Today I had the privilege of joining a panel of philanthropy leaders on “Sustainability: Insights from the Experts.” We were invited to share our thoughts on sustainable fundraising with a roomful of small and medium-sized nonprofit grantees of a large national organization. The national org invited us to their annual convening because of course they aren’t able to cover all the needs of all their grantees in perpetuity, so they want to help the excellent organizations they’ve selected over the long term. Here are my notes that I jotted for myself in advance based on the prepared questions. Sorry I couldn’t capture the wisdom from my fellow panelists, or the energetic and insightful Q&A with the super-smart audience following the more or less prepared remarks!

• Please share 2-3 notes about what you are seeing in trends in current philanthropy?

I actually want to focus first on something that isn’t trendy:

I believe in fundraising from the heart. Sustainable fundraising is all about relationships, connection, helping each other like friends and partners do, because you care about the same things.

And it takes time, usually. Fundraising is relationships and relationships are trust and trust takes time. I’ve definitely been there at previous orgs where you’re barely making payroll, and it’s really hard under those circumstances to invest time. But there’s a saying about individual fundraising that I think is really true for institutional fundraising too: “Asking for money shouldn’t be applying pressure, it should be relieving pressure.” The ask should come at the point where they are so excited about your work that they are like, “I have got to be part of this!” And you’re like, “Aha, I have the perfect solution, you can fund me!” So you will get your best results, your best SUSTAINABLE results, when you can take the time to get to that point.

What’s trendy: I hope this isn’t a trend but an awakening. Grant funders are waking up to equity and looking at the power dynamic inherent in our sector – look at NCRP’s Power Moves report to see what the cutting edge conversation in grantmaking is about. 87% of Southern California Grantmakers’ members just said in a survey that “Diversity/Equity/Inclusion” is their top priority for us to help them with over the next 3 years. Across the country, there’s a wave of philanthropy acknowledging that systemic inequities, including systemic racism, are what keep churning out the problems that philanthropy is trying to solve.

• What guidance are you providing to smaller nonprofits hoping to move away from relying heavily on grant funding?

Grant funding is a tiny slice of the pie! Giving USA annual data shows like 70% of charitable funding is from individuals. The wealth is out there. And when’s the last time you met someone who said they don’t care about what’s going on in the world? People care. They want to help. Sharing something you love and inviting them to be part of it – you are helping them help!

So: Don’t be afraid to ask. And don’t be afraid of emotion.

The numbers are important. But neuroscience research tells us that in a way, the numbers are just an excuse for our rational brains to go along with our hearts. There’s a saying, which is confirmed by research, that “people buy on emotion then justify with logic.” There’s another saying, which is a quote from Maya Angelou: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

So telling a story is incredibly important. And I do mean one story, one person’s story. Research shows that at least as far as individual giving is concerned, showing you can help these 2 kids makes people give LESS than showing they can help this 1 kid. I would strongly recommend reading Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. It’s about sales and marketing – and that’s what fundraising is, it’s selling a really great product that you love, to other people who fall in love with it.

• One standard recommendation for nonprofits is to “Diversify Funding Streams.” What further guidance would you regarding a durable resource development plan?

Individuals are really the foundation of sustainability, no pun intended. They don’t do strategic planning like foundations. If you have 100 of them each giving $100 a year, they’re not all going to decide not to all of a sudden – but a $10,000 funder might, and that’s the same thing.

Again – don’t be afraid to ask. That has implications for two of the other ways that people love to try to fundraise without actually asking anyone:

Social media giving – sure it has a place, but it’s also a way of not having to ask another human being directly – and you can bet that the successful viral campaigns have tons of behind the scenes direct asking going on anyway!

Events – can be great but can also be another way of not asking. It’s not worth all the work you put into the event unless your guests leave loving you. Make them love you with the direct stories – and ASK THEM. Ask them before – sponsorships, people planted in the audience to start the giving when you ask people to fill in their envelopes, and my favorite tactic of asking people to be challenge matchers. Then ask your audience during the event. And don’t forget to follow up and ask them after!

• Having a sense of our programs’ limited resource development capacity, what opportunities do you see on the horizon for how to expand our thinking and make economical investments in time spent generating sustainability? What do you see as the most promising path forward for sustainability?

Sorry, but there is no magic here – your development capacity will always be limited but you need to prioritize it as you would any other key function. You will need to spend time and effort, and if you are the executive director or development person, you will need to ask people for money.

I know it can be hard to get that funded – a lot of grant funders insist on limiting overhead. Check out the Full Cost Project for ideas on how to be part of the movement to shift that – and if you’re getting federally sourced funds, get your legally required 10% overhead! Other than that, look for capacity building funders who might jumpstart your development staffing.

But also think beyond adding development-specific staff – check out CompassPoint’s study called “Underdeveloped” about the need for board and executive director and everyone else to share ownership of development.

What’s the most promising path forward? I love challenge grants. Ask one of your grant funders to offer their grant as a challenge. Extra points if they’ll actually pay you anyway even if you don’t quite get there!

I really hope these ideas help you get the resources you need for the organization you love.