Expectations

We live in an increasingly impatient world.

A world where governments have a shortterm focus, looking for quick wins while avoiding more complex challenges like healthcare reform, climate change and transportation planning. A world where businesses are obsessed with quarterly earnings and, as a result, often adopt highrisk strategies(something that many economists believe was instrumental in the 2008 financial melt-down). And, a world where we expect immediate gratification in so many parts of our own personal lives.

For better or worse, a similar degree of impatience and short term thinking has become increasingly apparent in the charitable sector, particularly as it relates to expectations of the fundraising function. Whether it be expecting big leaps forward in revenue growth over very short periods of time, impatience for the next mega gift or the desire for plug and play candidates with little or no tolerance for learning curves, ‘Institutional Impatience’ has now become a reality like never before.

This impatience and over emphasis on the near term can often lead to setting targets and creating expectations that serve the purpose of driving incremental, short term growth, but may not be optimal, appropriate or sustainable in the longer term.