Principles of Fundraising, IMHO (Part 2)

Principle 5: Good programs need good fundraising. Good fundraising needs good programs.
Your nonprofit is going to have a hard time fulfilling your mission — no matter what that is — without funding. Money makes things happen, and enough money means programs can grow and do even more good.

But it's very hard to raise money when you have mediocre (or worse) programs. Without success stories to point to and impact to demonstrate, you're asking people to invest in a dream. And while that may work for a while, eventually donors expect to see some return on their investment — lives changed, trees planted, schools improving or whatever it is your mission promises to deliver.