Every once in a while I receive a call from an organization needing help immediately. The caller wants to know if I can quickly write a grant for them to make up the difference for the rest of the year or for their scheduled project. Sometimes funds are needed because an organization is facing a budget shortfall as a result of increased expenditures or because donations have slowed down.
There are other reasons this happens as well, but the reasons usually have to do with poor planning. Often an unplanned financial deficit results from an error in planning and/or execution. I have even heard from nonprofits who do not create annual budgets and hope the money comes in!
There are new nonprofits every year and the dollars shared between all nonprofits has been relatively the same for the last 40 years. In his 2016 TED talk, Dan Palotta, Founder of the AIDSRide and Breast Cancer explained, “Charitable giving has remained stuck in the U.S., at two percent of GDP, ever since we started measuring it in the 1970s. That’s an important fact, because it tells us that in 40 years, the nonprofit sector has not been able to wrestle any market share away from the for profit sector.” Charity Navigator confirms this information with 2% of GDP.
No matter what the reason for a shortfall, grant writing should not be used as an escape route or as a last minute fundraising for an organization for many reasons. It takes months for funding from grant writing to see the light of day, and only if a project is funded.
It is difficult to have to tell these organizations the vast majority of grantors will not fund them because they do not have a sustainable plan in place. What I do is suggest they do some emergency fundraising to get them through, and work with the board to create a more diverse revenue system and strategic plan. It is crucial that the board be active in creating a systemic change.
Audit
Get a professional opinion and have your procedures and policies audited. Look for new ways to raise money as well as some possible cost cutting options. Often we get so in the weeds we miss an opportunity someone else can see in a short time.
Board
Strong nonprofits have a strong and active Board of Directors. Recruit new board members who are engaged and want to be vital members of the team. Idealist is a great site to find volunteers and professionals in the nonprofit sector. If you live in or near Madison, WI, look for Nonprofit Draft Day each January sponsored by Collab4Good and Edgewood College.
Create an email list
I am always surprised (ok, shocked) when I hear an organization has existed without a donor list. But I have seen this 3 times recently. Even if it is a just a basic spreadsheet, put a donor list and volunteer list together. Every time someone donates, enter their basic contact info. Google Sheets is a free service with apps so you can use your phone if you do not have access to a computer. And you can access it from anywhere. Or you can use a plugin like Participants Database for your WordPress site.
If you have this set up already, it might be time to look into MailChimp or another automation service to make things run smoother.
Fundraising
Email your list. Email is still the most cost effective and has the highest return rate of fundraising. If you are not running basic campaigns for fundraisers 2 or more times a year, this is a necessity. Establish a baseline for annual campaigns and stick to it.
Social Media
Social Media is a profession. While your staff can learn to direct this crucial marketing arm of your program, look into hiring a professional to show you the ropes. If you cannot afford it, you do not have to bring on someone full time. You can find freelancers to contribute part time and/or help you set up a program that is easy to follow.
Crowdfunding
I don’t suggest using a crowdfunding platform for regular fundraising and rarely in emergent situations. Then only if you have an established marketing plan, donor base and an emotionally compelling story. Crowdfunding needs to work with your other basic fundraising programs as an addendum because, on average, only 22.3% of crowdfunding projects are fully funded. And out of the current (April 2019) projects followed by the Crowd Funding Center, only 2.5% are charities. This does not mean it will not work for your organization, but there are better ways.
Monthly Repeat Revenue
Set up online funding if you have not already and add a monthly giving program. In addition to the PayPal Giving Fund, which is free to registered nonprofits, the Donorbox platform is free for smaller nonprofits and has the option for larger nonprofits to ask donors to cover fees.
Paid Training Workshops/ Conference
Are you experts at what you do? Do you have the time to create some training workshops for others in your field? You will not only position your team as a go to resource, but you will be able to generate some income doing so.
Setting your team up to grow and learn from the mistakes that lead to this point will make you stronger in the long term. The most difficult thing to do is to change, but change is needed in order to grow. As nonprofit professionals, we do this work because we care, but we have to recognize this is a business first. We cannot continue to assist and help causes in the long term if the business is run into bankruptcy.