Many years ago, when I was employed as a development director, I would gather the program staff once a year and ask the following question:
“If we had unlimited amounts of money, what work would we do – and how would we do it?”
In other words, I gave them explicit permission to go crazy. To dream without limits. To speak those dreams out loud. To break free from the scarcity mentality that infects so many nonprofit organizations.
Who is your fundability filter?
Inevitably, several viable program ideas emerged from those brainstorms – and then we went out and raised the money.
My job, as fundraiser-in-chief, was to sort out the feasible ideas from the quixotic, unlikely, duplicative, or impractical ones.
If you’re the primary fundraiser in your group, consider this one of your responsibilities: fundability filter. Filling this role effectively requires a combination of art and science, instinct and experience.
Thinking like a donor
To be effective, fundraisers need to think like prospective donors and grantmakers – in other words, like outsiders – and bring that outside vision to program planning. To put it bluntly, they need to challenge everyone’s assumptions and be given authority to do so.
The following questions, adapted from my book, Grassroots Grants, Second Edition, can be used by fundraisers as a way to participate in program planning and help design more effective and fundable programs. While much of the book is dated – it was published twenty years ago – this content remains relevant.
This post focuses on grant-funded projects, but can easily apply to major gifts fundraising or any kind of outreach to individual donors.
Seven questions to measure fundability
As you evaluate the fundability of potential programs and projects, consider the following:
1. Does your project fill a real need? In other words, are you creating a problem and trying to solve it because you think there’s money available? Did the problem exist before you discovered it?
2. Is anyone else working on a similar project? Is the niche already filled? Be super-careful about not duplicating the work of other organizations or coalitions.
3. If your work overlaps with other organizations, can you build productive alliances? Nonprofits are often competing for the same funding, so it benefits you to create partnerships with other groups to share the wealth. If you do this effectively, funders will notice.
“We look at the strategy embodied in a cluster of proposals,” said Shelley Davis, formerly of the Joyce Foundation, when interviewed for the book. “In their proposals, applicants speak to each other and about each other.”
4. Have funders paid for similar projects? If so, which funders? Which projects? In judging the feasibility and fundability of your program, try to see your work through the eyes of prospective grantmakers by studying their guidelines, reviewing their annual reports, and talking with foundation staff.
Do your homework before you apply. You will only develop a sense of what’s fundable, and what isn’t, through ongoing research.
5. How controversial is it? As the controversy factor increases, fundability decreases. When describing the characteristics of projects they prefer to support, foundations often use the words risk and innovation, and some actually put money behind these words. If you’re trying something revolutionary, however, you’ll be working from a smaller pool of prospects.
6. Will your program make people sit up and take notice? Rule number one: distinguish yourself. You don’t have to use gimmicks, but if your project contains a unique “hook,” use it.
7. Do you have the skills to run the program effectively? Think big, but don’t ask for more work or money than you can handle. To judge your capacity, consider how the proposed project will affect your staffing, budgeting, bookkeeping, management procedures, and other programs.
Many nonprofits fail for lack of funding, but a surprising number die from accelerated growth. To live a long life, your group needs to grow in a rational, sustainable way.
Developing fundability across your nonprofit
In my ideal organization, everyone – management, board members, program staff, even administrative staff – share responsibility for raising revenue.
Under this scenario, the development director or chief fundraiser serves as a combination of strategist, coach, facilitator, cheerleader, and enforcer.
Over time, you can instill a “fundability mindset” throughout your organization by helping your colleagues develop:
- Their own instincts about how to attract money by evaluating fundability.
- The skills and confidence to go out and raise it.
Great stuff, Andy, that should be taken to heart by all nonprofit organizations.
To the readers of this excellent post: The person(s) acting as your fundability filter can either be on the inside thinking like an outsider or a trusted consultant who is familiar with your organization and possesses the experience to gauge fundability and offer appropriate advice.
Hi Bill. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. And yes, consultants — like you and me, in the interest of full disclosure — or other outside advisors can sometimes fill that role. Indeed, I used to share draft proposals with specific foundation program officers and ask for their feedback.
Great article. I would ask one thing: specificity. When donors can see their gift applied, it leads to fundability. If donors know that a certain amount of money can solve a particular problem they are way more likely to give. and give more. $15,500 can provide a scholarship for a student in need; $7,952.73 buys a pain pump. etc.
Hi Harvey — I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, you’re right — and your rightness is based on decades of experience and expertise.
On the other hand, fundraisers like us need to get better at pitching general operating support: “When you donate [insert dollar amount], you’re supporting the full range of our services for children and families. You also help us pay a living wage to our amazing staff and make sure they have the technology to do their work effectively.” Etc.
Perhaps you and I can turn this into a point-counterpoint for a future post.
We also need a follow-up post about creating a gift acceptance policy. Specifically, what’s the minimum amount ($5,000? $10,000?) that your organization is willing restrict to a specific line item in your budget? Otherwise, these targeted gifts can become an accounting headache.