For most nonprofits, fundraising can be an ongoing struggle. While large nonprofits typically have staff members—or even whole departments—dedicated to fundraising, smaller nonprofits often have to rely on staff members who are also wearing may other hats to try to raise funds for their organizations.
Staff members can only do so much when it comes to fundraising. You likely want them to prioritize their work that’s directly related to advancing your organization’s mission, which means fundraising gets put on the backburner. So, what’s a small nonprofit to do?
One fundraising tactic to consider is activating your base of supporters. This involves recruiting some of your more dedicated supporters to fundraise on your organization’s behalf.
Who Should You Recruit for Fundraising Help?
Don’t automatically look to your top donors to help you raise money. It’s a good idea to allow your large donors to just be your large donors. Asking more from them could jeopardize future large donations, as you may seem ungrateful for their already-generous help. Instead, consider approaching your small- to mid-level donors—those who give faithfully, even if it is small amounts.
Of course, if any of your top donors volunteer to help you raise money, definitely take them up on it! They likely have people in their network with similar values (and similar deep pockets).
Don’t Forget About Your Volunteers
If you have loyal volunteers who give of their time, but don’t actually donate money to your organization, they are also great targets to help you with fundraising. In fact, they might be some of your best options! Volunteers are highly likely to talk about the work they are doing in casual conversation with friends and family. It’s a natural thing for them to do—much like you would talk about your job or your hobbies with others. This means that their close network of people may already be familiar with your organization and therefore need less convincing to get involved.
Some of your volunteers may personally want to donate to your organization, but are unable to because of their current financial situation. Therefore, they could jump at the chance to help your organization raise money in lieu of donating themselves!
How to Ask for Help with Fundraising
A single mass email to your list of supporters asking for help with fundraising will yield little to no results. You could start there, but then follow up that email with a face-to-face conversation or a phone call. In other words, someone from your organization needs to personally ask each supporter for their help in fundraising. It’s much more difficult for someone to say “no” to a personal request than it is to simply ignore an email. An in-person meeting or phone call also gives you the opportunity to thank the person for their past support and tell them why you feel they are in a great position to help your organization in this way.
Give Them a Title and a Goal
At my organization, VitalChurch Ministry, we call our volunteer fundraising team our “Vital Ambassadors.” By giving them an official title, not only are we giving them some authority to ask for donations on behalf of our organization, but we are also hoping to further connect them to our cause.
In addition, we give each Vital Ambassador a fundraising goal. We typically ask them to raise $1,000 on behalf of our organization. We feel this amount is lofty, but approachable, for most people.
Make it Easy
You need to make it as easy as possible for your volunteer fundraising team to ask for donations from their family and friends. When we bring on new Vital Ambassadors, we only ask them to commit to fundraising for our organization for one month and then provide them with a calendar that contains a month’s worth of tasks to complete.
For example, during the first week, we have them make a list of friends and family members from whom they can ask for donations. The next week, we have them send out emails and/or letters to those on their list. We provide them with sample verbiage, but we encourage them to personalize it by adding their own experience with our organization. During the third week, we ask them to post on their social media profile(s), asking friends and followers for their support. On the fourth week of the month, we ask that they follow up with those who they think may give, but haven’t done so yet, and thank those who have already given.
Make sure you have an easy way for people to give to your organization online and have your fundraising team include a link with every “ask.” If you don’t have a system set up already, get one set up before asking your supporters to fundraise on your organization’s behalf. At VitalChurch Ministry, we use Aplos as our online giving service, but there are many other great options out there.
Most importantly, be sure to adequately thank your fundraising team for any help they provide. Even if they raise little to nothing, thank them for their efforts and let them know that you value their support and commitment to your organization.
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