One question I hear from nonprofit founders and executive directors is: what is the best approach to raising money that will work for my organization?
When you need funding, it is easy to move from one fundraising idea to another. Someone suggests an event, another person recommends grants, and you hear about an organization doing well with corporate sponsorships. You can spend months trying different activities while still wondering where your next funding will come from.
The approach to fundraising is the first thing I look at. A useful strategy makes it clear who you will raise money from and why those people would give, then explains how you will reach them and move the relationship toward funding. Your board can help you create that strategy and build the system that puts it to work.
Your fundraising strategy should identify your primary funding audience and the exact process your organization will use to raise money from them.
Step 1
Bring your own thinking and your board's ideas together
Before your next board meeting, answer five questions about how you think the organization can raise money. Focus on one audience you believe could fund your work, and explain your thinking in your own words.
- Who could fund your organization, and why would they give?
- Where can you find them?
- How can you attract them and get them interested?
- What should you ask them to support, and how much should you ask for?
- What process would move them from discovering your organization to funding it?
Each board member answers these questions independently and shares how they would feel comfortable participating. You now have several perspectives to consider, including opportunities connected to the people your board already knows.
Step 2
Agree on the audience and the process that fit your organization
During the meeting, look at the proposed audiences alongside the funders who already support your organization. Consider their reasons for giving, your ability to reach them and what you can offer them an opportunity to support.
Decide who your primary funding audience will be and agree how you will find and attract them on a daily basis. Work through what you will ask for, how much you will ask and the steps that should lead to a funding decision.
If your audience is former participants who now have the means to give, for example, your process might begin with reconnecting and sharing what the program is achieving. From there, you can invite a conversation about supporting the next group of participants and make a specific ask.
By the end of the discussion, the board should be able to explain the approach and understand why it fits your organization.
Step 3
Give your board the strategy and the tools to put it to work
Agree in the meeting how each board member will contribute and what support they need. Those decisions become part of the strategy's execution section, and each member receives a Board Fundraising Portfolio showing their part.
Their personal AI assistant understands the agreed strategy and helps create the content or materials they need to carry out their responsibilities. Someone helping to attract potential funders can prepare relevant content, while a member making an introduction can create a message suited to that relationship.
As your organization begins to carry out the process consistently, you and your board can build the fundraising system that drives the strategy at scale. The strategy gives that work a clear direction, and your board has already helped decide how to support it.