Anyone who believe fundraising is a matter of "getting the word out" isn't really a fundraiser. (They're also not a marketer or advertiser of any kind.)
Which is why the Marketing the Arts to Death blog says it's Time To Fire People Who Say 'Get The Word Out'.
Spraying your message out to the general public under the belief that once they've heard what you do, they'll line up to donate is pure delusion. It doesn't happen. People give when you put a motivating proposition in front of them -- when you show them a specific way they can make the world a better place with their money.
Marketing the Arts to Death notes that "getting the word out" has some other problem:
- It Describes a One-Way Process
- It Describes a Passive Process
- It Enables Narcissism
Charitable giving -- when it really works -- is a two-way relationship. It's never passive, and it requires the fundraiser to be humble, not self-focused.
So it may be the right move to fire the people who say "let's get the word out" as their vision for fundraising. Or at least try to help them understand what fundraising is really.
