Raising Funds: The Fundraisers Handbook: a Step-By-Step Guide to Maximizing Corporate Giving to Nonprofits

Copyright © 2019 Steve Dorough.

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This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author

and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of

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Archway Publishing

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ISBN: 978-1-4808-7634-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-7633-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-7635-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019907068

Archway Publishing rev. date: 08/27/2019

CONTENTS

About the Author

Introduction

I   Vision and Strategic Plan

Chapter 1     Finding Your Fundraising Vision

Chapter 2     Overview: The Strategic Planning Process

Chapter 3     The First Official Task Force Meeting

Chapter 4     Fleshing out the Plan

Chapter 5     Budget Planning

II   The Feasibility Analysis

Chapter 6     Testing the Feasibility of the Campaign

III   The Fundraising Campaign

Chapter 7     Campaign Leadership

Chapter 8     Campaign Prep and Organization

Chapter 9     Campaign Budget

Chapter 10   Volunteer Enlistment and Training

Chapter 11   The Imperative of Pledges

Chapter 12   Campaign Principles

Chapter 13   Communication and Publicity

Chapter 14   Mission Accomplished

Chapter 15   After the Campaign

Handy References

1   The Strategic Plan

2   Feasibility Analysis Procedure

3   Abbottville/Barton County Chamber of Commerce Strategic Plan Prospectus

4   Campaign Identity and Collateral Materials Needed

5   The Campaign Brochure

6   The Campaign Video

7   The Campaign Calendar

8   How You Ask Makes the Difference

9   Victory Celebration Checklist

10  Investment Tables

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I didn’t plan to be a professional fundraiser. And I’m not sure anyone ever has.

Johnny, what do you want to be when you grow up?

Gee, Uncle Bob, I want to be a professional fundraiser and save the world.

It just doesn’t happen. I decided to become a professional fundraiser because of a divorce … mine. I lived in Birmingham, Alabama, and I was in the process of completing an eleven-month divorce that ended a twenty-one-year marriage. Everything I had worked for: family, home, business, friends, was going up in smoke.

I owned a commercial real estate company that I had invested fifteen years of my life in. Congress changed the tax laws the year before, and literally everything my limited partners and I owned was worth half what we had paid for it. I owed a lot of money, and as the general partner, I was personally liable for the debt.

I also moved out of the house we had just renovated and into a condominium that was the model unit of a warehouse loft development my real estate company was converting. I had to find a new job that

■ would pay me a regular salary

■ was recession-proof

■ would make a difference

A friend of mine owned a fundraising company in Atlanta. So I drove over and spent two weeks trying to convince him he needed to hire me. I showed up at his office at the start of each workday with a bag of doughnuts or bagels and two coffees. We would sit in his office for thirty minutes, eating and drinking and talking about why he should hire me.

After two weeks, he threw up his hands and said, You’re hired. I’m gaining weight eating all these doughnuts and bagels.

I worked for Howard Benson and National Community Development Services (NCDS) for five and a half years, learning and practicing the art of professional fundraising. Howard and NCDS have trained many fundraising practitioners over the years; we all owe him a debt of gratitude.

In February 1994, I left NCDS to start my own company, First Community Development. Over the years, First Community Development has implemented successful campaigns for chambers of commerce, economic development authorities, downtown revitalization groups, cultural and performing arts groups, educational institutions, museums, and social justice organizations in the Southeast United States. We have worked with thousands of dedicated men and women who wanted the best for their nonprofit organizations and their communities. They served as volunteers and leaders in each of our campaigns. And they are the reason those campaigns were successful. All we did was supply the expertise and keep them on task. They were the ones who made the calls and got the commitments. We will be forever grateful for their leadership and support.

INTRODUCTION

This is a book about fundraising, written by a professional fundraiser who has spent more than thirty years raising funds for nonprofits, educational institutions, cultural and performing arts groups, chambers of commerce, economic development authorities and downtown revitalization groups.

Raising Funds will show you, step-by-step, how to raise significant money for your nonprofit organization from corporations, foundations, and individuals. The book is written as a narrative about a fictional chamber of commerce in a fictional community somewhere in the United States. However, the fundraising principles and processes outlined in this book can be successfully applied to any nonprofit. Some information may not apply to your specific organization, but this book can be useful as a foundation you can build on as your fundraising efforts grow more complex.

In these chapters, you will learn what to do and what not to do in organizing and implementing a major fundraising campaign. You will find the answers to many of the questions you have been asking yourself (or should be asking yourself) about raising the critical funding your organization needs to make a difference in your community.

Over the years, I’ve learned that A) fundraising isn’t easy; it requires hard work if you are to be successful; B) there is a clear process by which you can successfully raise the money you need; C) there are no short cuts; skipping the next logical step in the fundraising continuum will most likely lead to disaster; D) successful fundraising demands an aggressive focus every day if it is to succeed; it is not a casual, part-time activity; and E) when done right, when you master all the steps in a successful campaign, fundraising looks easy.

That’s why so many people think they can do it.

However, the best fundraisers know where to start each campaign and carefully follow the steps you’ll learn in this book to implement a successful program of raising funds.

Thank you.

Thank you for your leadership in representing your nonprofit organization. Thank you for taking on this important responsibility to raise significant funding for your nonprofit. Thank you for having the wisdom to know what you don’t know about fundraising. Thank you for reading this book. You are headed in the right direction.

The Fundraising Environment

Potential

Fundraising in the United States is vital to our economy and the lifeblood of every nonprofit organization. In 2017, according to Giving USA 2018: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2017, nonprofit contributions rose by 1 percent over 2016. Total 2017 philanthropy in the United States was $410.02 billion.

■ Individual contributions accounted for the majority ($286.65 billion, an increase of 5.2 percent).

■ Foundation giving was 3.8 percent higher than 2016 ($66.9 billion).

■ Corporate contributions ranked third ($20.77 billion, an increase of 8 percent over 2016).

■ This was the seventh year in a row in which giving went up.

■ For the first time ever, charitable giving exceeded the $400 billion mark in 2017.

Additionally, according to the IRS, the number of charities and private foundations now stands at approximately 1.8 million. Thousands of new nonprofits are created every year. Section 501(c)(3) nonprofits have increased by more than 90 percent over the last twenty years.

As nonprofits continue to grow, so does fundraising. Almost every for- and not-for- profit organization seems engaged in some project to raise additional funding. From Little League baseball teams to band booster organizations, from churches to major foundations, from chambers of commerce to economic development foundations—more and more organizations are seeking new resources to sustain current budgets and fund extraordinary new projects and programs.

Due to reductions in membership and normal dues revenue, many nonprofits conduct fundraising campaigns to maintain current programs that would otherwise be slashed or eliminated. Other organizations must seek new revenue to build their programs in order to meet their communities’ expectations. Fundraising has become an important component of the nonprofit organization’s annual program of work.

Challenge

Why is fundraising so important? Why are so many nonprofit organizations implementing new funding initiatives? The reasons are clear.

Nonprofit revenues continue to decline. Individual and corporate memberships decline each year; corporate and community leaders have less disposable income and less time, and they must be more selective with their support.

Nonprofit program costs continue to rise, both for special projects and for day-to-day personnel, services, equipment, supplies, and other operational expenses.

To maintain existing memberships, nonprofits must expand programs without increasing membership dues. And to attract new members, nonprofits must implement new programs to better serve their communities.

All nonprofits also face intense competition for contributions. In a slow economy, the law of the jungle prevails: only those nonprofits offering the highest quality, most engaging, and best organized programs will survive.

Without effective and proactive long-term funding strategies, nonprofits face sustainability challenges. They will rapidly lose market share to other nonprofits that more effectively design and implement fundraising strategies.

Without effective long-term funding strategies, nonprofit organizations cannot maintain programs for more than the current year and may be forced to downsize or ultimately disband.

As competition for philanthropic support intensifies, more nonprofits have engaged in fundraising. Currently, approximately 1.8 million organizations compete for $410 billion in annual philanthropic support. Potential contributors’ pockets may appear deep, but they are not bottomless.

Individuals and corporations no longer commit significant funds if simply requested to do so or because it’s the right thing to do. Corporate contribution budgets at the local level are driven by changes in pretax profits and GDP.

In June 2018, Giving USA reported that US charitable giving increased in terms of the numbers who actually gave to nonprofit organizations.

Further, charitable giving rose to over $400 billion for the first time ever in 2017—so people are actually giving more.

Motivation

However, corporations are tightening their collective belts. They are carefully choosing how much they give and to whom and for how long, and they are determining where their contributions will do the most good.

Generally, at the local level, corporations have adjusted their focus and are giving fewer dollars to fewer nonprofits, but they will give when they consider it is in their best interest. What makes it worth their while?

■ The company perceives that revenues or profitability will increase significantly.

■ The company benefits from positive public relations.

■ The company feels a moral obligation to participate when one of its officers sits on the nonprofit’s board of directors or is actively engaged in the organization’s program.

■ The company seeks better relationship with the fundraising organization.

■ The company understands and appreciates the community-wide value the nonprofit’s program will provide.

■ A significant customer or client requests the company support the nonprofit organization.

In summary, the fundraising environment remains good for nonprofit organizations that are prepared to engage their communities with new programs that are meaningful, worthy, and valuable to their constituents.

I

VISION AND STRATEGIC PLAN

CHAPTER 1

FINDING YOUR FUNDRAISING VISION

Whether your organization is just getting started with little financial support or is well established and seeking funding for new projects, all nonprofits start at precisely the same place: they begin with a vision.

Corporations don’t invest in business-as-usual programs—big ideas produce big dollars.

Corporations will certainly join your chamber or other nonprofit and pay annual dues. However, to persuade them to commit additional funding, new money, you must offer a compelling new program. It must pique their interest and stir their passions—in their view, a program that will help their company and community achieve its full potential.

A local plant manager said, We’re like any normal investor. If we’re going to put our money into some new program, we have to see a return on our investment. We want to support those organizations that offer real solutions to problems in our community, programs and projects that our company can’t accomplish by itself. Otherwise, we aren’t going to be a significant player in any fundraising campaign.

Every successful fundraising campaign begins with a vision. Without a vision, you, the leader of your nonprofit, will be unable to move forward with a plan that meets the needs of your organization’s constituents and your community. Let’s take a chamber of commerce illustration as an example. Let’s call it the Abbottville/Barton County Chamber of Commerce, a medium-sized business organization located somewhere in the United States. If you lead a chamber of commerce, your fundraising campaign should articulate what your community aspires to become and identify the critical problems you face and how you’ll solve them. Developing a vision that focuses the fundraising campaign on solving critical issues is essential.

However, you don’t have to solve all the problems, just those included in your chamber’s vision and mission.

Do you know what those problems are?

My guess is that you do. As a chamber leader, make a list of the top half-dozen problems in your community that your chamber could address with adequate funding. Allow yourself a few days to carefully consider the community’s broad areas of need your chamber could address in the next five years.

Your list must focus on solving problems within your community, not solving your chamber’s financial problems.

There’s an old principle of fundraising: The need drives the campaign. No one ever says, Give us your money, and we’ll think of something good to do with it.

Your chamber must craft a vision of what your community can become with your help. That is step one. And it’s actually fun. You have the opportunity to dream a little and think big. Let your imagination soar.

Take your time and review the list of community problems and needs your chamber could impact with available funding. Revise, analyze, and clarify the list until it best represents the community’s highest priorities.

Next, meet with your staff and share your list. In a likely invigorating exercise, you and your team will analyze, massage, and debate each of the issues and needs you identified.

Focus the team’s discussion; develop a strategic plan outline that identifies major needs your chamber should address. Every issue must fall within your chamber’s mission statement.

This doesn’t require a great amount of time. Your team should spend only an hour or so with this exercise, but refine the list until all the problems can be categorized into six or seven broad categories.

Don’t feel overwhelmed. The goal at this point is not to develop a grandiose master plan with photos, renderings, and graphs, destined to never be read and become a coffee table adornment.

Rather, the goal is a concise, no-nonsense list of the community’s critical needs your chamber is capable of impacting and that the community expects the chamber to address. It is the core of a new strategic plan that will help your chamber engage the community and raise the funds necessary to successfully execute the plan.

There’s no need to get too specific. Your team is just identifying the macro components of a new five-year plan. The micro elements (specific needs, goals, objectives) will come later.

After an hour or so of intense discussion and debate, your team’s List of Critical Needs for Abbottville/Barton County might look like this:

Abbottville/Barton County

Critical Needs

1.   Economic Development

2.   Support for Existing Businesses

3.   Education/Workforce Development

4.   Transportation

5.   Community Development/Quality of Life

6.   Marketing/Communications

The Inner Circle

After you and your staff develop a compelling list of core needs, you should enlist an inner circle of volunteer leaders to expand your strategic plan outline.

The inner circle participants may include a few of those staff members who contributed to the original list and selected leaders from your executive committee or board of directors.

Consider the past chair, the chair-elect, and the visionaries in your chamber who are passionate about the chamber and the community. Choose those who can think outside the box. Six or eight key leaders are sufficient for the inner circle.

Spend at least two hours in the first inner circle strategic planning session. Conduct the