Posts tagged Development Plans

Put Individual Donors First This Fiscal Year

Jul 10th

Posted by LauraEKaufman in Development Plans

You’ve probably heard it before, but it bears repeating:  83 percent of all non-governmental dollars raised in the nonprofit sector come from individuals.  Foundations and corporations do not provide the majority of support for the work of the social sector, individual donors do.

Each year, the Giving USA Foundation publishes it’s excellent analysis of charitable giving to nonprofits by corporations, foundations, individuals and estates.  For years now, the percent of dollars raised from individuals plus the percent of dollars raised from estates (which were, of course, accumulated by individuals) has hovered between 82 and 83 percent.

Here are the figures for 2009 :

Source: Giving USA 2010

In spite of these numbers, many nonprofits continue to generate 60 to 90 percent of their revenue from government, foundation and corporate support.  This is especially true of small and mid-size nonprofits, defined here as organizations with budgets of less than $10 million.

The current economic crisis has resulted in deep cuts in government funding.  Giving USA 2010  reports that foundation grantmaking fell by 8.9% in 2010.  Corporate giving rose by 5.5% while individual giving remained flat.

Nonetheless, many of my nonprofit clients continue to focus the majority of their fundraising time and budget on securing foundation and government support.

With a new fiscal year starting, I have a modest proposal.  Let’s focus most of our fundraising attention on increasing and sustaining our individual donor bases.  Don’t give up your efforts to pursue government and foundation funding, but move individual donor work to the front burner. 

The research continues to “show us the money.”  Nonprofits that want to sustain their work and survive the economic downturn need to pay attention to this research and craft revenue plans that prioritize developing strong individual donor systems and strategies.  Make sure your fundraising plans include strategies for each of the stages of individual donor development:

Whatever you do, don’t skip the first and critical step: planning.  Nonprofits with limited development staff often put individual donor work last because this work seems to come with few externally imposed deadlines and requirements.   There are no  proposal or reporting deadlines.  But there are deadlines that need to be set internally:

  • When will you send a direct mail piece? 
  • When will you send an e-mail solicitation? 
  • When will you write each of these pieces? 
  • When will you send donors an update of the impact their contributions are making? 

If you put each of these deadlines on your work-plan, you will begin to see the need to plan time for individual donor work instead of rushing to write that solicitation at the eleventh hour.

In drafting your annual work-plan, put aside staff  time regularly — once a week, twice a month — to gather names of prospective donors and conduct research into the giving habits and interest of existing donors. 

Schedule time to plan for your next moves with different segments of your donor base.  For example, how will you keep in contact with new supporters who attended an event?  When will you ask them for a gift beyond the price of attending the event?  If you have a group of donors who have been giving larger gifts via your direct mail campaign(s), research their potential for major giving and create strategies to cultivate and then ask them for a major gift.

See this earlier post  for more about development planning.

And come back and visit over the next few weeks as I’ll be posting pieces regarding research, cultivation, and stewardship of individual donors and a piece on staffing your individual donor program.

Does your nonprofit put individual donors first?  Please share how you do below.

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5 Tips for Raising More Money from Foundations

May 4th

Posted by LauraEKaufman in Donor Retention/Stewardship

 

With the economic downturn, raising money from foundations has gotten even more difficult and nonprofits need every competitive advantage to succeed. 

So, what is the key to successful foundation fundraising?  The same element that is central to all winning fundraising:  building effective relationships with your donors.

Here is a list of 5 tips for building effective relationships with grantmakers:

1)      Program Officers are people too.  You may think Program Officers are merely gatekeepers deciding whether your proposal ever sees the light of day beyond their desk.  It seems obvious, but still bears saying.  Program Officers are people, and like any group of people, some will be helpful, others unapproachable.

Some other elements of the grantmakers’ perspective to consider:

  • They have their own set of internal stakeholders to whom they are responsible.
  •  They have only so much leeway in stretching foundation guidelines & requirements.
  •   They may feel like they are constantly being pitched and are only liked because they have access to money.
  •  They are routinely swamped with e-mails, voice mails,  piles of reading and many meetings.

 

 

 

2)   Seek mission compatability:  When approaching individual donors you target those who will find your nonprofit’s work most compelling.  The same strategy should be applied to your foundation prospects.  Do not simply chase money because it is being granted.  Plan your foundation strategy and target those grantmakers whose funding priorities match best with your programs and services.

Partners in Effective Philanthropy

3)   Plan your foundation fund raising.  Create a Foundation Funding Calendar and submit proposals based on when funding is awarded and when you need it for your program.  If a proposal is funded, add its reporting deadlines to your foundation calendar.  Regularly set aside time ( several hours each week or every other week)  to research and add new foundation prospects.  For more about fundraising planning, see this earlier post.

4)   Write a strong proposal:

  • Follow Directions.
  • Use the active voice.
  • Write clearly & simply. 
  • Be specific, but brief.
  • Do not use jargon.
  • Include all information requested by the funder.
  • Proofread.  No spelling/grammar errors.
  • Format it so it is easy to read. Break up text with headings and bullets.  Use short paragraphs.
  • Remember, you are telling the “story” of your nonprofit.  Show why your work matters and clearly demonstrate the need for your organization.
  • Submit a budget that makes sense and is mathematically correct.
  • Present a clear program plan that is realistic and appropriate for the issue being addressed.

5)   Work to build long term relationships with grantmakers.  Use the same practices of stewardship that you use with your individual donors:

  • Give grantmakers the recognition they prefer.  Some want to be anonymous, some want to be mentioned in publicity. 
  • When a grant is awarded, call or e-mail the funder to say “thank you” and then immediately follow-up with a formal, written thank you letter. 
  • Make sure to file needed grant paperwork and reports on time.   
  • Keep funders informed about the progress of the project.
  • Work to cultivate receptive grantmakers as advocates of your nonprofit’s work.
  • “No” may just be the first step to “yes.”  If a proposal is rejected, speak with the Program Officer and ask if you should re-submit the next time.  Sometimes it takes two or three attempts before securing funds.

For a list of resources related to grantmaking, see Partners in Effective Philantropy.

What other tips would you share with nonprofit grantseekers?

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Fundraising Planning in the Small Shop

Mar 8th

Posted by LauraEKaufman in Development Plans

 

 

 

 

I have worked in many small development offices, defined here as staff of three or less, and the majority of my consulting clients have small shops.

In my experience, it is the rare small shop that regularly draws up annual development plans. While they have fundraising goals and fundraising calendars, few small shop development directors annually assess their nonprofit’s fundraising systems, resources and past strategies and then chart a course for the new year.  

The small shop development directors I know say that they are overworked and understaffed and cannot find the time to pull an annual plan together.

I know there is always too much to do, but if your nonprofit is going to be successful, you cannot afford to skip the annual development planning process.  In fact, you might currently be wasting precious staff and volunteer time and budget pursuing funding strategies that do not work.  Creating a plan helps you to focus the majority of your efforts on the fundraising strategies that have the most potential to sustain your nonprofit.

Annual fundraising plans are a key element of successful small shops in the best of times.  In economically shaky times such as these, plans are even more important.  Has your nonprofit lost government or foundation funding over the past year?  How will you work to replace this money?  What do you think will be your best funding sources this coming year? The focus required to create a plan will help you to answer these questions. 

Many nonprofits are about to start a new fiscal year on July 1, so March and April are good times to consider how this year’s fundraising efforts have gone, and plan accordingly for next year.

Here are some key questions to consider:

1.    Your Donors: 

  • Who are your current donors? 
  •  What strategies are you using to cultivate and keep current donors, upgrade gifts where possible and recruit new donors? 

2.    Infrastructure:  

  • Do you have an effective database? 
  • Do you need additional technology to take advantage of social media and online giving?
  • Do you have systems in place for regularly communicating with donors, sending timely thank you notes,  and following up on new leads?

3.    People: 

  • Do you have an active Fundraising Committee?  Is this committee provided with adequate training and staff support?
  • What is your development staffing plan, and is it working effectively?
  • Do your professional staff need additional fundraising training?
  • Is your Board of Directors actively engaged in fundraising? 
  • Does your Board recruitment process prioritize finding members with fundraising experience and connections?
  • Does your nonprofit clearly articulate and communicate Board fundraising responsibilities to incoming as well as current Board members?

4.   Strategies:

  • Which funding sources might you have to move away from given the changing economy?
  • Which fundraising strategies provide the biggest “bang for your buck”?  Do you have plans to expand on these successful strategies?  Do you have plans to drop the fundraising strategies that are not working?

5.   Communication strategies: 

  • What communications vehicles might need to be added or upgraded in the coming year?  Your website?  E-mail and snail mail materials? Your newsletter?
  • Do you have a plan for using social and interactive media to reach new supporters?

After considering some of these questions, you will need to prioritize.  Which of the above require attention this year?  Which should you find ways to address over several years?   These are only some of the things to consider in planning.  In future posts, I’ll talk about the Board and fundraising and the importance of having a revenue plan that includes individual donors.

Most importantly, find a way to create an annual development plan.  I know you are busy, but you cannot afford to waste the time caused by a lack of planning.  In the end, we all need to remember the saying credited to Alan Lakein, the time management expert:  “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”

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