Most charities and nonprofits raise money the same two ways: selling something (a bake sale, a car wash, a raffle) or asking people who already use their services. Both work, but they leave real money on the table. Grant funding, donors who have never been asked, and simply thanking the donors you already have can matter as much as any single event.
Applying for Grant Funding
Grant money is funding a federal, state, or local government agency — or a private, charitable, or civic organization — gives to support a specific project, usually at a non-profit group such as a health organization, school, arts program, or service agency. It’s worth looking closer to home before chasing federal grants: local funding usually comes with fewer administrative and regulatory requirements and is often the easiest to secure. Civic and fraternal clubs (Rotary, Kiwanis, the Elks, a local women’s club) are a good place to start, along with the local branch of a national company — Walmart and Blue Cross Blue Shield both run local community-giving programs.
Finding out who gives away grant money is often the hardest part. Talking with people who do fundraising professionally in your community helps, since many areas have an informal network of fundraisers who trade this kind of information. A public library’s reference section often has detailed material on what funding is available and how to apply.
Read the actual grant guidelines before applying — a fund might cover salaries and general operating costs, or it might be restricted to capital expenses only; it might serve a specific population or geographic area. Contact the funder directly if anything is unclear, since requirements do change. Expect the process to take real time: research, evaluation, and preparing the application, then a wait of anywhere from three to sixteen months for an award, followed by a report on how the money was spent.
For an organization pursuing long-term financial sustainability, grant writing is worth the effort. The work of writing one grant application carries over to the next, so it gets easier. And a grant award does more than bring in dollars — it signals to individual donors that a larger institution has vetted the organization, which builds credibility for the next appeal.
Finding Your “Hidden” Donors
Most organizations raise money by selling to the people who use or need their services — a tried-and-true approach, but not the only one. A “hidden donor” is any person, business, or group whose goals happen to align with the organization’s, even if they have never used its services.
- Look past the immediate need to the real goal. A campaign to put new books in a library isn’t really about the books — it’s about helping young people become educated, contributing members of society. Once the real goal is clear, the list of aligned funders widens: colleges, local employers, and professional associations all have a stake in that outcome, even though none of them checks out a library book.
- Think past the people who use the service to the people who benefit from it indirectly. A senior-services program’s direct users are seniors, but their adult children often appreciate the program just as much — and are worth keeping on a contact list.
- Start a mailing list and newsletter, and keep everyone on it — not just current donors. Someone who has never given is still worth informing. Some of the largest gifts come later, sometimes through a will or an insurance policy, from people who were quietly paying attention the whole time.
In-kind gifts count too, and can be as valuable as cash: a local restaurant donating food for volunteers, a musician donating a performance for an event, a print shop donating flyers. Acknowledge an in-kind donor exactly the way a cash donor would be acknowledged. Most hidden donors, cash or in-kind, simply haven’t been asked — and once asked, tend to give more generously than expected.
Keeping the Donors You Find
Raising money and keeping donors are different skills. A donor is really a “friend” of the cause, and a standard thank-you note is only the minimum. A few things go further:
- Send a year-end giving summary before it’s asked for. Donors need this for tax purposes; sending it as part of the normal annual correspondence, rather than waiting to be asked, is a small gesture that’s noticed.
- Print donor names (with permission) in newsletters, programs, and press releases. Some organizations skip this out of fear of leaving one name off — but leaving out one of fifty is a smaller cost than leaving all fifty feeling unrecognized.
- Add a personal note to the standard thank-you, not instead of it. A handwritten card from a board member, alongside the usual letter from staff, reads as a second, more personal thank-you rather than a replacement for the first.
- Offer a small privilege. An early preview of an open house, a discounted ticket to a fundraising event, or an advance look at a rummage sale all say a donor is valued beyond their check.
- Make a brief personal visit when practical. A short office visit with a small token — and a chance to hear firsthand why a donor gives — builds a relationship a mailed letter can’t.
None of this requires a large budget, just attention. An organization that treats fundraising as relationship-building — grants researched carefully, donors sought beyond the obvious list, and everyone who gives genuinely thanked — tends to find the next campaign easier than the last. Getting the organization’s story in front of more people helps too; see small business PR and media coverage for how to pitch a cause-related story to a local reporter.