6 Tips for Small Nonprofits to Achieve Their Fundraising Goals
For many small organizations fundraising is a huge challenge, and there are key skills that are needed, or can support a strong fundraising strategy. Still, challenges such as lack of time, staff, and resources can lead to many teams finding themselves fundraising off the side of their desks. In this article we’ll share six tips to help you reach your fundraising targets every year.
Review your past fundraising performance
It’s important to assess your nonprofit organization’s fundraising plan annually to see what worked, what didn’t work and what can be improved going forward. Analyzing your data to see what was done previously can help your organization set benchmarks and determine what is realistic for your team going forward. For example, you may run an annual fundraising event that earns substantial revenue, but the cost to run the event is quite high. In contrast, you may have other fundraising efforts that do not raise as much, but require a lot less time and effort. Looking at the past performance of your fundraising activities will help you to determine if you should continue what you’re currently doing, or update your fundraising strategy.
Set SMART fundraising goals
Fundraising goals for your nonprofit are important because they will help guide your organization, and make the priorities clear for everyone. S.M.A.R.T. goals are used in many different scenarios and the principles apply when you are trying to set fundraising goals for your organization. Your goals should be:
Specific: There should be a clearly defined objective for performance.
Measurable: You should be able to quantify your progress.
Attainable: The goal should be realistic given your resources and capacity.
Relevant: The goal should relate to the mission of your organization.
Timebound: The goal needs a deadline.
For example, if an organization set a goal to “increase their government funding,” this may be too vague as it does not meet the S.M.A.R.T. criteria. By re-wording the goal to, “receive two grants from government sources, that account for at least 10% of our total fundraising revenue by the end of the fiscal year,” helps your team clearly determine whether the goals are met or not.
Track your fundraising progress
Many small organizations don’t have a system to track their fundraising progress. They may be unsure of how much they have raised, or which donors provide them with the most support. Whether your team uses spreadsheets or a nonprofit donor management system, your organization needs a system to document your fundraising progress and interactions with those that support you.
Tell your story in a compelling way
People remember stories as they influence emotions, and can lead people to take action. Most people will remember a good story much longer than they remember numbers and statistics. One way to make sure that your entire team is telling the same story is using your nonprofit case for support which explains to your audience why the work your organization does is important. Organizations that are able to tell great stories inspire those around them to invest in the wonderful work that they do.
Focus on building long-term relationships
Building relationships with supporters of your organization is key. For smaller organizations this may seem time consuming; however, much of this work can be automated. By automating your communications to the majority of your donors, and finding a small group of donors that you can carve out time to build a more personalized relationship with, your team can use its time effectively, and build long-term relationships with supporters.
Involve your board of directors
Fundraising is a team effort. For small teams in particular, having the support of everyone, including the board of directors, can be essential in achieving the fundraising targets. So, be sure to involve the board in the planning and execution of the fundraising strategy and they will be more likely to lend a hand. In fact there are even fundraising activities that board members love to lead.
Reaching your fundraising goals is hard work, but it can be done. If you’re a small team, or one-person shop you may not be able to try all six tips right away, but that’s ok, start with one. Most importantly, stay positive. Building an effective fundraising strategy and meeting your goals takes time.
Use these tips to help with your fundraising strategy. If you need more support we can help, schedule a meeting with us to discuss how we can help your team achieve its fundraising goals.