Setting team targets - Michelle Benson

Earlier this year I spoke to a Fundraising Director about why he insists all his team targets must be achievable.

As we chatted, we discovered we had both lived through the same target setting nightmares. Our identical story goes like this:

• As Fundraising Directors, we were asked to create a bottom-up budget with our teams.

• Each team worked out what to expect from pledged, likely to repeat and new income.

• Careful analysis produced the figures and then we added a bit of ambition on top.

• The figures were submitted to the finance team and CEO, then the numbers came back with...£200K (in my case) and £250K (in his case) added on.

Both of us, who at the time did not know each other and were in different charities, went back and said no. Because we had both experienced the agony of managing teams who despite putting in a lot of hard work and nailing some major wins - never actually got to hit the fantasy target set at the start of the year.

It sucked for everyone. So, we were not going to inflict that situation onto our teams again.

Cue the pushback.

We told them no, but they responded with you don't really have a choice - we need the money.

We explained the figures line by line - our budgets clearly had a dose of 'fingers crossed' money already baked in. They said, seriously we need the money.

We said I know, but if we increase these targets, we’re setting people up to fail (both charities back then had a history of driving fundraisers and former Fundraising Directors out the door by setting eye watering targets).

They said, let’s keep your budget as it is and add on a 'stretch target' on top. We said that this is even worse. As young, naive, first time Fundraising Directors we had both previously agreed to the 'stretch on the top' trick. Only to find by day two of the financial year the word 'stretch' completely dissapeared - along with the rest of the SLT (Senior Leadership team) and Board.

Leaving us holding the now seriously overweight baby...but then came the compromise. My additional £200K was given to the CEO as a personal target. And his £250K was given to his SLT as their target.

12 months later neither my CEO nor his SLT had made a dent in either targets, both remained at zero raised.

We both now know this story is a common one, and not just for Fundraising Directors, but for CEO’s (from Boards) and Heads of Income Streams as well.

Begging the question, has anyone actually managed to meet an added on or stretched target? Or is it just a wishful thinking sum that's never achieved?