b'DAYTODAY FINDING FUNDSRoy Jones, CFREWhat Not to Do Fundraising in a tough economy M ake no mistake about it, 2024 is goingorganizations that survive 2024 will be those that to be a tough year for nonprofits.invest in fund development, not cut it. Stay the Inflation continues to soar and thecourse. Do not decrease your spending on devel-stock market is going to remain flat at best.opment. Your net revenue will not be as good, Donors with capacity will give, but it is goingbut in the long run you will be in better shape to be very intentional. They want to see impactretaining your staff and maintaining your current fundraising expense level. 2. Do not overspend. Tighten the program belt.2024 is not the year to launch new programs and expand spending. This is going to be a year to stabilize spending and maintain what you have. Identify those programs that are working well and those that are the most profitable to your ministry. Then do more of that. Focus on what you do well and what you do efficiently.3. Do not lose donors. Retention is mission critical.This year it is vital that you focus sooner on retention. Rather than following a standard in a tough economy, especially if they are asked18-month cycle, do not let donors lapse past 12 to increase giving. months before you sound the alarm bells. Begin We have seen tough times before. Let me tellreaching out earlier in the year for renewed gifts. you what you should not do: Create an aggressive win-back effort to get lapsed donors back on board faster. Most impor-1. Do not fire the fundraising force, even iftantly, emphasize the importance of monthly Roy has worked with more thangiving is down! giving programs. People want a donor experi-70 missions, shelters, and foodGiving to your ministry is going to decline. Getence in which they can set it and forget it. banks. He offers Citygate Network members two free hours ofready for it, but do not fire the people in chargeSustained-donor programs are the future of training annually. In 2022, heof raising income. As a matter of fact, fight forall giving. Nothing makes a stronger case for volunteered more than 200 hoursmore fundraisers on your team. Work to consoli- monthly giving than a downed economy. Auto-serving Citygate Network members with major giving, marketing,date your staff, and let your development peoplemated giving, whether monthly or quarterly, is and directresponse fundraisingknow how important they are to the organizationeasier for the donor, and it becomes the lifeline support. You can reach Roy atthis year more than any other. The nonprofitfor any charity. \x03 rjones@fitfundraising.com.50 WWW.CITYGATENETWORK.ORG JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024'