Example: How Higher Fundraising Costs Raised Revenue at a Medical Center

From 1993 to 2013, the Maine Medical Center increased its fundraising returns by more than 600 percent, to more than $11.4 million, under the leadership of Susan Doliner, vice president for development.

During that same period, the organization greatly expanded its fundraising budget. By 2013 it was spending more than $1.6 million on its fundraising operation, an increase of 255 percent.

The chart above shows the rise of the medical center’s fundraising costs and returns for those 21 years. The organization achieved net returns ranging from $351 for every dollar spent when it was hiring new staff and gearing up for a campaign to $1,070 during one of its big fundraising drives.

The chart and attached table, which includes a simple calculator to find your cost to raise a dollar, may help you make a case to a skeptical trustee or chief executive for a bigger investment in fundraising.

Send an e-mail to Holly Hall.