In the past six months my daughter has lost 45 pounds. She watches her diet, runs several times a week (she’s surpassed me – a runner or over 30 years – in that department!) and looks and feels amazing.
The other day I suggested to her that her experience would be prime fodder for a book, even an e-book, to help others struggling with their weight. After all, she has been struggling with her weight for over ten years and seems to have hit upon the perfect solution!
“Are you kidding mom?” she responded. “I lost this weight through diet and exercise! It was hard work! No one wants to hear that! Everyone wants a quick fix or a pill …”
You know what?
She’s right.
Lately it’s occurred to me that many of us in the field of nonprofit fundraising have the same mindset.
Whenever I’ve met with potential clients, I always hear the same questions or concerns:
“What about a signature event?”
“How do you get major donors?”
“How do we use social media to raise money?”
“We tried grants a few years ago and it didn’t work …”
As Charlie Brown used to say: “Argh!”
What I have found, in my 14 years working in the nonprofit arena, is that organizations who commit to their development in the same way that they commit to their mission, and who establish sound fundraising systems will always have the tools at their disposal for sustainable funding.
Great development is all about systems and relationship-building. There is no magic pill. There isn’t one single technique or tactic or trick that will set your organization on the path to sustainability.
Nonprofit organizations need tried and true systems – systems for:
- Grants management
- Individual giving
- Donor stewardship & communications
- Website creation & management
And the backbone of all these systems is a strong case statement presented with engaging story telling.
An organization doesn’t “try” grants one year and decide it doesn’t work! You’ve got to engage the foundations, reapply, research on a consistent basis and steward the grants that you have received well.
After all, you wouldn’t go the gym once, decide exercise didn’t “work” and never return would you?
Repeat my mantra: systems and relationships, systems and relationships, systems and relationships …
December 14th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Great post, Pamela. You’re right on. My area is the midsize donor segment, and the steady work it takes to cultivate a base of grassroots donors will pay dividends beyond the dollar value attached. That is, as the economic downturn has shown, the grassroots donor base is possibly the most stable source of funding. It’s not easy to acquire (many organizations get most of their funding from a mix of government funding and major gifts), but once you get the commitment of the grassroots, you are unlikely to lose a significant number of them in any one year or after any one event.
In other words, there is a positive flipside to the slow, incremental process of acquisition, and that’s the fact that any losses will be incremental too.
December 21st, 2009 at 4:15 am
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Alena