What do you do if your fundraising revenue streams need diversification?

Diversification should start with your strategic plan, your mission, vision and values. You can't convince anyone to give you money if you can't describe why you need the money and how it will be used.

Fundraising is a continous process of exploration - pitching and relationship building. Most important, the pitch should be designed to align with the values and objectives of the Funder. The sweet spot is reached when both the parties align properly and strive for the same goal

Congrats Michael. We at Saenger Associates are beyond proud of you and CCRC. What an honor to have assisted with your hire 20+ years ago. Congrats!!! Gary Saenger

If you don't have a solid track record executing, don't even bother raising funds. You are going nowhere. You are only chasing rainbows.

Focus on a few high-potential options, not a scattered array. Consider your team's skills, donor base, and past successes.Master one new revenue stream before adding another. Spreading yourself thin dilutes efforts and results. Grants are great, but they can be competitive. So, explore corporate sponsorships, cause marketing partnerships, or even merchandise sales that align with your mission. To me diversification is about building a resilient fundraising model

Enhance Online Giving: Optimize your website and online donation processes to make giving easier and more appealing. Corporate Partnerships: Explore corporate giving opportunities, including sponsorships and matching gift programs. Events: Host a variety of fundraising events to engage different segments of your community. Planned Giving: Encourage supporters to include your organization in their estate planning. Product Sales: Sell merchandise or services related to your mission as an additional revenue source. Crowdfunding: Launch campaigns for specific projects or needs to tap into the power of social sharing.

Explore diverse fundraising methods tailored to your organization's strengths and donor demographics to maximize effectiveness and achieve fundraising goals.

Associate funding opportunities to your company/project status. Using the correct funding sources will increase your success rate. You may combine grants, loans and private investments.

There are multiple ways to fundraise, one needs to evaluate their capacity and see if it’s worth chasing all. From my experience grant writing is the most effective, one big grant from a donor is a better investment of time than small asks from many.

After working for nonprofits for 40 years, have worked with dozens of fundraisers. The best were “serial networkers” & became friends of a broad cross-section of the community. Their relationships went far deeper than just talking about their latest fundraising project or the organization they work for. They were critical thinkers, aspirational, & community minded. Over the last decade of my career, we let other nonprofits use our fundraising team when they didn’t have experience or staff members who had fundraising experience. It was a great way to have our fundraising team interact with a broader part of the community, and they had the benefit of growing as leaders and also getting the satisfaction you get when you help others!

Start where you are. Do you know your donors? When was the last time they were communicated with or engaged with the organization? It is much costlier to acquire a new donor than it is to a retain an existing one. Make sure that your donors are being communicated with throughout the year, and not only when they are being asked to make a gift. Meeting with key supporters (donors and volunteers) is a good use of your time. Learn what motivated them to donate, what they find most satisfying about being a supporter, if they would like to be more involved, etc. Engaging with your donors and cultivating those relationships are some of the best things you can do to set you up for fundraising success.

Lesson number 1. Never pressure them into new giving methods. Rather, provide options like recurring donations, cause-related marketing programs they can participate in, or even in-kind donations. Show how their past gifts made a difference. Send personalized impact reports, highlight stories of people they helped, and invite them to exclusive events. I can tell you that they incest more when they feel valued. Be clear to them on how new funds will be used. This builds trust and encourages them to diversify their giving through these new channels. To me, existing donors are like family. Nurture them, and offer options. Through this, you can unlock a wealth of new support and diversify your fundraising for long-term success.

I have always been mindful to have a diversity of funding because I believe that is what shapes a strong nonprofit. I feel for our nonprofit, what is most important is to allow our participants to dictate their individual needs and wants, then it is my job to execute that. This means I never allow the funding to dictate what our work looks like, instead I seek, engage and build relationships with funders and who support our work and our ethos. People who have a real connection to and understanding of our work truly enable us to be a program that is successful for and respected by our participants. For us it is always about quality over quantity.

Leverage your existing donor base by communicating the reasons behind diversifying fundraising streams and how their support can drive impact. Utilize personal narratives and transparent explanations of fund utilization to motivate donors to participate in new channels, recognizing their pivotal role in expanding fundraising endeavors.

I have found it helpful to build philanthropic partnerships. For example, if your goal is to expand legacy/planned giving, then consider establishing a group of allied advisors who specialize in financial planning, such as wealth managers or estate attorneys, who have the trust of their clients and are be willing to advocate for your cause. Similarly, if you want to grow corporate giving, engage a small group of well-connected industry leaders who can introduce you to corporations who are looking for ways to engage their community and build market share. Done right, you will help these companies build brand while also advancing cause-related efforts that generate philanthropic support.

While forging partnerships is definitely an opportunity to access revenue, it is also an option that requires a long timeline and significant human capacity. It should only be approached as an option with the right keys to success in place.

Forge alliances with organizations or businesses that share your values and objectives to unlock fresh fundraising avenues. Collaborative events, sponsorships, or cause marketing initiatives can emerge from such partnerships, amplifying fundraising efforts while bolstering organizational visibility and credibility.

I think having clear fund raising strategy is curricula to drive imapct and sustainability at any Organisation. One should have diversified sources of grants is a game changer in driving sustainability Creating the sustainability strategy and revisiting it is instrumental in achieving the org goals Training and mentoring the fund raising team on new avenues of Grant to use effective communication to feed donors the key information is extremely important Building strategic partnership and brand resonance is key to ensure right match between donor and donee Off course making fund raising personal story and make it appealing is extremely important over facts and Nunber game Using data to tell story is crucial to get funds or build grants

Construa pontes de conex?o reais com todas as pessoas que se interessam ajudar pessoas e causas. Cada conex?o é um mundo de possibilidades. Seja atento e ou?a com amor suas demandas e vontades. Juntando cada ser é possível criar uma rede de apoio que levará a grandes realiza??es coletivas.

I agree that digital platforms make donating easy. But to me, the real win is using technology to cultivate relationships with donors. Personalized emails, targeted social media campaigns, and interactive content that keep them engaged and invested in the cause. Technology provides a wealth of donor data. Use it to understand your supporters better. Analyze giving patterns, segmenting your audience, and tailor your asks for maximum impact. Use technology to explore creative fundraising avenues. Host virtual events, launch text-to-give campaigns, or partner with influencers. Technology ofcourse is a very powerful tool. Use these tools to build relationships, tell your story, and inspire giving.

We have seen rapid technology advances over the past 10 years in fundraising and it will only rapidly advance over the next 5 with the use of artificial intelligence (AI). What I have seen work: Don't over-complicate it. Leverage technology for sure, but don't get so overwhelmed by all the options that you do nothing. The best step I've seen work at many nonprofits: Pick 2 technology advances, create a plan, and implement this year (not next year, this year). Why, think of it like the smart phone you have in your hand... a new one comes out about once a year and by the time you get a new one, it's almost outdated. You don't want the same thing to happen with your fundraising tech.

Harnessing technology is indispensable for broadening fundraising horizons in today's digital era. Online giving platforms, mobile apps, and crowdfunding sites are pivotal in expanding your reach to a broader audience. These digital tools streamline the donation process, enhance donor engagement, and facilitate data-driven decision-making to optimize fundraising strategies continually.

Technology became my secret weapon. Fundraising platforms simplified the donation process, making it easier for individuals to contribute. I also utilized social media to launch targeted campaigns and share impact stories that engaged potential donors. Embracing technology streamlined the process and allowed me to reach a wider audience.

Leveraging technology was a game-changer in diversifying our fundraising. We adopted online giving platforms and engaged with crowdfunding, significantly widening our donor base. The use of digital tools enabled us to reach younger demographics and offered new insights through data analytics, allowing us to refine our strategies and enhance donor engagement continuously

The primary reason funding strategies are not successful is due to lack of a robust program evaluation plan. A well-structured evaluation plan is not just a requirement; it’s a testament to your project’s credibility and your commitment to impact assessment. Further, inclusion of impactful data must be part of your fundraising strategy. Grantors want to see evidence of success, and how they can help you succeed on an even bigger scale.

Monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of new fundraising initiatives has been critical. By setting clear metrics and regularly analyzing outcomes, we've been able to adapt and refine our strategies, ensuring that our efforts remain aligned with our goals and responsive to donor preferences. This ongoing process of evaluation and adjustment has been essential in maintaining a dynamic and sustainable fundraising model

Just tossing spaghetti against the wall wasn't going to work. I tracked the effectiveness of each fundraising strategy. This involved monitoring key metrics like donation amounts, donor engagement, and campaign reach. By analyzing the data, I could identify what was working and where I needed to adjust my approach. Remember, fundraising is a marathon, not a sprint, and consistent adaptation is key to long-term success.

Diversifying fundraising is like building a portfolio - you want a mix of investments to weather any storm. But it's not a set-and-forget strategy. Just like you track your stocks, you need to monitor your fundraising efforts. Clear metrics like return on investment (ROI) for different initiatives will show you what's generating real donations. This data lets you focus on the winning methods and ditch the duds, maximizing your fundraising impact. Remember, diversification is an ongoing process. Regularly revisit your strategy and adapt to what works best to keep your fundraising healthy and sustainable.

Partir, s'arrêter et réfléchir ! Meilleur devise pour un développement cohérent avec la réalité. Après avoir fait un plan de route, il n'est pas rare de découvrir que le chemin tracer d'avance doit changer de cap. Maintenir le cap final par un route différente est le résultat d'une bonne réflexion.

Diversified revenue is a great way to stabilize and even out the ebbs and flows that come from a singular source of revenue. However, if you don't have the resources or capacity to be effective in managing the new source of revenue, then it may not be the panacea you think. Acquiring new donors is expensive and generally doesn't pay for itself until you can move a donor from their first gift to second to developing a history of giving towards actualizing their lifetime value. That requires a nonprofit's resources: time, talent, and treasure. Acquiring that first gift then doing nothing with the relationship runs the risk of losing credibility in the eyes of that donor and potentially others, and failing to build that revenue source.

An unusual question, as all fund raising in Venture Space require/mandate diversification. -Early stages are Angels/F&F. -Grants is always a must do option. -Venture Cap - often a source for later stages. -Venture Debt is not something to overlook. - Family office, a terrific source of funding. - Joint Venture, a smart way to grow. It is more, how does you go about securing diverse source of funding. This is not to say, use all of the above, but to say, "you must diversify". It brings- varied experiences, lower risks, wider markets, and negotiation power. I turn my mind to higher powers, and embrace Nike's (the God of Action) teaching, "Just do it"

There's significant potential for not-for-profit organisations and charities to engage in social enterprise, as a way of diversifying revenue and generating unrestricted income. The trick, of course, is for the product or service to be mission-aligned and for the organisation to build its capability in developing and operating an enterprise. It's often the case that existing donors would love to support in other ways - such as through purchasing your product or service. And equally, a product or service offers another way for people to find out about your organisation and potentially become donors in the future (or to support in other meaningful ways).

Not every organization has the bandwidth to be fully diversified and accept every style of gift (bequest, real estate, crypto, stock transfers, online giving, etc.), but every organization can take time and a deep dive into how its donors prefer to give. Ask your community how they want to best process their gifts, utilize that feedback to implement your best style of receiving that gift, and then focus on stewardship. Spending thousands of dollars to implement a new system that satisfies less than 5% of your donor pool may not actually be worth it. You never want to tell an active donor no, but the health of the organization takes priority. Work with donors with varying styles and see what compromises can be made to keep them engaged.

An often-overlooked aspect of fundraising diversification is the importance of storytelling and brand consistency across all new initiatives. Ensuring that each campaign reflects our core values and mission, regardless of the platform or strategy, has been fundamental. This consistency strengthens our brand, fosters donor trust, and enhances the overall impact of our fundraising efforts. Diversification is not just about expanding revenue streams; it's about building a stronger, more resilient organization that remains true to its mission in all its endeavors.