Has your organization experienced a dip in donations or fundraising efficiency since 2020? Do worry, you are not alone. More than 60% of foundations with annual budgets of less than $500,000 reported a decrease in donations of $250 or more. This has happened for a variety of reasons, but no matter what the cause, it hurts your growth, ability to offer programs to your community, and puts your sustainability in jeopardy.
So what can you do? Work these steps and experience a change in your fundraising trajectory:
- Develop and adopt a comprehensive fundraising plan. This plan is like a strategic plan completely focused on fundraising portion of your organization. It should be complete with time delineated goals, tasks, and anticipated outcomes. It can look like a report, table, or logic model; whatever works best for you.
- If you do nothing else, focus on improving individual donations. Individual donations are the backbone of most nonprofits, but they are especially essential for smaller nonprofits. Focus on donor relations, cultivating new and current donors, and building towards longer range goals like bequests.
- Consider hiring a development director. In these times, an expert fundraising specialist can help you change your defunct fundraising into a growing machine. Perhaps hiring a contractor for a temporary assignment may be more within your budget, but don’t delay getting the information and knowledge necessary to grow your gifts.
- Take some time to learn about advanced fundraising. If you really want your organization to grow or to even be around in another 10 years, you have to invest time and resources to learn about advanced fundraising options for your organization. Every idea will not work for you. But you do need to learn about the options, consider how each option would affect your organization, and implement the best options for you to be successful.
Want to learn more about fundraising statistics? Read an article here.
You can take an active role in changing the trajectory of your fundraising. Good luck with your effort and Happy Fundraising!
