Every leader experiences challenges when it comes to fundraising, but fundraising is one of the most important things that leaders must do. These challenges require awareness in order to mitigate the risk of falling privy to these challenges. Let’s take a closer look at five fundraising challenges that nonprofit leaders face every day and how to solve them:

1. Building trust and confidence with donors helps you keep them coming back for more. Building trust with donors is one of the biggest fundraising challenges for nonprofits. Donors want to be assured that the money that they give will support them to continue doing what is right and that it is spent wisely. This is a result of They want to know that the money that they give is being used wisely. Being organized and being transparent will help you build trust with your donors. If you build up strong relationships with your donors, you will be able to help them when it comes to fundraising.

• Build trust: it is what will allow you to maintain good relationships with your donors.
• File good financial reports.
• Do an independent audit of your organization to see if there are any financial problems.
• If you want to complete a 990 form and send it to the IRS on time, donors will be able to get the information that they want.
• Invest as much money as possible into your programs, and try to keep things simple.

You need to show that your organization is trustworthy by putting more information in your financial reports. Contact us about our bookkeeping and accounting services for nonprofits. Help me trust you and my organization.

2. Diversifying your revenue streams. Many nonprofit organizations were founded by volunteers or individuals who gave their time and money to them. There is nothing wrong with that. However, relying entirely on individual donors can cause you to never have a stable source of income or cause you to have very little chance of achieving your financial goals. Likewise, if you rely entirely on one big grant to fund your programs, you may be stranded if that big grant is suddenly withdrawn.

It is important to have several different income streams to help nonprofits cope with the ups and downs that every organization experiences. When you have many ways to raise funds, you won’t be short of money when one of those methods fails, such as the ability to accept individual donations. Here are some of the ways you can diverse your  organization’s revenue streams:

• Apply for grants from all levels of government, to help you with your programs.
• Apply for grants from federal, state, and private foundations.
• Charities can charge members to get access to benefits that they are not entitled to by being a member of the government.
• Hold an event or fundraiser to attract large donations.
• If you want to partner with a big company that shares your mission, find one that supports your values.
• Rent your space to other nonprofits or pay them to do work for you.
• Start a crowdfunding campaign by going to sites like GoFundMe or MyDonors where you can give anonymous donations to other nonprofits.

3. Giving individuals or companies easy ways to give money. People used to only give money to nonprofit organizations through cash donations or checks. But in today’s world, that is no longer the case. Now donors expect that they can pay by credit card, debit card, or on any number of online and social media platforms. Internet donors gave more than 20% of all charitable organizations a grant in their last fiscal year! Even small nonprofits are able to get most of their money online because online donors give more than a quarter of their gifts online. But even with those numbers, it still is not easy for many nonprofits to make it as easy as possible for donors to give money, in-person or online.

Technology may to make it easier for donors to give donations in person or online, but if your organization is having trouble figuring out how to create more avenues for donations, consider hiring someone to help you out or finding a volunteer to help you. Don’t ignore the ways that technology is helping nonprofits raise money.

• Donors want to give money to your nonprofit quickly, and giving donors easy ways to give money to their nonprofits will help them do that.
• Give donors a way to pay you in a recurring manner if they donate regularly to your organization.
• Get portable card readers that let you take credit cards or debit cards and give them to donors at events.
• It may not be easy to get all the information that you want, but you can get a ton of free donations from doing what people do online.
• Create online accounts with popular payment platforms like PayPal, Venmo, and CashApp to receive donations directly from your donors.
• Use a service that will let donors send you a text message asking them to donate using a trusted provider like MyDonors.
• Don’t forget to include a way to easily invite people to give a gift to your organization via your website or your emails.

4. Building and maintaining donor relationships. Donors care about what you do, they want to feel as though they are part of the process, not just a passing observer. Interaction and engagement with your donors are imperative for maintaining strong donor relations. Help donors feel valued by letting them know that you received their gift, thanking them for their support, and letting them know how you plan to use their money to benefit others. Keeping donors informed is the best way to encourage them to continue supporting you. You should be able to provide the support that every person who donates money to your organization deserves. Sometimes unexpected donors surprise you by giving large gifts to your nonprofit.

• Spend some time planning surveys that will help you learn more about your donors and show that you value their opinions.
• If you have several large donors, you may want to understand why they support you and how you can increase their support in the future.
• Don’t hide behind a podium during live events. Rather, try to keep people engaged and excited while they are interacting with you!
• Use tools that allow you to collect information from donors (such as a web form that enables them to do something similar to Amazon).
• Track donors easily and easily using a tool that will allow you to easily track them, and then contact them with messages that will motivate them to donate.
• Post regularly on social media to encourage people to help you (or someone to help you) and ask them for their help in other ways, like commenting on other people’s posts or sending them a message.

5. Finding the right partner to support your cause. Finding individuals and organizations that are a right fit for supporting your organization can be intimidating. However, you can solve many of your nonprofit fundraising challenges by partnering with other nonprofits or for-profit corporations. Expanding your network will be key to finding and fostering new partner relationships. Here are a few ways to expand your network:

• Join forces with other nonprofits to offer high-value webinars.
• Repurpose blog posts and other resources that you may have collected by collecting information in the past, like a newsletter or a video.
• If you partner with other nonprofits, you can participate in their major events or host their events.
• Co-host important events with other nonprofits or with for-profit corporations.
• Combine your different skills to help other organizations achieve their goals.
• Sponsoring other nonprofits can help you get a big boost from corporate sponsors and help you build a bigger profile.

Now that you know you know the strategies that will help you conquer your nonprofit fundraising challenges, begin to implement these solutions and watch your fundraising ability improve greatly. Do not be deterred by the hard work that will be required to achieve the results you want. As your nonprofit organization grows, you will need to keep up with your bookkeeping and audit your financial statements to demonstrate that you can trust big donors and grantmakers. It will take more than just a few volunteers to help you keep track of all the money that you receive and to produce financial statements for donors. Utilize a tool like MyDonors to help manage your donations and donor relationships.

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Source: https://thecharitycfo.com/these-7-fundraising-challenges-stump-most-nonprofit-organizations/#:~:text=Building%20trust%20with%20donors,over%20the%20past%20few%20decades