Scott concluded the previous video with a question: Do you want to be a cupcake baker or run a successful cupcake business? Just because you can bake cupcakes does not mean you will run a successful cupcake business. Contributing to a cause you care about and running a successful non-profit organisation are two very different activities.
Your cause will not drive your organisation’s success. There is a movie, The field of dreams, where the main character becomes obsessed with building a baseball field in his cornfield in the middle of nowhere. The famous line from the movie is someone telling the main character, “if you build it, they will come.” He spends a lot of money and after he builds the field, people do indeed come. However, this is just a good fictional concept, not one that often works. A solid non-profit that will last requires systems for how it will attract people, gain relationships with them and compel them to care are your cause. The tagline of your non-profit’s movie is “if you want to have success then you should build systems to meet people and inspire them to care, then they will come.”
The skills of running a successful nonprofit organisation and what drives the success of it is your business plan. The success is not your cause. Your cause will not attract funding, your business plan and the systems that go with it will.
Reflect on your current skills and knowledge related to fundraising.
Use the following questions to guide your self-assessment: