Different Strokes
My husband likes tv shows, movies, plays, books where the good guys wear white hats and always come out on top. Me, I like a lot more ambiguity. I’m not big on nice. I don’t believe that people are all one way or the other. I need nuance.
On the other hand, my husband likes food that has flavor. He loves sauces, toppings, and everything covered in cheese. Personally, I prefer burnt toast, with nothing on it. The only sauce I truly like is lemon juice. And cheese, while fine in moderation, should not cover it all.
Different strokes and all.
My husband and I are not unique. We all have likes, dislikes, things we love, and those we don’t. Nonprofits, made up of people, are also distinct. It always amuses me when people, “Well you know, they are a nonprofit.”
I suppose that means that they are overwhelmed, under resourced, unable to accomplish anything at all. And while this is depressingly true too often, it is amazing how many nonprofit organizations manage to accomplish incredible things, grow, serve those who need their services, all the while staying true to their mission.
Mission is the one area that all successful nonprofits share. Not the same mission, of course, but the fact that there is a clarity about their purpose; they understand what they are there to achieve, and they understand how to best get there.
Funding, however, is often at the other end of spectrum. That they don’t understand—especially the need to diversify their funding streams.
I’ve spent much of my consulting working with nonprofits on fund development. Of course, it’s not all I do: strategic planning, succession planning, board development, and more all play a role. Yet, no matter what I am working on, the issue of fund development always arises.
Too often I hear, We are too busy; to scattered, it’s too hard to raise funds. All of which is sort of true. But also there are many people and organizations that would want to support the work you do, provide funding, help in many ways, if only they knew who you were.
Reaching out to your community—communities!—is critical. In fund development we talking about the difference between touches and moves. Touches are those things you do to let the community know that you are there, you do amazing work, and that work matters. It is also the way you tell your communities that THEY matter and remind them how important they are to getting the work done.
Move, on the other hand, are the specific steps you take to turn a prospect into a donor and a donor into a repeat donor.
Moves are necessary for raising money. But so are touches. As an old mentor of mine once told me, no one will hug you if they don’t know you.
How you let people know about you is worth the time to create a plan. Consider your resources. Think about the ways you want to reach out. That means you actually must know who your potential and existing donors are, and how you can embrace them and pull them closer to your organization.
Which social media site are they on?
How do they want to be communicated with?
How often can you pull a selected group together online or in person?
Who in your organization or on your board can go to networking events? Which events make sense to be at?
Can you figure out ways to make your website more engaging? Bring people to you more than one time?
All these are among the questions you must ask. Then your job is toIdentify the ones that make the most sense.
Like me and my husband, each of your organizations will have different issues, different needs. But by being intentional about how you engage your communities, you can increase the number of donors you have and get to keep.