“Three-Ps” of Successful Nonprofit Fundraising
If you are in the process of building a fundraising strategy, use the “Three Ps” to guide your approach: Planning, Preparation, and Persistence. These are important aspects of any successful fundraising strategy.
Planning: Nonprofit clients often under-estimate the importance of the planning phase of their fundraising strategy. Developing a clear and well-developed plan for how you will approach the task of fundraising will greatly increase the potential for success. Just as you would plan for a well-deserved vacation to a far-flung location, you should approach your fundraising with a similar level of research and evaluation of options available to you. A lack of clear strategy is likely to result in less-than-ideal outcomes.
Preparation: Once you have identified a clear strategy and focus for your fundraising, you should invest time preparing how best to put that strategy into action. Factors to consider include evaluating organizational capabilities, hiring or training key personnel, and building out a calendar to track grant-related deadlines. You will also need to consider how to identify the best funding opportunities and what actions you may need to take to establish and cultivate a relationship with potential funders.
Persistence: Nonprofit fundraising is not a short-term solution for your organization, nor it is one for the faint of heart. Grant funding requires a long-term commitment to building relationships with a diverse range of funders and community stakeholders. An organization’s grant cycle often lasts for several months from the initial request for proposals through final approval and disbursement of funds. Once you have received the gift, you have several months of additional work that includes tracking funds, collecting data on program implementation, and periodic performance reporting to the funder. After the grant period is concluded, you may continue to engage in an ongoing process of cultivation in preparation of additional funding in the future. Lastly, you may devote a great deal of time cultivating a funder and preparing a detailed proposal, only to receive a rejection several weeks or months later. This is an unavoidable outcome and one that you should anticipate when formulating your long-term fundraising strategy.
Effective fundraising requires an investment in time, resources, and expertise. It is important for you to conduct an honest self-assessment when deciding whether grant funding is a good fit for your organization. If you do not have an established fundraising program in place, hiring an outside grant consultant is an investment in your organization’s success, and reduces the need to build your own fundraising team from the ground up.
Project Rocket offers expertise that can help you get started off on the right track. Contact me to see how I can help your organization’s fundraising take flight!
