Think Beyond the Gala: Where is the Money in my Small Community?

with Brittany Kirk from Cloudbreak Collective

Small, rural, and volunteer-run organizations do not have access to the same wealth of resources that urban nonprofits have. To raise money, we often need to search within our communities for people and groups that are connected to us and care about our missions.

As overstretched nonprofit leaders in these small organizations, we often default to the usual suspects to fuel our operations: the annual event or gala, a few consistent donors, a local business or two, and our city or county grantmaking agency. Because we frequently run into donors at the grocery store or in our neighborhoods, we sometimes feel sheepish about making a direct ask for financial support in our messaging. This may leave valuable opportunities on the table.

In this workshop, we will explore tools and strategies to equip small, rural, and volunteer-run organizations to identify new groups of people who are connected to, care about, and have the capacity to give to their cause beyond the usual suspects.