We live in difficult times because of Corona Virus Pandemic, in this tuning fork the Non-Profit Organizations They are going through, perhaps, one of their worst moments, and it seems to me that, at least for now, things are not going to get better. So, what can we do to improve our Fundraising, minimizing the negative impact of this difficult period and, at the same time, increasing our income?
Well, for starters, let's agree that panicking or burying your head in a hole is not a reasonable option. Nor can you pretend that the problem doesn't exist. I see a situation like this as "the oportunity" It is time to separate the wheat from the chaff. It's now, it's this time, it's this moment that we can know who is who, which are the best, which are the good ones, which ones make a difference. It is at this moment that you can take advantage and show your difference as a recruiter, it is in times of crisis where, in times of scarcity, creativity must abound, of course, with a certain amount of caution.
Therefore, it is essential to follow some strategies
Reassess your entire perspectives: fundraising, marketing and communications, I call this the 3 pillars of Fundraising.O Third sector needs to better employ the mechanisms of accountability It is systematic assessment, which are essential management practices and efficient management. Unfortunately, the Third sector does not employ them systematically. But the crisis leads us to carefully evaluate everything we are doing. Now is the time to implement a regular process that allows our fundraising, marketing and communications programs to function with the highest degree of efficiency and effectiveness.
Strengthen your argument Donation. Although many of us who work in the Third sector Let us believe that the public owes us their lives – we nobly accept lower wages and longer working hours, after all – the money does not materialize. It has to be conquered. And there is nothing better than a crisis to make us rethink our common sense. Take advantage of the crisis to re-examine your process Donation. And make sure your donors understand the most urgent need for your services during difficult times and the many concrete steps you are taking to increase your efficiency and effectiveness. Just be careful not to worry too much about your suffering to raise funds for your projects. And accept one thing, your donors don't necessarily care about your institution. They care about performance, the work carried out by the institution and the return to the beneficiaries.
Stick with what works. Many fundraising consultants and nonprofit managers are passionate about what is called "creativity". But when that word means nothing more than simple graphics and splashes of colorful paint on a Project, everyone loses. If there's one thing to teach Fundraisers with decades of marketing, it's that, different it is not always better. A crisis does not justify throwing away what worked in the past. Indeed, it is time for caution and cost reduction.
Reduce costs with a scalpel, not an axe. There are many easy ways to cut fundraising costs. You can stop the Prospection of new donors. You can eliminate thank yous to donors. You can reduce your telemarketing efforts, reduce your direct mail budget, and reduce the staff that primarily returns gifts. The only problem with this inattentive approach is that it is a recipe for bankruptcy.
Business continues, whatever the economic and social conditions. You can't just stop raising funds. You can't treat loyal, responsive donors like statistics. And you can't stop building your donor database. If you do these things, your donor list will shrink through attrition and your income will drop. The only defensible and professional way to respond to a crisis is to recognize that fundraising requires ongoing investment and ongoing care. If the choice arises between scaling back programs a bit or reducing your fundraising budget, you may be shooting yourself in the foot if you opt for the latter. It won't take long to destroy an effective fundraising operation – and then where will your programs be?
Fish where the big fish are. It's obvious to any professional involved in fundraising that it's better to raise money in large amounts than in small ones. One Donation from an institutional funder, or a Donation significant funding from an individual major donor, rarely incurs a high cost of fundraising. And anyone who has attended a fundraising conference or workshop has certainly become familiar with the Pareto Principle, or 80/20 Rule, which teaches us that a relatively small number of the most generous donors represent the majority of the net philanthropic income our organizations receive. All of this points to the wisdom of focusing more time, effort, and money on generous, receptive donors and less effort on less productive donors.
Yet how many nonprofits actually make use of the simple computer tools that allow us to take advantage of these self-evident truths by grouping donors into distinct segments based on their giving histories? If your organization is in the habit of treating all of its donors the same, it's time to examine how you can adjust your Program with a well-considered targeting plan.
If you already know segmentation well, it's time to think about focusing more on mid-level and main donors and excluding your less generous supporters where greater investment is required from your team, such as mail or phone calls.
Be attentive to your donors. A study of high-net-worth American donors, carried out some time ago by center of Philanthropy from Indiana University for the Bank of America, revealed that the main reason why donors stopped donating to a charity Charity in particular “I no longer felt connected to the organization”. This is no surprise. All donors need to feel appreciated. They need to feel informed. Your trust in Donation needs to be constantly reinforced. At no time can a nonprofit operate as if its donors continue to give regardless of how they are treated.
Be diligent. No self-respecting Great Fundraiser would dream of paying a potential client a visit without trying to find out as much information as possible about that client's background and personal interests. (among many other things). Unfortunately, most Fundraisers take a generic approach as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and worse, wanting to obtain the biggest and best results possible. We work with basic databases. Generic strategies predominate. We write to our potential donor: "Dear friend" or ours “Dear Donor” with no idea what might interest or motivate that person. Of course, we all understand that such an impersonal approach may be necessary in new donor acquisition efforts.
If we have more information than the most rudimentary database, we will know how much our donors gave and how often. We know how much time they are donating. And we will know what type of work triggered this first Partnership, be it a letter, a phone call, email, a visit to our website or a conversation with a friend. Even if this is all the information we integrate into our appeals, it will certainly guarantee better support than a crude letter of appeal. “Dear Donor”!
Step up your online efforts. Billions of dollars have been raised online. But most of that money went into the coffers of aid organizations like the American Red Cross, O Salvation Army and the UNICEF; and, to a lesser extent, major defense organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign, The Amnesty International and the Greenpeace. And all those billions, despite how big the numbers might be Seem, represent a small fraction of overall philanthropic revenue (somewhere between 1 and 3%, depending on who you ask).
Online fundraising alone is not the salvation of the nonprofit sector in a crisis. And yet, the online channel has several benefits for non-profit fundraising, most of them have nothing to do directly with money, but we have as an example: attract younger supporters, provide participants with opportunities to participate in your work It is reinforce appeals from other channels, to name just three. An improved investment in online communications will pay big dividends, bolstering near-term fundraising efforts and laying the foundation for a more prosperous future.
I hope the ideas above help you see the crisis with new eyes and a new perspective. In any case, we are available to guide you in whatever you need.
A hug and success
Part of the text taken from Mal Warwick
