,” said the pleasant voice. “But we have a new director and she decided to rewrite all the marketing material herself. Website, announcements, newsletters, all brochures …” he trailed off apologetically.

This is not worth discussing, I told myself, watching a beautiful deer pass my window in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, but I tried one anyway. “Don’t you know it’s better to spend your time dating and meeting prospects? You’ll spend half a year behind a desk writing and editing copies.”

“You’re right, I know you’re right, but we can’t make her change her mind.” And that was that.

Friends, it’s time to stop hiding behind your desks. DIY (a buzzword for “do it yourself”) won’t help your organization, your prospects, or your career. Let’s take a look at the time wasters the new principal is putting in the way of getting her job done: cultivating leads and closing giveaways. Just for your new planned giving website:

• You’ll need to write a technically accurate and compelling copy, then edit it, and then send it up and down the review chain, including legal. Everyone’s opinion will mean a rewrite.
• There will be another round of editing before your graphic design is approved. (“But this doesn’t match our template …”)
• After the copy and design are approved, you’ll sit down for long sessions with IT (you want logical navigation and orientation to guide your site visitors – IT isn’t sure what that means, but you have 12 jobs waiting before I can get to yours).
• The site is active! Congratulations. Now remember to keep your web presence up to date with new donor testimonials, rate changes, tax updates, and more.

Why go through a routine like this when you get paid to burn shoe leather by going to your prospects’ front doors? Are you trying to cut costs? Are you convinced that you can do it better than anyone else? Following an old playbook? (First, study planned giving; then sell your Board of Directors; then assemble an Advisory Committee; then write your marketing; then wait for responses.) Let me try to remove some of the barriers that prevent you from leaving your office:

Cash costs.Do you think doing it yourself will save money? You will not do it. Many operations take six to eighteen months to get self-designed websites up and running, only to be less than satisfied with the end results.

Opportunity costs. Developing internal marketing tools generates opportunity costs in the form of missed contacts, missed leads, and unopened gifts while you and your staff were doing heavy work. Doing it yourself means turning yourself and your staff into part-time copywriters, graphic artists, and web designers. Is that an efficient use of your time and skills?

I can do better. It may be so. But fundraising isn’t a hobby, it’s your job. You get paid to prioritize your talents to build the financial strength of your organization. Which of the tasks you could do this morning will best accomplish that goal?

Control problems. Our recent survey showed a very high correlation between Visited Leads, Closed Gifts, and PGO Salary. It makes sense. So why do some fundraisers obsess over administrative issues? Be an entrepreneur and let it go!

The minutiae can keep you behind your desk as you try to make every announcement, every gift description, every end-of-the-year letter “perfect.” Meanwhile, life and its prospects advance. We tell our clients to live by excellence, not perfection.

I am following the playbook.Planned giving is no longer news to your prospects. You have heard from ten different sources about how gift annuities work. So you don’t have to listen to advice from thirty years ago on how to launch your planned giveaway campaign in slow motion.

… And don’t talk to me about waiting to go public until you’ve implemented the Gift Acceptance Policies. Yes, it helps to have written guidelines on who does what when a prospect offers you an unusual gift, like an igloo farm in the North Pole. But that can wait a bit, right?

Delay. Are you anxious because you don’t know the gift plans? It’s okay; we understand. You can review! But don’t let it become an excuse. After all, Mrs. McGillicuddy is not that difficult and she would love for you to visit her. Go ahead, pick up that phone, then wear your shoe leather.