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As our clients seek to finish the year strong, we are helping them navigate the changing landscape of grant writing with its new challenges and opportunities. Staying ahead of the curve is crucial for anyone looking to secure funding in a competitive environment. Here’s a look at the latest trends that we are seeing in grant writing. Consider using these strategies to refine your approach and increase your chances of success.

As our firm has grown over the years, I’ve had the privilege of spending time with our new consultants, sharing our company history, axioms, and explaining how we “show up” for our clients.

Recently, the leader of a large $200M+ nonprofit asked me what I look for when hiring consultants. What advice would I give when hiring fundraising professionals? How does DBD Group differentiate itself from other firms in the same space?

I think he was surprised when I didn’t talk about years of experience, education or successful previous campaigns. Without pausing to contemplate the question I answered that I look for the gifts of presence and curiosity. These two gifts are a powerful pairing.

As a nonprofit organization, your case for support is a critical tool to communicate the value and impact of your work, build relationships with donors, and secure the resources needed to fulfill your mission. But it’s not enough to write it once and assume it’s always going to work.

While you should dust off and evaluate the strength and validity of your case every year, sometimes you need a bigger reset.

August is Make-A-Will Month. What an opportunity for your organization to raise awareness about the importance of estate planning!

Using the concept of "Make-A-Will" to encourage donors can be a powerful strategy for your planned giving and endowment programs. Here are several ideas you can implement this month to capture donors' attention on this important topic.

I don’t know about you, but I love a good dip – especially during the summer months while gathered with friends and family. Whether it’s a zesty guacamole, creamy artichoke, or a citrusy pico de gallo; a tasty dip always seems to get people together around a central location, talking and interacting in a fun and enjoyable way. But for those of us in fundraising, the word “dip” can oftentimes mean something completely different.

Fundraising campaigns are often likened to marathons rather than sprints. They require strategic planning, deliberate preparation, sustained effort, and a dedicated team working tirelessly towards a common goal. However, even the most well-planned campaigns can experience dips, where significant donations slow down or even come to a halt. During these times, it’s easy to feel disheartened and pressured to push harder. But sometimes the most productive step a team can take is to pause, take a break, and reset.

A CEO once said to me, “I would like us to have a conversation with one of my new board members.”

“Of course,” I said. “What would you like to talk about?”

“He wants to know what he is going to get from being on my board,” she said. “And I have never had anyone ask me that before!”

The CEO was intrigued.

Change Your Perspective on Boards

Typically, when non-profits are recruiting board members, they discuss the gifts, skills, and experience different volunteers might contribute to the organization. What time, talent, and treasure might they bring?

But what if instead we talk through what the volunteers will get from being on the board? Volunteers typically gain satisfaction from helping a community. They feel good about using their skills toward greater good.

A New Board Job Description

Imagine a reverse job description. Consider one that stresses what board members will receive from being part of your organization.

What would yours say?

Those of you who love high-brow films most certainly didn’t miss the 2006 Adam Sandler classic, “Click.” In it, a workaholic husband and father finds a universal TV remote that allows him to fast forward and rewind parts of his life. Complications ensue.

While I admit I enjoyed the movie, it was the premise that captured my interest. What if we could reset our lives with the click of a button (complications not included)?

As a nonprofit leader, it is likely that building and maintaining donor trust is one of your highest priorities. Have you ever thought about embracing radical transparency as a practice to foster long-lasting relationships and build trust? An upcoming meeting or retreat could provide a perfect forum for your team’s reflection on this topic.

 

Paint the Full Picture

What is radical transparency? It goes far beyond reporting on finances and operations. It's about sharing your vision, challenges, successes, processes and even shortcomings. It means being upfront about where you and your organization are excelling and where you are working to improve.

 

No spoilers…I promise! In both the book, The Martian, and the equally excellent movie by the same name, astronaut Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) is left on Mars after an unexpected dust storm forces the rest of the crew to abandon the planet without him. With scarce food, an inability to communicate, a living environment built to last only a month, and only disco music, as “setbacks” go, this one is colossal.

If you’ve worked in a nonprofit (or probably just about anywhere), you know that not every project goes as planned. In fact, sometimes plan A turns into plan D or E or F. Often, the setbacks are minor – like you used the wrong mail permit number on a mass mailing – and easily fixed. Sometimes, they are more significant – like a lead gift in a capital campaign changes course and decides not to give at all – and mean you need to go back to reset and re-strategize.

Just as Watney (also, luckily, a trained botanist) figures out how to grow enough potatoes to keep himself alive for four years until another mission can return to save him, there is another setback and it’s a doozey!

What does he do? He “works the problem.”

 

Every nonprofit organization builds its success on well-defined strategies. But what happens when those strategies, once so promising, start to show cracks? Knowing when to adjust the strategies in your strategic plan and when to give your strategy time to play out can be a critical turning point for the leadership of your organization. How can you tell if something is amiss?