Leading and lagging indicators in fundraising management: a Canadian case study

Fundraisers, managers, and boards in the charitable sector are faced with an ongoing concern: how do they produce sustainable, predictable financial returns for their causes while minimizing the cost of fundraising? One way to address this is to improve the measurement of fundraising activities and this study asks how fundraising results should be communicated within organizations to support sustainability. This case study focuses on the fundraising program from one Canadian charity with a large, diversified fundraising program to examine how fundraisers can move beyond simple end-of-year financial ratios and implement one managerial technique, leading and lagging indicators, to improve long-term financial performance. A literature review, internal interviews, and internal document review are used to identify 81 potential leading and lagging indicators that fundraisers can use to develop a suite of indicators that fit their context, activities, and goals and to identify potential challenges with implementing indicators. The role of organizational context and characteristics in selecting an appropriate suite of indicators is also discussed.