I’ve had the pleasure of working with countless non-profit organizations. Some run like well oiled machines. Sadly, most struggle. This is heart breaking because if you have ever talked with a founder of a non-profit, they are amazing human beings. They have dedicated their lives to serving others. No one deserves success more than they do.
Most non-profits fit into one of these three categories:
Category One: The vast majority of non-profits struggle to really get off the ground and raise enough money to truly begin to affect change.
Category Two: They managed to get over the start-up hump and now have a full-blown operation. Woo hoo! It’s a small operation but it is running and they have a community presence. What they also have is a very small over-worked, over-stressed and under-paid staff. They can’t focus on growing. They’ve reached capacity in what can physically be accomplished in 24 hours.
Category Three: Well-known organizations that raise millions of dollars. These organizations have paid teams to ensure that the programs run well. What truly sets them apart is that they also have teams solely focused on growing their footprint. They have a clear path to impact. They have defined avenues for collecting donations.
Take the role of leadership and management seriously. Develop volunteers who can in turn develop the organization.
Focus on creating an ongoing relationship with your donors. Give them the opportunity to support your efforts on a monthly basis. Let this be your fundraising focus, not exhaustive events.
How to Get to Category Three
If you’re reading this and your non-profit is in category one or two, it’s time to build a strategy to move you through these stages. You need to develop a clear path to category three. Together, we can begin to map out a new course of action. You can begin to increase your impact, eliminate some overwhelm and create opportunities to serve more people.
1. They Don’t Run Their Organization Like a Business
Every entity that takes in money and serves a customer is a business and should run as such. The major difference is that a non-profit receives donations instead of sales and they serve people/communities rather than selling products. The concept of money in and money out is the exact same as a for profit business.
Here are two of the basics:
A business plan: Every organization needs to be clearly defined and have goals for revenue in. It must have a clear understanding of the operating expenses. The final key is knowing how to best utilize internal resources and external resources to accomplish their goals.
Operating costs: Rather than operating solely on what limited amount of donations you’re able to bring in, set goals for operations. Develop paths for the expansion of programs. Start small. Narrow your focus to one program. When that program is running well, set goals for raising funds to support an additional program.
2. They Don’t Manage Their Volunteers Like Employees
Most non-profits tip toe around their volunteers and try not to do anything that will upset them. They’ve resigned themselves to the notion that some help is better than no help. That simply isn’t true. If an organization is full of the wrong kind of volunteers it can actually hurt the organization. The wrong person can slow down the organization’s progress. Everyone is not a fit.
Does this scenario sound familiar?
Someone raises their hand to volunteer. The organization then says, what are your skills and how much time can you dedicate. Then they begin to haphazardly task the volunteer. Both parties walk away feeling frustrated and produce little results.
Imagine this scenario.
Someone raises their hand to volunteer. The organization provides them with:
- an operating manual
- a schedule of events
- a clearly defined job description
- goals
Did you catch those last two parts? A job description and goals.
Volunteers need to be led and managed just the same as you would lead and manage an employee in a Fortune 500 company.
Most volunteers would do more if they understood how to best be more impactful. Volunteers will not insert themselves more if the organization is chaotic. No one is signing up for more chaos in their lives.
Use our volunteer training templates to get started TODAY!
These are plug and play Canva templates.
3. Focus on One Time Giving Instead of Ongoing Relationships with Donors
I can’t tell you the number of non-profit organizations I’ve encountered that live from event to event. They’re entire fundraising model centers around making enough money at a few events they host each year. This exhausts the staff. It keeps the organization in a mode of feast or famine financially and physically.
Events are great. They’re needed. They should not be the sole focus. I’m going to be so bold as to say that focusing one-time donations at events is the biggest thing that keeps non-profits stagnant.
To change the culture and the stability of the organization: Get clear on the business of running a non-profit. Create systems for developing an ongoing relationship with your donors. Give them a compelling reason to get involved. Help them to see the ongoing impact that an ongoing contribution can make.
You don’t have to do it alone. We’ve created easy to use templates to help you develop an annual Giving Plan that your ENTIRE TEAM can use to help you raise money all year long.
You might also try developing an annual ‘Community Partner’ so that you’re not sourcing for sponsors for each invidivual event or program. By developing a community partner, you will be able to fund the year, not just the event. Get started HERE!
