Little Dogs ... Big Tricks
Fundraising with a tiny staff or budget might seem daunting, but smaller nonprofits can be real powerhouses when it comes to raising money.
January 2011 By Dane Grams and Richard DeVeau
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This year, FundRaising Success is happy to introduce a new column called Little Shop. (And yes, I do hope that song gets stuck in your head as it does in mine every time I mention the name.)
Little Shop will be written alternately by fundraising coaches and consultants Pamela Grow (January, May and September) and Sandy Rees (March, July and November). In the debut column, Pamela talks about how smaller development offices can make the best of their thank-you notes.
But here, fundraising pros Dane Grams and Richard DeVeau offer some general tips.
— Margaret Battistelli, Editor-in-Chief
What About Us?
A few pointers for small to medium-sized nonprofits (the smallish guys).
By Dane Grams
From time to time, I find myself frustrated when I read fundraising articles or other nonprofit advice resources. Great — DRTV works! Now if I could just come up with an extra half-million dollars to get my new acquisition program running. Or worse yet — thinking you have to settle for second best when it comes to the latest technology or product.
Do you ever feel this way?
Despite the challenges, there are a lot of great things about being a smaller nonprofit, including not having to wade through some enormous bureaucracy because you have an idea. Or not having to get sign-off from eight directors if, God forbid, you want to change plans to seize an opportunity.
(Can you tell I used to work at one of the big guys? Anyway, I digress.)
I understand that there are roughly 1.5 million registered nonprofit organizations in the United States. The large majority of these organizations could be described as "small." Yet it seems to me that most resources are geared toward large organizations. Enough is enough!
So on a recent trip home from Los Angeles to New York, I decided to take matters into my own hands and jot down a few tips on the back of a cocktail napkin — tips that begin to address the specific needs of small- to medium-sized nonprofit organizations. These aren't scientific by any means … just a few things I collected along the way after serving as a senior manager at a large institution and then transitioning to a smaller organization. I also have served on several boards of smaller organizations that often need to be more creative in their approaches.
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