Quick Tips from your Nonprofit Consultants

By Patricia Marquez of Patricia Marquez Consulting

• • Does your board fully understand the ramifications of how COVID-19 is altering service delivery of your organization?  Do they understand what is truly a priority over the next few months and can they temporarily let go of the rest? Encourage board members to engage in scenario planning to find the “lines in the sand”.
  • This is the perfect time to put strategic donor stewardship front and center. Within the next couple of weeks, communicate to your donors in a clear and positive way about how your organization is now functioning and adapting in the COVID-19 environment and how critical their past support has been to further the mission of the organization.
    1. Board members and staff call key donors and funders using specific talking points about the current state of programs and services.
    2. Thoughtful communications by email to the remaining donor and client base putting COVID-19 front and center and how the agency is dealing with the crisis.
  • Discuss the possible suspension of special events for the rest of the year. Can we all reschedule every event for the fall and expect reasonable outcomes?  Our usual sources for sponsorships and auction items are all going through tough times and might not be able to support an event.

In light of event cancellations, it would be the perfect time to embrace a major gift strategy for fundraising by following through with major donors and funders; far less resource intensive with a greater rate of return. Engage the board in developing their personal stories about why they are involved with the organization and how they can support the development process through identification, cultivation, stewardship, solicitation of donor prospects.  A board where each member understands their role, responsibilities and utilizes their respective talents will be successful!

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