You’ve probably seen this before. And, if you haven’t seen it, I’m sure you’ve experienced it in some aspect of your work….
It’s called the “Triple Constraint Model” and shows the dynamics between time, quality and money when you try to build, sell or do practically anything.
The challenge is, you can only pick two. Doing something fast and cheap is rarely good. So, don’t pick those two. And, I’m guessing that you’ll always want “quality” to be one of the two. So, your choice really comes down to “time” and “money”.
When it comes to peer-to-peer fundraising, you almost always choose to do something with a high impact (“quality”) and low cost (“money”). Of course, if you choose those two, you can’t also chose to do it fast (“time”).
You actually need time–both staff time and calendar time–to keep your costs down and quality high. For example, instead of spending a lot of money on mass marketing, it takes a lot of staff time to reach out and connect with prospects to tell them about the event or program and convince them to participate. With regards to fundraising, you need to use staff time to train and inspire participants to fundraise…and, once that’s done, participants need enough calendar time to go out and actually do it. Finally, with regards to sponsorships, it takes a lot of staff time and calendar time to research potential sponsors, build relationships with them and negotiate a cash or in-kind donation to your event or program.
So, if you happen to be in a time crunch, then you better be prepared to spend a lot more money in order to deliver a quality, impactful experience.