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So, you’d like to transition to a nonprofit, eh?

By Mike Apfelberg - President of United Way of Greater Nashua | Jul 17, 2021

I recently had a very interesting conversation with a friend of mine who is transitioning from the for-profit world to the non-profit world. Let us call my friend Janice (not her real name). Janice has taken on the role of Director of Development for a fledgling nonprofit and wanted some insight on what her new world might look like. Before coming to work at United Way, I too had spent my career in the for-profit world, both in industry and more recently as the owner of a local, family business, so our paths run a little bit in parallel. I am not sure if my thoughts were insightful or not, but at least they reflect a bit of my lived experience.

Let me start by saying that this article might make some of you feel a little bit squeamish or manipulated. I’m going to discuss nonprofit marketing and a little bit of psychology. Please know that the thoughts I’m presenting aren’t meant to be underhanded or devious. It’s kind of just the way it is. What we’ll be talking about is how to convince somebody to get on board with something you really believe in: the mission of your organization. And in the end, that should be a good thing.

Firstly, you should know what the title “Director of Development” means. In the nonprofit world, what this means is chief fundraiser and salesperson. The person who is constantly on the hunt for funds to sustain the mission of the organization. The person who some of you might have experienced with their sales pitch, hat in hand, hoping for some level of financial support.

Knowing this, my initial thought for Janice was that she should think of herself as not so different from her old world. In that world, she owned an interior-design type business. So, when a customer spent money with her, their hope was that their life would be made somehow better by changing their living space. Perhaps it would be more comfortable or functional. Perhaps more aesthetically pleasing. In the end, we agreed that the actual product she was selling was the feeling and experience of having a more comfortable living space. If you sit back and think about it, most any product any of us purchases is ultimately a feeling or experience. Even something as functional as a new shirt, car, or box of Corn Flakes… in all likelihood we are buying the good feeling that thing provides us. Somewhere on Maslow’s Hierarchy it fits in, and even if it’s right at the base, it provides a feeling that is good.

In the nonprofit world, it is the same. I asked Janice to tell me what product she is selling in her nonprofit. For the record, they are an international nonprofit that works with children in the third world. In my opinion, when somebody purchases their product, what they are doing is donating to their organization to gain the feeling or experience of having changed the world for the better through the work of their organization. That is what the donor is buying: the feeling of changing the world. That feels good. It makes you feel like you have done something to help your fellow man. It helps you to feel important and valuable. Each of us wants that feeling, and I would argue that this feeling of helping occupies a prominent place on Maslow’s hierarchy.

My challenge to every nonprofit person, therefore, would be to think long and hard about what the product is that you are selling to a potential donor and that you translate that into the feeling you give that donor. Why will that person feel good when they support you? In our case, we are selling an elusive product: making the community stronger, safer, smarter, and healthier by investing in health, education, and financial stability. Perhaps your nonprofit gives the feeling of making the world better by feeding vulnerable kids. Perhaps you make people feel like they are helping to end homelessness for veterans. Perhaps you are reducing the suffering caused by the inhumane treatment of dogs in a puppy mill. Whatever the mission is, it is critical to translate that mission into a product which delivers that good-feeling rush of dopamine to a donor.

Something else I shared with Janice was that it is important not to start out asking for money. It is much more important to start out asking for time. The person who donates their time to your mission is what we would call a volunteer. Volunteering is the way in which people get connected to the work you do. When they volunteer, they learn how you are changing lives and see the actual impact of that work firsthand. When a person sees that impact, down the road they are much more likely to also become a financial supporter, but it is more effective to ask for time first and money later. Oftentimes I have seen nonprofits focus their efforts on the fundraising and neglect the fact that the people they are asking might not be sold at all. Volunteering is the best way to make the sale. In fact, volunteers will often sell themselves on the need to donate money without needing to be asked. That said, I have also seen organizations feel bad or are resistant about asking their volunteers to become donors. I would argue that good resource development efforts always incorporate volunteering and ask their volunteers to also contribute financially, at whatever level they feel comfortable.

The last thing I shared with Janice was that good development efforts should always include a heavy element of looking for foundation and corporate support. We should all keep in mind that while there are many generous individuals in our community, that this is also a limited pool. It is important to keep in mind that when you ask a person for money (or time) that you are competing with literally everything else that they do and/or spend money on. There is a tradeoff involved in the calculus. For example, if I volunteer an hour at a United Way Mobile Food Pantry, that is an hour I cannot spend at my kid’s baseball game. If I donate a dollar, that is a dollar I cannot spend on gas or a vacation. And it is also an hour or dollar which I cannot give to another nonprofit. So, as nonprofits we need to be mindful of the fact that we are not just competing with one another, but we are competing with EVERYTHING. The fact that we are organized as nonprofits with a mission does not make us all that different from for-profits. We are all still selling a product and competing for time and finances. Therefore, I believe it is important to also seek resources beyond individuals, and this includes governmental, corporate, and foundation funding. My little tip to Janice was to think about who their direct competitors are. We decided that UNICEF and Save the Children had some similar products. My suggestion was to go to their competitor’s website and scroll through them for who their major supporters are. UNICEF has an entire page called “OUR SUPPORTERS.” What I have encouraged Janice to do is to go to that page, research those supporters, and start sending out some letters of introduction describing their mission and inquiring what the process would be to obtain funding. In so doing, they will be enlarging the pool of financial support well beyond our community and its many over-asked individuals.

I really enjoyed this conversation with my friend. I view it as a personal and professional mission to help folks transition over to the nonprofit world if that is their desire. I want them to succeed and truly want the organizations they support to become as successful as possible. For me, that lies at the core of our mission at United Way as the community’s backbone nonprofit. I am a believer that a rising tide lifts all boats, which if you think about it, is just another way of saying that GREAT THINGS HAPPEN WHEN WE LIVE UNITED.

Mike Apfelberg is president of United Way of Greater Nashua.

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