YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
SBJ: Data from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project indicates while overall dollar donations increased from 2024 to 2025, individual donors – especially smaller-dollar donors – have decreased by 3.6%, marking five straight years of donor decline. Have those trends impacted Convoy’s growth?
Hal Donaldson: It hasn’t. I think part of that goes to the fact that the needs of people continue to grow, and as a service organization, we’re never with a shortage of work. Fortunately, many people across the country trust the work of Convoy of Hope. They trust the fact that we’re going to get the job done, so we have not seen a decline. It’s actually been the opposite.
SBJ: What are some of the top issues organizations face when managing growth?
Donaldson: One is human resources and the other is financial resources. We have to keep an eye on the health and the workload of our team members to make sure they have adequate time to recharge their batteries. The last thing we want to do is burn them out. The second would be making sure you are not depleting your financial resources. It’s for that reason that we are really conservative in our budgeting process; we don’t want to be guilty of making promises we can’t keep because of inadequate resources. At the same time you don’t want to play it so safe that you hoard resources. It’s a balancing act.
SBJ: Convoy recently made news for covering broken car windows with tarps after a recent hailstorm. How much of a cushion do you budget for unexpected situations?
Donaldson: People are surprised by the fact that we don’t budget for individual disasters. We budget for what we call the fire department, which is our term for the people who are part of our disaster relief team. In terms of responding to a particular tornado or hurricane, we don’t budget for that, and we rely on the generosity of people on the back end. We don’t want our team responding to a crisis and worrying about money — we want them worrying about the needs of that community and serving as many people as they can. It’s probably not the safest business model, to be very transparent, but it’s worked for us. We hang our hat on the generosity of the American people.
SBJ: How does Convoy’s new food packaging facility factor into your future growth trajectory?
Donaldson: One of the things that happens when you’re a service organization is you receive a lot of requests for food, and sometimes you’re limited by your access. This new facility will be somewhat of an insurance policy. We’ll be able to produce and package some of our own food, which will enable us to help more people. We’re currently serving food to 677,000 kids every school day, and our goal is to reach 1 million kids by 2030.
SBJ: What is the best business advice you’ve ever received?
Donaldson: When you find that you’re heading in the wrong direction, don’t be afraid to retrace your steps and go in a different direction. Good leaders know when to forge ahead, and they know when to retreat. You can take that same philosophy and apply it to our individual lives. There are a lot of people who are struggling vocationally, and they say, “Well, I’ve invested so much time, so much education,” and yet they’re not happy. I think all of us need to look inside at times and say, “Do I need to retrace my steps?”
Deadline to complete survey, pinpoint sites for new restaurants, businesses set for Nov. 27.
