How Your Fundraising Style Can Make You a Leader

by George Konetes | Mar 26, 2021 | Fundraising, Leadership

Every communication and message your organization sends out is an opportunity. It is an opportunity to raise funds, but it is also an opportunity to establish your organization as a leader. People may give a gift to help with an urgent need, but people become partners with ministries that they see as leaders.

Every nonprofit has distinctives. These are the traits, the elements of who you are and what you do that are different from other organizations. Even if your work is very similar to that of another ministry, there is something about you or how you do that work that is unique. This point of difference is an opportunity to rally people. It gives you a banner to raise, and a way to lead.

If every message, every appeal, every ad, mentions or somehow imprints your distinctives into the stream of thought, then something will begin to happen over time. People will stop seeing you as just an organization that does something. They will begin to see you as authentic, passionate, and different. Even if your cause is generic, your distinctives elevate your credibility and reveal your heart. Instead of being flat, you have texture. Instead of blending in, you stand out.

People want to follow an organization that is doing something that no one else is doing or doing it in a way that no one else is doing it. The more you infuse what is unique about your work into your communications, the more able you are to connect with and influence people who are drawn to your distinctives.

People are all different, and they have different tastes. Not everyone will be drawn to you, but even those who do not resonate with your cause can still respect that you are doing something different.

Of course, being different in and of itself does not make you a leader. But embracing and marching forward down the unique path that you are called to walk, very well may.

Need to make a strategic adjustment in how your organization communicates? Let’s talk!