4 Tips for More Effective Fundraising This Giving Season

It’s the end of the year and every nonprofit has the same thing on their mind: fundraising. Every nonprofit could certainly benefit from additional support, but tracking down those funds - whether it’s donations, grants, or another source - is a big undertaking.

As you’re preparing for Giving Tuesday and your end of year fundraisers, we partnered with Wendy at Nonprofit SideKick to share a few tips to keep in mind. Here are four tips to help you both to help you raise more money and reduce your stress this fundraising season. 

Highlight the Case for Support

First and foremost, think about your messaging. As an executive director or development manager, you probably know all too well why you need to ask for additional support. You’ve got bills and employees to pay, projects to fund, and a third thing.

But that’s probably not what your donors care most about. They want to know that their donation is making a positive impact in their community. That’s why they’re interested in your organization in the first place. And while they may empathize with the struggles of operating a nonprofit, that’s most likely not the strongest case for support.

Instead, as you’re making the call to your donors and constituents, focus on the community’s need for your service, and ways you can highlight that. Consider sharing statistics about the challenges your community faces or the positive impact you’ve made so far. You could also feature profiles of individuals who have been positively impacted by the work your organization does. 

When you’re making your case, remember to center the impact you’re making, not just why you need to support.

Individual Donors May Stick Around Longer

When you’re looking for potential funders, it’s natural to chase the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow - the large institution looking to make a significant donation.

But while that donation can make a big difference in the short term, it may not be as sustainable as focusing on your individual donors. While an individual donor may only be able to donate $25 a month, they are much more likely to stick around long term. And that ongoing injection of funds can make a big impact over time. 

Institutional donors are great. But don’t put all your eggs in that basket, make sure you’re spending time focusing on individual donors as well. For most organizations, those donors are the backbone of their operations.

That being said…

Be Prepared When Opportunity Knocks

Angel funders are rare, but you can be prepared when they come knocking. It’s worth planning for those big picture goals and understanding what your organization would do with a sudden influx in funding. 

Large individual funders may want to know more about your organization’s plans or the impact you’re making, so make sure you’re prepared for those conversations and can answer the questions they may have. 

Don’t Forget About Grants!

At the end of the year, we focus a lot of our attention on individual giving, but don’t forget about grant funding opportunities. 

One of the mistakes we sometimes see organizations make is by putting unnecessary restrictions on their proposal when they’re grant writing. When we write a grant proposal, we are inclined to tell the funder something specific. We are conditioned to do this because so many funders traditionally ask for this information - thereby making it a "restricted grant" that comes with a lot more administration, tracking, and bookkeeping to ensure that the organization spent the money the way the funder intended. 

But if the funder doesn’t ask to restrict the funding, don't back yourself in a corner. More and more foundations are lifting those restricted funding requirements, opening the door for you to use grant funding for more of your organization’s operations. 

You still want to find that sweet spot of asking for the appropriate amount, but don’t limit your ask unless you know that’s a necessary requirement. And if you need help finding that sweet spot in your budget, we can help. We partnered with Jess Stack, an experienced grant writer, to provide tips for setting the right grant budget. Learn more about crafting the perfect grant budget. 

Fundraising is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

We don’t need to remind you that fundraising is an important part of your organization’s operations year round. It gets a lot of attention this time of year, but remember that there are more opportunities for fundraising all year round. With these tips, you can reduce your stress at the end of the year, and hopefully make more of an impact year round.

Whether it’s helping with fundraising or any other aspect of nonprofit management, you can find more support through Nonprofit SideKick. We develop, support and inspire leaders of nonprofit organizations across the country and help them make an even bigger impact. Subscribe to our newsletter for more nonprofit management tips in your inbox, and learn more at nonprofitsidekick.com.

MonkeyPod has all the tools you need to support your end-of-year fundraising and manage your grants. And because MonkeyPod is a true all-in-one nonprofit platform, we can also manage your books and budgets with built in nonprofit accounting. 

Want to see how MonkeyPod can support your nonprofit? Request a demo with our team today.