You are not alone. As we begin to see a light at the end of this pandemic tunnel, we have to consider what we need to accomplish in this year.
The time is ticking away.
- Am I doing enough?
- Will I be able to retain my new donors?
- Will my LYBUNTS return?
- Will I go back on the road to talk to donors?
- Will other organizations be doing it if I am not?
- Should I feel relieved or guilty about the strength of my nonprofit right now?
- Do we need to hire staff to help us handle our new donor base?
- Will these donors continue to support us so that we can afford new staff?
- Is everyone feeling frantic about fundraising?
We know we have so much to do, and it feels like it all must be done today. Because it didn’t get done last week when it really should have been done.
Breathe. Or meditate. Or do whatever has calmed you down over the past year. And consider:
Where do we go from here? 5 Suggestions to stop feeling frantic about fundraising
- Assess your donors. Look at your donor retention levels for First Time Donors vs. Multi-year Donors vs. Monthly Donors. How do you match up to benchmark statistics? (email me if you want our benchmarks.)
- Assess your donor pool without events. Many nonprofit events are smaller or not happening again this year. Now is the time to use those event hours towards your relationships with individual donors. And see if you can raise more money. In other words, events are often very costly and time consuming to produce so think of the resources you can dedicate to another initiative. (Please note: Events can be great community builders and friend-raisers but rarely offer the ROI of individual donors).
- Assess your staff. Do you have the right staff for the future? Do they have the bandwidth to handle your new donors in addition to the job they already do? Is it time to invest in your organization’s human resources?
- Assess your systems. Do you have a CRM that works for your nonprofit? Do you have recent prospect research? Do you send acknowledgements out within 24-48 hours?
- Assess your strategic plan. A strategic plan in one year might not look the same in 3 years later. Especially around the pandemic. Does the work look the same for your nonprofit? Are your board, volunteer, and staff priorities different? Would your SWOT analysis remain true?
Yes, we are big into assessments. We see it as taking a breath and looking internally before you charge forward into this post-pandemic world. Of course, if you would like us to help with your assessments email me.
And, hopefully, you can stop feeling frantic about fundraising and start feeling confident about moving forward.
