Local nonprofits can capitalize on their community connection.

By Christine Weiser

Reaching out
Another challenge for community-based organizations is finding fresh ways to market their message to the same pool of givers. Identifying trends is just one way to do that; the other is maintaining a personal connection.

“For CBOs with a limited number of private funders, the same people get approached over and over,” Callahan says. “After a few years, they want a break. This group tends to want to fund innovative causes. If you are approaching this kind of funder, you need to be constantly thinking of cutting-edge messages to maintain funding.”