Tips from my guest blogger, Joanne Oppelt MHA: The questions I hear most often from the nonprofit professionals I encounter are, “How do I increase community support for my cause?” and, “Where do I find people to support my agency?” The answers, strangely enough, are not based on fundraising theory. Rather, they are based on marketing theory and adapted for fundraising.
Your integrity is everything when it comes to fundraising for your nonprofit. Your nonprofit lives and dies by its reputation. What happens if your agency is viewed negatively in any way, for whatever reason? How do you influence and reverse negative community perceptions?
What is your nonprofit’s reputation? Is it intact? What about your leadership? What is your reputation as executive director? What about the fundraising and grant liaison? What do others really think about you and your nonprofit? And what in the world does reputation have to do with grant funding? Your nonprofit’s, leadership’s, and your reputation have a lot to do with the nuances of what goes in in the funding deliberations room. The competition for resources is fierce.
If you are financially reeling from the negative effects of COVID-19, you may be feeling overwhelmed. And desperate. Especially if you have had to lay off staff. I know it wasn’t easy for me.
Every nonprofit I know has experienced some kind of negative financial impact because of the pandemic. How do you rebuild your nonprofit’s finances after such a prolonged, hard hit?