Fundraising is a huge part of nonprofits, but at the same time it can be a big struggle for many people. Steve Mariotti, founder of Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship lays out 7 fundraising strategies he used to raise millions of dollars and make his nonprofit a success.
- Define your unit of change.
- Whenever anyone donates money they want to know what exactly they are donating to and where their money is going. The best way to show them is to specifically say what your “Unit of Change” will be. Or what exactly their money will be going to change.
- Write down and memorize your vision, mission, competitive advantage and positioning statement.
- It is important to make these short and sweet and to know them off the top of your head so you can convincingly present them in a situation with a potential donor.
- Vision: State how you want the world to be.
- Mission: State what you are doing to bring your vision to life
- Competitive Advantage: State the one thing your organization can do better than its competitors.
- Positioning Statement: State how you intend to make your vision a reality by fulfilling your mission using your competitive advantage.
- It is important to make these short and sweet and to know them off the top of your head so you can convincingly present them in a situation with a potential donor.
- Research donors and investors who are already active in your field.
- Figuring out who is interested in what your nonprofit is all about will help you target the right people when trying to fund raise. The more research you do, the more money you are going to raise.
- Spend time (and money) on the social circuit.
- It is smart to go to one event a month. It is worth the cost of going. It is a great place to network and introduce yourself and your nonprofit to potential donors.
- Make friends with potential investors and donors.
- Friendship is the base of of most fundraising relationships. If you can show you care and understand a person they are more likely to want to give you their money. So build some friendships before asking for money!
- Make your pitch simple and clear.
- The strongest way to sell your pitch is also very simple. Have one piece of two sided paper. On one side put your mission and how you are going to execute it. On the other side put a chart of how much money you have raised and a chart illustrating your unit of change. This provides a quick way for donors to see what your nonprofit is all about!
- Manage your moves.
- Making a chart that tracks your moves can be really helpful. It doesn’t have to be complicated at all. You can just put the name of a potential donor, what your last move was, what you want from them and what your next move will be.
Mariotti, Steve. “7 Fundraising Strategies I Used to Raise Millions.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 07 May 2015. Web. 22 July 2015.
