Funding Sources & Donors
Funding for nonprofit organizations comes from a variety of sources. In general, the greatest is the individual donor. But there are foundations, corporations, governments, and other grant-making organizations.
A nonprofit needs to understand where its best chances for funding reside. Then it needs to know how best to reach the sources, both individual and organizational, likely to respond to its mission and appeal.
Articles about Funding Sources & Donors
Single Women Fundraising Sweet Spot
Nonprofits should reach out and develop a base of support among single women, and a social-media strategy should be an important part of that effort. The evidence for both the importance of unmarried women as donors and social media as a key way to interact with them...
What To Do When Foundations Have Walled Themselves Off from Your Organization
Reaching out to foundations that have predetermined your organization is outside their area of interest can be challenging, and doing it wrongly can close doors forever. Private foundations are mandated by law to give away a certain percentage of their assets each...
Can One Non-Profit Donate Money To Another?
I was asked if one 501(c)(3) non-profit can give money to another 501(c)(3) charity. With the usual, and necessary, caveat of, “I am not attorney, nor am I giving legal advice,” I responded that, Yes, when the transaction advances the donor non-profit's charitable...
Donor List Selling or Exchange with Other Non-Profit Organizations
Many non-profit organizations exchange with other non-profits their mailing lists of people served, i.e. their clients, users, patrons, etc. They do this for marketing purposes, especially in the arts and culture world. And it could be said it is a good thing, in the...
Pro Bono Services for Your Organization
Pro Bono: "Especially for the Public Good" (Merriam-Webster) The dictionary definition of pro bono fits well with non-profit organizations, which themselves are also for "the public good," according to the IRS description of how they must be created and operated. And...
Solicitation of Vendors
A non-profit organization's intention to solicit its vendors for cash contributions in support of its general operating campaign or a capital building or renovation project has a number of unique twists and turns which must be considered in detail before asking for...
Challenge/Matching Gift Programs for Your Fund-Raising Campaigns
Challenge Grants Can Multiply Your Success Challenge grants are indeed challenging to fulfill, and once secured, they are unusually rewarding opportunities for non-profit organizations to greatly energize and enhance their fund-raising campaigns. They can...
Corporate Matching of Employees’ Gifts to Your Organization
A number of resources provide listings of companies having gift programs that match contributions made by their employees to non-profit organizations. According to the grantor's guidelines, such matching funds could be general in nature for support of almost any type...
In Search of the Elusive Major Giver
What a Major Giver is How to find them What you need to have in place before conducting a Major Gifts Campaign Your organization needs money. Big money. The kind of money you can't raise by going out and asking for donations of $10, $20, $100, or perhaps even $1,000....
The Fallacy of Financial Ratios: Why Outcome Evaluation Is the Better Gauge of Grant Worthiness
Talk of developing a system to evaluate the sustainability of non-profit organizations has been on the rise. Centered around measuring outcomes in terms of percentages or ratios, the goal of such a system appears to be twofold: To create a filter that will allow...
Your Organization’s Next Special Event: “Fund-Raiser” Or “Friend-Raiser?”
Should a special event be focused on making friends for an organization or bringing in money? On the one hand, every organization needs friends to help promote its mission and to be there for future fund-raising needs. But on the other, there are bills to be paid...
Cultivate a “Grass-Roots” Fund-Raising Campaign for Your Organization
Many non-profit organizations serve individuals who pay very little or who are unable to pay anything in the way of fees for the services they receive. They generally are in no position to give even the smallest donation to their organizations' annual fund. In all...
Should Your Organization Sell Products & Services to Raise Money?
I am made increasingly aware of the conflict non-profit organizations experience when faced with choosing between: Raising the money they need using a traditional philanthropic process. Making a profit from selling and endorsing commercial products and services. The...
Tapping the Philanthropic Well
Principal Fund-Raising Myth It's common knowledge that corporations and foundations give most of the money to non-profit organizations Principal Fund-Raising Truth You go where money you think you can get is to be found in the greatest quantities and most of the time...
Rating and Evaluating Prospects: Whom Do You Ask For How Much?
No one would argue the fact that every fund-raising campaign needs a goal and that everyone connected with the campaign, including prospective donors, needs to be aware of that goal. Then why do people so often fight the setting of a goal for each prospective donor...