The COVID-19 pandemic has brought plenty of obstacles to the nonprofit sector. In some ways, however, we did see growth. Charitable giving increased from a record high of $471.44 billion in donations made in the United States by individuals, bequests, foundations, and corporations (Giving USA 2021: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2020) to the formal and informal mutual aid groups that formed. 

However, all funding is not equal. I’m a fundraising coach and consultant, and I’ve seen many organizations receive grant funding in the past two years specifically for Covid-19 relief. These were funds restricted for staying afloat during a global pandemic.The grantee may have been able to use the funds for payroll, to cover programmatic losses, and other overhead costs, but once the pandemic was considered “over,” the funder did not renew the grant. Restricted giving has soared in the past decade. We live in a current age of information, and a one-size-fits-all approach does not work. Donors expect choices and something that aligns with their individual niches. This leads to designated (restricted) funds that are set up to appeal to a donor’s personal interests more than what the organization truly needs. 

This intense personalization of giving has been detrimental to philanthropy. As fundraisers, we should still build relationships with donors. However, the practice of giving and receiving restricted funding neglects the critical need for trust between funders and donors. It’s become a demonstration of power; the person with the money gets to make all the decisions. The organization receiving the donation performs any tricks needed to receive the funds. When this happens, organizations quickly lose sight of their mission, vision, and values in their chase for funding. 

The solution is unrestricted funding: funds that may be used for any legal purpose appropriate to the organization. 

Giving unrestricted, multi-year funding allows nonprofits to establish stability and practice resiliency.

Giving unrestricted, multiyear funding improves long-term outcomes for the community by creating stability. Through this type of support, donors can help their cause flourish by providing much-needed resources that allow nonprofit organizations to plan with confidence, invest in programs that improve lives, grow their staffs, and pay them competitively (a study found that organizations receiving unrestricted funds have higher retention rates), take risks on innovative ideas and projects without having to worry about funding falling through or being cut off unexpectedly; build stronger relationships with donors who feel heard; engage more people in the process of giving, and achieve higher levels of impact over time.

Unrestricted funding allows you to plan for the long term.

A gift that must be used for a specific project or program means your nonprofit can only use the money in that way. With unrestricted funding, you have more flexibility when deciding how to spend your budget. You can apply it where it’s most needed and help ensure that programs are sustainable over time by investing in other areas besides just one project or initiative, like training staff members or creating systems so they don’t have to come back to donors again and again for the support.

Making a real impact takes time, and giving unrestricted, multi-year funding supports longevity.

When you give unrestricted, multiyear funding to your favorite nonprofit, you help it build a stable funding base and create longevity.

Unrestricted, multi-year funding allows nonprofits to take risks and try new things. The best way to measure the impact of a donor-supported program is by its effectiveness over time. Longer-term strategies are also more sustainable and impactful. Your nonprofit may have ambitious plans for its future but needs the financial support to make them happen—and that’s where you come in! Unrestricted giving gives nonprofits the flexibility they need (and deserve) to invest in their future success and create lasting change.

Giving unrestricted, multi-year funding supports innovation.

Unrestricted funding is a multiyear, flexible source of support that allows nonprofits to take risks, experiment, and learn from mistakes. It allows you to focus on long-term impact rather than short-term performance. Giving unrestricted, multi-year funding supports innovation.

Unrestricted funding is an essential part of any organization’s fundraising toolkit. It’s often confused with “discretionary giving” or “designated giving.” Still, those terms describe two very different things: Discretionary Giving: Donors give money directly to a specific project or program they want their gift used for (and they can ask how their donation was spent). Designated Giving: Donors give money directly toward a specific cause or issue (and they can tell you where the funds should be allocated).

Giving unrestricted, multi-year funding helps build relationships rooted in trust.

You can’t build trust in a one-year relationship; it takes time and experience. Trust is built over time through shared experiences that help donors see your organization’s mission and values firsthand.

Unrestricted, multi-year funding allows your donors to have more confidence in the organization they are supporting because it allows them to see where their funds are being used and how their support impacts the community long-term.

Embedding unrestricted, multi-year funding as a standard practice across all philanthropy can transform the nonprofit sector and create enduring positive change. MacKenzie Scott recognizes this and has been giving this way for a few years, she says, “Because we believe that teams with experience on the front line of challenges will know best how to put the money to good use, we encouraged them to spend it however they choose.”

Giving unrestricted, multi-year funding helps make transformational change.

If you’re trying to secure unrestricted funding from your donors, it’s important to understand why this approach is so transformative. Unrestricted funds allow nonprofits to take risks and innovate, which is necessary for long-term growth and success. A donor who makes an unrestricted gift trusts that their gift will be spent responsibly and applied with the most intention by the organization and/or community experts. This breeds trust and stronger relationships over time.

Unrestricted funding can also help you plan for the future by enabling you to think big while being realistic about what your organization needs now (and how much of an impact it can have). Finally, donors who give unrestricted gifts are more likely than those who don’t support such giving models because they feel like they are making a bigger difference in the world through their philanthropic efforts. They tackle big issues and root causes rather than throwing money at one-off problems.

By focusing on the benefits of unrestricted funding, communicating with donors should be relatively easy. There will be objectors. Many may think their money will be wasted, used inefficiently, or afraid of losing control. The solution is simple: they are not your donor. If they feel you are not effective enough to use their donation well, they do not need to give their funding to you. There is no shortage of donors; YOU do not have to mold yourself to fit their desires. Your role is to stay true to your mission, vision, and values. Stepping away from the power struggle game may be hard at first, but eventually, you find relationships that are mutually beneficial and rooted in trust. As Scott put it, “I needn’t ask those I care about what to say to them, or what to do for them. I can share what I have with them to stand behind them as they speak and act for themselves.”

Setting unrestricted, multi-year funding as the standard practice across philanthropy is the way forward. I have seen it work in the organizations with whom I interact. It’s time to change how we think about giving and create an enduring impact on communities that lasts for generations.

Amie Bossi  has worked in the nonprofit sector for over a decade and a half, working with numerous local,regional, and national organizations. She spent most of her time working in small to mid-sized development departments, even building from scratch an entire development program for an organization that although over 140 years old, was brand new to the fundraising world.

November has arrived, and with it, an increasing flurry of communications ranging from political ads to door-busting holiday sales to year-end giving requests. If you are anything like me, if opening social media apps or checking my inbox didn’t already feel daunting, this avalanche of communication makes me want to leave my devices with my seven-year old (who learns through destruction). 

Even if our message is meaningful and brilliant, how can we ensure that we will connect with our key audiences, especially during peak fundraising season? Our friends at NeonOne report that a third of nonprofit organizations raise between 28-50 percent of their revenue in the last months of the calendar year. And one third of annual gifts are made in December. If these data points weren’t clear enough, NeonOne also tells us that two-thirds of these donors do not conduct their own research before making a gift; rather, they rely on word-of-mouth recommendations. So, how can we get through all the noise and distraction, especially when our year-end strategies are already in mid-execution?

Last month, I authored this piece for the Community-Centric Fundraising Hub to continue the conversation on how we invite and include our donors and funders into a movement oriented around social justice and racial equity. Being a part of a movement means that we cast a wide net and that everyone – EVERYONE – both stands to benefit and has a role in advancing change. Here are some questions and suggestions you can ask yourself as you implement and augment your year-end marketing and communications strategy:

Is your subject line worth forwarding?

If our potential and returning donors rely on recommendations from trusted family and friends, our messages must be worth sharing. A notable subject line won’t just improve open rates, but your readers may be amused or inspired enough to share with prospective supporters in their network. 

What is your donor learning?

Community-Centric Fundraising isn’t a transaction or practice; it is a movement that seeks to shift systems… This means, we can’t be status quo in our year-end appeals. Are you offering your donors content beyond asks, inspiring stories, or more asks? What do they need to know about the bigger picture of your cause? Where could they get involved through volunteer, organization, or advocacy, that will have a longer term impact on your organization’s mission and vision? 

How are we sharing stories of our community?

Remember: the stories of those we serve are sacred and deserve to be shared in a way that honors their experience. Earlier this year, Nonprofit Marketing Guide shared our blog Does Your Organization’s Storytelling Perpetuate Harm?. Check it out for some timely reminders and boundaries. 

What partners or complimentary causes are we amplifying?

Community-Centric Fundraising encourages us to see the bigger picture, which means our organization’s success is intertwined with the success of other organizations and causes. Are you releasing your scarcity mindset and encouraging your supporters to engage with parallel causes? Lead by example and show your donors what an abundance mindset could look like; everyone benefits when we encourage generosity. 

How does gratitude show up?

We do a lot of asking in a lot of different ways throughout the year-end push. How are we expressing our gratitude for the ways in which our donors, funders, volunteers, and other stakeholders organize their resources in service of our organization? A single email, tweet, or viral Tik Tok dance is not going to cut it. Think of the most meaningful “thank you” you’ve received. What made it so?

Let these considerations give your organization’s voice a tone and message that separates its mission and message from all the year-end noise. And, make sure to take what worked (and learn from what didn’t work) into a year of messaging and marketing impact. 

Wishing you well in this season of gratitude. 

Rachel 

 Rachel D’Souza-Siebert is the Founder + Chief Purpose Officer of Gladiator Consulting and a Founding Member of the CCF Global Council. In 2015, Rachel founded Gladiator Consulting, a boutique consultancy with a holistic approach to nonprofit organizational development. Through Gladiator, Rachel has combined her knowledge of Organizational Culture & Fund Development with her deep personal commitment to centering community, seeking justice and creating belonging for those who have been disenfranchised or targeted by institutions, systems and policy. 

When it comes to fundraising, we often strive to use storytelling and tugging of heartstrings to appeal to potential donors. But there is a science behind doing this well. Research conducted on effective marketing tactics and donor psychology are extremely beneficial to crafting communications that engage donors. When data drives our decisions we get better results – and our causes benefit.

Many consultants share what works for them, and often have helpful data they’ve been able to collect based on their experience. Think tanks, such as Rogare, the Fundraising Think Tank, also produce research and thorough leadership that can impact our work. These are helpful, but only part of what is available. Academia also has researchers with an interest in the nonprofit sector. Some, like me, pursued higher education and research careers because they wanted to understand and impact nonprofits’ ability to raise more money. But our research is often difficult for practitioners to access. 

Here are some tips on how to find and access these studies for yourself:

Where to look:

First, you’ll need to find a study. I love Google Scholar (scholar.google.com) to look for research. You can search broadly for something like “fundraising,” “nonprofit marketing,” or, “nonprofit donor motivation” and see what comes up. Or you could get specific and search, for example, “nonprofit direct mail strategy” or “nonprofit animal shelter fundraising” and find something more targeted. 

Maybe you are just curious about what’s out there and want to browse. You can visit a journal’s website directly to see lists of the articles in each of their journal’s issues. Some excellent journals that publish work related to the nonprofit sector regularly include Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, the Journal of Public and Nonprofit Affairs, Nonprofit Management and Leadership, VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, and the Journal of Philanthropy and Marketing. 

There are also conferences where scholars present their research. You will come across the paper and poster versions of these by searching Google Scholar, but one conference in particular is worth your attention. The Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) hosts an annual conference where researchers present their recent work, and come to meet with scholars, practitioners, and those in-betweeners who proudly call ourselves “pracademics” to talk about new ideas for research.

How to get around the paywall*:

Most academic journals cost money to read. If you are a student or staff at a university, you may have access to a number of journals at no additional cost to you through your library. If you’re fortunate enough to have that resource, definitely learn how to do that through your institution! 

For the many nonprofit staff who do not, that doesn’t mean you can’t get your hands on quality research; you’ll just need to ask the author for it directly. Trust me, they have spent a lot of time and energy on getting it published, and they will want people to read it. My favorite way to do this is through ResearchGate – it’s kind of like LinkedIn for academics, but you can use it to contact us! Look up the study you want to read on ResearchGate (https://www.researchgate.net/) and there might be a full-text version you can download for free immediately. If not, you can contact the author to request it with a simple click on the blue box that says “request full-text.” You don’t have to create a profile to do so. You will most likely get a PDF within a day of asking for it. It’s that easy!

*Author’s Note: While many authors are indirectly paid for their labor if they are working as a university professor and researcher and thus their publishing record impacts their promotion opportunities, not all published studies are the work of professors and not all professors receive adequate compensation for their significant work. While it’s unlikely that an author will ask for it, and possible that they will not be able to accept it, consider offering to send the author a Venmo or Paypal for providing their literature to you. People of color have historically done and currently do a lot of unpaid labor; this is a way to help ensure that authors – especially Black and Brown authors – are paid for their wisdom, time, and contribution to driving your mission forward.

How to read the article:

Once you have an article in hand, you might feel intimidated to read it. They aren’t generally written in an easy-to-read style. (I suspect a number of them are written to sound purposely confusing.) Depending on the study, there might be multiple pages of detail on statistical analysis that you may not even want to try to understand. It’s ok, even those of us who publish these things feel that way sometimes!

Each paper will have an abstract. This often gives away the punchline, and will often be enough for you to know if the paper will have anything in it that is relevant to your work. Most papers will then have an introduction, a review of other papers written on the topics they are studying, a description of the methods they are using for their experiment, then a section giving the results, a section discussing those results, and a short conclusion. 

Here’s what I recommend you do: First, read the abstract. If that makes you think the paper might be relevant to you and whatever you are working on, flip to the end and read the conclusion. (This may be hard for you – some of us are really strict about reading from the start to the end, but trust me, it’s worth letting go of that habit for this kind of content!). After that, look at the results and discussion, which should expand on what you read in the conclusion. The discussion will often contain advice on what this research might mean for the “real world” and how it can be used. As far as the rest of the sections, read them if they interest you, but you may not need them to implement the learnings of the paper. It depends on how much you want to understand them and how enjoyable you find the rest of it!

So, next time you’re trying to determine the best strategies to use in your nonprofit’s communication, consider seeing what the latest research has uncovered and applying it to your work! I hope this helps make this resource more accessible and allows you to raise more money and reach more people.

Sarah Willey is a consultant at Gladiator Consulting. She holds a master’s degree in Nonprofit Management from Washington University and has years of experience in nonprofit fundraising and management. She loves capturing the story of how a nonprofit organization makes a difference in the world and putting it on paper in a way that makes people feel connected and inspired to help. She is a consultant with Gladiator Consulting in St. Louis where she assists a variety of nonprofits with fundraising strategy, individual giving, and grant writing. To read more about Sarah Willey, click here. 

In March 2020, much of the office-world went virtual. Even while we were terrified and clear that the already existing disparities in our community would be exasperated, there was also a brief window where we felt like we had more control of our most precious resource: time. 

 As a consultant, I experienced the privilege of the new, Zoom, workplace. I could meet with one client until 3:59pm and start my next call at 4pm. There was no commute from one client’s office to the next. My daughter, who became waitlisted due to reduced classroom numbers in her Kids Day Out program, could sit on the couch next to me while I held a meeting. My employer, Gladiator Consulting, had the opportunity to grow from a local boutique firm to one with international reach– by presenting in Europe without having to leave our home-offices. The obstacles that would have formerly inhibited a women/parent-led consultancy to travel internationally, those obstacles that often hindered the exchange of knowledge, were diminished. We held fundraising “events” virtually and our clients didn’t have to rent pricey venues, except maybe a Zoom upgrade here and there to allow for more virtual participants. 

This was very different from my “before-times.”

Before I worked in the nonprofit sector– of which more than half of my tenure here has been remote– I was a bartender. I danced around my colleagues in a fast-paced environment, shouting our own language of “behind!” and “corner!” and “86!” as we served the myriads of college-students that patronized our bar. We split tips. We were family, and it was obvious.

You’d think that I am bringing this dichotomous symbolism to the forefront to next tell you that the concept of teamwork in a remote-setting, has disintegrated with each day that I work in my home office behind a screen. But, I think it moreseo takes some deconstruction of that very term– teamwork– to reimagine how this new, virtual/hybrid world, can foster a type of office culture. 

My current colleagues and clients know my children by name-and I know theirs. On Tuesday, my 9-year-old gave a 30-second presentation on axolotls because she overheard the term during our team icebreaker. My 3-year-old facetimes my colleagues’ toddlers, and they “play together” in our playroom– through a screen. 

And, many of us think that one day the pandemic will be over, and we will simply go back to our old ways, but I’m not sure it’s really that simple. In a world of new COVID variants, monkeypox, and honestly, the social-anxiety that many of us have accrued after being solo for two-ish years, things are just not going to be the same.

So supervisors, middle managers, directors, team leads… I’m talking to you! How can you make space to build a bright, new, normal for your employees? Here are some changes that, between my own company and my clients’ organizations, I have seen and would like to see more organizations– and the individuals within them– implement.

Be (and Stay) Responsive to the Needs of Lead Parents + Caregivers

Just because pandemic-protocols have been lifted in many schools, this doesn’t mean that parents and their children are ready to go back to school like they did before. I, specifically, share a home with a three-year old human. Two of her few years on this planet, she has lived in the world of COVID. She watches screens much more than her older siblings ever did at that age. (How else was I going to have back-to-back meetings during a pandemic with a toddler? Cocomelon is my work mantra.)

And this fall, when my older children go back to school, they’ll be able to resiliently “bounce back” into the reality of schools that they mostly remember. They’ll be excited to be able to have lunch with their friends again and ride the bus and carpool and go to recess and play sports. But my youngest? Well, it’s going to be a battle. 

She is going to wonder why should she have to go to school, when for the past two years she’s hung out with Peppa Pig on the couch behind my office? When her little eyes have poked over my screen and she’s learned our own version of sign language to request, another snack, Mommy? 

So, friends, give grace to the parents that are returning to work– be it in an office or home office– while their children are transitioning to school again. We’re separating with some confused little humans. Heck, us parents don’t even have a work bag anymore. We don’t know where the lids are to our emotional support coffee mugs.

For the times when organizations need in-person staffing or events, provide childcare for your community engagement opportunities. Funders, fund this. 

Don’t forget to celebrate

There’s a lot happening as we re-enter civilization. I do not have enough magnets to hold to my fridge the amount of wedding invitations for those who have postponed since March 2020. It’s important to continue celebrating. This world is scary. I’ve spoken before about resting as a form of activism, and I wholeheartedly believe that there is space to also celebrate. Celebrate our organizations’ wins. Celebrate the individuals within these organizations. Celebrate making it to work– to even your home office– in the morning. This work is hard, and we need to continue uplifting and empowering one another if we are going to push forward in activism together. 

Reimagine your abundant and scarce resources 

Many organizations are probably realizing that providing office space is an increasingly obsolete cost. For those organizations that have sold their buildings, or moved to a co-working space, consider the following: equipping your remote employees with home office stipends to cover the costs of wifi, cellphones, and comfortable desk furniture. I don’t know how many clients who are working from their kitchen tables while their spouses use the home office. Some of them even have to stagger their calls because they don’t have office spaces with doors to drown out the sound. My family, specifically, had to renovate our entire basement in order to establish a secluded room for me to work in a quiet environment. And yet, I’m currently writing this post with a daughter laying under my desk on her tablet and the other waiting for me to lift my eyes above the screen to request a yogurt. 

For those of you who are staying in the building, or using a co-working space, consider providing transportation stipends for your employees to fund, at least, public transportation. Many families are down to a single–or no– vehicle. 

Remain Flexible, Practice Gratitude

The world shifts in new ways every day, as do employees’ lives. Be cognizant of what is happening within your teams and adjust to support them accordingly. 

Acknowledge the privilege of a flexible work environment and practice communal care. This might look like providing resources and volunteer support to organizations that require an on-site presence. Encourage your network to donate to partners providing on the ground support. 

It’s time to think about the long game

If we want to promote a healthy workplace culture, we have to honor that team building and teamwork have looked different for the past two years. Things that we thought promoted teamwork– like in-person happy hours and activities, aren’t what’s needed for a healthy culture and strong team. We need our employees to be able to affordably access a suitable work environment despite the consequences that they have faced during a pandemic.

Brooke Black is the Operations + Content Manager at Gladiator Consulting. As a nonprofit leader and charter school administrator, Brooke wore many hats and gained momentum in and passion for philanthropy. Working in education, she recognized her desire to work with populations and communities disparately impacted by policy, the need for racial equity among our children (and adults), and her ability to connect organizations serving those populations to the resources necessary to reduce inequity.

As a grant writing coach, sometimes I think that I have heard it all between my own personal experiences and the stories that my students relay to me. “Sheleia, I need a grant writer; how can I guarantee they will win an award before I hire them?” Or, “I’ve paid this grant writer thousands of dollars, It’s been almost a year, and they never sent me a submission receipt or let me know if I won anything. What should I do?

In starting my own company, I’ve had to learn my boundaries and identify not only what I do but what I don’t do as well. I, a young, Black, woman, have had to ensure that my time and talent are reciprocated through my company’s cost structure. I’ve had to answer, time and again, every grant writer’s most dreaded question: will you consider being paid according to the amount of funding awarded? 

Ahhh, the age-old dilemma of commission-based compensation: it’s a common pay policy, often seen as an incentive to increase worker productivity and the organization’s bottom line. Simply put, commission- or contingency-based pay is receiving compensation based on a favorable outcome regardless of the work required to achieve it.

While this popular fee structure may be acceptable in the for-profit sector, it raises some ethical issues in the nonprofit industry, specifically for grant professionals. Here are some reasons why it causes more harm than good: 

Grant Writers Deserve Trust

Grant professionals have no DIRECT control over whether you win an award or not. Any good grant writer is going to submit the grant as well as they can, and that will not dictate if the funds are awarded or not. A well-written grant is only one piece of the puzzle, and often the success or declination of a proposal is based on things like available funds, funder interests, lack of organizational readiness, et cetera.

Grant professionals, especially independent consultants, should not work for free. So, winning grants by nature, is a risky business. Because there is no guarantee of funding (regardless of a stellar proposal), nonprofits often think that commission-based pay is the way to go because they will not have a lot of financial liability. While this is half-true, it still poses the risk of leaving the grant writer uncompensated for their time, expertise, and effort due to decisions beyond their control.

On the flip side, winning a grant that you agreed to pay commission on can cost you more than what you bargained for. Let’s say you’re applying for a $500,000 grant and offer to pay the grant writer 5% if awarded. That’s a $25,000 bill! I know this is extreme, but you get my point. This type of large payout can be tempting, and if the grant writer does not uphold ethical grant-seeking practices, they could falsify information (like padding your key performance metrics to make funders think you are reaching more people or making more impact than you actually are) in your proposal for the sake of upping your chances of winning the award. 

Furthermore, it might be months before the funds are distributed. And, they’re likely not covering the grant writer’s fees. 

Unless explicitly stated, most funding opportunities do not cover compensation for grant writers. Funders are against covering fundraising expenses like hiring a grant writer. So, “putting a little money in the project budget to hire a grant writer,” is downright dishonest. Funders can revoke a your grant award for unauthorized spending: as in, using grant funding to underwrite costs that are not identified in the grant agreement. If you spend it on things like this that aren’t approved in your grant agreement without their consent.

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) standards state that fundraising services must be paid for at the time the services are provided. This means that a grant writer’s compensation should not and cannot be contingent on a grant award (or amount of the award).

Contrary to popular belief, contingency/commission compensation practices are frowned upon and strictly prohibited among industry associations like the Association for Fundraising Professionals and Grant Professionals Association.

So by now you’re probably thinking: “Ok, Sheleia, but our nonprofit is a start-up, and we run a small operation; how else can we get grants if we can’t pay commission?” Have no fear! Let’s explore some equitable alternatives:

• Advocate with aligned grant-makers to offer more grant opportunities for general operating or capacity-building support. These types of grants are great for hiring a grant writer because they are specifically for helping your organization become more efficient and sustainable. 
• Rally your board members to secure the financial resources to bring on a consultant to build your grant-seeking capacity and other fundraising needs.
• Seek out grant-makers with special capacity-building programs that will pay for grant writing support at no cost to you. 

Developing competitive grant proposals takes time, and time IS money. An ethical, quality grant writer will deliver a compelling proposal in exchange for a fair fee (project- or hourly-based), and will likely ask for a down payment up front. As practitioners of trust-based philanthropy, we often find ourselves holding funders accountable, but we must also ensure to practice what we preach and ensure equality in our pay practices. 

Sheleia Phillips, MPH, CHES is the Founder and Principal Consultant of SMP Nonprofit Consulting. A servant leader, Sheleia has dedicated herself to the growth and development of nonprofits for the past five years. As a Grant Writer and Fund Development Consultant, Sheleia has secured over $3 million dollars in grant revenue for youth development, education, and health programs.

To learn more about Sheleia’s work and experience, read her full bio.