Problem. Need. SO important! But… SO much we’re missing.

Appeals, donor conversations and donor communications. Cases for support and grant proposals: we’re missing some vital parts of the problem or need.    

I think, I hope, all of you awesome non-profit fundraisers, whether in donor development, appeals/ direct mail/ communications/ content, fundraising events or grants know well that leading with a problem/need is THE most effective way to begin engagement that leads to support.

  In individual fundraising and mail you’ve learned to make it even better by showing the problem/need as experienced in a story about a real person. If it’s a grant proposal or case statement, you’ve learned to make it even better with proof (and hopefully even better by weaving the stats into the aforementioned story of a real person).

 Good! You’re halfway there!

But I have to tell you I’m frustrated. The more clients I work with and the more I dig into what all kinds of orgs are communicating out there, the more I find that some extremely effective and important

support- raising, engagement-increasing elements of problem and need

 aren’t being used. And that bites, because they are organizations whose good work doesn’t get the support it deserves.

1.      The Simplest, most effective, proof to emphasize the problem or need for donors or grant funders.

This will seem obvious to most of you, but you’d be surprised how often we don’t (or forget to) use it!

 Even in a wholly story-based appeal, it only takes one sentence to get this in and add major impact but it still gets missed even in complex grant proposals, let alone all the other channels for fundraising.

YOUR NUMBERS.  

   I’ve seen appeals, proposals, cases for support, content, high-stakes presentation decks and even conversations that lean on the stats to show need. Unemployment in this county, food insecurity, poverty rate, higher education rates, arts engagement, all kinds of numbers from reliable institutional sources- but the people weaving them into their stories or proposals neglect the immense power of their OWN numbers.   If your work is seeing:

·        an increase in demand or traffic

·        a lengthening of the waiting list

·        a significant change in the populations seeking or utilizing your services

·        a change in the problems those populations are facing

·        a change in what services people are seeking

·        a change in how they are benefitting

Those numbers, YOUR numbers, make even more impact than the county/city/state/national statistics. Don’t leave them out. 

“As a single mother, Bobbi was reduced to tears by this unexpected situation. In our community, she’s not alone in our community. In the past year we’ve seen a big shift, more than 20%, from the mostly elderly people seeking this service to a rising number of single mothers. In Bobbi’s case…”  Your proposal or communication has a person, AND a whole population, with a problem and a need. Your numbers prove it best.

2.      Donor communications, grant proposals or case statements are all stronger with the problem and need of the COMMUNITY you’re serving.  

Whether it’s   clients   patients   patrons   members or   students- (CPPMS)  orgs mostly seem to be very good at communicating the needs and problems of the people they are actually serving. I think it’s really helpful to think of this as different from the first “need statement” we covered above.  Those stats in number one are mostly focused on the people you serve. Patients, patrons, clients, students, members, etc. and how you meet their needs. This is different because, for example, while a hospital or college may serve X amount of students/patients, they, like every NPO, do a lot more for a community. They provide a bunch of jobs. And in those cases in particular, high wage jobs. And they create a metric assload *   of economic activity for all of the local vendors they are using for their plumbing repairs, supplies of all kinds, document disposal, all kinds of stuff!

* (metric assload: the amount of freight that a European Donkey can effectively haul.)

    Even if you never go to that local college or never need treatment from a hospital one time in your whole life (unlikely, but wow I hope that for you) you and your business benefit from the economy created by the orgs and the jobs and business they provide to your town.

        Social services? What is the benefit to someone who always has food, a home, a job, trauma-free children to have an organization in his or her city that helps those people? It’s not so hard to find the cost to taxpayers those problems cause. It’s pretty easy to convey the correlation between lack of those services and rising crime, declining education -- I can think of 6 more, but you get the point.

What about arts? Arts orgs generally have this one down. It works differently, but community need is often number one for them. To have a vibrant community, arts are essential. And I don’t know right off where to look, but I bet there are positive correlations to be found between happiness/satisfaction metrics and the diversity and availability of arts in cities. I know there is excellent data about academic performance and involvement for at-risk kids with more arts exposure.

   Meaningful Volunteer Opportunities! I bet you could get the research on how important providing meaningful volunteer opportunities is to people in your community, Volunteers are also people you are serving, from your community, in a different way.

   The point is, when we talk to stakeholders about why we’re needed we too often focus on the need of the target population we’re benefiting directly, and not all of the ways we benefit the community at large.

3.      Problem and Need Number Three: YOUR need (and the key to framing it right).

Appeal writers and gift officers who have conversations with donors are very aware of this and very good at making an explicit and specific ask. Grant writers tend to leave too much implied sometimes. But all three should keep a couple of things in mind that will make the difference between good and straight up superba-bomb. 

   To back up so it all comes together, you’ve made a strong case that

1.      The people you serve in whatever way you serve them have a problem and need an org like yours.

And

A. You illustrated that with a real human being story.

B.     You didn’t just use google’s stats, you used YOUR NUMBERS.

2.      The community needs you too and you help solve some of its problems.

Now you need to tell your donors, supporters and funders specifically and explicitly what you need with three important frames:

·        Frame your need as the PRINCIPLE FIRST.  Can I say that again?  Put the PRINCIPLE, the mission, the vision, the real point, FIRST. Because yeah, you need this new program or program expansion or program improvement or piece of equipment or renovated space/new building, new evidence based practice, new database, more staff, whatever it is, but what you really need is:

 To serve with higher quality or to serve more people with the problem/need/opportunity or both.

That’s the point. That’s the Principle. The mission. The reason you’re here. So, for that mission’s sake when you get to the explicit, specific ask, Put that first.  We need to serve more people with even better services, and we can’t do that without your $$$ (A Specific amount) for this expansion/equipment/training, etc. Don’t ask for the thing. Ask for the reason for the thing. The thing is nothing without it’s connection to more service, better service or both.

·        “Why me?”  You’ve spent your copy, presentation slides, appeal letter, grant proposal, content, all of it making sure the donor can see WHY YOU are the best choice for their support (more on that here.). But you are only half the equation.

For a true relationship to blossom, they need to know why you picked them.  As best you can, tell them, explicitly, why they are important to YOU. Why you need THEIR grant. Why you need THEIR help to volunteer in this specific capacity. Why you need THEM to work for you, partner with you, give to you.

  Ever dated someone or started a friendship where you told them the reasons you like them so much and think they are great, but… they never told you,  you know,  why they like you?

    I mean, if they never really say what they appreciate about you, maybe they don’t think you’re that great?

  So tell funders and any supporter you get to talk to, and as best you can, anyone you are addressing by mail, email or social media content, why they are the ones for you. And not just in the thank you or the report, but in the ask too.  

·        Speaking of relationships… You have to clearly communicate YOUR problem or need, and why you need THEM specifically…WITHOUT sounding needy.  That’s not an easy tightrope to walk.

The really good grant writers know the formula and use it to answer the dreaded sustainability question. Everyone else should consciously use it too.  It’s just a slight tweak on “Principle First when expressing your need” above. Essentially, we’ll be fine without you. We’ll be even better with you.  Here’s a couple of tight rope walking example sentences to make it clear. They have three parts:   

We are really NOT needy                                   AND                   we really need you.   

"We’re financially stable enough to provide services here for years    at the same time,   we can’t expand those services without a grant from you."

"There’s no question we can still operate this program at some level  the only question is   the level of quality."

"This event is always amazingly successful,  entirely because   we have people like you on the committee. With YOU  I think we’d break a record."

Did you notice I didn’t use any contrast transitions like “but or “however?”  I do sometimes, probably always if I haven’t planned what I’m going to say. It’s not a no-no or anything, but I think working with addition or causal transitions might help the “We’re fine; we could be better with you” statement avoid any cognitive dissonance for the person I’m communicating with.

And there you have it. When nonprofits are asking for support and correctly starting with a Problem/Need, they too often miss:

1.      Your numbers- even more important than google’s numbers.

2.      The Problem/need of the Community beyond the people you serve directly.

3.      Your Need- the principle, then the specific thing.

4.      Why you need this specific person, Why they are important to you.

5.      We need you, and we’re not needy.  

I think this can really help you get a little more mileage out of whatever ask you’re making to support the good and NEEDED work you do. I hope it does! Keep on fighting the good fight and my best wishes for you.

If the work your nonprofit does is FAR better than the support it gets, I’d love to help. I’d be happy to hear from you on LinkedIn or my site: www.whywisefundrasing.com or reach out to me at thom@whywisefundraising.com