Is your board helping you pay the bills?

Judging from the number of nonprofit founders that tell me they need a grant because they have maxed out their personal ability to support their nonprofit, I'd have to say the answer is a resounding "no".

In my white paper, "Climbing the Ladder to Nonprofit Success" (you can get a copy by requesting one here) I explain why depending on getting grants to start a nonprofit, or even winning grant funding in the first year or two, is not a very wise financial plan.

So where do you get your initial funding after you have put all the personal money you can afford into the mission? Normally, it is going to be from your board, your immediate friends and family, small local events or a combination of all three.

Everyone seems to get the friends and family and the small events part, but they don't want to make fundraising a board duty.

There will probably always be a philosophical discussion about whether to set fundraising goals for each board member. I don't understand why that is even a point for discussion.

Admittedly, many people start nonprofits and  ask people they know to be on the board, just to satisfy the legal requirement that they have a board. It is a good bet that some of the people they pick say something like "OK, but I won't have to do anything, right?"

 

Wrong.

The board should be initially a development group. First and foremost they should care passionately about accomplishing the mission, and believe that they can do it. Right after they affirm their allegiance to that idea, they need to understand that missions need money to succeed. Making the board an integral part of that aspect of being a nonprofit right at the start shouldn't be optional.

If founders would sit down and figure out how much money they need in the first two years, cross grants off the list of possible sources, and then approach perspective board members with a honest inquiry as to whether they can contribute to the organization, or at the very least, be willing to go out individually and raise funds to meet those goals, there would be fewer failing nonprofits.

When someone asks me to write a grant and then says the organization is essentially a one-man or woman show, I know that no matter what I do, the grant thing isn't going to happen. That just isn't a model that grantors can support.

Increasingly, prospective funders are starting to ask for a statement as to how much money the board members contribute personally to the organization. At the very least, they may ask for the amount the board as a whole has personally contributed in the past year.

The reasoning behind that question is first, to judge how committed  the board  is to the organization's survival and whether they are taking personal responsibility to ensure that success. Second, if all they see is zeroes or a few dollars from each board member, it tells them that the organizational strength may not be good enough for them to trust with their money. Third, they want to know that the nonprofit has enough reasonably stable funding to stay in business.

Underlying all of those questions is another big one…if your board doesn't support the nonprofit financially, why should anyone else do so?

Many more funding sources are starting to require proof of matching funds before they will fund a program, or they are making an award into a challenge grant. Very new nonprofits usually have a tough time with that, but if the board is willing and able to gather a few thousand dollars toward that requirement, it can open the door to more funding.

For those that feel that accepting board members on the basis of their ability to contribute monetarily leaves out  some otherwise well-qualified prospects, then consider setting a fundraising goal for those worthy but financially challenged people. If asking them to go out and solicit donations puts them off, they will probably never be fully committed in other areas either.

Like it or not, your organization will always be chasing the next dollar. If your board is so passive that they can ignore that immutable fact, it is probably the wrong board.

Having this conversation with your board can be tricky. You don't want to start off by saying "OK, you lazy pot-lickers, it's time to pony up", even if that's the way you feel. Sometimes all board members need is a firm goal to chase instead of a never-ending whine about how broke you are, and they will amaze you. By setting an attainable goal for board contributions, you maximize the chance that they will put some effort into reaching it.

If you aren't sure how to have this conversation with your existing board, or frame it in a recruiting pitch, drop me a line and I can help you present it in a firm but non-accusatory manner. 

To keep your donors, think like a store.

If I asked you why you shop at your favorite store what would you say? Would your answer sound like any of these?

•         It is conveniently located.
•          The people are friendly.
•          They carry the brands I like.
•          The checkout lines are short.
•          They always thank me for shopping with them.
•          They give coupons for shopping there.

If you are nodding your head to any or all of these, you are reacting to your "customer experience". Something about your favorite store keeps you coming back as a paying customer.

That is the key to donor retention. The basic things most people want from a store are value for their dollar, appreciation for their patronage , and consideration of their time. They don't buy from a store because the store needs to pay its electric bill. They buy because the store fulfills their needs or wants.

Donors want the same feeling when they donate. They want to know that 

• Your mission fulfills their needs, i.e. they feel  their money helps achieve the outcomes they are expecting.
• They want to know that you truly appreciate them for supporting you.
•  They want the donation process to be easy.

Notice the italicized words above. This is often a hard concept for newer nonprofits to grasp. They get so focused on their mission, they forget that donors may have needs and expectations as well.  According to a 2012 report by Giving USA, nearly 9 out of 10 support dollars comes from individuals rather than from grants or sponsorships, so donor motivation is something you need to understand.

Every donor is looking for a reason to support you and your mission. Something about what you are doing needs to resonate with them. They usually know generally what type of cause they want to support. It's your job to let them know why your organization does that best, not to tell them that you are so broke you will be having a going-out-of-business-sale soon.

For stores the process is easy. They just monitor inventory. If a pink and orange starfish print shirt isn't selling, all they have to do is look at how many are left over at the end of the day, and they know it wasn't what customers wanted.

You can create an inventory for your donor appeals as well. Which ones bring in the most support over the shortest period of time?  Do some appeals work better at one time of year than another? What presentation works best, i.e. all text, lots of pictures, personal stories, community events, donor appreciation days,  video, short social media posts, interactive blogs, or private newsletters just for donors? Analyzing your fundraising results will keep you from repeating approaches that don't work.

Not every donor is going to donate every time, any more than every retail customer buys something every time they see an ad. What you want to do is keep donors connected to your organization. You can't force or guilt them into donating. Serial generic appeals usually wind up in the trash at some point.

When they do have the inclination and ability to donate, keep the checkout times short. A three or four step process online  is like standing in a fifteen person checkout line.

Offer them a chance to stay connected, but not at checkout. One NPO used a cliffhanger strategy. They presented most of a story about an animal rescue, but left the outcome hanging. If you wanted to know what happened you could sign up for their email newsletter. They had about a 70% positive response.

Always thank your donors. You should have a process to capture their contact information. Send them a short thank you note addressed specifically to them. A generic popup window when they finish checking out isn't going to provide the same feeling of connection as a personal note addressed just to them.

The nonprofit version of a coupon might be something as easy as a personal invitation to an event,  a badge, or a refrigerator magnet or other inexpensive merchandise item with your name and a short message telling them why their contribution matters.

Not all donor contact has to be or even should be online.  A food pantry serving a very local area sends a personalized small notepad as their "thank you" with the phrase  " Mary, each one of your dollars provides one sack lunch. Thank you from all our kids"  and their organization name.  If you depend on local support an all-online approach may  seem too detached to keep donors engaged.

Stores succeed because they understand where their money comes from and how to capture it.  The next time you think about fundraising, try thinking like a store. 

Community Outreach - Marketing your Nonprofit

Vocabularies vary from culture to culture.  A word that is perfectly acceptable in one area may be absolutely taboo in another. Maybe that's why when I ask a nonprofit to explain their marketing strategy, I get comments like "Well, we aren't selling anything, so we don't have a marketing strategy".

OK, OK I get it.  "Marketing" brings up all sorts of negative "business" connotations.  But dismissing the underlying concept is like saying "We don't care about client or donor participation."

No matter what word you use to describe it, you have to have a strategy that lets people know that you exist and explain why they should care if you do. You are "selling" your organization and its mission. 

One example is the lady that contacted me to ask if I would write a grant for her small animal rescue. On paper she had all the things she needed. The determination letter, a pretty good-looking audited set of financial statements, a fantastic facility, etc. But she didn't have a lot of outcomes to report on, because she really hadn't rescued many animals.

When I commented on that she said "Well, we have trouble finding the animals soon enough to have good outcomes".  She had capacity for over 100 animals on site, was rescuing less than 50 a year and re-homing only a handful.

   

A little investigative work revealed that she had done virtually nothing to let the community know she existed, so I asked her if receiving some funding for management or marketing mentoring would help her. She was initially quite miffed that I would suggest such a thing. She wanted funding for a second van so they could cruise the streets looking for strays.

.

To make a long story short, she eventually realized that she didn't need to go find the strays. There were hundreds of concerned citizens who were more than happy to either bring animals to her or at least tell her specifically where to find the animals.

After showing her how to make the community aware of her presence and mission and outlining a donor development program for her, she has all the animals and more that she could wish to help, a great adoption program and is placing over 100 animals a year. She recently received a substantial grant that will pay for food for 50 animals for a full year.  Her new blog on animal health and training has over 1500 page views a month, donations have substantially increased, and she now has great outcome reports to add to grant proposals.

Whether you call it outreach, development, public relations, marketing or branding, the goal is the same. Connecting to people that need your services and people willing to invest in and use those services is a necessity.

If you need a hand with outreach give me a shout at granthelp@ida.net. I can review your existing plan or help you with a new one.