Jennifer J. Writes

Everything you need to know to get started

You have an idea, you have the draft of a plan, and you even have a few volunteers. Well done! Now it’s time for fundraising 101.

Before applying for grants, there is great way to show a funder that you are serious about your mission.

What’s that?

Raising funds organically

I find that most people fall into two camps: they either love it or they hate to ask for money… even if it is for a cause they believe in.

Thinking back to my own childhood, I was definitely the latter. I did not care what I got for selling magazine subscriptions.

A limo ride to a lunch for selling 50 subscriptions? Good for you… but I wasn’t interested because it sounded complicated and full of unknowns.

But as an adult, I have loved my fundraising experiences. I have even sat on multiple nonprofit boards where fundraising was my primary job.

So what changed between elementary school and adulthood?

Fundraising 101

No offense to the magazine subscription guy who came to kick off the school event each year but he forgot some of the simplest of tips & tricks.

Want to love fundraising? Here’s how:

1. Identify your best donors; and not necessarily the ones who have donated the most. These are your invested donors who do more than just write a check.
2. Find a common crowd within your best donors. Are they mothers? Business professionals? Retirees?
3. Identify the similarities. Do they live in the same area, have similar careers, run in the same social circles, etc?
4. What do you have in common with them? Finding something in common and establishing rapport is the quickest way to eliminate fundraising anxiety.
5. Identify how they like to give. For many it is money. But for others it may be time, goods, or skills. Do not discount these individuals because someone who can build/update your nonprofit website in a weekend is worth their weight in gold.

Words into actions

Had I known these five things when I was tasked with selling magazines, here’s how it would have gone*:

I would have started with the retired neighbor down the street who was always reading on her front porch.

After selling her a few magazine subscriptions, I would have asked about her friends and been sent one street over to her best friend who also loved to read.

Knocking on that new door, I would have been ready to tell this friend about the magazines her friend bought but also what my favorite magazine was.

It would just so happen that she had a granddaughter my age so she bought a subscription for her birthday and also bought a subscription different from her friend so they could trade magazines when they were done reading their own.

On my way home, I would have stopped at one more house as a woman was getting home from work. She would have said that she was very busy and didn’t read magazines but that she would love to take my form and catalogue to work to share with her coworkers.

Done.

That, my friends, is fundraising 101. It is also how you get a limo ride to lunch.

*Note: I was a child of the ’80’s when all of this was considered safe. I do not recommend this for kids now but the principles still apply.

Start simple

I get it, fundraising can still be intimidating. So start small with close friends and family. I bet you’ll still be able to identify your target donor from this group and a year from now, you will be thrilled that you started today.

Ready to take that step? Schedule a complimentary consultation today!