A key aspect of Ajah’s consulting work is helping organizations and networks of organizations create internal infrastructure and systems to optimize their use of existing data and knowledge.
A ‘data maturity model’ has been an invaluable tool in informing our work, and in communicating work with clients.
But when we recently discovered a thought-provoking piece on a maturity model for advancement operations, we realized how applicable this mindset could be to fundraising in a broad sense.
From the article:
“Advancement isn’t a factory. Advancement needs all teams, including the so-called back office, to help separate the right things from the wrong things. That’s strategy. The maturity model must take into account the capacity to be involved at a strategic level.”
This concept is just as applicable to fundraising more broadly, and it highlights a team mentality that Ajah has long advocated.
(You can read the full article, Early thoughts toward an Advancement Operations maturity model, for more insights and information.)
Reading this think piece has made us excited about the idea of how a fundraising operations maturity model could be a beneficial tool for fundraisers within their own organizations.
Applying a maturity model to fundraising operations could help fundraisers to get the support they need across the board for more effective (not just blindly efficient) fundraising.
The original article suggests four levels of an Advancement Operations Maturity Model, moving from a basic first tier of a team that simply follows processes, to a high level where the operations team is a strategic partner in the organization and actively leads advancement within the establishment.
Should this model be applied to fundraising, what do you believe each maturity level would entail?