Get More Tangible and Impact-Focused

Are you having a rough time with your fundraising this year? The economic tsunami that hit America over the past 18 months or so put a hurt on BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) fundraising. That is why I am reading as many fundraising tips as I can. Network For Good (NFG) is a fertile source of ideas ... especially in their downloadable E-book.

Here is a very useful tip that may help your BDPA chapter or other nonprofit organization with fundraising efforts this year:

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Here is another paradigm shift required this year: From need to impact.

Fundraising is not about what you need. Really. It is about what the donor - through you - can achieve.

Everyone knows you need money. So do the other 1.8 million nonprofits in the United States - as do the millions more around the world. If that's all you've got to say, you are just another organization with yet another appeal.

What is special about you? The answer can't simply be that your programs need support. It must be that with your donor, together you can achieve a difference that no one else can.

We should stop building our case for support around a need-based tax categorization and instead talk about how we make a difference.

So how do we talk about impact?

1. By talking about individuals - one person or animal at a time. Avoid talking about massive numbers, mind-numbing statistics, or intangible outcomes. (There is plenty of research on why this is ineffective in conveying impact and motivating giving and it's laid out in Network for Good's recent eBook, Homer Simpson for Nonprofits: How People Really Think and What It Means to Your Cause.) Telling individual success stories will give people the emotional connection to your work that is so essential to the donor relationship.
2. Online tools, from websites to Twitter, can be especially helpful in making that individual connection and showing the impact of your work.
3. On your website, Facebook page, eNews and everywhere else, put these individual stories front and center. Then, to the side, provide a quick glance into how much of your donors' funds is going to that human impact - i.e., your programs.

The bottom line: Do the best job you can showing where the money goes, in a human, authentic, and transparent way -- in all your outreach online.

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This tip is an eye-opener for me. I have alot of research on the critical shortages of African Americans in the IT industry from the classroom to the boardroom. However, I can see now that I need to put more attention into sharing the human stories of success that result from BETF scholarships and BETF funding.

What thoughts or ideas did this blog post bring to you?