It’s Always an Election Year for the Nation’s Charities

To the Editor:

As the nation gears up for a presidential contest this November, it’s a good time to remember that we as nonprofits face the continuous scrutiny of voters as well. On our ballots, no candidate gets a pass. Whether individual donors or corporate funders, your voters examine your operations with a keen eye toward efficiency and effectiveness.

Your donors vote with their dollars — every day. Through grant applications, appeal letters, phone calls, your supporters are asked to invest in our mission. Ultimately, it is these voters who decide our fate, and we are up for reelection every year.

As every fund raiser knows, these are treacherous times for nonprofits. No one is immune from the still-horrific economy, even longstanding nonprofits. In Chicago alone, 207 nonprofits closed their doors last year.

For those of us who survive, without endowments, it is a tricky business. We are called on to do more with less. We consolidate staff positions, freeze salaries, cut benefits, and combine departments, all with an eye toward savings.

With that in mind, here are some tips for coming out a winner at the voting booth:

• Get out the vote. The key here is to keep your donors informed and motivated to give. Newsletters, an updated Web site, appeals, annual reports, phone calls, special events — these are all means of communicating with your voters. Never take a donor’s interest or commitment for granted. This takes work, all year long.
• Reach out to new voters and the undecided. This means reaching beyond your traditional donor base to potential givers. At our agency, we launched a 5K race to attract new residents of our rapidly gentrifying Chicago neighborhood. Not only did we attract new dollars, but we extended a welcome to newcomers who may not be acquainted with our agency.
• Kiss the babies. Keep it personal. Remember that development is about relationship — between your agency and your donors. Like all relationships, this takes work. Donors give out of a personal commitment to your mission; invite your donors to be partners in your programs. There’s nothing like an active donor rolling up his or her sleeves and packing grocery bags for your emergency food program. Never stop creating ways for your donors to be intimately connected to your mission.
• Build your organization. Staff and board can’t go it alone. Winning organizations cultivate strong corps of volunteers who provide the muscle and talent to keep the organization moving at the grass-roots level. One enthusiastic volunteer translates into dozens more. Enthusiasm is contagious.
• Deliver on your promises. Unlike politicians, who can renege on campaign promises when the polls close and the going gets tough, nonprofits have to do what they say they do. Our donors — both individuals and foundations — hold our feet to the fire.

As in all campaigns, it’s important to focus on your message — why you work so hard to do what you do. It might be helpful to put a new twist on some wisdom uttered by a political pundit a few years back: It’s the mission, stupid!

Marcy Darin
Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations
Cathedral Shelter
Chicago