Sustainable Fundraising Creates Success

“I need your help” the email said.

Kristi Werre was under pressure to raise a lot of money and fast.

Her one big donor had just offered to pay her salary for a year so she could focus on learning how to fund her small (but growing) nonprofit.

So, she reached out to get help to create a fundraising plan that would generate the revenue she needed while playing to her strengths.

We tallied up what she’d need so we knew what the goal was, and it was close to 6 figures.

Yes, it was daunting to someone who hadn’t done professional fundraising before, but Kristi was committed to the children served by her organization, Illuminate India.

It quickly became clear that child sponsorships would be an ideal way to generate ongoing revenue to cover the cost of kids in her programs. We calculated what it cost per child in each of her programs and Kristi was able to use those numbers in many ways – appeals, newsletters, Giving Tuesday, and events. And it worked.

Donors could quickly and easily understand their donation’s impact and the amount was so low, it was an easy “yes” for many people. In fact, Kristi’s sponsorship effort has grown quite large over the past couple of years and covers the full cost of many children receiving education and physical therapy.

The real key to donor-based fundraising is strong relationships and Kristi is a natural. She does a great job of keeping donors in the loop with hand-written notes and cards, photos, and video.

By valuing her donors over their donations, Kristi has created sustainable funding for her organization, creating stability and positioning them for growth.