But how then do maintain a thorough and adequate database, create the message, produce the materials, or touch the donors as often or in the way you need to be able to in order to attract the resources that will enable your success?
First of all, assess what you need in order to succeed. The list of items itself will help you identify things you may be able to outsource that you hadn't previously considered. Check online to see what resources you can gather that are available in the broader marketplace. Then determine what resources may be available for free and what may be discounted if you ask.
Then look at your existing staff. How much ownership has your program staff taken for the actual existence of the positions they occupy? Whoa! These are tough words - and indeed they are. But in a depressed economy, it's just wrong to think that anyone can hold a job without taking responsibility for its funding. Those who do are soon referred to as "former employees".
While time management is important in a larger organizational structure, it is tantamount to survival in a smaller nonprofit. Reassess your own schedule and think about places where you might devote more time to working through the prospects for more funding.
Finally, go to your board! This is both the course of last resort - and the first. The entire board needs to take ownership of fund development and bring the resources the organization needs to succeed. Go to them for personal commitments and a division of responsibilities on the board that will account for meeting every dollar in your budget.
Granted, most boards of small nonprofits will resist - and strongly - but if you are tactful, yet direct, reinforcing, yet transparent - they have little choice but to respond or turn over the reins to those who will.
Brian Lacy & Associates has years of experience helping small nonprofits manage through the challenges of limited staff and other resources. Contact Brian Lacy & Associates today to learn more about how we can help.
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