February 5, 2004 | Read Time: 1 minute
Fundraising in Times of Crisis
by Kim Klein
Many nonprofit groups are struggling because of cutbacks in government financing, the economic downturn, and competition among the large number of nonprofit organizations, writes Kim Klein, publisher of the biweekly Grassroots Fundraising Journal, in Oakland, Calif.
Her book seeks to help organizations—particularly small nonprofit groups working for social change—respond to, if not avoid, crises that may arise from these challenges.
Ms. Klein says a nonprofit group is in crisis if it must make serious organizational changes to continue operating. The author advises organizations in such situations to form what she calls a “crisis task force,” charged with overseeing the group during the crisis, drafting a fund-raising plan, and figuring out how to prevent the crisis from recurring. She says the task force must assess the group’s immediate needs, which might include either reassuring staff members that their jobs are safe or laying them off, hiring an interim director, negotiating the payment of bills, and dealing with the news media.
As a general rule, writes Ms. Klein, organizations should focus on finding new ways to raise money rather than trying to cut from their budgets. She says that many charities rely too heavily on grants from foundations and government and are reluctant to ask for money from individuals. Yet, she argues, individuals should be the focus of emergency fund raising, and charities should have a reliable system for keeping track of gifts and thanking donors.
Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 989 Market Street, San Francisco, Calif. 94103-1741; (317) 572-3986 or (800) 956-7739; fax (317) 572-4002; http://www.josseybass.com; 175 pages; $24.95; I.S.B.N. 0-7879-6917-6.
