overhead shot of people standing in a circle and stacking hands (Photo by iStock/pixelfit)

Right now, many nonprofits are asking foundations for more money, and for good reasons. Some have lost federal funding, and some are impacted by the ending of federal programs, but—especially in the social, racial, and environmental justice movements—foundations are overwhelmed and threatened. Some foundations are considering stepping back from their principles and not funding those causes anymore.

We need to think strategically and long-term about defending and strengthening the nonprofit sector. Too many of our organizations are overly dependent on foundation grants. A side effect of nonprofits becoming accustomed to large foundation grants is that they do not develop diverse fundraising streams, and as a result—in moments of crisis—find themselves without experienced development teams, whose years of working to build relationships would now be crucial. We see deep investments in fundraising from large institutions like universities and hospitals, but it remains uncommon amongst most nonprofits. Social, racial, and environmental justice movements have often treated fundraising like a dirty chore we have to do (and engaging with the wealthy as something onerous). The vast majority of nonprofits have never had a major giving program.

However, 78 percent of giving comes from individuals, not foundations. Foundations can be marvelous catalysts, launchers, and expediters, of course, and there are causes that can only be funded by a foundation, lacking a natural constituency or community to support it. But real power and giving comes from individuals, and that’s been in decline for many years now. There’s been a lot of talk about this but not a lot of action (and certainly not a lot of funding to address it). It’s commendable when foundations are giving more money to their grantees, but it’s not a long-term solution. We’re in this for years to come.

Fundraising is more than just money: When you raise a large part of the money from your community, it strengthens the organization’s program, as well as creating self-reliance and empowerment. You see “your funders” every day at the market, as one of my organizations says. When people raise money and better their community, children watch their parents not just complain but work to change their small world.

What needs to happen right now is a massive new investment in boosting the fundraising power of great nonprofits across this country, and with a heavy focus on building individual giving (especially organizations supporting marginalized populations). True philanthropic power is community power through giving, both small and major gifts. Individual giving at all levels is much more resilient and resistant to government interference.

You might think these times would raise the alarm and that people would be scrambling to support fundraising. But I help lead the first Latino Fundraising Institute in the country, and I can tell you, authoritatively, that that’s not happening. There are a few good funders who see the long-term and the need to strengthen nonprofits like never before. But you could count those on one hand.

So how do we get this done? Here are six things we can do:

  1. Fund the professional development that’s working: Support organizations (like the one I lead) that are already working to strengthen and support fundraising, especially for communities that are underserved: Somos El Poder, the AADO, First Nations Development Institute, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, APRA, and others.
  2. Support small and medium nonprofits: Training and fundraising are overwhelmingly targeted at large, wealthy institutions that can pay top dollar. There is literally no inexpensive way right now to learn fundraising for leaders at small and medium nonprofits. This is particularly important because nonprofits that support people of color and other underserved communities to be smaller.
  3. Endow fundraising positions: Fundraising at nonprofits is often the most underfunded area of a nonprofit. If we endow these positions at key nonprofits, it'll create much more resilience. Ideally, one would endow a small three-person team for the best results depending on the size of the nonprofit.
  4. Talk to fundraisers! I have found in my 40-year career a huge chasm between funders and fundraisers. As a fundraiser, I don’t think our world is well understood or supported. If you want to understand true nonprofit resiliency, talk to us. I would welcome a major foundation initiative to do this.
  5. Don’t sideline us in “capacity building”: Any time you talk about fundraising with foundations, we are almost automatically sidelined as a vendor for “capacity building,” which almost always has a tiny budget. We have to challenge this mindset. Why isn’t fundraising funded in program portfolios? Building powerful fundraising is building a powerful program, and it’s only common sense: funders cannot possibly meet all the needs of grantees.
  6. Support the use of prospect research: One of the most powerful tools in fundraising is mostly not used by small and medium nonprofits. Simply having a list of the best individuals, foundations, and corporations to ask for support for your particular cause is a pivotal tool that very few small and medium nonprofits ever use. Foundations could help small and medium nonprofits by paying for prospect research consultants to help them build their prospect lists for example.

We need to move fundraising into the center of the discussion about nonprofit resilience and the survival of our sector. Inequality in fundraising has plagued our sector for years, which the stresses of a newly hostile political atmosphere will only make worse. We all want resilient and powerful growing nonprofits doing good work in our world, but only by funding fundraising and growing the field can we have a resilient nonprofit sector for our grantees and for all organizations working on the issues we care about.

Read more stories by Armando Zumaya.