In my work as a fundraising consultant and trainer, I’m faced with two persistent myths:

Scarcity: There’s not enough resources to go around, which leads to…

Competition among groups to gather those scarce resources.

To address these myths, let’s begin with a few numbers. Nonprofits across the U.S. receive more than $1.5 trillion per year. This includes fees and other earned income, government funding, and private philanthropy of all kinds: donations from individuals, legacy gifts, foundation grants, corporate sponsorships, etc.

To put this in context, the “nonprofit economy” totals 7% to 8% of the U.S. economy. If we were our own nation – The United States of Nonprofit Organizations – we would boast one of the twenty largest economies in the world. Your organization is a piece of this big economic engine.

Yes, there’s a legitimate argument about how all this money is allocated – hence the conversation about competition. Regardless, $1.5 trillion is the opposite of scarcity.

Can we be more successful together?

One way to reduce competition is through collaboration. We hear a lot about competition among businesses, but my experience has been otherwise: I send a lot of work to other consultants, who also refer clients to me.

Collectively, we increase our base of customers. Without a mutual support and referral network, my business would be far less viable.

We can use the same approach when we’re raising money. Over the years, I’ve participated in a variety of collaborative fundraising strategies, ranging from shared grant proposals to the ubiquitous “giving days.” But until I was asked to lead a webinar for the Land Trust Alliance, I hadn’t given this topic enough thought.

What’s your experience with collaborative fundraising?

In preparing for the webinar, my first step was to gather your ideas. How are you raising money with peers? Here’s your response to a recent survey. As you can see, nonprofits are trying a wide range of collaborative strategies.

65%     Joint grant proposals
29%     Shared fundraising events
27%     Donor or funder briefings
26%     Shared asks with major donors
26%     Local or statewide giving days
21%     Joint capital campaigns or land protection projects
18%     Fundraising workshops with peers
11%     Exchanged mailing lists or e-lists
9%       Shared crowd-funding campaigns
8%       Shared income from fee-based programs
21%     Other

When I asked about barriers to shared fundraising, here’s what you told me.

53%     Not enough time or bandwidth
52%     Competition for scarce resources
44%     Fear of “losing” our donors
30%     Resistance from board or staff
20%     Don’t know how
18%     Why would we do that?
38%     Other

The top three barriers are all about scarcity: not enough time, competing for resources and donors. If you’re trying to raise money with others, your success begins by challenging these assumptions.

Yes you can! Success stories 

My co-presenter on the webinar, Sejal Choksi-Chugh of San Francisco Baykeeper, gave a great example. Three environmental organizations joined together to organize a floating funder briefing. Their goal: demonstrate the pollution risks posed by a local oil refinery. Representatives from several foundations joined the tour.

Despite an unplanned delay – the boat was temporarily stuck on a sandbar – the event was a big success. The three groups subsequently received one grant together and are seeking others. In Sejal’s words, “This collaborative fundraising effort opened doors for all of us that could not have otherwise been accessed.” You can read Sejal’s story in Blue Avocado.

Survey respondents told their own stories.

• Four local groups raised money for a shared van. They use it to pick up salvaged food from grocery stores and take it to multiple food shelves; distribute prepared meals to community food sites; and transport kids to a youth program at a local ski mountain.
• One person noted, “We split grants with partners, regardless of who wrote the proposal. It takes a lot of trust and partnership, but we realize we can both do more together than we can apart.”
• “We do a major donor event with another organization,” wrote a staff member. “We save land, the other organization builds trails. Our donors like to meet their donors and everyone gets more support. And we drink a lot of whiskey!”

Advice from your peers

“This isn’t easy,” notes one survey respondent. “It requires a lot of dialogue and planning. On the upside, it can lead to a larger pot of funding.”

Other suggestions:

• Before seeking potential fundraising partners, reach an internal consensus: Why are we doing this?
• Avoid top-down partnerships. “Don’t let a funder arrange the marriage.”
• Prepare clear agreements – contracts or memorandums of understanding – before you start writing grant proposals together or organizing any kind of joint activity.

“Embrace a culture of generosity and plenty,” notes a respondent. “It always produces better results!” Another adds, “I truly believe that donors really appreciate it.”