Preach To Your Choir
July 6th, 2009 |
Published in
Fundraising Strategies
by Lanell Dike
Happy Monday!
Some of the best fundraising advice I’ve received over the years came from Mwosi Swenson at Mal Warwick & Associates.
I was working with the Global Fund for Women at the time and we were brainstorming ideas for a new direct mail package.
My team and I were excited about the possibility of creating a mailing to reach a wider audience – perhaps a letter geared toward men or immigrants in the U.S.
Mwosi said, “You can’t get someone to support something they don’t believe in through the mail. You can only convince someone to support what they already believe.”
Oh. Yeah. Right.
Fundraising is about connecting with people who believe in our mission.
Fundraising is our tool to build partnerships with like-minded individuals, organizations and businesses who “get” what we are trying to accomplish.
Through fundraising we actively engage with people who already care about the issues we are working on.
When you are passionate about your work it’s easy to think that your organization is the answer – and that everyone should know about it, believe in it, fund it. Of course, we all want the broadest possible reach for our cause.
But fundraising is not a public awareness campaign.
Don’t deplete your fundraising energy and budget trying to convince someone to support something they don’t already believe in. Find your choir and preach to them. (Or better yet, start a conversation.)
Then you’ll have money and people power to raise awareness and wider support for your cause.