DIY Fundraising: What Makes Your Organization Great?

If there is one question that many nonprofits, especially smaller, younger and generally underfunded organizations forget to answer, it’s this simple question: What makes your organization great?

It amazes me how many nonprofits skip right over a value proposition that explains why someone should give them any money. If you want to get people to share your vision of the future, you must effectively answer these three questions:

1. What do you do?
2. Why is it important?
3. What impact do you deliver to the community?

Answering those three questions won’t guarantee you success, but they sure do help. There is often an aura of mystique surrounding fundraising, but when you boil it down, it’s fundamentally relationship sales and marketing. Your goal is to get people with the capacity to give to emotionally connect with your vision and then participate in your mission at greater and greater levels. To maximize success, it is critical to take a systemic approach to fundraising through strategies that properly position you in the community, reflect the importance of your mission and demonstrate the effectiveness of your work.