10 Quick Tips for Fundraising Survival During the Coronavirus Crisis
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Since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, which crashed the stock market and shuttered U.S. society, the nonprofit sector has found itself operating in uncharted territory. No fundraiser alive has ever witnessed anything like this period. And exactly when things will return to normal is anyone’s guess.
At the same time, past moments of national trauma and wealth destruction hold insights that today’s fundraisers can draw on to get through the current crisis. Inside Philanthropy’s recent article on how fundraisers are coping with fallout from the coronavirus pandemic relied on interviews with seasoned development professionals, each with decades of experience raising money. Many have been through two earlier crises—9/11 and the 2008 financial crisis—that disrupted fundraising operations and sent organizations’ revenue into a nosedive. But they helped their nonprofits weather the storm and eventually recover.
Here are some key crisis fundraising lessons to be gleaned from those veterans’ experiences.
Reach out and communicate with donors, but do not ask for money.
Some donors will ask, unsolicited, how they can help—so have answers.
When revenues are decimated by mandatory closure, set up an emergency fund to accept gifts that help the organization recover.
Get informed about charitable provisions in any new policies or laws like the massive new stimulus bill signed by President Trump.
Instead of canceling fundraising events, postpone or move them online or to other formats like videoconferencing.
Ask people to donate the ticket price on events they can no longer attend.
On endowed gifts that generate annual returns that are battered in a bear market, ask donors to make a one-time gift to replace the lost income.
Be prepared to shift from raising money to developing new areas of expertise and helping an organization obtain whatever supplies are needed.
Ask grantmakers for increased support—and to relax application requirements. Many will agree.
Look for ways to innovate: One religious charity invited donors to send prayer requests to its now-online staff meetings, then mailed a card to each person telling him or her the prayer request was honored.
The COVID-19 pandemic will eventually end, even if nobody knows exactly when. How nonprofits will fare until then and in the months after will depend heavily on the moves that fundraisers make today.
