Donor and foundation outreach for nonprofits: fundraising as business development
A nonprofit raising money has the same problem as a startup raising money: the people who would give are out there, and the organization is reaching the same small list it always has. Donor outreach, foundation outreach and press are business development with a different word for revenue. The playbook transfers.
Who gives to causes like yours
- Foundations whose grant history shows your cause and your geography. Public filings list every grant they made. That is a list of who funds what.
- Major individual donors who have given to peer organizations, visible through annual reports, event sponsorships and public giving.
- Corporate giving and sponsorship programs at companies with a stated focus on your cause or your community.
- Donor-advised fund holders and wealth advisors who direct charitable giving for clients.
The reason to give now
Donors give to specific things at specific moments. A matching campaign with a deadline. A program that starts in the fall. A building, a vehicle, a scholarship with a name on it. A crisis in the community you serve. "Support our mission" is not a reason. "Fund the first cohort of twenty students by August" is.
Press as a fundraising tool
The local paper, the regional business journal, the community radio segment, the podcast about your cause area. Coverage is what makes a foundation officer or a major donor comfortable. Give the outlets a story with a person in it, and give them the founder or a beneficiary who can talk.
Events and webinars
A briefing for foundation officers. A virtual tour for donors. A lunch for corporate giving leads. Each one is a list-building event: who registered, who attended, who stayed. The desk follows up with the ones who stayed.
The cadence
Monthly, not annually. A short update, an outcome, a photo, a thank-you. Donors who hear from you twelve times a year give again. Donors who hear from you once a year wonder what happened to the money.
- Foundation list from grant filings, donor list from peer organizations' public giving
- A specific, dated reason to give
- Local and cause-area press targets, with a story and a spokesperson
- One briefing or event per quarter, followed up by a person
- Monthly donor cadence
- Weekly report: donors and foundations reached, meetings, commitments
Where Optuny fits
Nonprofit programs run donor and foundation outreach, press and event traffic as one desk, usually as an Opportunity Sprint timed to a campaign. Pick the Nonprofit card and see the play.
We build the list. We do the outreach. You take the meetings. Any industry.
See the play for your company