Why marketing and development teams should totally be friends
Hey, marketing teams, stop me if you’ve heard this before: “Can I get a one-pager?”
Hey, development teams, stop me if you’ve heard this before: “Um, no.”
Don’t get me wrong—this is going to be a total kumbaya article. But let’s still call it like we see it. There can be real tension between the mass comms crew and the individual, major and corporate fundraisers. We can say it because we work with both marketing pros and development pros, often together, to chase down growth goals. I can say it because I’ve lived on both sides. I’ve been the guy that’s asked: “Do I really need to use this catch phrase when I know exactly what this partner would rather hear?” And I’ve been the guy that’s said: “We spent a lot of time and money on this brand collateral, USE IT.”
And we can kind of joke about it, but that doesn’t make it go away.
So here it is: a callout of a bunch of stuff marketers and fundraisers do that gets on each other’s nerves. And, an acknowledgement that both can be right at the same time. And, a word about cultivating an environment that draws out the best of both worlds. Because honestly, can’t we all be friends?
What we do that bothers each other (hopefully this is therapeutic)
Marketing:
- Makes stuff and passes it around, without input from the teams on the ground
- Makes a bunch of rules about how we can and can’t talk
- Grumbles about making materials to support upcoming events and initiatives… but grumbles even harder if we make them ourselves…
- Takes a hundred years to make something we know we could knock out in an hour
- Sends stuff to our donors without our knowledge or say-so
Development:
- Asks for one-off materials that will never apply to anyone else (and always wants PDFs? Like why?)
- Relies on “old school” tactics that are tough to trace and/or report
- Constantly going rogue in style, tactics and brand usage
- Won’t follow a timeline or prioritize campaigns
- Always gets territorial over “their” donors
Whew, that’s over. I know you have one you wish I included. Believe me, I’ve got more, but that’s kind of the point—nonexhaustive, but plenty of room elephants. Enough to prompt us to admit: Yeah, we’ve got some issues.
Redeeming myself: the thing that makes our differences healthy
Ever make a friend behind enemy lines? Since I’m so profoundly likable (compensating), I’ve found myself both as a marketer feeling like I have a “friend on the inside” with donor engagement, and vice versa as a fundraiser with the comms team. And honestly, it rocks.
It rocks because not only are there truly great people on both sides of the net, but they’re also really keen on areas where you’re not. Once, when I was on the marketing side, I asked my fundraiser friend for some data I could apply to a direct mail campaign. I got it back the next morning. No red tape? She just… did something because she knew how, and wanted to help? It was like I went to heaven. And once, when I was on the fundraising side, I had a little engagement idea for a group of core donors. My marketing buddy hit me with an actual logo and spotted me some space on the e-news and social schedule. 10x’d the dollars I would have raised on my lonesome.
This shouldn’t be missed: the really cool feeling of having a beneficial relationship with someone from “the other team” can actually just be something that everyone feels all the time.
So let’s pause and go back. Because it’s my (basically?) humble opinion that every point of tension I listed a minute ago stems from a vantage point that’s actually valuable. Valuable to the “other team,” and more importantly, valuable to the org. Like this:
Marketing takes a hundred years to make something we know we could knock out in an hour—While all the approval rounds seem like overkill sometimes, if your brand consistently doesn’t live up to your mission, you’re going to lose both current and potential supporters. (And apologies but there is also a very large chance your hour on Canva does not do the job like you think it does.)
Or, let’s flip it:
Development always gets territorial over “their” donors—Most marketers don’t know what goes into managing a portfolio. Donors are real people who sniff out quickly when they’re being “funneled.” Gift officers vividly remember the last email, the last phone call, the last coffee catch-up. They know how much a family budgets for charity each year, they know which initiatives resonate the most. (And again, sorry, but the spiffy email that just pulled in a big gift wasn’t the email. It was the multi-year relationship they’d already developed.)
Cutting back to the chase: the mutual benefit of the I’m-good-at-this-and-you’re-good-at-that can very possibly be your organization’s superpower.
Marketers know that brand consistency enhances the donor experience. Fundraisers know which consistencies resonate, and which are just for show.
Fundraisers know that specificity works better than general appeals. Marketers can codify and crystalize audience-specific engagement opportunities like nobody’s business.
Fundraisers want tools to start a conversation, which is where the real magic happens. Marketers put their heart into content that will get the right person talking.
Marketers crave donor input to strategically guide their next project. Fundraisers are the best donor listeners, ever.
Working together and making each other better
Iron sharpens iron, as the Proverbs put it. For some reason, while finding a friend on the other team feels totally realistic, some orgs find “making friends,” holistically, another story entirely. But we need it, don’t we? I asked Fervor’s fearless founder, anyway, and he goes: “Don’t think for a minute that you can operate for long without marketing and development working together. It’s gonna catch up with you sooner than you think.”
He’s not wrong. (Mike, if you’re reading, *he’s never, never wrong*.)
It can be a bumpy road. That said, it’s one worth traveling. Here are some considerations, and if you’re thinking, “I need a strategy partner that helps us chase growth from the inside-out,” I’ll drop a link.
Friendship tip #1: get the right people in the room, early and often.
I’ve never met a fundraiser that wasn’t willing to leverage good content to raise money. And I’ve never met a marketer who wouldn’t take a cool $50,000 matching gift to start a campaign. So often, the breakdown is in the “They never asked me”s and the “They never told me”s. So, ask and tell. Especially before signature campaigns. But also, like, monthly.
Friendship tip #2: draw the boundary and talk about it.
This supposes good data, so keep good data, but you can and should toggle audiences on and off of mass communications. What about global campaigns? What about auto-thank-yous? What about newsletters? What if a marcomms campaign attracts a big gift? All great questions. Talk about them, decide together. Try things. Change them over time. Compromise.
Friendship tip #3: make a clock on your heart.
If you aren’t watching The Bear, whatever, but this is where chefs sign “sorry” to each other in the kitchen when it’s too chaotic to stop and hash it out. You acknowledge a mea culpa, you move on. There are going to be times where you want a special landing page and get told no. There are going to be times where corners were cut en route to a leadership level donation. Almost always, there will be a long story behind it. Just like there’s a long and valid reason for every hot-button behavior above. You can find time to touch base and understand each other, but you should also keep your eyes on the prize.
Friendship tip #4: share.
Mike also said, “where silos exist, money is left on the table.” So, where you can, blend the silos. I’ve been a Marketing & Fundraising Specialist before. Not really a specialist when you think about it, and it was kind of odd, but it caused good conversations every single week between two teams that flew on separate radars before. But this isn’t role-specific. Share goals. (Want to make a campaign hum? Make its success an OKR for three separate directors!) Share wins. Share data. Back to tip #1, share a north star.
Folks, tell a content friend, or a philanthropy friend, how critical they are to your mission. And decide today to go make a new ally.
About the author
Payton is our senior strategist and campaign shepherd.