Funding running low for your NGO?

Is fundraising taking up more time and stress than the project itself?  If fundraising is costing you half the time you have for working on your project goals, it’s costing too much. Having access to a professional with expertise and extensive experience can make the world, of difference.

Here are some of the benefits of hiring a fundraising professional:

• Fresh Perspective: A professional fundraising consultant is like a breath of fresh air – when your fundraising process is stuck or has become stagnant. A fundraising consultant offers a new pair of eyes to assess and evaluate the situation. Fundraising professionals with their experienced outlook of the funding landscape are at an advantage in being able to offer solutions that people within the organisation might overlook. Also, as a hired consultant, they may be in a position to address ideas that people within the organisation who do see them, are not in a position to point out for fear of disturbing the status quo, for example. A professional fundraising consultant’s fresh perspective and a touch of creativity may be the magic ingredient which allows organisations to think out of the box that may have been limiting their options previously.
• A broad perspective and big picture thinking or a strategising wizz: Non-profit fundraising consultants should be able to help organisations navigate the best strategies to improve their fundraising efforts in an increasingly complex and competitive funding landscape.
• Good knowledge of what each funder funds, to help with finding the right fit: An experienced and knowledgeable fundraising consultant will identify prospective funders both locally and globally that do make a good fit. A fundraising consultant should know what funders fund and what they don’t. It is a surprisingly common mistake for people or NGOs to reach out to prospective donors that have no alignment with the programmes that these NGOs implement. Often people think they understand what the donor considers funding, but they have not analysed the focus areas of giving deeply enough. When seeking funding, it is of utmost importance to be sure they are not barking up the wrong tree, so to speak.  The funder must be a good fit, and if the donor replies to an enquiry saying that this is not what they fund, accept it.

All this stress and hassle can be avoided by getting a consultant on board who is focused on helping you narrow down the prospective funders to apply to, in order to target the perfect match donor that best fits with your fundraising action plan.

“The organisations that are best at fundraising are the ones that are constantly building relationships with like-minded donors.  This means knowing and identifying the funders that make the best cultural and ideological fit with the organisation or project seeking the funding.”  Hedwich Tulp.