Turning Volunteers into Fundraisers
“How does a nonprofit get Millennials to give?” I wish I could offer a secret formula to answer this question, but my experience as the co-founder and executive director of YCore, a social impact fellowship for young professionals, has shown me that they’re still reluctant to give more than a few hundred dollars each year. Fortunately, one thing has worked: having Millennials ask other Millennials.
Building fundraising into the YCore fellowship has been key to our financial sustainability. In our four-month, after-work program, Fellows (mostly early-career Millennials working in tech) gain nonprofit experience, build skills like fundraising and design thinking, learn from industry experts, and join a robust community of changemakers. Since our founding in 2014, we’ve partnered with 13 Bay Area nonprofits, including Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, KivaUS, Compass Family Services and La Cocina.
Distributing much of the fundraising across the 75 Fellows we’ll reach in 2017 means that we can take pressure off our one-person staff, increase awareness about our program, and make fundraising a norm when people choose to engage with our organization. A few factors make this possible: getting young professionals invested in our organization’s work; making fundraising a natural part of engaging with our organization; and equipping Fellows with the tools to ask.
Getting Millennials involved invested in our organization’s work
Fellows begin their fundraising experience the moment they apply to YCore, by convincing our interview panel that YCore will be transformative for their social impact goals and that they are worth YCore’s investment. Then, in our fundraising workshop, they ask themselves, “Where would I be on my social impact journey without my YCore experience?” This question reframes our fundraising ask into an opportunity. Fellows must reflect on what they gain from the program and to focus on the impact YCore has. Many of our Fellows struggled to find meaningful ways to engage with social impact and their communities before YCore. The chance to engage in a supportive, learning-focused environment with other like-minded people allows them to stay connected to the work they’re doing, even when it becomes challenging. In this context, fundraising is a way to ensure that future Fellows can find the same meaning and impact that they’ve found through YCore.
Making fundraising part of the journey
As a nonprofit, YCore regularly confronts the myth that time and money are the same thing. As our only employee, I could spend the bulk of my time either building an impactful program, or fundraising for a program that wouldn’t be worth fundraising for. Our sustainability depends on our Fellows’ willingness to fundraise themselves.
When we initially asked Fellows to help out by fundraising, they told us to make it an up-front requirement. Does our $1500+ commitment turn people away? Of course. Yet, we always have plenty of qualified applicants, and by asking for fundraising, rather than a membership fee, we can make the program accessible to a larger income spectrum. Fellows are committed in other ways, too. They show up to workshops, are invested in their relationships with their teammates and partner organizations, and recruit their friends to join in future cycles. Fundraising is also a guerrilla marketing tactic: Fellows can’t ask for money without sharing a story or two about their experience with YCore.
Equipping fundraisers with the tools to ask
Most Fellows have never asked anyone for money, and are understandably nervous when they start. I empathize with this fear, being new to fundraising myself. We believe fundraising is the most crucial skill someone can have if they want to engage deeply with any nonprofit[LS3] , so it’s important that Fellows feel well-prepared.
We teach a workshop where we explain why nonprofits fundraise and offer tactical tips. We give Fellows email templates, tracking spreadsheets, short descriptions of our program and impact reports to distribute. We share experiences from past cohorts and answer questions. We help Fellows craft a story that speaks to their personal experience. Most importantly, we have Fellows practice. Telling a compelling personal story and asking for money out loud may not be easy the first time, but we’ve seen that persistence literally pays off. Although some Fellows could pay their fundraising commitment out-of-pocket, it is a powerful experience for Fellows to ask others to give to a cause they care about.
YCore Fellows have shown me that young professionals are truly an untapped resource for nonprofits. They are driven by a desire to find meaning and impact, and see social impact as a way to boost their resume as well as their professional and personal networks. At YCore, we get young professionals invested in our organization’s work; make fundraising a natural part of engaging with our organization; and equip Fellows with the tools to ask. In doing so, we’ve not only harnessed the promise and motivation of our generation, but have also transformed Fellows into skilled changemakers.
