What Exactly Are You Asking People to Fund?

"Please support our mission" is a perfectly reasonable thing for a nonprofit to say. The problem is that it doesn't tell a prospective donor much about what their contribution will actually accomplish, which makes it hard for someone outside the organization to understand why giving now matters.

One fundraising challenge is remembering that people inside an organization know far more about its work than people outside it. You know what your programs do, why the electric bill matters, why another staff member would make an enormous difference, and what happens when the copier breaks, the van needs repairs, or twenty more people need services than you expected. Your prospective donor probably doesn't know any of those things unless you tell them.

That is why a year-end appeal needs to answer a very basic question: What will my gift do? Maybe $25 buys supplies. Maybe $100 provides a particular service. Maybe $500 supports a program. Maybe your organization needs $10,000 in unrestricted funding simply to keep doing the work your community relies upon. There is nothing wrong with telling people that.

Sometimes there's a temptation to make fundraising language sound grand. We talk about transformational impact, empowering communities, and creating sustainable futures. Those things may all be true, but sometimes the most persuasive fundraising statement is much simpler: "Your gift will help us provide this service to 50 more people next year." Specificity helps people understand the problem and picture themselves as part of the solution.

Stories can help make that connection, particularly when they show what the organization makes possible rather than treating the person being served as a fundraising prop. Tell us about the student who discovered something she could do, the family that found assistance when they needed it, or the neighborhood project that happened because people came together. Then connect that story to the larger work and explain what additional support will make possible.

Your organization isn't asking for money simply because December 31 is approaching. You are asking because there is something worth doing, something worth continuing, or something your community needs. Before you write the appeal, make certain you can explain exactly what that is.

Start This Week

Try completing this sentence without copying language from your mission statement: "If we raise $________ by the end of the year, we will be able to ______________________________." Share the sentence with a few people who know your organization and, ideally, someone who doesn't. If they immediately understand what their contribution would help accomplish, you have the beginnings of your campaign.