Knowing When It's Time to Say Goodbye..... In the Trenches 1/04

By Tom Hurley

There's an old shaggy dog story of the good man who arrives at the Pearly Gates only to be greeted by St. Peter who says that before he commences with his eternal reward he gets one night to try out Heaven and then one night to sample Hell. Heaven was exactly as billed, but his one night in Hell turns out to be a real surprise. Flames to be sure...but also dancing, drinking...a non-stop decadent bash. 

When he met with St. Peter to be assigned his eternal reward, he said, "Gee, I've always lived my life to be rewarded in Heaven, but frankly Hell looks like more fun. That's where I want to be."

St. Peter didn't quarrel with him. He just gave him his pass and down he went. When he arrived for his permanent stay, the good fellow was shocked to see the scene had changed to the misery and horror he had always feared. When he complained to Lucifer that this wasn't the scene he experienced last night, Lucifer said, "Last night you were a prospect, tonight you are a client!"

Of course, agency relationships never deteriorate that fast but this little attempt at satire does show that time and situations do change. 

So when is it time to think about throwing in the towel and look for a new fund raising agency? 

• When the reason why you hired them in the first place is gone. Maybe you were awed by the original presentation or the promises made by the new business team. Maybe the account service team was gung-ho for first year or so but now you seem to have to drag them along to keep projects moving. 
  
  
• When campaign results drop and no one seems to care or notice. Face it. Most donor and member based organizations have experienced recent declines particularly in donor acquisition and retention. Response rates have dropped off and the cost to raise a dollar is increasing. Don't blame your consultant for the way the world is going...but hold him or her responsible for suggesting new strategies and tactics to keep your program on track.
  
  
• When errors are made but no 'make-good' is offered. First, ask yourself if your organization may share some blame. Was the donor file you sent clean and did the file actually match the record layout? Was the select you pulled for the telemarketing provider for the proper group? But if the error was really beyond your control, did the agency offer to do something to make you whole by offering to mail a second wave...or make extra calls?