Your Fundraising Team Needs More Connectors

Read time: 3 min

👋🏾 Hey! I’m Sid and this is The Philanthropy Futurist, a weekly advice column preparing you for the future of the nonprofit sector. Each Friday, I tackle reader questions about measuring impact, driving growth, and managing your nonprofit.

This Week’s Newsletter at a glance:

• Your Fundraising Team Needs More Connectors

• Philanthropy News From This Week

• Sid’s Book Recommendation

Your Fundraising Team Needs More Connectors

The next major fundraising opportunity for nonprofits might not be sitting in a donor database.

It might be sitting in the phones, group chats, and everyday relationships of the people who already believe in your mission.

Small fundraising teams can produce amazing results when they stop treating supporters as an audience, and start treating them as an extension of their fundraising infrastructure.

Here are 5 ways to make that happen...

1. Turn one donor into a room full of introductions

Instead of asking supporters to donate again, ask them to introduce you to 3 people who care about the same issue. Make the request specific: a business owner, a Creator, or someone who leads a local organization. You're not just pursuing contributions, you are building relationship pathways. Always remember that.

2. Create a "fundraising franchise" for your supporters

Give passionate supporters a simple, repeatable fundraising playbook they can run in their own communities. One story, one campaign page, one goal, and the freedom to personalize their outreach. Your fundraising team can build the playbook infrastructure, and your supporters can be the ones to expand the reach. Just try it.

3. Build campaigns around existing communities, not just your own audience

Partner with book clubs, fitness groups, professional networks, churches, and online communities that already gather around a shared interest. Design a fundraising challenge that fits naturally into what they already do. The goal isn't to convince strangers to care. It's to give existing communities a reason to act together. Makes sense? Good, now go ahead and try it.

4. Make impact updates shareable before you make them impressive

Create short, visual updates that supporters can easily share in a group chat or on social media. Show what a contribution accomplished, who benefited, and what comes next. When supporters can confidently explain your impact in their own words, they become so much more than donors... they become storytellers!

5. Reward participation, not just fundraising totals

Recognize the person who made the introduction, hosted the first gathering, shared the most meaningful story, or brought a new community into the mission. Not every contribution needs to be financial. Track and celebrate ALL the actions that help your organization build long-term fundraising capacity.

The nonprofits that do well with small teams won't necessarily always be the ones with the largest donor lists... BUT they can be the ones that understand how to turn trust into participation, participation into relationships, and relationships into collective action.

Your team doesn't have to carry the entire fundraising mission alone, it just needs to build something other people want to carry with you.

Until next time y'all ✌🏾

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Philanthropy News From This Week

• Do national DAF sponsors give differently than foundations?

• Is Trump weaponizing the IRS against nonprofits?

• What motivates people to give anonymously?

• Does Gen Z Tithe?

Sid’s Book Recommendation

Each week, I recommend a book or film that has impacted my life in a positive way. My recommendation this week is:

Deep Work by Cal Newport

This book introduces the concept of "deep work," which the author defines as the ability to focus without distraction on cognitively demanding tasks. The book serves as a compelling guide on how-to cultivate focused concentration in a world that’s constantly pulling for your attention. Learn more.

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