Non-Profit Fundraising

Fundraising is a basic survival tool for nearly every non-profit. Whether your organization has an annual operating budget of $2,000 or $2 million (or more), chances are that fundraising, also referred to as “development” is a very significant area of focus for your organization.  According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics, there are more than 1.5 million charitable organizations registered in the U.S. with non-profit status. This includes schools, fraternal organizations, private and public foundations and service organizations. Despite the large number of non-profits, few have full-time development professionals on staff.

It seems like a paradox that fundraising can be so critically essential to an organization yet most organizations don’t have full-time fundraisers on staff.  This task is often relegated to volunteers or given as an extra assignment to existing staff. It’s tough to know when your organization is ready to commit to creating a fundraising position. Often, a happy medium can be found by contracting with an experienced fundraising professional until you’re ready to bring the job in-house.

Regardless of how you do it, every organization should have a fundraising plan to set the compass for your fundraising approach. How will you develop your core partners?  How will you reach out to individual funders? Did you know that the bulk of money given away to nonprofits comes from individuals and the majority of people who give are not rich? Are your funding sources diverse or do you rely mainly on a generous trust or bequest? How do you identify funding sources and do you have the tools necessary to do the job?  Do you combine fundraising events, online giving campaigns, and “challenge” campaigns with grants in order to develop a multi-faceted fundraising approach?

Sometimes it seems like there are more questions than answers. We can help.

Greenleaf Project Management can help you develop a fundraising plan and see it through. Please contact us to discuss your needs.

Email: Bonnie@greenleafpm.com

Phone: (530) 351-3964