Solvent Speaks
Top Fundraising Tips for Community Foundations
As the adage goes, change is the only constant in life, and the needs of communities are always evolving. For their part, community foundations are front-line responders that support immediate needs and identify opportunities to enhance the quality of life within their communities. Given this, it’s important for community foundations to be strategic in their approach to grantmaking and fundraising. After all, the challenges facing a community today may look quite different a decade from now, and they’re difficult to anticipate. While we don’t know what the future will look like, we can help community foundations craft smart strategies for the future. Check out our top fundraising tips:
Tip 1: Shift from reactive fundraising to proactive fundraising.
This is one of the evolving opportunities we help community foundations navigate in our work as nonprofit consultants, coaches, and campaign advisors. In addition to providing relational donor services support to help set up a donor-advised fund, seize the moment yourself. Be proactive about contacting current and prospective donors to discuss making gifts to unrestricted community funds. Your contact list should include donors who have started donor-advised funds with your organization. It’s likely that a prospect with a newly created donor-advised fund will want to support your unrestricted grantmaking efforts. Be proactive and cultivate strong donor relationships that can help you identify who has the capacity—and the willingness–to move your community forward.
Tip 2: Promote unrestricted giving as much as possible.
Further to the point above, once you’ve become proactive in your approach to fundraising and stewardship, give this tactic a try. Community crises–like the COVID-19 pandemic—taught us that flexible, unrestricted funding (a.k.a. community funds/funds for the community) helps community foundations allocate resources where they are needed most. When you cultivate strong relationships with donors and educate them about the importance of flexible funds for the community, they may place their trust in you to make community-minded decisions both today and in the future. While a community-centric approach may not be appropriate for every donor, you can place your message in front of choice donor segments and see if it resonates. If you forge ahead with this approach, make unrestricted giving a strategic point of emphasis with key audiences, by way of talking points, targeted appeals, and success stories. Let your donors know how unrestricted gifts help your community foundation meet emerging needs within the place they love. Remember, you are the local experts on your community’s needs.
Tip 3: Prioritize grantmaking to multi-year, capacity building projects.
Multi-year grants, by design, help community foundations take the lead on transformational projects, versus playing supporting roles. Your leadership can have a ripple effect within your community, as it encourages other funders to invest in projects that are collaborative and dynamic, broadening overall impact. If you’re a grantee, multi-year grants give your organization the time and space to plot realistic objectives, overcome obstacles, and grow capacity. In an uncertain world, multi-year grants also provide organizations with the financial security to weather economic conditions unknown today, but felt tomorrow, giving them guaranteed income every step of the way.
Tip 4: Create a major donor program.
Community foundations should engage donors in ways that are meaningful and rewarding. These communications should be tracked and recorded, with the progress shared with staff and the board. A major gift program can have a profound impact on your community, as it will allow you to cultivate donors for continuous and high-level giving, creating broader change for the people you’re mission-driven to help.
Tip 5: Raise money for your endowment now.
Look beyond your immediate needs and raise money for your endowment now. You’ll always face competing priorities, but planning for the future is what keeps community foundations equipped for the long haul. Endowment fund management makes a set distribution of funds available to support the projects that need to be addressed in real time, ensuring that this source of income exists forever. The mission-driven focus of an endowment is reassuring to donors, as it gives them the confidence that you will lead the community for generations to come. And when a donor invests in an endowment, that one gift creates a legacy that feels good, because it creates good for decades to come.
While we can’t predict what’s up the road–in your community, our country, or in the greater world–proactive leadership and a clear-cut fundraising strategy are the compass points to follow. Whether you’re a community foundation executive director, development staffer, or board member, we’d love to hear your front-line perspective. Feel free to share your insights on our accompanying social media post.
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