Successful fundraising is often the product of effective networking. Ellen Bristol (the President of Bristol Strategy Group a partner of Your Funding Network) is my mentor and friend has a rich library of Best Practices For Effective Fundraising which you can access for free.
In our article, “We Have No Money to Raise Money!” – Fundraising Revisited for the Non For Profit Sector” we discussed how Nicole, our effective NGO fundraiser, began to appreciate the value of leveraging the organisation’s volunteers, affiliates and board members as a network to improve her fundraising potential.
Our relevant network could vary from our neighbors who might participate in a crowdfunding campaign we ran for our organization’s cause to a relative of one of our colleagues who is willing to leave portion of her properties in the name of our organization, or a parent of our child’s classmate who happen to work at an international firm which their CSR policy is in line with our organization’s core values. Our network also include our current donors – regardless of the size of their contribution, our “current” donors are our most probable “future” donors. Whether they are institutional donors or corporate or from a family fund, we need to constantly work with our network of donors and keep them involved and engaged with our activities.
It is also of crucial importance to contextualize our organizational development in its historical cycles: as fundraisers we have to consistently cross-compare our activities with what has been done before and what has been the outcome. I have written a short article about this subject which you can access here.
When thinking about networks and how to nurture and expand them, the creative and artistic side of fundraising plays an important role – keep the bigger picture in mind, the greater impact that your organization has on the world and not just its primary or secondary beneficiaries.
Would you like to explore your opportunities for expanding your network of potential donors?
You can reach out to me here, for a complimentary call.