Future Fundraising Now

Act like a church for better fundraising

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by

Jeff Brooks
in

The original fundraiser is the house of worship. Nonprofit organizations that are not houses of worship are a fairly new thing. Smart nonprofits would pay some attention to fundraising techniques developed over thousands of years by houses of worship.

That’s why I read at the Get off the Couch blog post, 4 things nonprofits can learn from churches. Here are the four things:


  1. Churches understand the value of the human connection.
  2. Churches regularly gather their membership for common experiences.
  3. Churches foster a deep, emotional connection.
  4. Churches understand the influence of a multi-generational family.

How many of those things can you make happen with your donors? The more you can do, the better your fundraising results will be.

    Comments

    4 responses to “Act like a church for better fundraising”

    1. Wayne Elsey Avatar
      Wayne Elsey

      Jeff,
      Thank you so much for highlighting my recent blog post. I’m truly honored. There are a few voices I really pay attention to in the nonprofit blog sphere & your’s is one of them.
      I really appreciate it.
      Wayne

    2. Wayne Elsey Avatar
      Wayne Elsey

      Jeff,
      Thank you so much for highlighting my recent blog post. I’m truly honored. There are a few voices I really pay attention to in the nonprofit blog sphere & your’s is one of them.
      I really appreciate it.
      Wayne

    3. Shannon W. Avatar
      Shannon W.

      Churches, and other faith-based organizations, also already have an identified common ground on which to share with/appeal to potential and current donors. And in most cases, a built in understanding that the church depends on tithes and offerings.
      For non-profits and charities, those two foundational elements may or may not already be present, yet the point holds. I know I will be taking these points to our board to see what we are already doing well (point 3, for sure) and where we can grow (definitely point 2).
      Thanks for sharing this!

    4. Shannon W. Avatar
      Shannon W.

      Churches, and other faith-based organizations, also already have an identified common ground on which to share with/appeal to potential and current donors. And in most cases, a built in understanding that the church depends on tithes and offerings.
      For non-profits and charities, those two foundational elements may or may not already be present, yet the point holds. I know I will be taking these points to our board to see what we are already doing well (point 3, for sure) and where we can grow (definitely point 2).
      Thanks for sharing this!

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    The future of fundraising is not about social media, online video, or SEM. It’s not about any technology, medium, or technique. It’s about donors. If you need to raise funds from donors, you need to study them, respect them, and build everything you do around them. And the future? It’s already here. More.

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    Jeff BrooksJeff Brooks has been serving the nonprofit community for more than 35 years and blogging about it since 2005. He considers fundraising the most noble of pursuits and hopes you’ll join him in that opinion. You can reach him at jeff [at] jeff-brooks [dot] com. More.

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    The future of fundraising is not about social media, online video, or SEM. It’s not about any technology, medium, or technique. It’s about donors. If you need to raise funds from donors, you need to study them, respect them, and build everything you do around them. And the future? It’s already here. More.

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    About the blogger

    Jeff Brooks has been serving the nonprofit community for more than 30 years and blogging about it since 2005. He considers fundraising the most noble of pursuits and hopes you’ll join him in that opinion. You can reach him at jeff [at] jeff-brooks [dot] com.