August 7, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
For Holly Lillis, raising money in her hometown of Sarasota, Fla., has some distinct advantages over fund raising in a big city. As she described in a post last month on the Future Leaders in Philanthropy blog, highlighted on Give and Take, the advantages include the accessibility of lawmakers and news-media organizations, and the approachability of strangers.
Now Ms. Lillis tackles how to overcome challenges of working as a development officer in a small city. Writing on the Future Leaders in Philanthropy blog, she says that collective memory is longer in smaller communities.
“This means that when your organization’s best-laid plans go awry, your population of prospective donors is not going to forget about it anytime soon,” writes Ms. Lillis.
To protect your organization from ruining its reputation, she advises reminding trustees that they’ are representatives of your charity and handling donor disputes with grace.
Among the other challenges she tackles: working in the same community as an organization with similar goals and ensuring that fund-raising events appeal to community members.
Do you agree? What are some other challenges to raising money outside of major metropolises? How can fund raisers cope?
