Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you. Deuteronomy 32:7
What are the “New Frontiers in Nonprofit Fundraising” that Christ-centered ministries and churches are pressing into as they navigated the COVID-19 pandemic and the changing landscape that has resulted?
Which ideas and strategies to fund the mission are gaining the most traction in these new frontiers? Here’s what ECFA’s survey participants told us. Top 5 Findings:
1. The biggest fundraising needs are (a) new donor acquisition and (b) moving existing donors “up the donor pyramid.”
2. Having the right people with the right priorities for CEO and paid fundraising staff is the biggest distinction between effective and ineffective fundraising programs.
3. The biggest channel of pandemic giving was major donors, the most effective fundraising medium for new donor acquisition was direct mail, and the fastest growing technology is paid social media postings/placements, most heavily Facebook.
4. The most important priorities of the CEO or equivalent top leader are to understand and model a biblical approach to fundraising and generosity. The most important practice of the CEO or equivalent top leader is to effectively share the fundraising role with others.
5. In the most effective fundraising programs, one or more staff members have specific donors they are building relationships with.
Warren Bird in New Frontiers in Nonprofit Fundraising.
Click here to download the research from ECFA at no cost. All these findings are helpful for church and ministry workers to understand.
Perhaps the one that spoke to me most was point #4. As a CEO of GTP, I must understand and model a biblical approach and share the work with others.
With intentionality I am pouring each of the four staff that report to me to me to help them understand and and model a biblical approach to partnership work.
Do this at your church or ministry and watch the impact of your efforts multiply!
Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there, including my dad, Jack Hoag. I’m thankful he understands and models generosity. It’s touched my life deeply.