# No time for a lack of ambition… - Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2008/11/16/no-time-lack-ambition/ - Published: 2008-11-16T17:20:26+00:00 - Author: Howard Lake Talking to a group of charities gathered in Brussels yesterday, I realised that the one thing really holding them back was not the impending recession but a lack of ambition at CEO level. There was no lack of care and concern for those they were trying to help, but their organisations had no plans to say, double in size over x years or indeed to grow other than to add on 5% or 10% to their income targets and these were being revised down to zero or less. The more I think about it the more I believe that the whole drive in invest in new fundraising techniques, and to sharpen up old ones, is seriously lacking in our budgeting processes and more importantly on the mind-set of trustees and CEOs. Without real growth targets and investment in fundraising, we will inevitably stumble into real recession. So, let’s keep our goals high, our investment targeted on growing our organisations and reach out for the knowledge if we just don’t have it ourselves. ## Advertisement * **[First Fridays discuss the year ahead – will you be there on the 2nd Jan or the 6th Feb?](https://fundraising.co.uk/2008/12/29/first-fridays-discuss-year-ahead-will-you-be-there-2nd-jan-or-6th-feb/)**( 29 December 2008) * **[Many thanks Kate!](https://fundraising.co.uk/2009/01/14/many-thanks-kate/)**( 14 January 2009) * **[So, where were you on the big night?](https://fundraising.co.uk/2009/01/21/so-where-were-you-big-night/)**( 21 January 2009) ## Comments ### By: Redina Kolaneci - Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2008/11/16/no-time-lack-ambition/#comment-3375 - Published: 2008-11-17T00:14:16+00:00 I couldn’t agree more with what you are saying John because I see that too time and time again… and I would add ‘lack of vision’ as to what a charity can achieve if they had 10 or 50 times more income than what they have now – as well as lack of ambition. My boss Larry Johnston often tells a story about how one Christian charity in the US raised 1 billion dollars in 1978… yes, at that time when 1 billion was a lot of money 🙂 This whole campaign started with the CEO going to see a major donor asking him for a $10 million gift for a new project they were about to undertake. Well, after hearing the presentation the donor asked: ‘ If I gave you $40 million dollars what would you do with it?’ The CEO apparently mummbled and stumbled and the donor said… ‘OK go back to your office think about this and come back with a new revised plan. ‘ And he went away got his team to research needs and think ‘big’ and came back with a revised plan… to cut the story short the major donor gave $40 million and several others gave too in response to a fundraising campaign that is still one of the largest private giving campaigns in history of fundraising the USA. Now, the whole envisioning process happenned because both the major donor and the CEO dared to dream big… and go for it… and wouldn’t it be great if some charity CEO’s today dreamt those big dreams and really went for it … investing in fundraising in order to facilitate donors and charity’s vision for making the world a better place Redina Kolaneci Senior Fundraising & Stewardship Consultant McConkey/Johnston International UK [http://www.mcconkey-johnston.co.uk](http://www.mcconkey-johnston.co.uk) ### By: danielfletcher - Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2008/11/16/no-time-lack-ambition/#comment-3376 - Published: 2008-11-17T09:57:52+00:00 I was having a related discussion with some fellow fundraisers only last week on how vision and fundraising are closely tied. I like to modify the proverb – “Where there is no vision, fundraisers perish”. But really it behoves fundraisers to be instrumental in driving that vision in our charities, even if it is from the backseat. I’m not sure it’s enough to bemoan our CEOs for lack of vision, unless we have exhausted opportunities to envision them and create a culture of dreaming big dreams and asking the question, “What could we do if we really had a transformational donation?” Fundraisers are naturally good at envisioning and persuading donors to engage and change the world. We can apply the same skills internally with our leaders too. ### By: Alastair Irons - Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2008/11/16/no-time-lack-ambition/#comment-3377 - Published: 2008-11-18T14:12:56+00:00 I agree that it would be great if every CEO dreamed big dreams then provided the leadership to turn those dreams into reality. However, in common with the commercial sector, not every CEO cares about their employer, its products or their recipients, beyond their own career or payslip. So some executives will do only what’s good for them, to their own timescale. See my forthcoming blog on the alignment of organisational and personal goals for a sorry tale of how one organisation got it spectacularly wrong. Alastair Irons Executive Creative Director, [http://www.twcat.co.uk](http://www.twcat.co.uk) Chairman of Trustees, [http://www.iprescue.org.uk](http://www.iprescue.org.uk) Director, [http://www.ourworldoursay.org](http://www.ourworldoursay.org) ### By: CarolineM - Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2008/11/16/no-time-lack-ambition/#comment-3378 - Published: 2008-11-18T16:12:07+00:00 I couldn’t agree more. Vision and ambition are incredibly important and if the leaders of an organisation are turning up only to receive their pay slip at the end of the month that organisation is in serious trouble (or in danger of remaining perilously static at the very least). I think fear has a lot to do with it, especially for smaller more inexperienced charity leaders – fear of change, fear of failure and fear of not being in control. In an ideal world leaders would embrace and accept that fear and get on with the job anyway because the need for the service is more important than personal reservations– unfortunatly this type of leader is rare but when you can find them they are worth their weight in gold!