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Nonprofit Professionals Forum
Topics
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3 comments:
Fundraising is difficult for us as we are a charity that deals with a misuse of alcohol and drugs. this is deemed self inflicted by many so funding tends to come from central government and health authorities.
The state of Delaware is struggling with the need to make massive cuts. They just reduced their Grant In Aid program, which funds nonprofits throughout the state, by 8% across the board. Agencies dependent on United Way have seen substantial reductions in their UW contributions over the past three years. There are more nonprofits doing events at the local level, and the same people are being asked for small gifts over and over again. Gas and utility costs impact on discretionary income available for giving.
1) Diversify funding sources (if you have no individual giving program, you need one)
2) Improve relationships so that your charity is one of the "three primary causes" your donor gives to
3) Be more focused, cost effective, and resource-wise in your fundraising strategy
4) Upgrade communications and messages, address the problem directly
5) Be creative and proactive.
Even in the worst of times, people continue to give to the charities they believe in, more and more on a local level, where they have personal passion and a relationship. With all that being said, we are still looking at a decline in giving by number of gifts and dollar amounts in many sectors (realtors, banks, developers) that were formerly good sources for us.
Today’s economy is definitely hurting nonprofits. The declining stock market has caused some foundations to delay decisions on grant approvals, as well as to cut back their level of giving. One foundation that has been generous in the past has seen its portfolio value halve due to heavy concentration in company stock (it is a large financial services firm hit by the mortgage debacle), and has postponed the date for extending invitations to submit 2008 grant requests by several months. Another local community bank recently renewed their grant, but at a quarter of last year’s award. Though they said they would revisit their level of giving after releasing their earnings results in subsequent quarters, the message is clearly there – if net income and earnings per share don’t make a comeback, neither will their donations to nonprofits.
Declining portfolio values at foundations is understandable, but it is also distressing because the needs that nonprofits serve do not go away when the economy declines. Quite often, the exact opposite occurs. The absence of funding for nonprofits that strive to provide a change for the better will only mean that their underprivileged beneficiaries will suffer a greater setback.
Persistence is vital to weathering this storm, as well as increasing the breadth of your reach for funds. If one person gave you a million dollars last year, and you know you won’t get that renewed, go after a million people for a dollar this year. Don’t give up.
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