5 Ways To Position Your Nonprofit for Growth
We recently hosted Collaboration, a half day workshop hyper-focused on helping nonprofits achieve growth. Our goal was to start building a community of non-profit leaders who can lean on each other, while also providing both tactical and strategic takeaways that non-profits could implement immediately.
Here are some of the key takeaways:
1. Tell Your Story
As humans, we are innately reactive towards emotion. Sharing your organization’s mission is important, but digging deeper allows you to produce a moving message. Telling an inspiring, real story that ultimately defines your impact can truly make a difference when seeking out funding. Be relatable. You want to come from a place that tugs at their heartstrings, not just at their wallets. Hitting your audience at their core creates a better chance of motivating them to take action.
2. Build An Engaged Board
The key to efficiency is to know your board. Understand the strengths each member has and the type of experience they bring to the table so that conversions can be positive and productive. Your board should be a group of people that you can trust, respect and communicate with. Furthermore, your board should understand your goals, initiatives and even challenges your organization is facing. Keeping up with training, regular meetings and rewarding incentives encourages your board to be on the same page, working towards a common goal.
3. Get Social
Social media can be one of your most powerful tools — especially if you are operating with a low marketing budget. Not only will social media help promote your cause, you can also expand your audience and engage with your followers. No matter what your mission, there’s a place to tell your story on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Create a hashtag on Twitter and Instagram to keep the conversation going and have content live. Facebook is a great place to archive albums of pictures from events (people love to tag!). Using LinkedIn is a great way to network with people interested in your organization or to build partnerships with corporate professionals.
Be sure to stay consistent! Don’t only post when there’s an event or campaign; generate content of your own to keep your platform alive. A small investment of your time and resource on social media can go a long way.
4. Get Creative With Your Ask
Yes, monetary donations are the holy grail for non-profits. They are the typically core revenue stream and are what allow for the most impact. They also, however, can be the most difficult form of donation to obtain.
You may face a roadblock when trying to get monetary donations, even if a business or organization is very interested in supporting your mission. Edward Leibman, Founder & Principal of Hudson Ferris, discussed getting creative with your ask. It’s important to identify what other forms donations can be valuable for your organization — whether it be collection items, use of facilities, events, social media campaigns or just volunteer hours. A local company may not be able to cut you a check for the $100,000 sponsorship you are looking for, but they may be able to promote your cause and help you get enough exposure to generate that $100,000. Often times, resources can be more valuable than money.
5. Partner With Your Bank
Many banks offer affinity programs that reward non-profits who refer clients. This is a great way to build a partnership, while also generating a revenue system. Think about it — you have a network of loyal supporters and advocates and they all have banking accounts. By moving their bank accounts to the bank you’ve partnered with, they could help generate a donation — at no cost to them, just by doing what they would do every day. At ConnectOne, we issue an annual check to the non-profits who have enrolled in our Affinity Program. You can learn more about it here.
