START, STOP, CONTINUE
As we enter a new decade, nonprofits are facing a lot of challenges and a lot of change.
OK, Boomer. We are finally leaving. And many of the people taking our place (and yes, some of you are reading this now) are pretty untried. And—as we were when we were their age—pretty sure they know a lot more than they know. On the plus side, they are smart, committed, and willing to take risks. Something that hasn’t been so evident in the nonprofit sector.
In fundraising, we are facing a world where fewer families are making charitable gifts. Yes, you are seeing lots of articles that talk about the growth of fundraising. But the growth is largely (pun intended) in mega gifts—those over $20 million. There is a decrease in gifts $1,000-$10,000.
Donor attrition is huge—and it an even bigger problem for smaller nonprofits. And that means that most of the sector is losing donors at rates of over 60%.
Donor advised funds are growing rapidly. When I started in fundraising, the list of nonprofits who led each year in raising charitable dollars was led by United Way with Harvard or Yale as numbers two and three. Everyone on that list of 400 was a public charity.
Today, the number one fundraiser is…Fidelity. Number three is Goldman Sachs. Schwab clocks in at number six, and Vanguard is number 10. Donor Advised Funds, of course, are not in and of themselves the problem. The problem is that there is no requirement for that money to move to a public charity and to provide needed services to those clients.
I could go on. But whining doesn’t solve any problems and I am all about solutions.
What can we do? Let’s start by answering three critical questions:
What do we need to start doing to meet these changes and challenges?
Stop doing?
And what do we need to continue doing?
Starting with the last question, one thing you definitely need to continue is to live by the values that undergird your nonprofit. Don’t just put them in your strategic plan and on your website, have conversations about them. Challenge board and staff to incorporate these values into their conversations, and to think about how these values promote and add to the things your organization does.
Something you have to stop doing is thinking about fundraising as the “f” word.
Why does fundraising get such bad press? We—staff, board, other volunteers--have to stop thinking about fundraising as hitting on someone, begging, embarrassing, annoying and anything else negative that is currently going through your head.
Fundraising—honestly and truly—is about giving a prospective donor the opportunity to be involved in something wonderful. It is a gift we give to our donors.
Most of all—fundraising is about a lot more than asking someone to make a gift. It is a process, one that everyone must be engaged with. In fact, engaging people with our organization is really the core of fundraising
Finally, what do we need to start doing?
I mentioned donor attrition. We have to stop being hamsters running around a wheel, and we must start embracing our donors. Fundraising starts with gratitude. And with showing those who support you how important their support is. And it continues by building relationships and relationships require trust.
If you start building relationships where you value your donors and show them the importance of what they do, you will be positioned to make this decade something truly wonderful