10 Ways to Stretch Your Small Nonprofit’s Development Budget - Bring in More Friends and Funds With These Tips

How can a small local nonprofit simultaneously spread the word about their organization - and ultimately get more donors - with minimal impact on the budget? According to Karen Zapp, author:

Tap local pools of talentWith a small staff, it's likely you neither have the time nor all of the expertise needed to accomplish your marketing, fundraising, and awareness campaigns. As you tap into local pools of talent you'll not only find that expertise, but also spread the word about what you do along the way. This leads to more donors.

Nearby college or university: Ask department heads for class projects. Example student assignments are ...

·    Journalism: Writing PSAs, press releases, OP-EDs, and cover live events.

·    Art or graphic design: Creating an infographic for your annual report; images for website; graphics for an appeal; etc.

·    Film & photography: Creating videos and taking action and/or compelling photos from an outsider's viewpoint (a prospective donor).

·    Computer science: Enhancements to your website. Or convert all or parts of site to a CRM platform so you can EASILY revise and add content on static pages.

·    Chamber of Commerce: Attend events. Join a committee. Find people interested in what you do and partner with them. For example: A choral group and a music store. At a choral concert the music store sponsors light refreshments or helps pay for the programs.

·    Speak at civic clubs: Do not promote your nonprofit. Instead, talk on topics business people are interested in such as leadership, finding good help, or stretching your budget in challenging economic times. Pull examples from your nonprofit which is an indirect way of promoting your organization while helping the audience.

·    Join Toastmasters. Practice speaking as you spread the word.

·    Community calendars. Post event and other info to both online and print calendars.

Other ways to spread the word and/or find talent:

·    Stay-at-home parents often have incredible work experience and skills. And don't forget your current donor pool! Could be lots of talent there as well.

·    Negotiate with radio stations for PSAs or event promos. Consider non-peak times. For very short time slots they may not charge at all.

·    Local high schools often need community service activities for students. It all depends on your mission, but two examples are landscape cleanup, and reading to seniors in elder care facilities.

·    Have fun and/or intriguing booths at community events. Get college students to create engaging posters, infographics, super short videos or fun puzzles for the kids. The puzzles (e.g. word grams and pictures to color) are about your nonprofit and they also draw in the parents (prospective donors). REMEMBER: For booths to work you must dare to be different.

·    Whenever using students, stay-at-home parents, or other pools of talent ... realize it's doubtful they have professional fundraising experience. So give them quality examples. For instance: No video examples? Select three or four from YouTube. Specify what you like about each and what you want for your nonprofit video.

All these efforts will support your current development efforts and lead to more donors. In addition, you'll simultaneously spread the word and find people with more of the skills you need while having minimal impact on your budget. What ideas can you add to this list?