We make growing a nonprofit a lot more complicated than it needs to be. 

We feel like we have to do everything. We try to build our email list, write more blogs, chase more grants, sponsor more conferences, speak at more events, and grow our social media following. 

These can all be good things, but when your focus is divided among many tasks, you’re  probably not doing any of them particularly well, not to mention losing sight of the big picture for growing your nonprofit. 

Fragmenting employee time and resources makes nonprofit growth much slower and makes it almost impossible for smaller nonprofits to scale. This approach can feel very busy, but is it productive?

The key to growing your nonprofit is as easy as 1-2-3. It’s actually very simple: focus on your vision, partner with the right donors, and treat your donors so well that they keep coming back.

1. Focus on your vision. Casting a clear vision is probably the most important way to set up your organization for success. Now, I'm not talking about your mission statement. I’m talking about where you want to take your nonprofit. What do you want to be accomplishing in five years? How do you want to put a dent in the universe? Lay out a clear and measurable vision to pitch to donors. Tell them where you’ve been, how far you’ve come. About your successes and failures along the way and where you’re headed. Casting a compelling vision to change the world will not only help you and your organization stay focused on accomplishing that goal, but it will help you cultivate partners who will be with you every step of the way. 

2. Partner with the right donors. When cultivating new donors, target those who truly believe in your work and are aligned with your organization’s values. Do your homework to make sure a potential donor is a good fit before you put in the time building a relationship. Being intentional about which people you focus on is absolutely critical because none of us has the time to nurture 300 relationships. You can probably only maintain real relationships with 15 to 20 donors. The best way to qualify new leads is to compare them to your nonprofit’s typical or ideal donor. Take stock of the donors that are already in your donor pool, their demographics and defining characteristics, and then go out and find more like them. 

3. Make your donors your partners for life. Cultivate long-term relationships with your donors by offering them a five star donor experience with your organization. Show them frequently and consistently how much you appreciate them. Meet with them in person. Send them personalized emails. Have casual interactions with them at conferences and events. Write them hand-written notes. Remember that you can double your fundraising with your current donor pool, so don’t neglect your current donors at the expense of trying to find big, new ones--that’s a costly and risky strategy. Take care of the donors you have so well that they want to stick around for life and increase their giving year after year. 

4. Rinse and repeat. 

Instead of giving into endless activity and distraction, dial in your focus on what we know always works -- the three fundamentals that drive dramatic growth for any organization, regardless of your size or current stage of growth.

There’s no single, silver bullet to grow your nonprofit, but there is a proven methodology about how to successfully pitch to 7-figure donors and convince them to write big checks. The methodology is simple, but it’s not easy. Just like in health and fitness, the key to fundraising success is doing these three important things consistently over time. That's how you see amazing results. Faster than you can imagine.