For many nonprofit organizations, fundraising is critical to an organization’s ability to implement programs, support its beneficiaries, and serve its mission. In an increasingly competitive funding environment, retaining existing donors becomes critical to ensuring success for nonprofit organizations.

Unfortunately, donor retention rates hover around 40% which means for most nonprofits, they are in a perpetual cycle of trying to attain new donors. Many organizations appear content with that strategy and continue to focus their fundraising efforts on acquisition. They spend their time and financial resources replenishing a progressively leaky donor bucket overlooking the chance to build important donor relationships. They are challenged to retain current donors and turn those making one-time gifts into repeat donors. So why does this matter?

New Donor acquisition is costly – it can cost up to $1.50 to raise $1.00 when it is coming from new donors, while using existing donors will be significantly less, $.20 or less per dollar raised.

Because retaining donors cost less when fundraising, tapping into that base can increase revenue. A small improvement of just 10% in donor retention rates can…

For several decades, overhead spending has been closely monitored by donors, management, and charity watchdog groups, as a method of evaluating a nonprofit’s effectiveness. Individual funders, government agencies and foundations have used overhead ratios, the percentage of program vs fundraising and administrative expenses, as a “proxy for nonprofit efficiency”. This close focus on overhead spending has limited nonprofit advancement, harmed program outcomes, and contributed to the chronic underpayment of nonprofit employees. Overhead spending is a necessary and essential part of successful nonprofit programs. One dollar of overhead spending can increase revenue by $3.45.

Nonprofit overhead consists of finance, human resources, information technology (IT), fundraising, staff benefits, staff trainings, and part of the non-programmatic staff salaries. A common but costly misconception is the belief that all staff salaries are an overhead expense. While the bulk of admin and fundraising salaries are overhead, program staff salaries and admin staff who assist with program activities are not true overhead. Talented and dedicated staff are essential…

As nonprofits use more technology, they face increased risk from cyber security attacks that organizational leaders must be prepared to address. While all businesses face these threats, the nonprofit sector is often more vulnerable to attacks due to outdated information systems and equipment. Complicating these concerns is the increased number of remote employees using various internet connections and equipment. With the types and frequency of cyberattacks increasing, the impact of cyberattacks can be financially and operationally devastating unless nonprofits adequately and proactively prepare.

A cyberattack can occur in multiple ways by accessing computers, mobile phones, and network systems. In 2020, 330 million people were victims of cybercrime, and the FBI has estimated that cyberattacks have increased by 300% over the past three years. The costs to businesses are also escalating, and recent information shows that nonprofit organizations are more vulnerable to cyberattacks than for-profit businesses. To manage this vulnerability, nonprofit leaders must…

In the current online-based business landscape, online content can make or break awareness of an organization. For nonprofits, this content can help get an organization’s name in front of the people who need it most in the form of blog content, newsletters, social media posts, and more. 

Storytelling is using written content to relay a message. It can be used to build crucial relationships between an organization and its audience, as well as adding a personal touch to a brand’s online presence. In its most effective form, storytelling creates an association between an organization and what it stands for. 

For beginners to the storytelling process, there are a number of goals to keep in mind as you write.

Demonstrate impact

Impact stories can show firsthand the effect that your organization has on the community it serves. They often contain inspiring messages that push people to act. Impact stories not only emphasize a nonprofit’s work, but they also bring a human touch to an otherwise theoretical subject. Rather than nameless and faceless statistics, impact stories foster connection in ways that leave a lasting impression on readers. 

To show impact in your storytelling try things like:

1. Emphasizing personal details. These can be as small as a person’s age, or as large as their personal struggles. The goal is to show the human side of your story’s subject. 
2. …

A nonprofit organization must achieve financial balance by spending the appropriate amount of money in each spending category to ensure the nonprofit delivers impactful results. The three main spending categories are program service expenses, management and general expenses, and fundraising expenses, according to the IRS Form 990.

How to appropriately allocate a nonprofit organization’s resources for impactful results has been a long-standing issue in the nonprofit sector. There are many reasons as to why including satisfying all stakeholders, external pressures from “watchdog” organization ratings, an overall lack of resources, pressure to spend on programming, pressure to not spend on overhead, and the list goes on and on. One can see how it would be easy to get caught up in all of this.

How to base allocation decisions

Thankfully, there are solutions for nonprofit organizations. To begin with, a nonprofit should look at how they are basing their decisions. Decisions should be made first and foremost with the mission of the nonprofit in mind. Next, outcomes, or impactful results, should be what drives the decision on where to allocate a nonprofit organization’s resources. In other words, decisions should not be made based on external pressures to allocate resources a certain way, but these…