Lessons from 2024
I’ve been challenged by our team here to reflect on the past year. It’s been a wild ride at From Scratch Fundraising, and I know many of you have had similarly transformative years. As a lifelong learner, I offer these reflections in the spirit of growth - some observations may have applications for your nonprofit, and some may not - so take what you need and let’s see where we go…
What’s in a name?
We kicked off 2024 with a rebrand. What I originally founded as FIT Strategic Consulting, LLC became From Scratch Fundraising. Why? I continuously tell my clients: focus your message, have a solid elevator pitch, and make your donor think, “Wow, these are my people” as soon as you give your pitch. Similarly, our services had gone from generic fundraising to extremely focused (on helping nonprofits build individual giving programs from the ground up). I needed to refocus my branding so nonprofit leaders would say, “Wow, this is what I need!” when they heard my pitch.
From Scratch Fundraising struck a powerful chord with many nonprofit leaders, and I knew within days of launching as From Scratch that we’d done the right thing. We’ve served more clients this year than I ever imagined would come my way when I started out back in 2020.
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
We launched our Sustain & Thrive program late in 2023 to provide a group learning and coaching experience for nonprofit leaders. Together, Executive Directors and fundraisers can compare notes, offer suggestions, crowdsource new ideas - and yes, commiserate about challenges. (How many times have you thought, “I’m probably the only one dealing with this!” You’re not, I guarantee it!) I’m proud of the fundraising results that our clients get, and I’m even more satisfied by seeing how much camaraderie they have in this group. (Need that for yourself? Apply now!)
Pay-What-You-Can Pricing is a key equity tool.
When I started From Scratch Fundraising, I knew I wanted to find a way to ensure every nonprofit leader had a fundraising expert on call. While I couldn’t build a business on free or even affordable fundraising advice, I had that goal in my heart.
This year, we did it! We launched Sustain & Thrive’s “Pay As You Grow” pricing, where we base your price on your nonprofit’s budget. The number of nonprofit leaders who have cried with relief when they’ve found us has been humbling, to say the least. When they join the group and realize how much support they get for that price, it’s even more fulfilling to me. (Again, is this what you’ve been looking for? We want you in the group now!)
Nonprofit leaders need a break.
It’s been a long few years. There’s no more normal. There’s no more best practice. What worked yesterday may or may not work today, and with the cost of living skyrocketing…my clients are tired. They are vibrant, creative, innovative people…who have had to be vibrant, creative, and innovative through so many challenges of late. They need a break.
Once again, we’re doing our best to create opportunities for nonprofit leaders to come together to laugh, cry, and share in a safe, supportive space. Our motto says it all: Raise more. Burnout less.
Keep an eye on us in 2025. We’re going to leap out of the gate with more burnout content, more systems creation content, and more things to help you catch that break.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint. And we’re learning that.
One of the biggest new segments of clients I’ve had are brand new nonprofits, just getting started. A few years ago, these were my least favorite clients…not because they weren’t brilliant, but because they’d come to me with big, giant ambitions, and my job was to right-size their expectations. Usually that meant downgrading their ideas, and that sucked.
But this year, I’ve had more nonprofit founders come to me saying “I want to start this right. I know I need to start small and grow, so how do I do that in a way that is sustainable?” Music to my ears. More and more of my clients understand that fundraising requires a strong foundation, and they’re putting in the time to build that. And, interestingly enough, those are the clients that I see succeeding faster than those who want to jump out of the gate too soon.
Now, more than ever, we need community.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m the world’s worst millennial. I absolutely hate social media, and I loathe the fact that we think we can build relationships through mass digital communication or worse, outsource relationship building to AI.
As people report higher levels of loneliness, lower levels of life satisfaction, and higher rates of mental illness, I say we need community. We need each other, in real life, to have real conversations.
My clients who are getting off the computer screen and into their donor’s lives are making huge strides in fundraising. I preach community-centric, trust-based, relationship-grounded fundraising. And while I know other consultants who can talk about engagement rates on social and open rates on emails are getting a lot of attention, I’m seeing more and more that relationships are critical to sustainable, non-hustle style fundraising.
People need people. Find your people. Build relationships with your people. (If you need people, we can be your people.)
What about you? What are some of your biggest lessons this year? I really want to hear them! Email me your thoughts!
