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You are here: Home / Fundraising Advice / Leverage — A word fundraisers should embrace in 2018

Fundraising Advice

Leverage — A word fundraisers should embrace in 2018

Here we are at the top of a new year. You have (hopefully) survived the madness of year-end giving and are now on the other side. It feels like a relief until you realize that there’s more fundraising work to be done and you just have to keep going. Fundraising is not just a marathon, it’s a full on never-ending race. The question that comes to mind is – how can we make it easier so that we can keep going?

I’ve never been fond of the words “sustainable” or “sustainability” when it comes to the longevity of organizations. But I think it’s important to think about how you can sustain yourself. If you burn out, feel overwhelm, or just have too much on your plate, you won’t get very far in the fundraising race.

This was a concept I thought a lot about in 2017. I see increasing numbers of fundraisers who are working themselves to the bone and I keep wondering, how can we make it easier so that we can keep going and keep awesome people in our profession?

This is where the word and concept of leverage comes into play.

Leverage means taking one thing that you’ve done and using it to its maximum potential or advantage. It’s really about asking yourself – how else can I utilize the work I’ve done to increase my results? This is a question that most of us are not asking ourselves nearly often enough and it’s a question that will help us get more mileage our of our hard work.

A word for #fundraisers to embrace in 2018 -- Leverage. How will you get leverage in your fundraising program this year?

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Here are some examples of what leverage looks like in action.

  • Writing an email appeal for your email list, and then asking your board members to send that email to five of their contacts.
  • Developing a major gift proposal for a prospect, and then using that same proposal for other prospects.
  • Sending a successful email appeal to your list, and then resending that same email to people who didn’t open or click on the email the first time.
  • Securing a major gift, and then using that gift as a matching gift for your annual donors.
  • Writing a successful grant application, and then reusing language for future grant applications

Hopefully you can see from these examples, leverage is not about making more work for yourself. It’s about increasing your results by creatively using what you’ve already got in place.

As you think about where you can get leverage in your fundraising program, consider these questions:

  • What were some of our recent successes?
  • How else can we use the material or idea behind that success?

I hope that this concept inspires you to work smarter, not harder in 2018.

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About Vanessa Chase Lockshin

My name is Vanessa Chase Lockshin, and I want to empower you to tell your story. In my personal life, finding ways to tell my stories has been a transformational practice. In my fundraising life, I’ve helped hundreds of organizations tell their stories to engage and inspire their donors. To date, my work has helped non-profits raise over $10 million.

« What Message Must Your Non-Profit Share This Year?
Where Should Your Fundraising Program Grow Next? »

Hi there!

My name is Vanessa Chase Lockshin and I've helped non-profits raise over $10 million by telling stories that engage and inspire donors. I'm the author of The Storytelling Non-Profit: A practical guide to telling stories that raise money and awareness, and the creator of immersive online training programs that have trained thousands of non-profit professionals. Read More…

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