# Culture eats strategy for breakfast lunch and dinner

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2015/06/18/culture-eats-strategy-for-breakfast-lunch-and-dinner/
- Published: 2015-06-18T12:01:11+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Peter Drucker was famously the first to coin the phrase ‘culture eats strategy
for breakfast’. I’ve also heard that culture eats strategy for lunch. I’ve seen 
culture devour strategy for dinner and I’ve experienced culture munching on strategy
as a snack between meals.**

Enough of the food analogies. The point is that any charity may have a super smart
fundraising strategy, or an incredible theory of change model or an innovation process
to rival Apple’s. While all of these things are important, if your organisational
culture does not support these plans, models or processes then your chances of delivering
them successfully are slim.

The dictionary defines culture as; the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a
particular people or society. It also talks about culture in relation to maintaining(
tissue cells, bacteria, etc.) conditions suitable for growth.

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So if we take a mash up approach (see what I did there) a culture of fundraising
could be defined as, ‘the behaviors of individuals that form teams that provide 
conditions for fundraising growth’ I also describe culture simply as ‘the way we
do things round here’ and its importance in enabling organisations to deliver their
plans and ultimately achieve their mission is often overlooked.

Part of the challenge for fundraising directors and managers is that it is more 
tricky to measure a good or successful culture that often has ‘soft’ measures like
understanding of values, than a fundraising campaign which is primarily about income.
Intuitively we know that if you have a team that works well together, has permission
to be creative, works collaboratively with other teams, has shared values and is
focused on achieving their shared goals – they will have a greater impact on the
bottom line. However for many directors and managers responsible for delivering 
fundraising plans, securing investment to develop the right culture to support their
fundraising delivery is a difficult negotiation especially when often they are under
pressure to show return on investment in one year. It’s harder to tick the return
on investment boxes for culture and values and so culture if often perceived as 
a bit fluffy (like a well made soufflé).

## Similarity in fundraisers’ cultures

Over the last few years I have worked with teams to help them think differently 
about their fundraising in order to deliver greater impact. In the teams that do
drive their ideas forward I have observed some similarities, not in their fundraising
plans or innovation processes, but in their culture.

Primarily they have a ‘can do’, or entrepreneurial attitude and are all focused 
on and committed to their end goal; the purpose for the charities existence. I have
also observed how these teams spend time getting to know and support each other 
and are also accountable for their actions in a way that is different from the teams
that easily revert to or are ‘too busy’ with business as usual.

When the culture is right stuff happens.

## Survey into what makes a thriving fundraising culture

Myself and my colleague Jacob Rolin, would like to ask for your help to sense check
some of the things that we have both observed about what makes a culture where fundraising
thrives, as well as the biggest barriers that stop fundraising and innovation happening.

Please could you take a brief 5 minutes to fill in this quick [innovation fundraising survey](https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/L95ZS5B).

For your time, not only will we send you a summary of our findings that will have
some practical advice and reminders about how to shift your culture to a more entrepreneurial
one, but we’ll also enter you into a prize draw to win a signed copy of my new book
The Innovation Workout which will be hot off the press in September.

And finally if you are in London and attending the Institute of Fundraising Convention
you can hear more about our observations first hand at our session ‘[How to be a fundraising entrepreneur](http://nationalfundraisingconvention.org.uk/session.php?ref=15066&ret=s)’
on Monday 6 July at 4.30pm.

 

_**Lucy Gower** blogs at [Lucy Innovation](http://www.lucyinnovation.co.uk/)._

 

_Photo: [cutlery ](http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-285645965.html)by Chris Tefme
on Shutterstock.com_

 * **[Lucy Gower’s book offers 10 steps to build creativity and innovation skills](https://fundraising.co.uk/2015/10/29/lucy-gowers-book-offers-10-steps-to-build-creativity-and-innovation-skills/)**(
   29 October 2015)
 * **[Everyone’s looking for the Next Big Thing: but little things mean a lot](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/07/20/everyones-looking-next-big-thing-little-things-mean-lot/)**(
   20 July 2016)
 * **[Donation boost for Strathclyde Entrepreneurs Fund](https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/01/31/donation-boost-strathclyde-entrepreneurs-fund/)**(
   31 January 2017)