Fundraising, brandraising, friendraising – equal parts in the quest for money

It is safe to say that every consultant in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector have dabbled in fundraising, whether they wanted it or not. It is never far off to equate services by a consultant coming in to support an organization, with fundraising duties. I have written about such expectations in a previous blog, Rolodex, and about misconceptions around what a fundraiser can bring, and should bring.

Generally, there is a shared understanding that raising money is a collective effort; the blog post Fundraising, the ultimate team sport, outlines this in more detail, but requires some further explanation.

So how do we actually successfully unleash the dollars that are almost literally chained, in so many ways, to a deserving sector? Money is a recurring theme on this blog, and this post is returning once again to how to device ways to free up the money that’s so desperately needed – to alleviate suffering, to promote general well-being, but also to spread and extend equity, justice and basic human rights.

Most actions by a nonprofit centers around raising and spending money, much like any other professional entity providing goods and services to customers or clients. A common misconception is that since it’s a not-for-profit driven enterprise, the care and concern for money is less prominent.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Look at any resume of a nonprofit professional and you see the same listing of accomplishments and talents as for a, say, CFO or COO in the profit-driven sector: financial management, business development, project management, in addition to a variety of administration and operative skills. On top of that, they often list pr/marketing and communications, MARCOM, as an integral part of their work. Add to that, years of raising capital in the six figures range are not uncommon qualifying required skills, either.

MARCOM outlines the basic marketing communication concepts and provides the foundation for all activities, including  advertising, direct marketing, branding, online presence, PR activities, events and other external presentations of the product in questions; for a non-profit, that product is often providing various human services.

In my line of work, some see the intersectionality of the MarCom components for fundraising purposes. This inclusive approach has been my mantra for a while, and as the title reveals, there is more to the art of raising money than meets the eye, which in my view needs to enter the equation more decisively.

The ways of combining the different components to raise funds, as in any other operation, needs to be identified as such – as parts of a whole, while naming them accordingly. To do this, I use three terms, which are intertwined, interconnected, and necessary in order for any fundraising initiative to succeed: fundraising, that relates to the actual funds; brandraising to accurately incorporate the organization and marketing purposes to get the word out; and lastly, friendraising, to make sure that it is not always about money (which in reality, it is…), but also about those people who you want to share and spread the word about the organization.

Together, these three parts form the basis for an organization’s operations.

Being the most recognizable part of this three-legged approach, fundraising has traditionally included communications and outreach, but these two areas have not been singled out to the extent that is required.

To get at these other components, I use ‘brandraising’ to describe how to raise awareness of the entity behind the ‘ask’. This is accomplished by spreading the word on all possible media outlets to achieve brand recognition, including logo, distinctive visual images, and tagline/s. Recurring, annual fundraising campaigns are other ways to raise the brand. Communicating the brand becomes an integral part of how to reach more donors, supporters and others.

The third component, friendraising, is where it all comes together, and follows naturally from brandraising. Friends share and promote the brand in a secondary step of the brandraising, expanding the knowledge to friends and networks. Friendraising is also an important piece as it is connecting the dots with new and potential supporters, providing subsequent steps for fundraising outreach.

There is seldom a time when not all three of these components play a part in raising funds. Let’s say you meet an individual through a contact, a ‘friend’, who then refers you to another person, who might be in a positing or is interested in providing support, i.e. ‘funds’. After a meeting or encounter, or other informative moment, this individual will undoubtedly go online to look up the organization on their favorite platform and start forming an opinion about the organization.

This is partly why nonprofits should have a presence on social media, a cost-effective marketing tool to reach out both with messaging of general goings-on, and for specific purposes or initiatives. I usually describe a website as a poster board, where you can find information about the organization, mission & vision, management, programs etc. Social media is where these areas go live, where the activities are transmitted, translated and transferred. Both exist in parallel with the steady webpage as a destination, while the social media is a conduit for further actions and information.

In most of my work, I see that these three areas, or designations if you will, coexist together, that one cannot function without the other. They form a whole, and a map for how to successfully generate income for a nonprofit. In essence, communicating and making friends will provide funds to operate; without collaboration in these areas, not so much. Covering these bases is what’s it’s all about.