Let's face the harsh truth: fundraising is tough. There are thousands of
nonprofits, schools, and community organizations that are competing for
your donors. Hi, I'm Kristy with Funds2Orgs and I'm Eric, hello. We're going to
give you a few brilliant tips on ways to overcome the difficulties of raising
money.
First, we need to understand the challenges of why fundraising is so
difficult. Prospects and donors don't usually have a full understanding of
what the charity does in the community. It's also difficult for donors to
understand the measurable results an organization is making within the
community. Leadership and organization sometimes doesn't have a clear vision of
what they're trying to do which can make it really difficult for fundraising
efforts and for their marketing team. Also, donors become tired of the constant
requests for money from multiple groups: from the schools of their children to
peers at the office as well as religious organizations. It can be difficult to get
high-quality volunteers that are willing to give up their time, talent, or treasure
And lastly, donors only
want to give to direct program costs. They don't always want to support the
operational expenses of running a non-profit or group which are essential
for high quality operations. There are probably a million more reasons you can come
up with as to why fundraising can be difficult these days, but one last one
that can be very daunting is having so many donations. Sounds weird, but when you
think about it you have so many avenues to get messages and get donations from.
Instagram, Facebook, text messaging voicemail, don't be daunted by how many
people are trying to give you money and make sure you try to respond to all of
them. And although there are a lot of difficulties with fundraising, we have
three brilliant tips for you to overcome them. Tip #1: change the perspective of
your volunteers. A really important aspect of fundraising is the "ask." It's
really important to make your fundraising volunteers understand what
they're asking for. To overcome their personal challenge with asking for
donations the ask can be very difficult for a lot of your volunteers especially
when it comes to their friends and family
because a lot of times they feel like they're asking donations for themselves.
Once you get your volunteers to understand they're asking for the cause
it makes that challenge way easier to overcome. So, make sure you talk to them
about what they're trying to do. Tip #2: everything is an opportunity. Every
aspect of your work can be presented differently to gain the type of support
you want. For example, if you're seeking general operating help, that doesn't
exactly excite your donors. However, if you inform them of the impact when
making the ask, that "tug on the heartstrings" can make all the difference.
So, instead of asking for annual support from your donors, ask them to ensure that
the 250 kids that serve in your after-school program have the resources
that they need for next month. You can even take it one step
further by explaining what those exact resources are. Tip #3: tell a
story. [What kind of story? Well, let me tell you.] One of the best things you can
do for your fundraiser is make sure you have your volunteers tell a compelling
story about why you're trying to raise money in your community.
[singing]
People give to people. The charities that raise the most money usually have
the best stories. Take your cause and tease stories out of your cause that
tug at the heartstrings. The statistics and facts about what you're doing in the
community will usually help your volunteers tell your story better.
We actually have a video on that too, so make sure you check on our link down
below. So, take that video and this one and every opportunity to tell a
compelling story. That way you have something your volunteers can use to
tug at those heartstrings. We hope these 3 tips helped you overcome the
difficulties of fundraising. For more information, make sure you click on those
links down below and follow us on Facebook as well as here on YouTube, give
us a like, share, and subscribe. My name is Kristy and I'm Eric. We'll see you
again next time. Bye!