Do you fundraise for your nonprofit?

Whether fundraising is one hat — or one of many — that you wear at your organization, it is clear that nonprofits are finding it particularly challenging to raise money. With attacks on charitable giving and federal funding sources drying up, it is vital that nonprofits diversify their funding sources.

To help organizations raise funds, Spitfire teamed up with the experts at CIMA Consulting for a special SpitfireU session on Sept. 23 to share how nonprofits can identify funding sources that are right for their mission, values, capacity — and the moment. Below are CIMA’s recommendations for fundraising organizations to consider:

Start with values

When sharing with donors, don’t just explain what you do — explain why it matters to you personally. Take Brené Brown’s values exercise to get to your why — the reason you are doing this work, beyond your organization’s mission. 

While your nonprofit’s mission is central to your fundraising efforts, it is also important to understand what matters to current and prospective donors. Knowing what they love will help you make the connection between your mission and what donors are looking for. 

Foundation funding

Practical tips for foundation fundraising:

  1. Where you can, start with meetings. Where possible, reach out to potential funders you have connected with before.
  2. Even if some foundations are not taking on new grantees, you can go to your current funders to ask for extra investment for urgent needs and increased investment in your work. This requires a good relationship with the funder.
  3. The CIMA team is also seeing funders encouraging nonprofits to partner and, in some cases, merge. How can you demonstrate real collaboration in your mission area or community and pursue collaborative funding? Show that you are not territorial and that you want to collaborate to achieve a shared vision for society. 
  4. Go beyond searching grant and request for proposal databases. One of the best places to source new prospects is in competitors’ or partners’ annual reports. 

Individual giving

It is important for individual donors to feel like partners in your mission. They respond quickly in times of crisis and tend to be more flexible than foundations.

Practical tips for individual giving:

  1. Dedicate staff and board time to build relationships with your donors and potential donors. 
  2. Personalize your donor engagement. When you know what your donors care about, you can customize your communications. 
  3. Connect the dots for donors between what is happening in this moment and what your nonprofit is doing. Tell them how they can help.
        • Some organizations send monthly newsletters. Others send a personalized email once a quarter to their higher-dollar donors. Others call to check. Most do all of these things as part of a schedule of relationship-building activities.
        • This regular cadence of communications and inclusion in your mission primes your donors for you to ask for a gift. 
  4. Tell stories about your impact. Give them confidence that their investment in your nonprofit will make a positive difference.

Corporate partnerships

Practical tips for corporate partnerships:

  1. Follow the news, and do your research so that you know what your priority industry is facing. With this information in hand, you can position your organization as a partner to solve these challenges.
  2. Invite corporate leaders to join your board or advisory board.
  3. Look at the services you offer to determine whether there is an opportunity for earned revenue. Is there training that you offer that corporate partners may need that you are able to provide?
  4. Is there a mission-critical service that you provide for free but where there may be an opportunity to have a small or sliding-scale fee?
      • It is important to think about who your customers are and whether a fee would make that service inaccessible. 

At Spitfire, we are inspired every day by organizations that continue to serve their communities, even in difficult times. We hope you find this guidance useful to ground your fundraising work in values and explore different revenue sources as a nonprofit heading into the critical yearend giving season and beyond. 

Want to level-up your fundraising strategy? The CIMA team to help grow your funding and build long-term sustainability. You can reach the CIMA team at bd@cima.consulting. Missed the session? Make sure you sign up for Spitfire’s newsletter to be the first to hear about our next SpitfireU.