Having a Big Hairy Audacious Goal helps charities take risks and puts fundraising into context, says Jenna Pudelek.
Do you have a Big Hairy Audacious Goal? I have to admit to being completely behind the times with this one – the term was first coined in a management book published in 1994 about building successful companies, which is potentially why it passed me by. But the whole idea of a BHAG (pronounced BEE-hag, according to Wikipedia) seems really apt for fundraising now.
SolarAid’s Richard Turner writes about his charity’s BHAG – to eradicate the kerosene lamp from Africa by the end of the decade. Having this big, scary, nearimpossible goal helped SolarAid to double its income in the last year. But it has also galvanised the whole organisation around a really clear goal and the fundraisers working to achieve it.
This month, Alberto Lidji, urges charities to embrace a sensible amount of risk. His organisation, the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation, has set itself a BHAG – to ensure every 14 to 24-year-old in the world has the opportunity to participate in the award by 2026. Lidji is confident that by taking a step out of their risk-averse comfort zones, charities can achieve their objectives more quickly and efficiently.
I think what appeals about the idea of a BHAG, is that it puts fundraising in the ‘big picture’, at the centre of huge, world-changing goals. Ken Burnett wrote a blog recently about a “real battle for the soul of fundraising” and raises some interesting questions about whether some fundraisers are “too professional”. He writes about his disappointment in discovering that not all fundraisers share his belief “that our career area is special, distinctive, a privilege to work in”.
Burnett’s blog is part of the Institute of Fundraising’s ‘Proud to be a fundraiser’ campaign. It seems, or it should be, unnecessary to need such a campaign. How could anyone not be proud to be part of organisations that work towards ending global poverty, child abuse, domestic violence and finding cures for cancers, Alzheimer’s disease, or any of the world-changing charity goals out there? Part of the campaign’s wider aims are about getting charities to be proud of their fundraisers, to make the argument for continued investment in fundraising, which is something higher education fundraisers can certainly identify with. It’s also a reaction to attacks on fundraisers in the media and by politicians. What do you think, are you ‘proud to be a fundraiser’, is your charity proud of your fundraising talents?
