About Fundraising

     Ramp It Up, our annual fundraiser, is a little over three weeks away.  Preparations are going great:  the site is excellent, tickets and flyers are printed, the speaker is booked and his reservations are taken care of, a few donations have been pledged already, the food is nearly set and the caterer is the executive chef at a local resort.  Trust me when I say the food will be amazing.  Truth be told, I think the entire night will be exceptional.  The only thing that remains is to get people there.  In order to do that, I need to take off my Administrator hat and put on replace it with my Fundraiser hat.  I find that my best communication comes not when I am trying to be funny or trying to be persuasive, but rather when I make my best effort to be real and honest.  So before I launch into an impassioned case about why you should send your hard-earned money to us, allow me to give a couple of my reflections on fundraising.
   
     I have tried writing this next part four or five times and it has not come out right yet.  Hopefully this time will work.  A fundraising conversation puts a lot of stress on its participants.  If I am at the table with you, it is because I believe that we have a lot of common ground.  I believe that you understand and support our mission: the work we do with the kids, why that is important and why we do not charge them much money to participate.  I believe that you want to help in some way.  I believe that you have resources of some kind that you are interested in investing into our mission.  I believe that with time you could become the most valuable resource a nonprofit can have: a Partner.

     See...the goal of fundraising is not just to find money to pay bills.  It is to find money and to create a network of Partners who will hold up your organization.  Partners connect the organization with resources in the community like money, volunteers, donations, clients and other Partners.  They offer encouraging words after a demoralizing encounter.  They provide creativity in problem solving.  They are advocates who provide your organization with the stability to weather whatever storms may come.  People can be Partners without money being involved, but it is rare for two reasons.  The first reason is that the heart and the bank account are linked...we care about the things we invest our money into and we invest our money into the things that matter most to us.  The second reason is that a lot of nonprofit storms revolve around money, specifically cash flow.  If we cannot discuss money then there is a significant amount of problem solving that we cannot work on together.

     So if I am sitting at the table with a potential Partner, the stakes are high for me.  I want to be honest about our need...or opportunities if you want to rephrase it...while not scaring someone away.  I want to build this potentially valuable relationship...but not at the expense of not asking about money.  Again, most partnership involves money and if I have a lot of potential Partners but no money coming in then what I am left with is a lot of people who will feel bad when we close.

     It helps to be strategic when sitting at that table.  Give a concrete project that someone can give to (Help us pay off our building).  Give a time frame so they don't feel trapped (The next 12 months).  Perhaps provide a nifty slogan that they can remember ("Help Burst our Balloon Payment!").  Offer a set amount of money that they could donate ($50/month) and remind them of what that money would go towards (Joel's Place becomes a sustainable endeavor and permanent resource for the youth of our community).  If necessary you can break the cost down into more bite size pieces ("That's the price of one cup of coffee per week to help the kids who can't help themselves.")  But strategy only goes so far.

     In the end it is about being able to be honest at that table.  I want to be upfront with this person that I value what they bring to the table, not just their money.  I want to be clear that I am not interested in manipulating them in order to get a check.  We are sitting there in order to advance the mission of building up our youth...that's much bigger than any one check.  The Foraker Group talks about nonprofits having 2 bottom lines:  Financial and Mission.  Partners will assist with both.  And so I will ask about money and I will ask about helping further our mission.  I have found that the only way that I can have these conversations go well is if I am not afraid of the outcome.  If my value and the entire fate of Joel's Place hangs in the balance of this conversation...it will not go well...even if we get a huge check.  I have learned to place my trust in a God who provides, allowing me to view these conversations as opportunities to see that provision in play.

     Joel's Place is doing amazing work.  We have a great mission, a great staff and great kids.  We have a couple of large debts and an ambitious goal to pay them off...with the help of our Partners.  If you would be interested in joining us, please let me know either by phone (907/452-2621) or by e-mail: joelsplacealaska@gmail.com.  I would love to see you at Ramp It Up as we work on knocking out the Balloon Payment.  I would love to sit down for a cup of coffee in order to talk about how to partner.  I would love for you to pass this post on to others who share a passion for investing in youth. 

     Thanks for giving me a few minutes to share.

James