Rants About Grants

Grantseeking in 2011 - New Report Suggests Increasing Focus on Grants

  

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As Congress continues to work through its debt ceiling negotiations, nonprofits continue to struggle with the state of the economy.  While some recent reports have indicated that the economy - and giving - have rebounded somewhat, other indicators (and a lot of on-the-ground experience) suggests that nonprofits are still struggling to make ends meet, let alone to find enough funding to grow their programs.

A report just published by GuideStar, The Fundraising Methods That Worked Best in 2010 - and Could Work Best in 2011, suggests that while fundraising in 2010 started to trend in the right direction (in terms of emerging from recession levels of fundraising), nonprofits would be well served by thinking about where to focus their fundraising efforts.

The report, based on information collected in a survey earlier this year, identifies ten fundraising techniques, and highlights which techniques were most successful for nonprofits in 2010, and therefore which would be good investements for nonprofits for the balance of 2011.

My key takeaways from this report:

• Diversified funding streams are always important (that's not just a lesson from this report);
• Look at your organization's fundraising history and the veritcal you are in to think about what channels are most effective for you.  Focus on those first;
• Take the economic environment into account, not only in terms of individuals' and foundations' spending levels, but also what is likely to happen with Federal, state, and local governments.  The report suggests that nonprofits that rely on government funding should expect reductions in that funding source, and should look to diversify their revenue streams;
• Investing in staff and other fundraising resources will pay off in the long run.  Cutting staff and other fundraising resources should only happen if absolutely necessary.  In the survey data, organizations that invested in staff and other fundraising resources were more successful in their fundraising efforts;
• Increasing your organization's focus on foundation grants and grant writing is one way to maximize your organization's fundraising potential for the remainder of 2011 and into 2012.

What do you think are the best areas to focus your organization's fundraising efforts for the rest of 2011?