The More Than Giving Co. Blog

It’s time to look at technology as a valuable resource for your nonprofit, rather than as a costly time consumer. In this blog Jillian Campayno, a member of the More Than Giving Co. tech team, shares her experiences providing fractional expertise to help our clients get the most out of their technology investment.

Meaningful community engagement doesn’t have to be fancy. It does, however, need to be strategic, consistent, and sustained. This week’s blog offers step-by-step suggestions for listening to, and learning from, your stakeholders. Their participation in your nonprofit’s strategic direction will lead to efficient use of your resources as well as more effective programming.

The last quarter of 2024 is just around the corner, which means it’s time for make that final fundraising push for your nonprofit. Here are 12 ways to make it your strongest! With these time-tested strategies, you can boost giving and set your organization up for an even more successful 2025.

A large endowment may sound like the answer to every nonprofit’s prayers, but is it really? Before accepting that first endowment gift, organizations should consider what an endowment means, and how it fits into a larger sustainability strategy. 

Staffing up is so hard – allocating precious budget resources, draining your time and that of your most valuable team members – the very thought of the recruiting process can be exhausting. There is a better way. Fractional staffing is a seamless, cost efficient way to engage the expertise (and extra hands!) you need, exactly when you need it.

I meet so many nonprofit professionals who know how important it is to begin a major giving program but have no idea where to start. Often, staffing is a seemingly insurmountable hurdle. The cost effectiveness of fractional staffing makes it possible for them to access the expertise they need to grow their fundraising results without breaking the budget.

Don’t let your efforts to attract new donors outweigh your attention to one of your organization’s most valuable assets: existing donors! Simple, cost-efficient strategies can keep your loyal supporter engaged and ready to give again. Include them in your program – or, better yet, use them to build a donor-focused philosophy! Your bottom line, and the people who rely on your organization, will benefit.

There are a lot of good reasons to build relationships with high-profile community leaders – they can raise awareness about your nonprofit’s work and connect you to new potential donors and volunteers. In this blog I explore the benefits and potential pitfalls of engaging public figures as volunteers and board members and offer useful strategies for making the most of their involvement.

If you are like most of the nonprofit professionals I know, you spend a lot of time and energy developing detailed plans to drive your organization forward – and that’s a good thing. But are you also taking time to consider, and prepare for, out-of-the-blue events that can upend even the best laid plans? A crisis plan helps you navigate rough waters so that your nonprofit can continue serving the community, come what may.

I would wager that we all have at least one story that begins, “Just when I thought our plans were in place…” No matter how hard we try, circumstances can turn on a dime, upending our most diligent planning. Still, there are a few things you can do to help to ensure smooth sailing whatever the weather, and in this blog, I explain what they are.

Every successful organization – large or small – has one thing in common: active and supportive partnerships. Collaborators enhance our work, filling in gaps where our in-house capacity might be thin and leveraging our expertise to help our clients reach new levels of effectiveness.

It is crucial to build a deep “bench” of future board and executive leaders for your nonprofit – but there is more. There needs to be a thoughtfully designed path to bring your prospective leaders into their new roles. A well-crafted transition plan completes your succession pipeline, ensuring a smooth hand-off of authority and responsibilities. 

My advice is to begin at the beginning – during new board member recruitment. Being up front and crystal clear about what the fundraising expectations are helps to weed out prospective board members who aren’t ready for that kind of commitment and gives those who are a chance to start off in the right direction.

We all recognize the signs of a healthy nonprofit organization: meeting or exceeding strategic goals, a strong leadership base, growing financial resources, a solid infrastructure and excellence in program delivery to support the mission and those served. So, it goes to reason that we should be able to recognize an organization that is moving in the wrong direction. Sometimes these signals even point to an organization headed toward extinction.