How a Nonprofit Raised $18M with an Abundance Mindset

​I love it so much when a fundraiser shifts their mindset from scarcity to abundance and then attracts a huge money windfall.

This happened again for another one of my clients just the other day, let’s call him “Bob.”  

Bob emailed me to tell me that the shift I helped him make to an abundance mindset resulted in $18 million in new money for his organization: 

“After all the work you did with me on our fundraising campaign and getting more clear and bold in my ask — operating from an abundance point of view — I was able to help convert a series of funder renewals into multi-year commitments for the program. 

So far six national funders have made multi-year commitments this year totaling more than $6 million. 

As you know, getting out of a year-to-year funding schedule and getting multi-year grants is a huge turning point for our fundraising and will help us raise more money each year because we can turn our attention to new prospects and tell the story of growing investment and commitment.”

So, not only was Bob able to renew funders at high levels of investment, but he also convinced them to commit to multi-year investments. And those multi-year investments signal to other funders that his organization is a worthy investment. 

That means it wasn’t just a $6 million, one-year gain, it was at least an $18 million (3-year commitments) gain. But likely much more because of follow-on funding. 

That’s so huge. 

How did this happen you ask? 

Over the course of a year, I worked as a Strategic Advisor to Bob, shifting his mindset to abundance by:

• Building his belief that he is an equal to his funders
  
• Helping him understand that there is more than enough money out there
  
• Crafting his fundraising pitch to be one of confidence, inspiration, and excitement

And the thing is, his experience is far from rare. I see these kinds of shifts every day in my work advising nonprofit leaders. 

Shifting to an abundance mindset is incredibly powerful at helping you attract all the money you need to achieve your mission.

Photo Credit: Clay Banks