4 Characteristics of the Most Successful Nonprofits
No matter what industry you’re in, everyone wants to know the “secret sauce.” Those key elements that make one entity rise above all others.
What if we stopped looking at the secret to success as just that… a secret? With some guidance, expertise, and (very) doable action items, nonprofit goals are not at all unattainable.
Here are four to consider...
1) Successful Nonprofits Attract Donors (vs. Hunt Attitude in Fundraising)
I get this question a lot from board members: How does our organization find major donors?
This is sometimes a big mindset shift. You’re not on a hunt.
If you want to find major donors, you have to ask yourself if you’re empowering your entire organization and team to do the types of things that ATTRACT major donors. Here’s what I mean:
Donors need to hear you passionately share your plan to grow your programs and learn how their giving can propel the organization forward, thus changing a life. In addition to the heart, and the stories, the large, investment-level donors need stakeholder discussions.
They need to know their gift is a good investment.
They need to know that it serves their mission in giving it to you.
And, as simple as it sounds, they need to be asked.
If you’re stopping at heart and stories, but not methodically sharing, explaining, or welcoming financial (investment-level) conversations, you will never attract large donors.
Changing the mindset starts with your annual plan, and then… your budget.
2) Successful Nonprofits BUDGET (a very specific way)!
Let me set the table. I was on a podcast late last year to talk about fundraising and I kept bringing up budgeting. The host jokingly said that I’d “lost half his audience talking budgets.” My response?
“Well, the half that’s left? THEY are going to be the ones who know what they’re doing every year on their budgets—and discover what’s actually keeping them from fully funding their organizations. Congratulations!”
What’s funny is that I wasn’t a person who loved data and numbers until I entered the world of nonprofit over a decade ago. Much to my surprise, I now live, eat, and breathe numbers every day. And, with every client, they are often surprised to hear we’re starting with the budget.
It’s your guide; your compass. It tells you what to do every month, every quarter, and all year long.
If you don’t have a robust month-to-month financing plan in place, nine times out of 10 you aren’t growing at the rate you could be. In essence, you’re leaving money on the table.
And that’s right, I said FINANCING plan. Not FUNDRAISING plan.
3) Successful Nonprofits Know How to FINANCE Their Mission (vs. Fundraising): What’s the Difference?
My clients who create a FINANCING plan:
exceed their stretch goals EVERY YEAR
have a solid reserve fund
generate mostly unrestricted revenue
secure 50-75% of their revenue from 30 donors
But, when organizations have only been creating FUNDRAISING PLANS, they usually:
have sporadic cash flow and up-and-down revenue depending on the year, or
kinda raise the same amount of money every year
struggle to secure unrestricted funds
are too dependent on one thing like government funds, foundations, or events
[Spoiler Alert: If your staff is only creating a Fundraising Plan each year, they’re leaving lots of money on the table.]
So, why don’t more organizations do it? Well, for too long the nonprofit sector has told you if we have the best [appeal, board members, campaign, story, PR, photos] you’ll be funded.
That’s not true.
And secondly, it’s hard for organizations to reimagine what the path to fully funding their mission could look like from the inside. That’s the best part of my job—showing leaders and boards what COULD be, and then taking them on the journey to the revenue that’s been sitting there all along.
This is the methodology I’ve taught for years. After 2020, I’ve realized it’s never been more important, especially when uncertainty creeps in. But, here’s how we tackle that doubt...
4) Successful Nonprofits Continually Invest in Their Fundraising Staff
There’s a phrase I hear over and over again from fundraising staff. It goes something like this:
“I feel pretty good about applying for grants, sending appeals, and planning events, but I don't totally know what I’m doing when it comes to [attracting] larger, individual donors.”
Here’s the deal. They probably never needed to know how to do this in their previous role or career. Now that they’re in the role, it feels like they’re supposed to know everything about fundraising.
But, with what’s expected of nonprofit fundraisers these days, there’s no way they can be an expert at it all. And it does feel scary to tell nonprofit CEOs and board members that you need more training to successfully secure larger donations from individuals.
This is why so much of my work is three things:
FIRST, helping CEOs reimagine their overall approach to revenue generation
SECOND, turning staff into high-ROI revenue generators—aligning every hour they spend fundraising with new principles that increase donation sizes by 2X-10x.
THIRD, equipping board members to connect their networks; fundraising in a way that feels comfortable
It takes all three for deep, long-lasting change.
Whenever you’re ready, here are THREE things you can do next:
👣 Follow me on LinkedIn here where I share the same lessons I teach my clients about attracting larger gen-ops dollars and adding 7-figures + to their bottom line.
🍎 Read my GUIDE! THE TRUTH ABOUT GIVE/GETS :: Top 5 Reasons Your Board’s Give/Get Is Leaving Thousands (Sometimes Millions) on the Table. See how limiting board members to the Give/Get model restricts gifts and keeps your staff from reaching their full fundraising potential. Here to get it.
📈 Work with me to scale your org's revenue by 2-5X and fund your organization’s Strategic Plan // If you’re a business-minded CEO already raising MILLIONS but need to diversify revenue and secure more general-operating dollars to invest in growth, you can apply to work with me here.
