The More Than Giving Co. Blog

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.

Virtual fractional staffing is one of those concepts that is easy to understand in theory but may be challenging to envision in real time. That’s why I have taken the time to describe, in as much detail as space would allow, what a fractional approach looks like in action. I hope this on-the-ground view will help you think creatively about your organization’s needs, and how virtual hands-on-deck can support your mission and strategic vision.

Quick fixes rarely constitute long-term solutions. And while virtual fractional staffing can help with the former, deeper examination of an organization’s needs – and strategic vision – are required to achieve the latter. An objective, comprehensive assessment is a great tool for understanding where your nonprofit is trying to go, and what it will take to get there.

Is technology a cure-all or a sinister force? Well, neither. But nonprofit professionals across the country agree that the digital world is here to stay. Approached thoughtfully – and strategically – technology can be a valuable tool in moving your nonprofit forward. Take the time to consider your team’s needs and be sure to include organization-wide protocols and training in your plans.

In an ideal world, every nonprofit board is filled with engaged volunteers working together toward a shared vision for the future. Meetings are productive and collaborative; between meetings, every member pulls their weight. In the real world however, challenging individuals can make progress difficult. In this blog I describe a few scenarios that I have observed (and that you probably have seen, too), and offer strategies for ensuring that your board stays on track.