Back in 2011, we created the Leaky Bucket Assessment for Effective Fundraising. Honestly, the first motivation was simple – I thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool to have something interactive on the website?” Apparently I struck a nerve, because 15 years later, we have collected over 1600 responses from fundraisers all over the world.
I review the Leaky Bucket responses every year, and every year or two we roll up the data into a short white paper, Fundraising Down the Drain. Click here for the 2024 edition. When I finished reviewing it, one thing jumped out at me:
15 Years of Data, 1600+ Responses – but Virtually No Change in Results
You read that correctly. Over 15 years, with over a thousand responses, there is almost no change at all in the leakiness of fundraising buckets.
That was enough to convince me it was time for a relaunch. So we built Leaky Bucket Lite, a refreshed version of the assessment. Here’s what’s new:
- A new, more accessible platform
- An individualized report at the end, explaining your results
- Two new questions that uncover more of the reasons your fundraising bucket might be leaking
- A comparison of your results against 15 years of legacy data, so you can see how you stack up
What didn’t change: it’s still completely free.
Thanks to AFP’s Fundraising Effectiveness Project, we know donor retention is a serious “leak” — but there are at least ten more, many of them hiding in plain sight. You, your ED, or your board may not even know they’re there. That’s exactly what this assessment is built to reveal.
What’s Coming Next: Leaky Bucket Pro
Leaky Bucket Lite is based on what you think. But we got curious: what if everyone else in iyour organizaiton took the same assessment? We’re already seeing major gaps between what’s actually happening in the development office and what your boarad, your CFO, or your program directors think is happening.
That’s why were’ building Leaky Bucket Pro (for Professional). It lets everyone on your team complete the same assessment. We aggregate the responses, segment them by role, and even correlate them against an anchor statement to measure alignment.
The dashboard you’ll get surfaces a different kind of leak: misalignment among your own team. If you want a true culture of philanthropy, one where fundraising is everybody’s’ job, then your board and program staff need to understand what’s actually expected in the development office.
Want to be the first in line when Leaky Bucket Pro launches? Let us know.