It’s not bad to get back to basics.

I am hearing a lot about AI in the nonprofit sector. 

Last year, all anyone could talk about was crypto.

Before that it was…something else…I forget now.

I remember back in 2009 when I was running my first individual giving program it was Google Ads. OH the time I wasted trying to understand Google Ads!!!

In fundraising, there’s always some hot new trend that people are telling you to harness if you really want to “take your program to the next level.”

Here’s the problem with all of that. You have to have a strong foundation to build a next level onto. If your house doesn’t have a foundation, any additional story you add to your house is going to sink it further into the mud. You can’t learn to run if you don’t know how to walk. You can’t cook a gourmet meal if you don’t know how to sauté an onion.

These trendy topics and shiny objects are sinking small nonprofits, and the pursuit of them is burning out newer and/or resource-restricted nonprofit leaders. You go to a conference to learn and feel more empowered…but you leave feeling defeated before you ever get out of the gate with your fundraising program.

And you know what, I don’t think it’s any nonprofit professional’s fault for thinking that they have to chase the latest trend. The way nonprofit professionals are marketed to is meant to make these trendy things feel necessary. There are days when even I think, “gee, I better get on top of this AI thing” before I shake myself and realize I need to stay in my lane.

I just attended a nonprofit conference, and I left feeling dizzy. Look, there are so many cool ways out there to enhance development and fundraising and marketing in the nonprofit sphere, and I’m not at all criticizing the consultants and tech platforms that are finding ways to harness things like AI and crypto in the nonprofit space. I have a client for whom I think crypto will be an important giving channel, and I love that The Giving Block has built an incredible tool and supportive resources for that…and I referred my client onto them. (And I’m delighted to say that my client is having a great experience with them.) 

I’m not criticizing other consultants and companies for offering their products and services. Many of them are absolutely amazing at what they do, and I often rely on these consultants and companies to take my clients to “the next level” after I’ve worked with them. 

But 75% of the nonprofits out there aren’t ready for those services. Many conferences and consultants aren’t talking to the nonprofits who have under 10 staff and under $1 million budgets. Unfortunately, that’s the overwhelming majority of people who sign up for free conferences and webinars. I know because once upon a time I was one of them.

When I was new to fundraising, I went the free webinar path to learning for the first six months. After those first six months, I felt so defeated. I could never, ever keep up with all the trends and the “must haves” for my fundraising program. I couldn’t understand how to get my small shop from where it was to where all these webinars told me I should be. Every webinar left me more confused! What was wrong with me?!?

Then I realized, maybe I’m not the problem. I stopped attending webinars and just started following my instincts. How would I want to be treated or talked to if I was my donor? I let that guide. Suddenly, I started getting results. 

After that, I started ignoring the “trends.” I only signed up for webinars that would teach me the basics…the tried and forever true wisdom. I started implementing that, and I started getting even more results. 

That’s when I realized that it’s not about the shiny objects, it’s about the foundation. Having a solid foundation is the key to growing a donor program. When you have a solid foundation, then you can master the basics. When you’ve got a handle on the basics, then you can enhance it with a new shiny object every year until it shines. 

I built a fundraising program from an unsteady base to the bright, shiny, fast-growing program of my dreams. Then I went to another nonprofit and tried it again…foundation first, then basics, then enhancements. It worked again. Then I did it again…and it worked again.

I realized I loved building the programs, laying that “boring” but oh-so-necessary foundation. Once the foundation was set and the basic floor was built, then we could add level on level with all these cool tools and trends people are talking about. 

That’s what I preach…not trends, but a system.

A system that will work for you forever. A system that will adapt to the trends as they arise, and allow you to leverage these trends to greatest advantage!

To be completely honest with you…I don’t know how to use AI for your nonprofit, and I don’t follow crypto trends. I’m delighted that other people are, and that I know who those people are so I can call on them or send my clients to them when it’s warranted. 

But using AI to draft your appeals isn’t going to revolutionize your fundraising if you aren’t stewarding your donor base well. Offering a method for donors to give via Crypto isn’t going to help when you feel like you can’t build your donor base in the first place. Google Ads didn’t do a thing for me when the donor database I inherited was an out-of-date mess that I couldn’t easily pull information that meant anything. 

I don’t chase trends because I don’t need to in order to help nonprofit organizations thrive. Trends aren’t what I do…and they are not what my clients need. 

Most people are coming to me because they can’t get started. They have an amazing cause, and they don’t understand why they can’t get their organization off the ground. Or they are doing well with grants, but don’t know where to start with individual donors. Crypto and AI ain’t gonna fix that.

I developed the FIT Framework for Fundraising Sustainability not based on the latest trends, but based on what I saw working time and again, over and over. The Framework helps you make sense of the latest trends and where they can be leveraged to enhance your fundraising program. 

The best thing about the FIT Framework is that once I teach it, I watch as the crowd’s shoulders finally relax and jaws unclench. Finally, I’m telling people to let go of things, stop hustling, and find an easier path to fundraising success. Don’t worry about AI or crypto or whatever is trending next week…the trendy, shiny things will be there when you’re ready for them. 

But to get fundraising results, you have to get focused and you actually have to say “no” to a lot of things. When my audiences or clients realize that, they actually get pretty giddy.

When I get invited to speaking gigs and conferences, I try to make sure that I'm offering information and education that synthesizes strategy and what my colleagues are talking about. I don’t want to be adding noise. I'm trying to teach how to put it all together, not add one more thing to an overworked ED or DD's plate that they will then feel they failed at. I've been on the other side of that equation, and it does not feel good. So I try to talk to my audience the way I wish more consultants had talked to me when I was starting out. (Or maybe I'm just trying to heal the wounded baby fundraiser inside me... 😂) 

So let me give you permission today. Stop chasing the trends. It’s okay if you don’t use AI. It’s perfectly fine to not accept crypto donations. You don’t have to be in all the places all the time. 

What you need to do is lay a firm foundation:

• Be clear about your mission and what you do. Have a strong case for support.

• Know who your mission will resonate and how to draw them to your cause.

• Make sure you have a well-curated donor database that is reliable and tracking the things that matter.

• Don’t make donors feel like ATMs, make them feel like partners.

• Deliver impact, and communicate impact back to your donors.

These are things that worked beautifully 10 years ago, and they work beautifully now. These are things that work for small nonprofits and big nonprofits, new nonprofits and established nonprofits. These are things that work whether your mission focus is in the arts, education, advocacy, STEM, or something else. 

And make no mistake, if you can’t do these things, none of the trendy things–be they AI or crypto, galas or auctions, peer-to-peer or monthly giving, Google Ads or Meta Threads–is going to build your program and make it better.

So release the chasing of trends, and embrace the simplicity of doing the basics really well and with ease. And schedule a consultation with me if you want support in doing that.