5 Reasons You’re Not Raising More $$$

I believe there are certain key factors that keep small to mid-size nonprofits from raising more money:

In particular, I’m going to focus on your communications that reach out to everyone.

So, direct mail, email, website, social media, etc. is what we’re talking about in this list. By the way, this is a ranking of the things that I believe cause the most damage to your fundraising effectiveness:

1. Believing that you must list or explain everything your organization does.

2. Believing it’s wrong to share the needs of your beneficiaries.

3. Believing that your donors are somehow unique or different from those of other organizations.

4. Believing that your donors give because your organization is really good at what it does.

5. Believing that what makes you feel good about your organization is what will make donors give.

If your nonprofit has any of these beliefs, they’ll show up in your past donor communications. Look there (appeals, newsletters, impact reports). If you find any, replace them with an approach that’s been proven to work better…which I’ll discuss here in my next blog.