No More Duct Tape Fundraising · Aperio book club
“You may be feeling overwhelmed by the challenges of funding your nonprofit, but if you’ve come this far, you have the vision, passion, and tenacity to put your organization on the path to sustainable funding.”
By Toni Koch
Many nonprofit leaders, and even some career fundraisers, can become overwhelmed by the responsibility of raising money to keep their programs and organizations running. Dealing with boards that don’t want to ask for money, relying too heavily on a single revenue stream, worrying about ‘competition’ from other nonprofits—the struggle is real.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. In No More Duct Tape Fundraising, Rachel Ramjattan weaves stories of her personal fundraising journey in with simple steps for how we can all raise enough to fund our missions.
Our book club dove in.
Back to basics
Our book club participants—seasoned frontline fundraisers and nonprofit leaders—agreed that Rachel’s book brought us back to fundraising basics, reminding us of the simple things that we know work but that we often complicate. We also reflected on the start of our fundraising careers and thought that this book contained everything we wished we knew and learned the hard way.
Rachel outlines an easy-to-follow eight-step process to develop sustainable funding and help stakeholders understand that fundraising is everyone’s responsibility.
Create a fundraising plan
Rethink your fundraising mindset
What donors want but won’t tell you
Create a compelling case for support
Make the ask
Delight your donors
Get your board on board
Make fundraising a central leadership priority
Start with why
Before starting this work, our group discussed the importance of centering on your north star or your ‘why’ beyond a mission statement. With all the changes we are seeing in the sector, now is the time to rethink belief statements (mission, vision, and values) and re-discover what motivates you as an organization every day. This exercise of grounding in the impact will help everything else flow, from creating a fundraising plan to cultivating a culture of philanthropy.
This is true because relationship-building and storytelling are at the heart of fundraising. As Rachel says, “the key to successful fundraising is believing you are making an impact on an important cause, finding other people who care just like you do, and affording them the opportunity to enter a mutually beneficial partnership.” To overcome the fear and discomfort of asking for money, focus on telling a story, and the ask will come.
Expanding our definition of diversification
We all know it’s important to not rely too heavily on a single revenue stream if we want our organizations to be financially sustainable. Rachel recommends no more than 30 percent of funds come from a single source. We saw what it meant for organizations who depended on event or corporate revenue streams throughout the pandemic as they were forced to change course and try new strategies. Yet we all must take into account the financial and time expenditures associated with activities like events and grants with no guaranteed returns. Individual giving remains the most effective method to diversify income. Think about ways you can expand individual giving solicitation and follow through with exceptional donor engagement.
What would it mean to think about diversification beyond fundraising channels? How can you diversify the way you acknowledge and recognize donors, such as thank you videos, that would elevate the donor experience? On the cusp of ‘The Great Resignation’, it might be helpful to consider diversifying relationships within the organization. By implementing secondary and tertiary relationship managers, you can build trust with donors and encourage a connection with the organization and not only one person.
Getting your board on board
Board giving is a staple revenue channel for most organizations, and nonprofits seeking grant funding need to demonstrate solid board participation in giving to ease the minds of potential funders. Board members already volunteer their time, but it’s important that they understand from the start everyone has a role to play in fundraising. Our responsibility as fundraisers and nonprofit leaders is to set our board members up for success by defining clear roles and expectations, understanding their unique gifts and comfort levels with fundraising, and providing them with tools and resources so they feel supported. Here are some actionable tips we discussed:
Write a board member job description
Hold orientations and trainings that include role-play giving conversations
Provide scripts and toolkits for donor outreach
Encourage personally significant giving
Abundance > scarcity
“The quickest way to raise more money is to adopt a mindset of abundance rather than scarcity.” This concept is also a core belief at Aperio. It’s time we stop dwelling on competition from other nonprofits and know that there are thousands of potential donors looking for ways to make a positive impact. As nonprofits, we provide individuals with an opportunity to support work that they alone cannot do. Scarcity triggers fear and leads us to believe that by asking for support, we’re ‘hitting people up for money’. This fear gets in the way of what we’re really trying to accomplish—helping people fulfill their desire to make a difference in their community or the world. We need to bring this mindset of abundance and opportunity to all donor and stakeholder conversations.
“Here’s what I want you to know about getting people to give you money. It isn’t about the tactics…It’s about being personal, being authentic, and changing your mindset. Fundraising is not about how much money you need to run your programs. It’s about giving people the opportunity to change the world and making sure they feel good about the impact they’ve made through your partnership.”
Toni Koch
Toni’s background is in public health, and she has built a career in relationship management and fundraising for international nonprofit organizations including Rise Against Hunger, Carolina for Kibera, and Renew Oceans.
