About this time every year, nonprofits get anxious about year-end donations and how to devise strategies that ensure they can get their fair share of vast amount of potential contributions going around. For donors, the challenge is to manage the “pressure” they face to support their—often many—favorite causes. However, for nonprofits, it is a different story. They need to devise strategies to elevate their cause to the level that would get the attention of their key donors and stakeholders. It’s no secret that considerable work and energy goes into asking.
This has been a perennial challenge for nonprofits. But it is now magnified in a digital era. Inevitably, nonprofits are asking themselves what strategies could they utilize to optimize their efforts and ensure success; i.e., raising the targeted funds to sustain their operations in the year ahead. A two-pronged strategy may be required to improve the success rate:
One of the byproducts of the digital landscape is the trivialization of communication. Our inboxes and social media accounts are often filled with less-than-critical information resulting in diminished attention span. To overcome this phenomenon, nonprofits must increase the volume of communication they put out in chasing year-end donations. Weekly communication in multiple forms (blogs, newsletters, direct mail, social media postings, etc.) is called for to ensure the nonprofit’s voice is not drowned in the crowded landscape.
As the Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman once said, “sometimes you have to do things differently; and sometimes you have to do different things.” The case in point is to devise entirely different strategies that could lead to success. This is not always an easy path, but it is one that allows the nonprofit to rise above the competition. In doing so, the nonprofit is likely to draw attention to itself for doing something different. It may pay off for the nonprofit to make an effort to rise above competition by putting forward its unique perspective on issues or trying to create unique—and possibly unconventional—donor experiences.
There are endless ways to stand out and be different in the best way possible. Having thoughtful but out-of-the-box strategies throughout the year will inevitably draw attention to the organization and the cause it stands for. In essence, instead of getting jittery as the year-end approaches, the organization should be building ever sounder relationship with its key donors and stakeholders that leapfrogs the year-end anxieties.
To stand out in a crowded space is not an easy task. But by adopting this strategy the nonprofit can draw greater focus to its communication and donor relations. Focus is what will make a nonprofit stand out—and build lasting relationships with its target audience.
As year-end approaches, it may be high time for the nonprofit to stand back and ask itself the ever-important question: “what is the message for which we want to be known? And what would it take for us to be truly known for something?”
These are just a few strategy-focused questions to help you broaden your perspective on what it may take to capture the attention of your coveted donors throughout the year—and not just during year-end fundraising.
With over 25 years of experience in helping nonprofits with their fundraising efforts, Your Great Event is your go-to partner to help you devise effective and lasting fundraising strategies.