4 Steps to Address the Disconnect Between Programs and Fundraising

One of the most dysfunctional parts of fundraising in a nonprofit is the lack of knowledge the fundraising team has about their own organization’s programs.

This is interesting to me because you would think this area would be the least of the problems a nonprofit has. Unfortunately, it’s not. The reality is that the fundraisers in an organization often do not know what the organization really does — I mean at a granular level.

And even more shocking is the fact that the program people themselves do not know the full scope of their own effort. They are in organizational silos, and the silos prevent each of them from knowing what is going on.

If this was going on in the retail world, it would look like a store manager or employee not really knowing what product is in the store. That would not be good, would it?

But in the retail space, the product people (read: program people) know exactly what the categories and subcategories of products are. In fact, they group them and plot them on what is called a planogram, which is a diagram or model that indicates the placement of retail products on shelves in order to maximize sales. Google the word and study it. You will find it enlightening.

A nonprofit needs its own “planogram” that ensures all staff know what is happening in programming — and that is packaged and priced for donor adoption and consumption.

Think about it this way: Your nonprofit is a retail store. In it are all the products (read: programs) that are for available — everything that the organization does that donors, both individual and institutional, will buy (read: make a gift toward).

If I were to go into your “retail store,” would I find a store packed with all the program categories and subcategories priced and packaged for easy “purchase” by donors? Would I find some “products” at low prices ($5 and $10 items), high prices ($200,000 or even $1 million) and almost every price in between? Or would I find that your retail store is practically empty with hardly anything that would cause a donor to want to “buy”?

My experience tells me your store would have a lot of empty shelves and very little product to present to donors. And that, my friend, is why you are having financial problems. An empty retail store means that your fundraising function is not properly packaging your programs for donor adoption and consumption.

That is a fatal disconnection, but you can change this by taking the following steps.

1. Establish Your Major Program Categories

This seems pretty obvious, but often when I ask a fundraiser or a chief development officer about the main things their organization does, they can’t quickly answer. The major categories are the three to five big program pillars. For example, a major category might be “good health” if you are supporting people’s health through your programs.

2. Identify Program Subcategories

There are usually five to 10 subcategories, maybe more, for every major category. Using my example of good health above, a subcategory might be “medical services,” “healthy eating” or “exercise.” You get the picture.

3. Determine Direct Costs and Overhead for Subcategories

Work with your finance and program teams to evaluate your organization’s budget, then allocate the direct costs and overhead to each subcategory. You will have in your hands a price for every subcategory of work. That price will include an allocated portion of overhead. It will be the true price — i.e., what it costs to get that work done.

4. Use This Information to Construct Asks

The true price of your programs informs what your asks should include. This includes appeals of all types: mid-level and major gift asks, grants requests for businesses and foundations, and more.

Doing these four things — and doing them comprehensively — will result in a guide to what your organization does. With this list, you will be able to construct donor offers and asks of all types. This will substantially strengthen your asks and ensure greater success in your fundraising.

Ignore everything I have suggested here and, I assure you, you will fail at reaching your fundraising objectives. Why? Because you will not have the information about your “products” that your donors need and want to make a decision about giving you their next donation.

Spend the time to do this exercise with your good program and finance people. It will help you be successful in your work, because now, you will be far better equipped to talk to your donors about how they can help and what the cost will be.

The preceding content was provided by a contributor unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of NonProfit PRO.