Want to make sure your non-profit staff are paid what they are worth? Here’s how…

Have you ever wanted to give your non-profit's staff a pay rise, but you find that it’s hard to get funding for overhead costs?

If so, you aren’t alone.

For example, take the story of this small campaign team. They were talented at getting funding from grant-makers and foundations. They were able to attract $100,000s worth of grant money for their neglected yet crucial mission.?

The better they got at this, the more they grew. Two years ago, they managed to get a big grant for some high-profile coalition work. This meant they could increase their workforce by 50%. Their funders and board were keen to get maximum impact for minimum spend, so creating internships made sense - on the surface.?

At first, everything was good. The board were excited and the funders nodded approvingly. Together they’d created lots of new jobs! The new staff were so passionate about the cause and went way beyond the call of duty with their work on some tough issues.?National press and broadcast coverage followed.

However, it was soon clear that the director didn’t have time to support a much bigger team working on a wide range of projects. Especially as many of the staff were at the start of their careers.

Sometimes she had to choose between a crisis meeting and a TV interview. She was working 12 hour days just to keep everything moving forward. Doing more fundraising was just out of the question.?

The result? The organisation’s income growth suffered. The staff deserved a pay rise for all their hard graft but there was no extra money.?

Worse was to come. One year later, this small non-profit had to cut all the jobs they’d created. Senior staff resigned in protest. Their team is now smaller than it was before. And all of this was so stressful that the director left, too.?

The problem with paying your staff what they’re worth is that it’s difficult to persuade funders to give extra just for that. It’s hard to draw a line directly from extra wage expenses to the impact you have.??

Small non-profits are caught in an awful bind. You can’t grow your income because you don’t have the staff. And you can’t get more staff because you can’t grow your unrestricted funds.?

Luckily, I’ve discovered the solution to this problem…

To increase your unrestricted income without turning off your biggest funders, you need to:

• Grow your list of supporters with people who are raving fans of your cause
• Understand their values and motivations for giving to you?
• Talk to them in such a way that they give even without being asked?

Growing your list with raving fans means getting to know your existing super-donors. The people who have given to you year in, year out, without fail. Or the excitable folks who can’t stop talking about your cause to their friends.?

You need to uncover the values they hold, and pinpoint what messages stir them so much that they open their wallets.

Once you’ve done that, you need to build a sign-up mechanism - an ‘irresistible lure’ that will cause more people just like them to give you their contact details. Just to pique their curious minds enough that they say ‘I want more of this’.

And then you need to show them, story by story, how much of a difference they can make, through you. To build a personal relationship of trust and mutual delight, which enables them to make their dreams a reality - of building a better world.?

Now, obviously, that’s easier said than done, right?

You can’t normally just grow your list full of eager donors without hiring a market research agency, then buying lists of cold contacts and sending them appeals. This costs so much time and money and results are not guaranteed.

All of this is why I’ve created the “Find Your Next Generation of Super-Donors” programme. This programme cuts out the risks of that old approach.

If you’d like, let’s have a quick phone call together to see if this is right for your non-profit.

Just book a time to chat that works for you, and fill out a short application:

https://whisper.ist/breakthrough

During that call, we’ll look at how your non-profit could put rocket boosters under your unrestricted income growth. Together, we’ll find the best next step for you if you decide to pursue this strategy.

Spots are limited, and there’s zero obligation to work with me. If we do end up being a fit I’ll invite you to become a private client of mine and I can show you step by step how all of this is done.?

Look forward to speaking with you!

Rachel Collinson, Donor Whisperer