Where and how to find donors
One of the questions I get asked a lot is about where and how to find donors. And my answer can never be much more than providing a starting point for further work. Because you don’t want to find just any donor, you want to find yours. Donors that share your dreams...
Read your donor contract
Many nonprofits are very relieved when a donor steps in to fund the proposed activities. It seems like a good sign. And of course, life is much easier if you have financial resources for the work you want to do. But if you do not read the contract carefully your life...
Can you submit one idea multiple times?
Some nonprofits are concerned they need to develop new ideas all the time. Regularly someone will ask me, now that I have submitted idea A to donor X, do I need to have a new idea for donor Z? In other words, can you submit one idea multiple times? Or do you need new...
Before you do an ask, define exactly what you need
Before you go out and ask a potential donor to support your plan, make sure you have developed a budget. So that you know what resources you need to implement the plan. In other words, before you do an ask, define exactly what you need. Why do I need to know my...
How validation of your ideas will help you
One question I see all the time, in different forms and shapes, is this: how can I convince donors? How can I ask, without begging? In an earlier post I wrote that communicating with your donor at impact level is crucial. This will help you speak at the level of their...
You need a razor-sharp focus to stand a chance of achieving your aims
In a previous post I wrote how important it is to speak with your donors at impact level. What is the impact of your work? And what is an impact they seek to contribute to? What is important to them to help improve in this world? Sometimes I get the feeling that...
Impact is why you are doing what you are doing
Doing things for the greater good requires resources. All nonprofits know that. And acquiring resources can be quite a challenge. It is one of the topics many people write me about. And in one form or another, very often my answer has something to do with impact....
Looking back to learn for your next steps
These days I focus on the numbers of the past year as I am building annual accounts reports for a few of the nonprofits I support. There’s a lot to learn from that and not just about the numbers (or the documents, as I wrote last time). In general, I enjoy looking...
What documentation do you need for your annual accounts?
Like you maybe, I am currently in the process of preparing annual accounts for different nonprofits. So, I am fully immersed in excel, accounting software, the fiscal year 2020 and … paperwork. I do admit it’s digital paperwork. But it’s good old-fashioned paperwork:...
How can you create space for flexibility in your team?
Does contracting kill flexibility in your team? I have heard so often that putting everything down in a contract only leads to problems. Because then a team member is no longer flexible in their tasks and responsibilities. Some managers use this argument to avoid...