--- title: The 500 Calorie Fundraising Diet for Nonprofits · DickersonBakker description: Is your fundraising program malnourished?   Recently, an executive director proudly shared her annual report with me, as she wanted to get my opinion on it.  The document was nicely laid out with all of the normal sections of a nonprofit … read more image: https://blog.dickersonbakker.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Tiny-Meal-1.jpg --- [![DB-logo-2023](https://blog.dickersonbakker.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DB%20Logos/DB-logo-2023.png?width=1300&height=214&name=DB-logo-2023.png "DB-logo-2023")](https://dickersonbakker.com/) - Home - Who We Are - [About Us](https://dickersonbakker.com/about/) - [Our Team](https://dickersonbakker.com/about/our-team/) - What We Do - [Fundraising Solutions](https://dickersonbakker.com/fundraising-solutions/) - [Capital Campaigns](https://dickersonbakker.com/capital-campaigns/) - [Executive Search](https://dickersonbakker.com/executive-search/) - [Grant Services](https://dickersonbakker.com/grant-services/) - Who We Serve - [National & Regional Nonprofits](https://dickersonbakker.com/national-regional-nonprofits/) - [Global Aid & Outreach Ministries](https://dickersonbakker.com/global-aid-outreach-ministries/) - [Christian & Private Schools](https://dickersonbakker.com/christian-private-schools/) - [Higher Education](https://dickersonbakker.com/higher-education/) - [Salvation Army](https://dickersonbakker.com/salvation-army/) - [Rescue Missions](https://dickersonbakker.com/rescue-missions/) - [Community Organizations](https://dickersonbakker.com/community-organizations/) - [Camps/Conference Centers](https://dickersonbakker.com/camps-conference-centers/) - [Broadcast Ministries](https://dickersonbakker.com/broadcast-ministries/) - Resources - [News & Insights](https://dickersonbakker.com/blog/) - [Case Studies](https://dickersonbakker.com/case-studies/) - [Research Studies](https://dickersonbakker.com/research-studies/) - [Upcoming and On-Demand Webinars](https://dickersonbakker.com/upcoming-and-on-demand-webinars/) - [Contact](https://dickersonbakker.com/contact/) # DickersonBakker Blog ![](https://blog.dickersonbakker.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Tiny-Meal-1.jpg) ### The 500 Calorie Fundraising Diet for Nonprofits December 03, 2013 By [Guest Contributor Brent Hafele](https://blog.dickersonbakker.com/author/guest-contributor-brent-hafele) [Categories Boards Campaign Planning Study Capital](https://blog.dickersonbakker.com/tag/categories-boards-campaign-planning-study-capital-) **Is your fundraising program malnourished? **  Recently, an executive director proudly shared her annual report with me, as she wanted to get my opinion on it.  The document was nicely laid out with all of the normal sections of a nonprofit annual report including financials.  One number in particular stood out to me: the agency only spent 2% of their budget on fundraising.  I pointed this out and asked the executive director about it.  She replied, “Our donors love it!”  **When I asked her how the fundraising was going and the smile left her face**; it was not going well. Nonprofit agencies work very hard to keep their fundraising costs low.  However, there is a difference between being thrifty and being wise.  Fundraising on only 2% of your budget is a lot like eating a 500 calorie per day diet.  2% is just not enough to sustain a healthy organization, and **it was starving this nonprofit**.  “But what about the donors?” you say. “Don’t they want fundraising costs to be low?”  Yes, but more and more, **donors are looking for impact, not ratios**.  If you are a free clinic, are your patients actually getting healthier?  If you are a homeless shelter, do your residents find permanent housing?  What donors do not want is for nonprofits to be gorging on a 5,000 calorie per day diet and wasting donor dollars. So what is right for your agency?  Much like calorie recommendations change by the person, appropriate fundraising expense ratios change by the agency.  A healthy range for most organizations is between 10-20%, but remember the ratio is only a number.  The key question is “Does it make sense for your organization and your goals?” --- *Are you counting your fundraising calories? Contact DBA & let our team of consultants show you how to increase your fundraising impact. * Written by: ## Guest Contributor Brent Hafele [Full Bio](https://blog.dickersonbakker.com/author/guest-contributor-brent-hafele) | [More by Guest Contributor Brent Hafele](https://blog.dickersonbakker.com/author/guest-contributor-brent-hafele) [Back to blog](https://blog.dickersonbakker.com) ### Get Our Newsletter ### Categories - [Categories Boards Campaign Planning Study Capital (259)](https://blog.dickersonbakker.com/tag/categories-boards-campaign-planning-study-capital-) - [Nonprofit Organizations (32)](https://blog.dickersonbakker.com/tag/nonprofit-organizations) - [Fundraising (29)](https://blog.dickersonbakker.com/tag/fundraising) - [Leadership (21)](https://blog.dickersonbakker.com/tag/leadership) - [News (19)](https://blog.dickersonbakker.com/tag/news) ### Search Shares ![Facebook](https://blog.dickersonbakker.com/hubfs/Dickerson_Bakker_October2019/Images/Floating%20Social%20Icons/Facebook.png) ![Twitter](https://blog.dickersonbakker.com/hubfs/Dickerson_Bakker_October2019/Images/Floating%20Social%20Icons/Twitter.png) ![Google+](https://blog.dickersonbakker.com/hubfs/Dickerson_Bakker_October2019/Images/Floating%20Social%20Icons/googleplus.png) ![Email](https://blog.dickersonbakker.com/hubfs/download.png) ![LinkedIn](https://blog.dickersonbakker.com/hubfs/Dickerson_Bakker_October2019/Images/Floating%20Social%20Icons/Linked%20In.png) ## What does forward look like for you? 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