10 fundraising fundamentals for all nonprofits

After more than seven years transitioning from higher education advancement leadership positions into a fundraising training/consulting role, I’m struck by the fact that organizations varying deeply in mission, size, and geography so profoundly share much in common. In numerous tangible ways they confront similar challenges and opportunities.

Namely, demand for programs and services exceeds their capacity to deliver them to beneficiaries. Armed with more resources, they will accomplish more good works. Resource development is an ever-present challenge. This is especially true as government support is being compromised.

Fortunately, they all share the superpowers of awesome passion, leadership, and resilience in pursuit of their various paths to leaving the world better off than it was given to them. In one beautiful way or another they are relentless in their quests to touch, improve, and save more lives, especially helping those who are struggling.

In body, mind and soul, the 13 million nonprofit professionals and nearly 80 million volunteers are kindred spirits. They can and should learn from one another. This learning community theme is the driving force that Eskin Fundraising Training has embraced in bringing different voices together for webinars, webcasts, podcasts, and other educational initiatives. The broad cross section of the nonprofit sector puts their heads together for mutual benefit. No one has all the answers, but everyone has wisdom, experience, and personal insights to enrich the learning experience. The end product reinforces the conclusion that the nonprofit sector is up for any challenge.

Based on sponsoring more than 250 live and virtual learning community gatherings, we firmly believe that you can’t go wrong by embracing the basic fundamentals of the art and science of fundraising. In today’s incredibly ever-changing world and messaging bombardment, we recognize the power of less is more. We like to refer to an approach to training as small bytes. With that in mind, here are the following 10 easy to digest fundraising fundamentals crafted in response to the questions and concerns raised most frequently by our learning community partners.

Byte #1: Fear of unknown

Every time I tell someone I’m a fundraiser, I always hear them say, “I could never do that.” We don’t accept the notion that people can’t take rejection. You can’t accomplish anything in life without risking hearing “no.” The stark reality is that too many people — unfortunately, including nonprofit leaders themselves — have never experienced a genuine solicitation themselves. They only know the passive act of receiving gifts. Fundraising is both science and art. We pull the curtain back in role playing solicitations and other pivotal moments in the gift cycle. Our one and only mission is to teach the mechanics of the four essential phases of discovery, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship.

Byte #2: Passion is superpower

Successful fundraisers are driven by a deep-rooted conviction that their cause makes a huge difference in touching, improving, and saving more lives, especially helping those who are struggling. This passion is infectious and motivates donors to make gifts of time, talent, and treasure.

Byte #3: Friendship over relationship

We are tired of hearing the word “relationship” overused by people in every conceivable occupation and discipline. In fundraising we dig deeper. We once heard relationship defined as something you have until something better comes along. In fundraising we forge friendships based on shared values, priorities, and needs that bind parties closer and closer together over time.

Byte #4: Power listening

In the most productive meetings, donor prospects speak 75% of the time while the nonprofit leaders only 25%. That means nonprofit staff must make the highest value use of their time by asking guiding questions and making sure they fully understand what the donor prospect means.

Byte #5: Individuals rule

More than two thirds of the nearly $600 billion annual philanthropic enterprise comes from individuals, not corporations and foundations. While we celebrate gifts from corporations and foundations, prospect lists should primarily emphasize individual philanthropists. Individuals also tend to reach decisions much more quickly than corporations and foundations.

Byte #6: Give now, pay later

Donors can make gifts several times larger from their estates than their current wealth positions. The knocking on the door has never been so loud. The Baby Boomer (and Silent) generations are projected to transfer an unprecedented $84 trillion in wealth by the year 2045. Now is the time to ramp up legacy giving infrastructure recognizing that the most popular vehicles are wills and bequests, pension funds, and insurance policies. Planned gifts also include appreciated assets like stocks and real estate and the exploding Donor Advised Fund or DAF market.

Byte #7: The ask is a single moment

There are so many effective ways nonprofit leaders can contribute mightily to resource development success without ever having to ask for gifts themselves. They can break the ice and introduce prospective donors from their personal, professional, and civic networks to the mission of the nonprofit. This sets everything into motion. When the time is right, staff and leaders comfortable with asking can make the solicitations. Reluctant fundraisers can also get their feet wet by making random thank-you calls with no other agenda than expressing gratitude.

Byte #8: Standing out

There are more than 1.5 million nonprofits in the U.S. Donors are placed in the excruciating position of making difficult choices not between the good and the bad, but between the good and the good. Gather the collective wisdom of the entire nonprofit family of staff, board, volunteers, donors, and beneficiaries to strategically define what makes your good cause stand out from all the others.

Byte #9: Don’t be misled by appearances

America has more than 25 million millionaires and 1,000 billionaires and many have attained that wealth by living below their means. So major gift donors live next door and might very well be in your databases. Research repeatedly indicates that giving is driven much more by affinity for the cause than by capacity.

Byte #10: Ask for unrestricted

Each dollar given without strings attached and the trust to be spent by the nonprofit when and where most needed is worth several restricted dollars. Think about it. When people invest in stocks, they don’t direct the corporations to spend it on research, marketing, technology, or other specific areas. They respect that leadership can make prudent decisions and will report on the bottom line of their actions. Why should the nonprofit sector be treated any differently?

We are proud to report that a companion video series — Fundraising Training in 10 Small Bytes — is in the works to amplify dissemination of these lessons.

Fundraising is the ultimate continuous improvement process. You learn something new from every donor interaction, whether the response is yes, no, or we need more time. Research, preparation, and practice culminate in replacing fear of asking with comfort and confidence. In closing, keep in mind there’s no problem or challenge that hasn’t been faced and overcome by another nonprofit in similar shoes. Nonprofit leaders know it better than anyone else — when the social sector thrives, the entire nation thrives. The smart move is not fighting for small slices of the philanthropic pie, but working together as kindred spirits to bake a bigger pie.