Fundraising

Whether through traditional or digital mediums, nonprofits must tell their stories effectively to garner attention in a crowded media landscape. 

How to Tell Stories

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and America’s racial reckoning of 2020, communities are clear the only ways to rebuild, re-energize and recover are to work collaboratively to address complex social problems.  It is no longer enough to focus on strengthening individual nonprofits with the hope of enabling them to meet community residents’ needs.  Yet, the mere commitment or desire to collaborate, no matter how strong, has never resulted in successful solutions to even the tamest of community challenges.

Equity and inclusion are at the center of a nonprofit’s mission. What can nonprofits do to build strong partnerships among the communities served and donors? How does an organization expand its fundraising strategy to involve donors who may not have been included in the past? What are the ways all supporters can feel a sense of belonging as we work to create a stronger community?    

The American novelist Joan Didion once wrote, “We tell ourselves stories in order to live.”

In many ways Didion was right. Stories may not seem like a basic survival need, but our brains naturally tell us stories as a way to give structure and meaning to our lives.

This session will review recent, temporary changes to federal tax law that can help nonprofits increase both their small and large contributions from individual donors. It will also cover types of fundraising options for nonprofits, including commercial co-ventures, donor-advised funds, and corporate sponsorships.

Disclaimer: This recording is from the 2021 Nonprofit Legal Compliance Workshop, hosted on September 15, 2021. Some laws and rules may have changed since that date.

Nonprofits must be conscious of the ways they represent the populations they serve, being careful to respect the individual or group's agency, empower rather than victimize or exploit, avoid re-traumatization, and think ahead about the way presenting that story to the world will affect the storyteller's life in the future.

Introduction to Ethical Storytelling

Communications Toolkit: A Guide to Navigating Communications for Social Impact - Currently in its 4th edition, this resource covers nearly every topic in communications, whether the purpose of the messing is to raise funds or raise awareness.

Donors may wish to make bifurcated gifts (or split gifts) from their donor advised funds (DAF) to support your nonprofit's annual gala or other fundraising event. This might take the form of the donor asking if they can use their DAF to cover a portion of the cost of tickets when acting as a table sponsor. However, donors making grants from their DAF cannot receive anything of value in return for their gift, as they have already received a tax deduction.

Games of chance, raffles, and charity auctions is designed to help you think through fundraising strategies like gambling, raffles, silent auctions, and bingo or casino nights. Notably, special licenses for charitable solicitation or serving alcohol, as well as the tax deductibility for the donor's contribution and the nonprofit's income are factors to consider. (National Council of Nonprofits)

The Nonprofit Show is a webcast created by the American Nonprofit Academy.