Fundraising through a crisis
The last month has been a rollercoaster of changes, emotions, and dilemmas. Many charities, often the least able organisations to implement rapid change, have managed to alter quite radically how they work and provide services. Fundraising activities have had to pivot in a similar way.
Social distancing creates severe limitations for many forms of voluntary income generation, and charities are struggling to develop expertise in the few that remain, such as online giving. The #EveryDayCounts and #NeverMoreNeeded campaigns have highlighted the double-whammy affecting the non-profit sector of significantly increased needs and significantly reduced incomes. So how will charities keep fundraising and carry on?
At Moore Kingston Smith Fundraising & Management (MKSFM) we are finding from our charity clients that the initial period of deep uncertainty and fire-fighting is passing. Decisions about furloughing staff have been made. New Coronavirus-targetted grant funds have been identified. Emergency online or direct mail appeals have been launched. This all fits the typical trajectory of a crisis, although this is no typical crisis. Giving does increase after crises hit, in no small part due to 24- hour news saturation emphasising that action is required.
This crisis will have a much longer news arc, but in time it will subside, and with it the urgency of donors to respond. What will follow is likely to be a much harder time for fundraising charities, especially if they don’t start to prepare now. The impact of the global gear change of social distancing, particularly the economic and investment impact of reducing oil usage, will likely create the deepest recession in living memory. What the world will look like on the other side is hard to predict. However, charities need to start using this time to imagine a way forward.
How will your financial and fundraising strategies hold up during a much deeper downturn than the 2008 Financial Crash? What services will be needed, how should these be delivered and what will it cost? Think of how quickly we’ve shifted to home-working, digital communications, and delegating authority to simply get things done. What bigger changes could take place to respond to a new post-recession normality? Fundraisers who can grasp these nettles, flex their income-generation programmes and plan strategically for a new future will be the ones that will succeed. Now is the time to start planning to keep fundraising to carry on.
At MKSFM, we specialise in helping non-profit organisations understand their business models to reconfigure them for a different future. Our regular free webinars and Insight pieces can help you do this. Get in touch to book a free 30 minute surgery at fundraising@mks.co.uk to help prepare your charity for the future.