• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Social Velocity

Creating more strategic, financially savvy, and confident nonprofit leaders and organizations.

  • Consulting
    • Strategic Planning
    • Leadership Coaching
    • Financial Model Assessment
  • Clients
  • Blog
  • Tools
  • About
  • Connect

June 11, 2019 By Nell Edgington Leave a Comment

The Power of Fundraising as an Equal of Your Funders

handshake
FacebookTweetLinkedIn

I was coaching a nonprofit leader the other day about a funding proposal she was putting together for a potential corporate donor. She had been working with this particular donor for several months, so she knew what level of investment to request. But she struggled to send the proposal because she had a fundamental block. She subconsciously felt unworthy of the level of investment she was proposing.

I said to her, “You know that this corporate donor wants to invest in you because they see that you have a solution to a social problem they think is important. And they are incapable of solving that social problem on their own. They need you. You are offering a proven solution, and they are offering the resources necessary to execute on that solution. So the two of you are equal partners in this work.”

She was shocked. She had never thought of her donors as equal partners. This was because she had completely bought into the ubiquitous (but faulty) belief in the nonprofit sector that funders are more valuable than the nonprofit leaders and organizations in which they invest.

This nonprofit leader that I was coaching suffered, as so many nonprofit leaders do, from the debilitating misconception that her organization and her social change work is not as valuable as the funder and the money that funder has to invest.

But what if, instead, nonprofit leaders approached fundraising from the powerful position of equality?

What if you viewed your potential funders as equal partners — truly equal, valuable collaborators in your social change work? What if you fundamentally believed that your funders are as valuable as you are, and that you are as valuable as they are?

Armed with this fundamental, powerful belief you could approach your potential funders and the act of fundraising as an equal exchange of value for money. You could approach any effort to fundraise — a grant proposal, a lunch with a potential individual donor, a meeting with a government funder — with an equal appreciation for both your work and for the potential collaborator sitting before you.

This shift is, in essence, planting yourself firmly in a belief that the cause you are moving forward, the clients you are serving, the vision you have for a better, more inclusive, kinder world are as worthy as the money sitting in your donor’s bank account.

This is a mindset shift for sure, but an incredibly powerful one.

So the next time you are heading to meet with a potential funder (a foundation program officer, a wealthy philanthropists, a government decisionmaker), become very clear about the tremendous value of your nonprofit’s work. Then, become equally clear about the value of your potential funder’s partnership. In envisioning you both as equally valuable partners, I have no doubt that you will raise the money you need to achieve the social change you seek.

Give it a try. And let me know what happens.

And if you would like my help figuring out how to approach your potential donors as equals, let me know.

Photo Credit:  Cytonn Photography

Related Posts:

  • Let’s Stop Undervaluing Our Nonprofit LeadersLet’s Stop Undervaluing Our Nonprofit Leaders
  • Nonprofit Leaders Have the Power to Create Capacity FundingNonprofit Leaders Have the Power to Create Capacity Funding
  • Are You Making Fear-Based Decisions?Are You Making Fear-Based Decisions?
  • 5 Conversations the Nonprofit Sector Should Have5 Conversations the Nonprofit Sector Should Have
FacebookTweetLinkedIn

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Consulting Services

If you want to grow your nonprofit's reach, become more financially sustainable, or achieve more results, Social Velocity can help you get there.

Ready to Learn More About Working with Social Velocity?

Apply for a Consultation

Get Email Updates

Stay up to date on the nonprofit and philanthropic world.

Sign Up

Featured Blog Post Topics

  • Social Changemaker Interviews

  • Smart Strategic Planning

  • Effective Philanthropy

  • Networks for Social Change

  • The New Nonprofit Leader

  • A Groundbreaking Board

  • Reinventing the Nonprofit Sector

  • From Fundraising to Financing

Footer

Stay up to date on the nonprofit and philanthropic world.

Sign Up

swimmer

Why Some Nonprofits Fail to Survive

December 2, 2019

signs begging for money

Stop Fundraising on Bended Knee

November 11, 2019

sunlight emerges

How to Overcome the Social Change Overwhelm

October 28, 2019

plants growing

The Antidote to Nonprofit Scarcity is a Plan and a Leap

September 16, 2019

How Board Members Can Stop Nonprofit Leader Burnout

September 9, 2019

Recent Tweets

Tweets by nedgington
  • Consulting
  • Clients
  • Blog
  • Tools
  • About
  • Connect

© 2019 Social Velocity · Privacy Policy