STOP FUNDRAISING FOR YOUR FUNDRAISERS

And start funding planning for your programs, your overhead, your growth.

When I was the Executive Director of a small nonprofit, I can remember feeling like I spent all of my time either fundraising through special events or running the special events. We needed the event to add money to our bank account to keep us afloat until the next special event. Essentially, each event was paying for the overhead and event expenses. It was a vicious (and exhausting) cycle.

I’ve been working on two basic things with my clients recently:

• Proving your value by showing the impact your organization has on its community
• Raising the funds you need to sustain and grow your nonprofit in a way that allows you to focus on your mission and your programs.

By fundraising through events, nonprofits are rarely introducing people to their organization, their mission, their impact and importance. It’s the equivalent of a retail shop having a sale or hosting a pop-up. You may get a bunch of people excited over the “deal” they’re going to get or that “other thing” you’re offering for a day or a weekend, but it devalues what you have on a constant basis.

My emphasis (now…and I wish I could go back to old ED me to realize it sooner!) is on showing people the worth and work of your organization on a daily basis. No bells and whistles. No live music or silent auction to distract them.

When we connect with funders, it’s essential that they believe in the work we do. That they can see the impact we’re making on the community. That they feel their dollars are an investment in the future. If they’re only willing to contribute toward a festival or event, then are they really connected to our organization, our mission?

In some cases, it’s a confusion about what exactly your mission is. It could be confusion on the part of your community, but it may also be confusion on the part of your staff or board of directors. Either way, education is the answer to that, not a special event.

It’s easier said than done. I know. I get it. But here are a few things you can do now to get started, if this is a path that you’d like to move forward into:

1. Create a 1-page impact report. Make it lively and colorful and be sure to have your logo/branding and mission statement on it. You can use Canva or PowerPoint to help with design ideas. Come up with at least five things your organization can brag about on that sheet. Maybe it’s the number of volunteers who helped you last year or the number of hours they put in. It could be how many years the organization has been around. Or perhaps you can brag about how many pounds of food you brought in at your last food drive.
2. Look around your community and make a list of “major players” or potential partners, people, businesses or organizations whose mission aligns with yours to some degree and who might be able to make a significant impact on your nonprofit through a financial contribution, assistance with a project or program, or with in-kind contributions of goods and services. Start conversations with these potential partners and make time to take one of them out for coffee or tea each week to teach them about your organization and the relationship you’d like to have with them.
3. Keep collecting and sharing data like what you have in that 1-page impact report. At the end of the year, compile all of it into an annual report. I highly recommend paying a graphic designer to make the report as impressive, visually, as possible. Be sure to include graphics to show your investors how far their dollars went this year AND what your plans are for next year and the impact their future donations will have.