Developing a Comprehensive Nonprofit Fundraising Strategy

     Nonprofit organizations have many challenges, from developing and running their programs, recruiting, hiring, and managing staff, developing and engaging their board, and staying on top of technology. Most nonprofit leaders would say that their biggest challenge is finances—raising enough money to pay and retain their staff, operate their programs, pay the bills, and keep up with the rising costs of operating their organization. Many nonprofits have one or two income streams where they have experience, knowledgeable staff, and a history of success. 

     Exploring new avenues of fundraising can seem daunting. One disappointing experience—like a time-consuming and unsuccessful event or government grant application—can be so discouraging that leadership closes the door on future attempts. Giving up on a revenue-generating stream can be a mistake. Most established and thriving nonprofits have mastered several fundraising strategies. A diversified approach is the best guarantee that a nonprofit will continue to meet its goals and achieve the impact that it envisions. Here are three examples of nonprofits successfully adding one new approach to their fundraising strategy: 

• Example 1: A nonprofit in Mexico was assisting families experiencing extreme poverty who were squatters on a closed landfill. The government donated the land to the people living on the landfill, allowing the nonprofit to build homes in place of the sheet metal and cardboard shacks the people were living in. Most of their revenue came from religious organizations and individuals in the U.S., but their fundraising efforts for the house-building project were unsuccessful. They decided to offer week-long, project-based volunteer opportunities, inviting churches to send groups of volunteers to help build the homes and make monetary donations. This project engaged hundreds of volunteers in the first few years, resulting in dozens of new homes. Moreover, donors stayed engaged longer, and many returned for subsequent trips. 

• Example 2: An international nonprofit had been growing slowly for ten years, with most of its fundraising coming from households—generous friends of the founder(s), monthly donors, special appeals, and a robust social media strategy. Lacking expertise, attempts at raising money through grants had failed. They decided to invest in hiring an experienced grant writer and, within a year, had won several large grants. Grant writing became a crucial component in their fundraising strategy and allowed them to expand their mission and geographic reach. 

• Example 3: An established, national U.S. non-profit was successful in almost every area of fundraising but had never explored government grants. They decided to contract with a grant-writing consulting company and, within the first year, won multiple grants of several million dollars each. 

Consider whether there are any fundraising strategies in which you could invest resources to help enhance your overall financial strength. A few of these strategies include: 

Households / Individual Donors

     No doubt your nonprofit raises money from households and individuals, but do you have and effectively use CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software? A good CRM strategy has many challenges, including the cost of good CRM software, the implementation time, paying a consultant to advise on its use, and training and coordinating staff. 

     Yet, done right, a CRM strategy is a worthwhile long-term strategy for most nonprofits. It can help you find new donors, improve donor retention, customize your appeals based on donor capacity and preferences, track the performance of your appeals and emails to see what works, automate fundraising tasks, create reports, and more.  

Social Media 

     Most nonprofits use social media, but many need a strategy or a dedicated and experienced staff to oversee it. An excellent social media strategy will include setting goals, creating a content calendar, analyzing data and measuring results, posting shareable content, and interacting with your audience. Among the many benefits of a robust social media strategy are increasing your organization’s reach and visibility, attracting new donors and volunteers, and keeping existing ones engaged.  

Grants 

     Some of the challenges of a grant writing strategy include finding appropriate grant writing opportunities, preparing quality applications, committing resources to applications that are not guaranteed to result in awards, having all the required documentation, preparing complex budgets, and reporting on outcomes. Many of these challenges can be overcome or mitigated by hiring a good grant consultant on a per-grant or contract basis. See the CFS Insight: 7 Reasons to Choose Capitol Funding Solutions). The main benefit of a solid grant writing strategy is a potentially significant revenue stream. Many nonprofits raise the majority of their budget through grants. Federal grants can be daunting yet have the greatest potential in award size. (To help you decide if your organization is ready to apply for Federal grants, see the CFS Insight: Decoding the Federal Grant Application Process: Is Your Organization Ready?) 

Other fundraising strategies to consider whether your nonprofit should devote more resources include: 

Major Donors — a wealth screening tool to find high-net-worth individuals 

Events — large annual galas; small, targeted events 

Nonprofits — to partner on projects and fundraising; to include as a sub-recipient or primary recipient in large grant applications, where applying alone would be impossible or less likely to succeed 

Corporate — sponsorships, in-kind donations, volunteer engagement, joint press releases, publicity on their websites and social media, matching gifts from employees and board members 

Celebrities — finding celebrities committed to your cause who will make large donations and engage their audience 

Religious institutions — volunteer opportunities, project-based trips, fundraising campaigns 

Today’s fundraising environment is more competitive than ever. Nonprofits must broaden and expand their revenue streams to grow and remain sustainable. By implementing a wide range of revenue-generating initiatives, you will strengthen your organization’s stability, be able to attract and retain talented staff, achieve the impact you envision, and withstand economic downturns.