Your Guide to Increasing and Diversifying Your Nonprofit’s Fundraising Revenue

In today’s increasingly competitive fundraising environment, nonprofits must broaden and expand their revenue streams to remain sustainable. Implementing a wide range of revenue-generating initiatives strengthens your organization’s stability and cultivates resilience in navigating economic uncertainty. This article explores the key strategies and best practices that help fortify your nonprofit’s financial solvency. 

Understand the Philanthropic and Economic Landscapes

It is helpful to first understand how economic realities shape philanthropy. The 2023 financial landscape was unstable, with significant fluctuations and challenges, as the S&P 500 experienced a sharp decline of 25.4%. This downturn mirrored a broader trend as disposable personal income also saw a dip of 7.5%. Finally, inflation rose to 8.0%, its highest rate in four decades. However, notable bright spots amid these economic headwinds included the GDP growing by 1.1%; concurrently, unemployment rates have dropped to some of the lowest in the past half-century.

Despite economic uncertainty, philanthropy maintained a steady growth trajectory. However, this was accompanied by an apparent decline in individual giving following the years of historic generosity associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. This leveling off in giving patterns suggests a need to recalibrate charitable contributions. Further, generational giving is shifting due to the great wealth transfer, with anticipated significant implications for the industry.

Against this backdrop, how might your nonprofit diversify its revenue? Here are some tips to get started.

Evaluate your donor pyramid from bottom to top

Review your existing donor data to identify prospects for your various fundraising areas, with a focus on donor growth and commitment.

• Ask donors with records limited to contact information for an annual fund gift.
• Consider asking those who have the capacity and are showing an increase in giving annually for a major gift.
• Consider those who have given for a length of time and are considered loyal donors as planned giving prospects.

Use Non-Linear Fundraising Growth to Your Advantage

Non-linear fundraising growth provides a dynamic paradigm for nonprofits, marked by a mix of more predictable and less predictable funding sources.

More predictable fundraising sources include gifts from:

• alumni
• grateful patients
• annual funds
• corporate partnerships

Less predictable funding streams often encompass larger, less frequent donations, such as:

• transformational gifts
• principal gifts
• major gifts
• planned gifts

A nonprofit’s success depends on maintaining steady growth while staying ready to capitalize on significant spikes in funding, which only happen occasionally. While more predictable avenues ensure a stable foundation, less predictable avenues can offer substantial leaps forward, although less frequently. Therefore, balancing these elements is essential for financial stability.

Increase your revenue with major and leadership gifts

Major Gift Activation is a collaborative effort across various stakeholders within a nonprofit.

Your Development Team Drives Major and Leadership Gifts

The development team plays a central role in this process, beginning with creating a comprehensive plan outlining objectives and strategies. Coordination with other departments, such as programs and finance, is crucial to ensure alignment and support for fundraising initiatives.

Within the development team, specific roles are identified and assigned, with individuals taking ownership of lead prospect activity, tracking progress, and reporting results. Additionally, the team supports and guides leaders in their development roles, facilitating their success in engaging potential donors.

Leverage Your Board and Volunteers to Propel Your Development Strategy

Board members and volunteer leaders are also integral to the process, contributing their awareness of the development strategy, providing approval for key staffing or budget changes, and advocating for the nonprofit’s mission. They can also be invaluable in growing a nonprofit’s donor pipeline. Their involvement in fundraising activities, tailored to their interests, skills, and networks, further enhances major gift activation success.

Engage Your External Partners in Fundraising Messaging

Beyond these internal stakeholders, external partnerships are also vital, as these can provide input on messaging, help gain permission for story or picture sharing, and give insights into the key community leaders and prospects shaping the overall major gift strategy.

diversify your revenue with Gift Planning

A planned gift is an anticipated or deferred contribution of cash or other assets strategically made within the context of a donor’s broader financial, tax, or estate planning objectives. These gifts can take various forms and may be facilitated through various financial vehicles.

Gift planning is a good decision for donors for several reasons:

• Most wealth is not typically held in cash.
• Individuals are often more inclined to donate from irregular or unearned sources of income, such as appreciated assets, rather than from regular earnings.
• The rising popularity of donor advised funds underscores the importance of strategic gift planning in modern philanthropy.
• Planned gifts offer various tax incentives.
• Bequests are ideal for individuals with substantial estates (valued over $13.6 million in 2024), as such estates are subject to federal taxes; however, bequests in cash or other assets, such as real estate, vehicles, or stocks, can be deducted from the estate’s total value, consequently mitigating federal estate taxes for the donor’s beneficiaries.
• Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRT) are tax-exempt and reduce a donor’s taxable income.
• For real estate gifts, donors acquire an income tax deduction equivalent to the property’s value while evading capital gains taxes.
• In certain instances, donors aged 70 and a half or older have the option to contribute Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) from their IRAs, enabling them to make tax-free donations while fulfilling their Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) obligations (note that these regulations change frequently).

Factors Contributing to Increased Gift Planning

Several factors contribute to gift planning’s growing prevalence, including the ongoing wealth transfer, the pandemic’s transformative effects on charitable giving, increasing sophistication among nonprofits and donors in navigating philanthropic strategies, and an enhanced opportunity for cultivating a culture prioritizing thoughtful and impactful gift planning initiatives.

Boost your major gifts with Capital Campaigns

A capital campaign is a pivotal strategy to enhance major gift fundraising through organization, urgency, and focus. Campaigns offer a structured approach to achieving strategic priorities while catalyzing fundraising efforts and elevating a principal gift portfolio. Further, they are a chance to strengthen and expand donor relationships and cultivate a more robust prospect pool while also developing a stronger board and volunteer leadership base. Additionally, campaigns raise awareness and elevate the organization’s profile within the community and region, further strengthening its impact and reach.

Remaining Agile will help you Increase and Diversify your nonprofit’s Revenue

Adopting strategies to boost revenue is essential to ensure your nonprofit’s long-term growth, financial strength, and flexibility in a changing environment. Whether building stronger donor connections, further utilizing technology, or forming new partnerships, the path to financial stability involves constant innovation aligned with your organization’s goals. By applying these approaches to increase revenue, your nonprofit can thrive and increase its ability to make a real impact.