Advancing Philanthropy: Moving from Fundraising to Financing

By Nell Edgington
via www.socialvelocity.net

Note: Nell Edgington wrote the following article for the journal "Advancing Philanthropy." You can download the Nonprofit Finance section of the magazine, of which this article is part, on the Association of Fundraising Professionals website.

It has been a really difficult few years for nonprofits, particularly their fundraisers. But the bad news is that the situation won’t get easier any time soon. In order to keep up, nonprofit leaders have to recognize that traditional fundraising doesn’t work anymore.

 In fact, traditional fundraising is holding nonprofits back by forcing them to wear out their boards, staffs, and donors, focus efforts on low-return activities, subsist with inadequate technology and infrastructure, and ultimately distance them from their missions.

 Nonprofits must emerge from the broken fundraising mold and instead develop a sustainable financing strategy that will bring mission to fruition.  That means that nonprofits have to break out of the narrow view that traditional fundraising (individual donor appeals, events, foundation grants) will completely fund all of their activities.  Instead, nonprofits must take a big step back and create an overall financing strategy. Nonprofits must move from fundraising to financing.

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