Why do we always think more is better?
I talk to nonprofit leaders all the time that want to start individual giving programs. They know—because they’ve heard it from me and the many, many people who specialize in fundraising from individual donors—that individual giving is important to nonprofit sustainability.
Everyone who comes to me, when I ask why they are interested in my services, tell me it’s because they want “more donors” or “more money” or “more revenue.” It’s a variation on one of those.
But very few people are prepared for my follow-up question: “WHY do you want more donors/money/revenue?”
For the vast majority, the answer is incredulity. “Why do we want more? Because more is better, right?”
More money is always better…that answer always tells me that the nonprofit industrial complex is alive and well. (Not sure what that is and why it’s not good? I love this primer written by Sidra Morgan-Montoya for Community-Centric Fundraising.)
I believe that HOW you raise more money depends on WHY you want to raise more money. I've seen Executive Directors burn out seeking more funding for growth when their nonprofits were doing really well as a small, but mighty, operation. If they'd focused on the why instead of the more, they could have had a bigger impact leaning into slower, more sustainable growth than the big, fast win. I’ve watched “more for the sake of more” destroy nonprofits.
I’m obsessed with all things Alice in Wonderland, and I always imagine myself like the Cheshire Cat when Alice hits that fork in the road. Alice asks, “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” The Cheshire Cat replies, “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.” I ask why because when your WHY is crystal clear, the HOW just appears.
What I’m looking for is deeper introspection in my clients. More for the sake of more isn’t what I want my clients to be going for. That’s because how I raise money doesn’t look like a lot of the rest of the sector.
The messages I see coming out of the general fundraising world are, frankly, exhausting. You have to grow your email list. You must do Google Grants. You should try social media ads, but make sure you’re also going for organic social growth. Also, if you don’t do Giving Tuesday, you’re leaving money on the table. But hey, events are also awesome…and while you’re at it, try silent auctions!
This is the message most fundraisers I meet take away from this “wisdom”: be in all the places all the time.
And I’m not trashing my colleagues. The folks who know social media really know it and can make their clients grow. The folks who support silent auctions are developing really cool software to make it easy on their clients. My colleagues are great. I refer a lot of my clients out to my colleagues, once I help them figure out which of these many, many tactical options will work best.
The problem is too many nonprofits don’t know why they need more money, and so they go after all the things hoping one will be the magic formula.
When the WHY isn’t crystal clear, we chase every lead, each new shiny object, each new trend in fundraising. We write epic grants that aren’t mission aligned to get more money, even if it doesn’t really grow our programs the way we want. We host events that cost almost as much as they raise because we’ve got to get those donors in the door…even though we’re too tired after the event to follow up and actually steward those donors, so they never come back.
Woof, just writing this list of things I see when the WHY isn’t clearly defined is making me tired.
When we’re chasing the money for the sake of the money, we burn out. My slogan is “raising individual giving while banishing burnout.” That’s my promise to my clients. Work with me, you’ll raise revenue, but you’ll do it while feeling relief.
And I do that by helping them find the WHY, so we can figure out the HOW.
Here’s why I need my clients to be clear on their WHY:
CLARITY: When you know your WHY, you know what funders and donors align with your mission and you don’t worry about the ones that don’t. You can develop an ideal donor persona, and figure out where you’ll find those ideal donors and how to inspire them to support you.
FOCUS: When you know your WHY, you don’t need to do ALL the things. You just need to do the things that get you in front of your ideal donors…which is usually just 1-2 key things, not ALL the things.
COMMUNITY: When you know your WHY, you create deep resonance with a supporter community who will care and stay committed.
MEANING: When you know your WHY, you focus on relationships, not transactions. You don’t have to give out trinkets and tote bags because your donors believe in your impact because your dream is their dream.
SUSTAINABILITY: When you know your WHY, you can build your individual giving program around effective tactics that build your efficiency.
At the heart of it all, chasing the money is exhausting. It’s soul-crushing because engaging with capitalism and the nonprofit industrial complex isn’t why you got into the work you are in. (Again, read Sidra Morgan-Montoya’s piece on the nonprofit industrial complex.) We got into this work to change the world: to nurture young people or build up emerging artists; to fight climate change or to find cures for neglected diseases. You can’t change the world when you go off track, so you have to keep your fundraising focused.
There’s a magical thing that happens when my clients uncover their deep why and build their fundraising programs around that deep commitment to a change in their community…their donors rally to them. They find prospective donors easier, they cultivate them to a gift faster, and they retain them longer. Because when they find that deep resonance, they can speak to their people more effectively.
Before I was a fundraiser, I was a grassroots organizer. And I brought that feeling of growing the grassroots into my fundraising philosophy. We achieve change when we bring the right people together. We can only do that when we’re clear on the essence of our mission.
If you’re exhausted…
If you feel like your fundraising lacks focus…
If you aren’t sure what that next $100,000 you raise will be used or how you’re even going to get it…
If you keep thinking there’s a better way…
…I’d like to invite you to be my new BFF (best fundraising friend). Join me and like-minded fundraisers who are growing individual giving programs with more purpose and meaning by joining my Sustain & Thrive group coaching program. Through an online learning library, weekly coaching calls, and a Facebook group for 24/7 access to a community who cares, you’ll get to dive deep into your fundraising program, ask the questions that matter, get clarity, and build back better. Schedule a call with me to see if this program is a good fit for you.
And now I want you to reflect on why you want your organization to grow. What are the deeper questions you need to ask to figure that out? I challenge you to dig into that today.
