# Diversify or Die

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2009/09/23/diversify-or-die/
- Published: 2009-09-23T14:00:01+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Now I’m not one of those who sees the government (of whatever colour) as the Devil
incarnate, but recent warnings about the risks of state funding cuts for charities
do make me think “I told you so”.

 

For the last five years or more, our friends at ACEVO have been encouraging charities
to cosy up to government and become just another delivery channel for public services,
the idea being that government can supply all the funding need. But now the tide
of public funding is about to turn – and next April it could go out a long way!

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The lesson we learn from this is an old one of course – don’t put too many eggs 
in one basket – or, in fundraising speak, make sure you have diversified your income
streams properly to reduce the risk to your organisation.

 

This is not just an issue with public service delivery charities either – I am often
surprised how dependent clients of ours can be on just one or two sources of funds–
whether it’s trusts, individual giving, community fundraising or any other income
stream. So I’m always looking to see how balanced their fundraising mix is and therefore
what level of risk they are taking.

 

Diversification is such a fundamental element of risk management in fundraising 
that perhaps the IoF should make all its Certificate students write out 100 times“
Diversification reduces risk”!

 

Don’t get me wrong – we do need to take risks as fundraisers, but these relate to
trying new ideas, to testing new markets and techniques – not to sticking complacently
to the same methods and funders(governmental or otherwise) or looking for some magic
funding bullet, because these don’t exist!

 

 * **[Self-destructive Fundraising](https://fundraising.co.uk/2011/08/25/selfdestructive-fundraising/)**(
   25 August 2011)
 * **[Raising Funds in Hard Times](https://fundraising.co.uk/2011/10/05/raising-funds-hard-times/)**(
   5 October 2011)
 * **[What's in it for me? Fundraising and the value equation](https://fundraising.co.uk/2012/04/24/what039s-it-me-fundraising-and-value-equation/)**(
   24 April 2012)