Episode 51: A Nontraditional Approach to Fund Development - The Nonprofit Newsletter
The number 1 arsenal in a nonprofit’s tool kit will: build trust, provide constituents with quality info, maintain monthly/quarterly contact, allow it to prospect potential funders, offer the organization metrics and insight to what their funders like/support, generates revenue, and allows organizations to acknowledge staff and donors, and gets/gives visibility, announce new programs/events. The e-Newsletter ticks all the boxes. Learn how to maximize this powerful yet cost-effective resource.
LINKS:
Nonprofit Elite
Constant Contact
NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT: Big Brothers, Big Sisters of America
Podcast Transcript
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to On Air with Amber Wynn, where nonprofit leaders learned to fuse passion and commitment with proven business strategies to create long-term funding, impact, and sustainability. And now here's your host and resident Philanthrepreneur, Amber Wynn.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Good morning fam. It is your girl, Amber Wynn. You are On Air with Amber Wynn, Philanthrepreneur, that be me. That's right. Hey, good morning. We are winding down our series on a Nontraditional approach to ... And here's what I want to tell you before we even get started. Everything that I do, I take a nontraditional approach to. It is the reason why I have been such a successful grant writer. It is the reason why I get the results that I get from my clients because I fuse all of the experience that I have in my past 30 years of nonprofit experience as a grant writer, a programs developer, a funder, a board member, an executive director. I smash it up for you guys so that you can be ahead of your competitors. That's one thing that nonprofits tend to forget. There are multiple nonprofits out there doing the same thing that you're doing.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
They may be doing it a little bit differently, but they're doing the same thing. And so you have competitors and that's why it's important that you stand out above the crowd. And so I take a nontraditional approach to pretty much everything that I do, and this is the mindset that I want you to get into. So I'm excited today. Like I said, we're winding down the nontraditional approach to. Today we are looking at a Nontraditional Approach to Fund Development, specifically using the nonprofit newsletter. Now, this is a secret weapon for nonprofits, whether you know it or not, but we're going to break it all down today when we come back. But first you know what we do.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
You're a school, a foundation, a healthcare provider or an environmental group, a museum, a church, a shelter or a community service. You're starting a nonprofit on a startup budget, and you need to get this right the first time. No mistakes, no misunderstandings, and no costly do-overs. At Nonprofit Elite, we know what you need because we've been there too. Accurate information, mistake free filings and peace of mind assurance that your 501(c)(3) application will be successful. This is what we do and we are very good at it, all backed by our industry leading guarantee and 100% IRS approval rate. But forming your nonprofit and obtaining tax status is just the beginning. Once you're up and running, nonprofit Elite will consolidate the bulk of your operations into one place, including your accounting, compliance, website, fundraising, and more. We do the work of several full-time staff for just a fraction of the cost so that you can remain focused on advancing your mission. Contact Nonprofit Elite for expert preparation of your formation documents and 501(c)(3) application, and for a full range of accounting, fundraising, and administrative solutions.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Welcome back. You're On Air with Amber. Amber Wynn, philanthrepreneur, and today we're talking about a Nontraditional Approach to Fund Development. And let me take two steps back. Just to remind you, fund development is bigger than fundraising. Fundraising is a part of fund development. Fund development is the whole strategy. It's the umbrella under which fundraising comes. So maybe in your fund development strategy, you have grant writing, you have corporate sponsors, you have dues, you have fee for service. So this approach to fund development, this is one of the things that you can do to help increase consistent revenue into your organization. And the reason why I'm specifically focusing on the newsletter is because it ticks off all the boxes. A newsletter is probably the best investment that a nonprofit could invest in because it gets you a lot of things. Let's start. So for one, a newsletter is a vehicle by which you can get visibility not only with your constituents or your clients, but also with potential collaborators and potential funders.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
And it is a low cost investment. Now, that doesn't mean that it doesn't cost because there's so many softwares out there that you can use, but whatever works for your organization. There's Constant Contact, there's MailChimp, there's Active Campaign, there's so many. And what I'm going to recommend is that whatever software you have or whatever website you have, like Squarespace, they have some type of email software. So make sure that you check before you go out and buy one because it may come with whatever system that your marketing system that you're using. But back to the topic of the newsletter. So it helps to build trust. The more people get to hear from you and learn about your programs and the people in your organization, the more they learn to trust you. So it is really great if you're giving out quality information. You don't want to overwhelm people.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
So I recommend for a nonprofit to send out a newsletter once a month, once a quarter. Anything less than that is, it's too much distance between you and the people who need to see you. So once a month or once a quarter, to me, it just depends on the level of staff that you have. However, I like once a month because it keeps you in the forefront, it keeps you in people's minds, right? I am not a nonprofit, I am a for-profit consultant, and I use newsletters to build trust with my clients. If you sign up for my newsletter, you'll get an article from me every Thursday. And what I do is I share all of my information and I give it freely because my purpose and my goal is to educate and to support the most amazing people on the planet, which would be you. Once a week may seem like a lot, but if it's quality information, then people don't mind opening the email.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
If it's just you begging, if it's just you sending pictures of people holding certificates, then it becomes junk and people aren't really going to open your email. The other thing a newsletter does is it helps you with your prospecting. Prospecting is when you're looking to identify more potential supporters. So for example, you do a newsletter, you have five articles. One is on the environment, one is on youth, one is on seniors. Your email will allow you to see what people are interested in. So Amber Wnyn may always click on youth development because that's my jam. So you can look at metrics and you can say, oh, Amber Wynn only clicks on the youth development. So when it comes time for you to develop your campaign to see if Amber Wynn would be a supporter, you're not going to send me requests to support the environmental stuff because you see already that I only like to support the youth development.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
So that is really, really vital information. People will send people just blanket requests, and it's not even in alignment with who they are or what it is that they really are passionate about. So you want to use the metrics from these software to help you really prospect and segment is the word that they use; segment your audience. The next thing you want to do is to make sure that you understand your potential donor. If I'm only clicking on the short articles, you can say, Amber only likes the short articles. So you want to be able to leverage that information to get insight into your specific clientele so that you can really create customized asks. Another thing that a newsletter accomplishes, it allows you to get passive income. Passive means that you're not out there talking to people and doing the work. Basically, you're going to write an article that is inspiring, that is amazing, that demonstrates your mission come to life, and then right up under it you have a donate button.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
You're not saying, please donate. No, no, people can read. You have this inspiring story and right up under it is a donate button. And if they are so inspired, they will donate. The one thing that drives me crazy with most newsletters, it's just people use it as begging, begging, begging. It just drives me crazy. You want people to be inspired to give. So the way that you get to inspiration is you need to demonstrate a change. What is now? What is the missing? What is the wrong? What have you done? And then what is the outcome? And just those three things should inspire people to give. You shouldn't have to say every dime counts. We need your support. None of that. Inspire people by what you do, right? So in terms of passive income, you do these stories, you let people see how amazing your organization is, the change that you're making in your community, and you put a little button on there and they click, click, click, and they're clicking while you're asleep.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
That's why it's passive income. And then also, especially in the nonprofit sector, you want to reward your staff. You want to acknowledge your staff. You can't pay them right now what they're worth and how much you value, but you can highlight them in your newsletter. You can say, Amber Wynn is employee of the month. She did X, Y and Z L M N O P. She's been with the organization for X amount of time. And then you put it out into the universe. You let people say, I love my people. And that also lets your people know that you love and appreciate them. So sometimes it's just a little thing; acknowledgement, praise, recognition. And just like your staff, you want to acknowledge your donors. This is a perfect opportunity to say, Hey guys, guess what? We just got a $5,000 grant from the Amundson and we're so grateful and thankful their $5,000 is going to help us reach more people.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
And you make sure that that goes to the Amundson’s because they want to see that you are acknowledging them. They want to see what you're doing with your money. So you've got builds trust, it helps you with prospecting, you can leverage it for passive income, staff and donor acknowledgement, and visibility. So as I mentioned before, you want to highlight your programs. You want people to know what you're doing. You want donors to see. Look at this amazing program. There are a lot of funders out there who have shifted to invitation only. You get the email address from some of these foundations that do by invitation only, and you let them see what you're doing. They read these articles, inspiring articles where you demonstrate your impact. And then you never know, you may get a request, right? But you want to make sure also that your email is forwardable. It’s easy for someone who receives your email to then send it to someone else? Because a person who's reading your article may say, or know somebody on the board of one of these organizations that only do by invitation only, and they'd be like, Hey, Amber, check out this place. I think this would be really great for you to fund. So you want to make sure that your email is forwardable.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Next, the newsletter is a wonderful way for you to document your impact, impact, impact, impact. And when I say document, I'm not saying stand up there with the certificate and you've got five people or five pictures of people holding a certificate that's not documenting impact. Your pictures, your photos should be engaging, they should be demonstrating what you do in action. So if you're tutoring, you want to have pictures of the tutor talking to the students. If it's about environment, you want to see them digging up the dirt and planning the trees. You want pictures that are of your mission in action. And once it's documented in that newsletter, if someone says, give us proof of what you're doing, boom. You can send them the newsletter, but most importantly, it's out in the ether and they get to see that you're actually doing the work. The bottom line though is you want to use this newsletter as a marketing tool, as a recruitment tool, as a fund development tool.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
For example, the newsletter, let's just say you have 5,000 people that you send this newsletter out to. This is a perfect benefit in your corporate sponsorship package. When you're saying gold level, bronze level, silver level, you can say, and as a part of this gold level, we will feature you. We will feature you in an article in this newsletter, and it goes out to 5,000 people. So that is a very, very strong corporate sponsorship benefit because at the end of the day, your goal is to grow your email. Listen, you may have 5,000 Facebook friends, but basically Facebook owned them. If Facebook shuts down, you have no access to your friends. But, if these individuals are on your newsletter, on your email list, then you can then reach out to them via your newsletter. So you want to make sure that when you're doing your Facebook posts and your Instagram posts, there's a link and it's linking them to join your newsletter because you want to have your own viable email list.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
And what happens is when you have events or when you're trying to hire people or when you want to toot your horn and say, Hey, we just got this amazing grant, you can send it out through your newsletter to the people who are going to be most interested. So that's pretty much it. Every time I talk to, it's very rare. It's very rare that I don't tell a nonprofit leader not to start a newsletter. It checks off so many boxes. It's an affordable way to invest in your organization, to grow your visibility without you actually getting out there networking. You should be doing those things. But when you're limited with staff, it's a little bit challenging. But a newsletter, it's the most effective way that you can really check off all those boxes. And I know it takes a lot. So what I'm going to do is share with you.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
I have a template for building out a robust nonprofit e-newsletter. And I say e-newsletter because back in the day, we literally used to print out newsletters, fold them up, put the stamp on it and mail it out. We don't have to do that anymore right now. Newsletters can be delivered to the email box, and so you can do all the color that you want because you're not paying for it. It's just pdf boom, sent straight to the email box of your constituents. So it's e-newsletter. I have a toolkit called the nonprofit Newsletter Toolkit. I'm going to put the link down in the bio so that you can access it. And what it does is it basically just gives you an outline of what should go in the newsletter, right? Remember, you're not doing, the purpose of it is not to beg. The purpose of it is to highlight who you are, your mission, and how you're accomplishing it. So that's what I want you to do. I want you to focus on building out a robust e-newsletter and just leverage it. And this is our nontraditional approach to fund development. When we come back, we have a question for Ask Amber. You know, guys, get to ask me all your pertinent questions. So when we get back, Ask Amber,
Speaker 4 (17:06):
Calling or texting all small business owners and nonprofits. Did you know 95% of text messages are read and responded to within three minutes of being received. Nothing is more direct or immediate, and that's just one reason to add SMS capability to any Constant Contact plan. Another, it's smart marketing, really smart with all of your digital marketing tools in one place, Constant Contact makes sure you are connecting with the right people at the right time in the channels they prefer. So you can reach, engage, and keep more customers. Whether you're promoting a sale, announcing an event, or encouraging donations, adding SMS to your digital marketing strategy just makes sense and a lot of dollars too. Constant Contact.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
We're back with On Air with Amber Wynn, and we're at the part of our episode where you get to ask your questions. And if you have a question for me, you can reach me on any of my social media handles. I'm on Facebook, I'm on Instagram, you can email me. This question comes from Tracy, so let's hear what she has to ask.
Speaker 5 (18:33):
Hi, Amber, this is Tracy calling from Compton. I've heard you say an organization isn't grant ready or are you grant ready? What types of things makes a nonprofit grant ready? Thanks.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Well then I guess that's a missing on my part. Thank you, Tracy. You're absolutely right. I say that all the time. Are you grant ready? This organization isn't grant ready. So let's break it down really quickly. There's seven things in my opinion that makes an organization grant ready. Number one, an active 501(c)(3) tax exempt status because that's what people give a donation for so that they can get the tax benefit. And I say active because if you don't file your 990 in three consecutive years, the IRS will take away your tax exempt status and then a funder won't fund you. So an active 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. Number two, an annual organizational budget because it shows the funder what the costs are to run your organization and the priorities of a nonprofit. So you can't just say, oh, it's about $24,000. You need an actual organization budget.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Number three, program descriptions with measurable goals and objectives. Funders use that to determine alignment. They also use it to determine whether or not you kept your promise in terms of the grant. Number four, a track record of proven success. Before a funder will give you money, they need to know that you have the experience and that you will deliver on your promises. Number five, a business bank account. If you have a business bank account, then the funder can put the grant into your business account. It's not going to go into your own personal account. Number six, two years of financial statements. And this is why I tell people who just started on a nonprofit that you're not grant ready because a funder wants to know that you have experience managing money. And when it's a concept, you don't have experience. So you need to work a little while to build that up so that they're confident with giving you a check for $250,000.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
And then lastly, a paid executive director and people bristle at this, but if I'm giving you $250,000, I need to know that there's someone accountable to manage it. And if you are a volunteer, that means you can come and go when you want. But if you are a paid executive director, then that means that you are accountable for running the organization and managing the funds. So those seven things, Tracy, are the things that says to me that your grant ready. Thank you so much for your question, and if you have a question for me, feel free to reach me on any of my social media handles and ask me your question. Right now, we're going to jump into the most important, I think, part of the episode, and it's when I get to do what I love to do, which is Spotlight a Nonprofit. The spotlight for this episode is Big Brothers, Big Sisters of America, and they do so much in the community to support our youth. And so now let's hear from Big Brother, Big Sister.
Speaker 6 (21:55):
The past year and a half have been tough, but our country's kids and communities face challenges long before the pandemic. Nearly 11 million kids live in poverty. More than 13 million young people experience emotional, behavioral, or developmental conditions like depression. And as many as one in three kids are growing up without a positive mentor. It's an economic and environmental reality that strength the resources of community-based organizations, including our local agencies for years. You've shared with us through surveys that almost half the families we serve are struggling to pay bills. More than half the kids enrolled in our programs experience daily worry. And up to 20% of kids have lost contact with an important adult in their lives within the past year. And yet, as big as these challenges are, they are countered with our greatest truth that when our young people trials or trauma, we show up big and bold. And when life moments demand positive relationships that give kids inspiration or guide them when they face isolation, we show up big and bold. When kids lack access to opportunity and encounter the ugly isms of hate, prejudice, and discrimination, we show up big and bold. And when a child in their family has hit hard times and need a friend, a role model, or an advocate to turn to in their community, we show up big and bold.
Speaker 6 (23:25):
See, our very existence is a bold idea, and it's this very premise that gives us our greatest opportunity in a century to create a bold path to a big future.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Thank you Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America. If you want to support this amazing organization, you can reach them at bbbsbc.org, Big Brothers, Big Sisters of America, bbbsbc.org. All right, let's keep it pushing you guys. Now we're to the final part of the episode, and it's the Mindset Minute. That's when I share some kind of something that's stirring up in this mind of mine. Y'all know I got a lot of stuff going up in my mind too. This Mindset Minute is focused on the more you know. And I call it the more you know. I originally had you're responsible to understand what a public charity is and what it's not. The more you know. And specifically, I've had a lot of requests of late from my nonprofit founders or executive directors for me to sign an NDA in order to work with them. Now, I'll just say to you, I'm a businesswoman, and I understand the purpose and the value of an NDA, but I just want to explain to you, if you are a nonprofit leader, a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization, that a public charity is just that.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
It's a public charity. The purpose of a nonprofit is to benefit the public good. So an NDA would not be appropriate. That’s the best way I can say it. If you have someone signing an NDA, it's because you're trying to protect an idea or a product because of the financial gain that you'll get from it. And remember, in a nonprofit, no one person, no group of persons can benefit from the nonprofit. So it's a challenge because people are like, well, that's my idea, and I don't want them to steal my idea. If you don't want them to steal your idea, if you want a trademark it or have an NDA, then you're in the wrong sector, right? Because your purpose is to benefit the public good. So I'm not saying that you should just give away your idea. I'm saying that idea should not be in the space of the nonprofit sector, have an LLC, get somebody to sign an NDA, trademark it, in that space.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
But your purpose as a 501(c)(3) is to benefit the public good. So financially, you should not be concerned about whether or not someone's going to take your idea and make money off of it because you're not supposed to be making money off of it. It's supposed to go back into the whole organization. And what happens all the time, all the time, is that when people don't understand what a nonprofit is, what the purpose is, they conflate it with for-profits. Is a nonprofit a business? Yes. The very first thing that you do when you start a nonprofit is to set up a corporation, but it shifts when you get into the space of how does that organization function? It functions as a public charity. So if you want people to sign NDAs and you want to trademark things, then the space that really swims in is a for-profit and not a nonprofit.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
It's important that you understand. That's why I had at the beginning. You're responsible for understanding what a public charity is and what it isn't. As a nonprofit leader, do your research so that you understand this is what it is, and stop making stuff up and stop conflating stuff. Because what it does is it puts you at a disadvantage. You know, go to a funder and you say, Hey, I have this idea, can you sign an NDA? They're going to look at you like you're crazy because you're a public charity. So I just want to really, really encourage you to do as much research as you can about what a nonprofit is, what it isn't, what you can and cannot do, and what its function is. Okay? All right, so that is it for today. We have focused on a nontraditional approach to fund development, specifically the nonprofit e-newsletter.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
It is amazing resource for nonprofits at all stages of their development, small, medium, large. I will encourage you to create one. If you haven't, I will encourage you to go download the nonprofit newsletter toolkit. If you're not sure what that looks like. I'm going to also encourage you to subscribe and to like this podcast, but most importantly, to share it with someone that you think it would be beneficial to. As always, I am grateful for you spending your time with me, and I look forward to spending more time with you next week. All right, you guys have a great one.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and leave a review on iTunes. Head over to www.amberwynn.net/podcast for the links and resources mentioned in today's podcast. See you next time.
