Sara Jane Lowry

Coaching and Consultation

3rd party fundraiser: should you accept the offer?

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two hands holding a dollar bill so back side is showing with caption how do you respond when someone wants to do a 3rd party fundraiser for your organization in order to promote their business?

3rd party fundraiser events are common today. That doesn’t mean you should accept one. So should you accept an offer of a business to do a fundraiser for your organization?

The answer is: it depends.

On the surface, it seems like a wonderful idea doesn’t it?  Wow, someone wants to raise money for you?

But it’s not that simple.

First, it’s your reputation, so choose the company wisely – do your own research and vetting. What if the business isn’t aligned with your mission? And, what’s the likelihood of the event being successful?

Second, what do they want from you?  It might truly be something where they do all the work with no involvement from you, and they just send the check for the proceeds. But in many cases, they only want to give you a percentage of the proceeds (as low as 10%).

Red flag the offer if these are part of the 3rd party fundraiser requestred flag flying on roof for issues around a 3rd party fundraiser

They want to:

  • use your social media to broadcast the event to your followers (or even worse, want you to use your staff’s time to promote the event, create and send emails, postings, and fliers.)
  • use your staff and volunteers on the day of the event to manage activities.
  • send thank yous and receipts to everyone who participates financially. (if you’re a small staff, this is particularly challenging).
  • use your liability insurance for the event.
  • get you to invite all of your supporters to the event – if you’ve been busy cultivating your donors and their engagement, imagine what a confusing message this sends!

Other questions you might ask

Have they successfully done a 3rd party fundraiser for another organization, and if so, how much did they raise for the charity? (Are they also affiliated with that charity, and is that an appropriate charity to be linked to yours?) If they raised $25,000 and all you have to do is show up on the day of the event and say a few words, it might be worth it.

Does it tie to your mission?  If it ties to your mission such as pet supplies for an animal welfare group, or a tech firm putting on a technology expo and you’re focused on getting girls into coding and technology, it might make sense to partner.

Will they sign a 3rd party fundraising agreement?

This is a board-approved document that outlines:

  • the permissions to use organizational materials, logo, or any indication of affiliation only for this event including a point about not altering the logo for their purposes, or not.
  • your discretion as to whether you are able and or willing to post the 3rd party fundraiser on official organization social channels and website.
  • how charitable receipts will be handled. For example, cash must be accompanied with the identifying donor’s information, address, etc. And, that donations must be given to the organization within 30 days of the end of the event. Or, that you will not provide receipts, and the dollars raised cannot be considered a charitable donation for individuals but only to the business.
  • most importantly, that your organization will not be held liable for any issues, injuries, damages to persons or property, or any other incidents that arise during your 3rd party fundraiser event.
  • get it signed in advance of the event. And make sure your board approves the event.

Third party fundraiser events can be a wonderful thing if the business really has the charity’s best interests in mind. But the charity must weigh the “cost” in time, staff, and donor engagement/confusion before acceptance.  If it seems too good to be true, it just might be.

 

Do you want to raise more money? You need a fundraising plan. [Part 1]

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white dandelions in field: want to raise more money? Fundraising plan.

A fundraising plan takes your income from wishing to reality. Is this you?

  • You do the same things you did before and expect different results
  • Your fundraising is “from afar” without meetings with donors and funders
  • You’ve been getting by (for years) with only government or foundation funding
  • A a few major donors are keeping you afloat
  • You are one or two funding rejections away from disaster
  • You can’t grow or meet more needs

If this sounds like you, you have lost your way in building a robust and diversified fundraising program. One that’s more than a wish and will sustain you in tough times. One that will help you grow to achieve more mission.

Now is the time to create a fundraising plan. And, you can start today.

A fundraising plan includes not just institutional support. That means it considers the full spectrum of resources available.  According to the Reliability-Autonomy Matrix, there are three levels of income reliability:

High reliability: United Way support, rental income, advertising, small-medium sized individual contributions (especially sustaining donors), endowments, memberships.

Medium reliability: Ongoing government contracts, third-party reimbursements, major individual contributions, fees for services, corporate charitable contributions.

Low reliability: Government project grants, foundation grants, corporate sponsorships

I work with many nonprofits that don’t have a plan. The bulk of their funding comes from the Low Reliability level. Small nonprofits scale up using foundation grants and neglect to build other revenue streams.

So, where are you today, and where do you need/want to be?

You and your board should be asking these questions:

  • What percentage of your ongoing costs are covered by reliable funding sources (as referenced above)?
  • How many decision makers are in control of revenue sources? In other words, having a greater number of consistent funders increases the likelihood that revenue will continue even if one funder chooses to exit.
  • What restrictions have donors have placed on their funding? When donors restrict funding to certain programs, organizations are not free to allocate money where they need it most.
  • How many types of funding do you have?
  • Do you have a cash reserve (3 months minimum)? How liquid is it or is it reserved for program?

Why is this important?

Piktochart showing 12 elements of nonprofit management with Resource Development (Fundraising) highlighted

Click on image to see it larger

Because when you have a wider base of support, you can absorb funding losses more easily. And when you build a cash reserve, you can weather funding delays.

But how do you get there?

Commit. Commit (money + time) to earn a financial return. In other words, invest in your future.

All nonprofits are in two “businesses”—one related to their program activities and the other related to raising charitable “subsidies” or philanthropy.

You can do this! You already know how to create logic models. And, you already invest in strategic planning and program pilots. So, create your funding model. Invest time and money on your “business side.” That means funding diversification, marketing, and communication.

Also, there’s no one-size-fits-all fundraising plan. Each nonprofit has unique opportunities.  But most benefit from development strategies that fit in the three levels of funding reliability listed above.  Therefore, grants require a strategy plan. Fee-for-service/earned revenue requires a strategy plan. And individual donors/major gift giving requires a strategy plan.

Fundraising planning includes building systems to address:

  • Communication – how and how often will you communicate with donors. Do you nvite them to join your cause or celebrate what they’ve made possible with support? What I often see is that it’s not seen as a priority so it’s inconsistent and not intentional. And it focuses on what you did, not what the donor did.
  • Staffing – is your executive director is the only one focused on fundraising? If so, your focus is most likely on low level funding reliability areas like foundations and corporate sponsorships. Why? Because you are not prioritizing revenue generation. No business can operate this way. Or you have no staff and the board is acting as staff and are not trained in fundraising and their focus is on events.
  • Record keeping – how will you discover who your best donors are if you keep your donor records in spreadsheets? And if you have a donor system, recordkeeping is spotty so you don’t have the full picture. Do you know how to leverage the information in your database for planning? Or, have you cleaned the database of lapsed donors, or looked at characteristics of your primary donors that help you understand your “donor avatar” to acquire new donors to replace those who have dropped off? Do you have a list of your top 20 donors on your desk?

If this sounds like you, please know you are not alone. And you can change it with an investment of time and money.  [Click here to read Part 2 on how to get more focused in donor-based fundraising.]

Exploring Hidden Money Beliefs

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Exploring hidden money beliefs

I recently provided a workshop for solopreneurs with the theme of exploring hidden money beliefs. We talked through various scenarios like these:

  • I experienced as a child that money was difficult to come by and we never had enough.
  • “money is the root of all evil”
  • I can’t have money and be spiritual.
  • “Rich people are greedy and dishonest.”
  • If I want to be rich, I have to give up time with family and friends.
  • I don’t know how to handle a lot of money.
  • Money is dirty.

But there were two major “aha” moments for those in the group that surprised everyone. The biggest beliefs that held them back from healthy finances was:

  1. having no financial goals, and assuming that money would just always flow to them.
  2. using current funds to help others “because they had it” without registering they were giving away their future goals by not saving.

I found that freelancers are often focused on getting enough contracts or money to survive, not on getting enough to thrive!  When we do what we love, we CAN get the money we need to thrive, and “show up more fully in our purpose” at the same time. The real hidden money beliefs were related to lack of belief in themselves as successful entrepreneurs. The world doesn’t pay you for what you know; it pays you for what you do to help them. When you focus on what you can do for others, your create an energy channel for abundance.

What’s your FOCUS?

Do you have a vision for your life?  Does that include the financial side, and your ability to financial support the people and ideas you care about? Have you taken that dream, that vision, and quantified it into actual measurable goals?  You must include financial goals in your goal setting. The key is breaking them down into small action steps, habits, and practices on a daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis. This is the moment where you strengthen your belief in yourself as capable of achieving them. Then, get out there and go for it! When you FOCUS and take action toward measurable goals, you trigger other universal energies that lead you toward success.

If you are procrastinating in making actual goals and outlining your steps, you are living the hidden money belief habit of not believing in yourself.  Here is an opportunity to reach out to those around you, to your current clients, and express appreciation. Appreciation opens a energy channel that enlivens your beliefs, and strengthens powerful trust between yourself and others. It might also allow you to share your goals more fully with others which is another way that the universe can bring awareness and opportunity in supporting those goals.

Start with how you FEEL

Successful solopreneurs focus on long-term financial goals. Instead of just making money and spnurturing new financial beliefsending it, they take the time to create financial plans which enable them to reach long-term goals, and then they stick to those plans. If we can change our hidden money beliefs and adopt a financially successful mindset, sooner or later we will become financially successful in reality, and in the meantime, we will FEEL financially successful.

Remember, the clues to your success are always right in front of you. You just need to be aware of the opportunities and how to identify them. When you set financial goals and are working to manifest success, you will recognize those opportunities that will lead not just to manifesting your purpose, but to longer-term financial success.

To hold yourself accountable, write down and send me two new habits or goals you will tackle in overcoming your hidden beliefs around money. I’ll follow up with you to see how you’re staying on track with your new goals!

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