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Operating a non-profit mentoring organization costs money. But that money isn't self-generated like a normal business, so where does it come from? In the final episode of a three-part episode on the subject, Stephen "The Murrdawg" Murray joins Zach to discuss the practicals behind diversifying your fundraising strategy.
Show Notes
Operating a non-profit mentoring organization costs money. But that money isn't self-generated like a normal business, so where does it come from? In the final episode of a three-part episode on the subject, Stephen "The Murdawg" Murray joins Zach to discuss the practicals behind diversifying your fundraising events.
Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses
youcanmentor.com
Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses
youcanmentor.com
Creators and Guests
What is You Can Mentor: A Christian Youth Mentoring Podcast?
You Can Mentor is a network that equips and encourages mentors and mentoring leaders through resources and relationships to love God, love others, and make disciples in their own community. We want to see Christian mentors thrive.
We want to hear from you! Send any mentoring questions to hello@youcanmentor.com, and we'll answer them on our podcast. We want to help you become the best possible mentor you can be. Also, if you are a mentoring organization, church, or non-profit, connect with us to join our mentoring network or to be spotlighted on our show.
Please find out more at www.youcanmentor.com or find us on social media. You will find more resources on our website to help equip and encourage mentors. We have downloadable resources, cohort opportunities, and an opportunity to build relationships with other Christian mentoring leaders.
You can mentor is a podcast about the power of building relationships with kids from hard places in the name of Jesus. Every episode will help you overcome common mentoring obstacles and give you the confidence you need to invest in the lives of others. You can mentor.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the You Can Mentor podcast. I'm here with Stephen Murray.
Speaker 3:This is great. This podcast helps me so much. I'm I'm learning.
Speaker 2:Guys, I just wanna pull back the curtain a tad bit and just tell y'all what happened. I just cleared my throat, and Stephen said, there's a lot of phlegm in your throat. And I said, do you mean phlegm? Turns out Stephen's been saying that word wrong for over 2 decades. So 3,
Speaker 3:or at least as long as I could speak. Well, that's awesome.
Speaker 2:So welcome to the You Can Mentor podcast where you learn mentoring essentials and the English language. It's good to have you. Today, we're gonna continue our series on leading and running and starting a nonprofit. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:I'm
Speaker 3:sorry. Okay. Come down. I knew it's the look at the word.
Speaker 2:It's,
Speaker 3:look at the word.
Speaker 2:It's a weird spelling. It's a weird spelling. Okay. I'll admit that. I'm gonna give that to you.
Speaker 2:Alright. Let's get back on track here, Murdoch, even though I don't know if we ever started on track.
Speaker 3:I'm in.
Speaker 2:Today, we're gonna continue this series on running mentoring organizations, starting, leading, all that good stuff. If you wanna start a mentoring org, if you're leading 1, we hope this adds value. We're gonna focus in on fundraising again because, if you don't have money, you don't have an organization. So, fundraising tends to be important.
Speaker 3:Mentors and money.
Speaker 2:Mentors and money. That's what you need in Jesus. And today, we're gonna talk about how to diversify your fundraising strategy and how to raise that total budget using multiple fundraising streams.
Speaker 3:Man. You don't wanna just, you know, invest in Dogecoin as a nonprofit.
Speaker 2:I don't even know what that means.
Speaker 3:I mean, it's one of those cryptocurrencies
Speaker 2:that was, like, a man.
Speaker 3:No. No. No. Don't do that.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3:I don't know if nonprofits can actually in invest in things. Yeah. They can. Okay. Yeah.
Speaker 3:That's interesting.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's called endowment. You can things like that. Okay. You can I can give you money and we can invest it, and it turns into more money?
Speaker 2:It's how the stock market works.
Speaker 3:That's legit.
Speaker 2:Most of the time,
Speaker 3:so isn't that on this list?
Speaker 2:Because that's for the big boys.
Speaker 3:Big boys.
Speaker 2:We're not quite the big boys yet. Okay. So pretty much excuse me. I've got some phlegm in my throat. So it's important to have multiple ways to fundraise because this kinda gives you an edge in case something bad happens.
Speaker 2:A recession, major donor decides to give somewhere else
Speaker 3:A pandemic.
Speaker 2:A pandemic. It's a very good example, Steven. Good job. And so why diversify why diversification is so important is because I have a friend, and I think that the story kinda, shines a light on why we're talking about this. And his budget was about $250,000, but his entire budget was comprised of 5 people giving $50,000.
Speaker 2:Right?
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Well, he's doing his programs. He's got mentors. He's got things like that. And then all of the sudden, one of his main investors comes to him and says, hey, my business is having a really hard time and I have to pull my funding from you. Well, in a moment's time, his budget, his fundraising just got cut by 20%.
Speaker 2:And he was so dependent upon That's a huge cut. Right. And so he was so dependent upon those 5 people that when one dropped out, he actually had to fire a person from his staff because because that change, he just wasn't prepared for that. Right? And so if he would have had funding sources from, you know, small donors, midsize, large, foundations, events, grants, if if he would have made his fundraising plan a tad bit more diverse, then maybe he wouldn't have had to fire that person.
Speaker 2:So that's kinda what we're talking about today.
Speaker 3:Yeah. That's a good example.
Speaker 2:Well, thanks, Steven. So all of us have to raise a total budget, and it doesn't matter if it's 50,000, doesn't matter if it's a 100,000, or if it's $800,000. We all have a job to do, and that includes fundraising. So today, we're gonna talk about the 6 ways that we here at our nonprofit fundraise. This is a way.
Speaker 2:This isn't the way, but this has helped us not only meet our financial goals each year, but exceed them.
Speaker 3:So These are the buckets. We're we're not saying Mailchimp newsletter
Speaker 2:Yeah. No. No. No. With a
Speaker 3:button that's green. Yes.
Speaker 2:Just put the emoji in your title, subject line, if you don't. Subject
Speaker 3:line, money bags flying.
Speaker 2:I still don't understand emojis. I'm so old. You are old.
Speaker 3:You're almost 40.
Speaker 2:So, yeah. So this is big picture. Okay? So think of it like a pyramid. At the top of the pyramid is your goal, total budget.
Speaker 2:Okay? That should be a number. Alright? For us, it's total. And then we also wanna raise about 10 to 15% more than that so we can toss that into savings.
Speaker 2:One important thing is to have cash in the bank in savings just in case something happens like a pandemic or, you know, a recession. So standard standard practice best practice is to have, you know, anywhere from 3 to 12 months savings in the bank account. So if you don't raise another cent, you can survive for x months. I think for us, currently in the bank, we have 9 months. So and we feel real good about that.
Speaker 2:So just that's a that's a tip.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So Well, and would would you say a part of that is also if something were to happen, there's an immediate need of, your clients, the people that you serve. Is that also a part of that is that we don't know what's gonna happen this next month that may affect all of our families. A I I realized that you have to stay on vision, and we're a mentoring organization. We don't just pay people's rent, but is a part of that being at least equipped if the opportunity presents itself to serve in an in an additional way Yeah.
Speaker 3:The people.
Speaker 2:So here's a good example. We're about to move. And in the move, we need to spend about $40,000, give or take, buying furniture, painting, doing all of the stuff to make our new space look cool. Well, that 40,000, this kinda came up on us, and so we didn't budget that last year. So we can pull that from our from our savings.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. Whenever we started an after school program and we, didn't account for vans, so we had to spend a $120,000 on vans. That came out of that savings account. So yeah. So it is a good kind of nest egg to have just in case.
Speaker 2:Just in case you miss something, just in case something bad happens, just in case you need that cash quick. So alright. Let's get back on topic. So at the top of the pyramid, you've got your total budget and then the 6 streams coming down from those. That's what we're gonna focus in on today.
Speaker 2:So the first one, which is which is my favorite one, is recurring monthly givers. That's people who give each and every month just set up that auto payment on their bank account, and every month they give 10, 25, 50, 100, $500. So yeah. What do you think about that, Steven?
Speaker 3:Is is there an amount you're looking for a percentage from each of these? Or is it is it more of just saying, if you don't have a strategy that reflects all 6 of these, recognize
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Your need for diversity?
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean, I would say, like, different nonprofits will depend more on different streams. So I have a friend. Their budget is, you know, a little over $1,000,000. And, like, over 80% of their donations are recurring Wow.
Speaker 2:Monthly givers. They they have, like, I mean, 100 upon 100 of people who just give, like, $28 a month, $35 a month. And so that's his way. Right? That's not our way.
Speaker 2:But for for us, I think I say that I want about 10 to 20% of our cash to come from recurring monthly givers. So but that's loose. Right? But that is just how I do it. So
Speaker 3:But it it sounds like, as far as diversifying funding, the more recurring donors you have, the more diversified your your funding strategy is. Because people will fall off
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 3:But you only lose $30 a month Right. If somebody falls off.
Speaker 2:Exactly. So, like, if you have a 100 people giving per month, if you lose 5 of those people, that isn't a big deal. Right? If you have 200 people who, you know, give per month, if you lose 15 of those people, that isn't a big deal. So that's why I love the recurring monthly giver.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And this is what's so cool. Especially now, everyone has subscriptions. They got Amazon. They've got their gym.
Speaker 2:They've got Netflix. Like, people are used to cash coming out of their bank account each and every month. If you can somehow get on that list, then I mean, it's kind of a no brainer. It's easy. They stay on for I mean, I mean, for years.
Speaker 2:And then it's an easy ask. Hey, you you gave $25 last month. Can you bump that up to $35 bucks this year? Hey, you gave $35 last year. Can you bump that up to 50?
Speaker 2:Right? And if you're intentional about asking, if you're intentional about saying thank you too Mhmm. Then that $25 a month can turn into $40 a month, can turn into a $100 a month pretty quick. Some some of our biggest donors this is what's so crazy. They started giving to us whenever they were, you know, 25, 26.
Speaker 2:And they gave $25 a month. But now they're 34, 35, and they're starting to make some pretty serious money. Well, that $25 a month is not $200 a month. Wow. So it's also a great way to cultivate people who they might not have the capacity to give a lot right now, but you never know.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Right?
Speaker 3:Yeah. That's really good.
Speaker 2:So, yeah. One important thing is you have to keep them informed on what they're giving to. So we send every person who gives a month and also every person that we consider to be like a key donor. Someone who has given year after year after year. We have a list.
Speaker 2:The list is how long is it? 3 350 people ish?
Speaker 3:I think it's 500.
Speaker 2:500 people? It shows how much I know. That's why I'm that is why I'm leaving. But
Speaker 3:That's not why.
Speaker 2:And we send them a a email every month, but we also send them a newsletter in the mail every month. And that's it it isn't an ask. It's not you know, it's telling a story. Hey, you gave x per month. This is what it did.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. Here's a story about Johnny. Right? Yeah. And that and that goes back to people give to people.
Speaker 2:People give to help other people, and you're sharing a story about a person in your ministry. That's awesome. So it's an it's an easy ask. Every time you go out to lunch with someone, hey, can you give $25 a month? That's one meal at, you know, Chick Fil A.
Speaker 2:Can you give a $100 a month? And I decide to ask just kinda based on who they are. Right? Like, my ask for a kid who's 24 is gonna be different than a guy who's a doctor who's 55. Right?
Speaker 2:So for one person, I might ask for $10 a month. For one person, I might ask for $100 a month.
Speaker 3:Yeah. A note on the monthly letter. I was at a guy's house and I we were in his office meeting, and I saw that he had posted every single one of those on the side of his wall next to his computer. And so he just had pinned up on his wall every letter that we'd ever sent him, and it helped me connect with how important the story is to engage the donor within the journey of the nonprofit, who we're serving, what's happening, and and I I think that that continually renews them and why I give to this organization.
Speaker 2:Well, people don't wanna just be a check. People don't want to be just cash. They wanna be a partner. Mhmm. And when you share stories, when you say thank you, when you engage them, you're giving them something to pray about.
Speaker 2:You're giving them something to think about. You're giving them something to be a part of.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Right? And so if and when people give, it's your job to then add them to your team and keep them up to date of what the Lord's doing through your ministry and with their funds.
Speaker 3:So Which that that's probably a practical for all of these.
Speaker 2:Yes. Most definitely.
Speaker 3:They're not just a check, but Yeah. They they recognize they're a part of the story.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And I think that we've talked about this some, but we send an email to every person every month. That's over there's over a 1000 people on our email list. We send a newsletter in the mail to over 500 people every month. We give those 500 that live within 10 miles of our area, we give them a Christmas gift on their porch around December 15th.
Speaker 2:What else do we do? We send note cards throughout the year. Like, we it's just and this kinda goes into what our fundraising philosophy is. When the Lord stirs someone's heart to give, we wanna be the 1st nonprofit that that they think of. And they're gonna think of you more often if they're holding a coffee mug with your name on it, if they just receive something of yours in the mail, if they have on one of your t shirts, if on their coffee table is our end of the year.
Speaker 2:Right? So it's so it's just like keeping your nonprofit, keeping what God's doing through you top of mind is, in my opinion, the highest priority in regards to fundraising.
Speaker 3:Yeah. That's great.
Speaker 2:And it's cool too because you're giving your donors stories. So when they're out with their friends and someone's like, Hey, have a you ever heard of this nonprofit? Oh, yeah. Here's a story that I just got in the mail, you know. And you're helping them feel connected because you couldn't do what you do without them.
Speaker 2:So it's important for us to make them feel a part of the team because they are a part of the team.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. Yeah. So And even yesterday, a one of our longtime donors submitted an application to become a mentor. Yeah. And and it it goes both ways.
Speaker 3:Sometimes mentors become donors and donors become mentors, and just recognizing that that relationship comes from a connection to the vision.
Speaker 2:And it's not about the amount. It's not about the amount. It's just about them joining your team. So I don't care if someone gives $10 a month or $1,000 a month. I I don't treat them any differently.
Speaker 2:It's just they're on our team now, and this is how we treat people on our team. So 1st bucket, recurring monthly givers. That's a big deal. The next one is one time gifts. So people will give one time gifts.
Speaker 2:For us, we get a large bump, especially at Christmas time, end of the year time, you know, and it's important for you to record those and to make sure that you know who has contributed to your nonprofit and when, and then to add them to your email chain, add them to your newsletter, and just keep them in the system so that they're now receiving all the communication that you put out. So
Speaker 3:Do you usually have I don't know what you've done in the past of opportunities for one time gifts, or is it is it more of just the donors making the decision to give a one time gift?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So the one time gift, it can be both. So this is a great time if you have, like, a have a drive. So people love to give to things. So, hey, we're trying to raise $50,000 for a new van.
Speaker 2:Right? Hey, we're trying to raise a $100,000 for a new computer lab. Right? So it's up to you as a nonprofit to get creative and to take a look at all of the things that you need to purchase and say, okay, how can we make this an ask for our donor base? Right?
Speaker 2:So, like, for us, we started a high school program in 2020. And we said, hey, guys. We need to raise a $150,000. And when we do that, this is what it will produce. It will produce one full time staff person.
Speaker 2:It will produce, you know, da da da da, and then we'll get to reach more kids. Right? So most people like to give to things, so like computer labs, basketball courts, building, but but people do like to give to, positions and things Yeah. Like that as well.
Speaker 3:I was thinking about the the playground that we installed. Yeah. Like, we sent out a picture of the former playground, which looked like it was straight out of, like, saw.
Speaker 2:Out of prison? Yes.
Speaker 3:And, I mean, we just put that in a a newsletter and said, hey, we would love to replace this playground for our boys so they don't feel like they're I don't know.
Speaker 2:In prison?
Speaker 3:Yes. Yes.
Speaker 2:That thing was jankety at best.
Speaker 3:It was just chains. A bunch of chains and poles and
Speaker 2:Hey. Here's a is this a worn down hammer? As a seesaw? But yeah. So yeah.
Speaker 2:So you and your team get creative. Hey, what can we ask for? What what can we ask our support system for? You know, we're about to get a brand new basketball court. It's because we we said, okay.
Speaker 2:We want a basketball court. It'll cost this much. Let's ask our team, and it we raised the money in, like, 2 weeks. It was awesome.
Speaker 3:And I I think probably one time guess, like, you may have a mulch guy in your donor base, and he's like, dude, I'll donate some mulch for your playground Yeah. Or a contractor who wants to build a fence for you. It's So one time gifts aren't necessarily monetary, but they could be Sure. Them using their skills and Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Well, it's just important to ask. Yeah. So, like, hey. Here are our needs for the month.
Speaker 2:You know? We need mulch. And some guy might be like, hey. I got a cousin Bob who sells mulch. Can you you know?
Speaker 2:So
Speaker 3:But that happens.
Speaker 2:That happens all the time. So, like, it's awesome. But if you don't ask, then you won't get. So
Speaker 3:Yeah. That's really good.
Speaker 2:Now, at the same time, don't be, like, you know, cheap. Be, like, I need toilet paper. You know, like, hey, like Yes. It's okay to spend some money.
Speaker 3:Well, I I got a email, this last week. Someone was like, hey. My children have stopped playing video games because they're 30. And Good. Good.
Speaker 3:Yes. And they were like, do you want this Xbox? All we have are mature first person shooter games. Let me know if this would be beneficial for your mentoring program. I was like, no.
Speaker 3:I don't I don't think I want our 4th graders playing Call of Duty.
Speaker 2:Yes. Please don't.
Speaker 3:Hey. But thank you.
Speaker 2:Hey, mentor. Let's play Grand Theft Auto. Okay. So that's we talked about recurring. We talked about one time gifts.
Speaker 2:Next up are the large gifts. So for us, that's anyone who gives over $5,000. And so, like I said earlier, you don't ever wanna treat someone differently based on how much they can give because I don't think that's godly. I actually think it says something about that in the Bible. So but at the same time, you've gotta know who can give what.
Speaker 2:So, like, we have a vision, we think we have a vision. In 3 years 5 years, we wanna build a new facility. It's gonna cost about $3,000,000. Well, who are the donors who can who can give large sums to make that happen? Right?
Speaker 2:And it's just important to know that. It's important to just keep those people in mind as you begin to dream and as you begin to figure out what the lord has for you in the next 1 to 3 to 5 years.
Speaker 3:Would you say if you can't get some of those people who have, like, have money bags on board with your vision of the next thing you wanted to do, maybe that's a red flag on, like, is this a wise decision? No. Because I I don't know
Speaker 2:if that plays a part. Because it just depends. Like, our nonprofit is in a pretty wealthy part of Dallas. Like, we have a lot of $5,000 and above supporters. That doesn't mean that every idea that I have is awesome.
Speaker 2:Right? No. It just means that these people have money and they're super generous. You know? If our nonprofit was in a community that wasn't as wasn't as wealthy, then perhaps people could only give a $100.
Speaker 2:Perhaps people could only give $200, but and that's okay. There isn't anything wrong with that. But it's important to to just keep an eye on these people and know who who can give what so that whenever the big ask comes, you know who can who can make that happen.
Speaker 3:It it does seem, though, that there there's a greater level of trust that those people must have in you if they're willing to give give a large sum of money, give $10. That isn't that a sign that
Speaker 2:know if it is, Steven, because the 10 thou I mean, you don't know I mean, it might cost someone more to give you a $100 Mhmm. Than it does for this person to go give a $100,000. So, like, I don't think that you can really roll like that because you never I mean, every person who gives, it doesn't matter if they're $5, $10, $10,000, a $100,000. Like, that means something to them. And so every donation is a sign of trust.
Speaker 2:Every cent that comes in is someone saying, hey, this is what I've got, and I'm entrusting it to you to advance God's kingdom. It doesn't matter if it's a dollar or $100,000. So, I mean, yeah. If someone gives you, you know, 25 $1,000, I don't think you need to worry about what that person thinks. I think you need to worry about what God thinks.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Right? And if you are being a better steward because this guy gave you a huge chunk of change, and that's the and and that is that is your motive, I think that you're off. Mhmm. Right? And so your your motive, your heart needs to be, I'm gonna be a good steward with every single cent that comes in.
Speaker 2:Right? Does that make sense? Yeah. So, yeah, like, it's awesome to receive a big check, but God's calling us to be a good steward, period. God's not just saying, hey.
Speaker 2:Be sure to be a good steward with large gifts.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:So Wow. Like and faithful with a little. What's the second part of that verse? Master over much. So, like, my first man, I I was having coffee with this guy last week, and I remember we had our first fundraiser.
Speaker 2:And I wanted to raise $25100. It's back in 2009. And we had it at Park Lane and Greenville at this bar. Like, I looked back, and it was a pretty terrible event. But this guy showed up, and I coached his kid.
Speaker 2:And he came in, and he said, Zach, I really like what you guys are doing. And he handed me a check. The check was for $500. And, Steven, you would have thought that I just won the lottery because it was the biggest gift by far that anyone had ever given us. Right?
Speaker 2:And I was just sitting there with my friend last week, and I said, Bob, you do realize you are the first big supporter of us. He's like, what? I was like, yeah. You gave us $500. Well, today, Bob gives us a whole lot more than $500.
Speaker 2:Right? But back then, I was like, man, this isn't just a vote of confidence for the ministry. This isn't just Zach. I think that you're onto something. This isn't just Zach.
Speaker 2:God's working. It's Zach. I I trust you.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:So it's like every time someone gives to you, it's a vote of confidence, not just for what God's doing, but it's a vote of confidence in you as the leader. Mhmm. And that carries some weight. And I think that that I think that that's a good weight. But but yeah.
Speaker 2:So you be a good steward. Period. End of story. Don't be cheap. Don't be scared of money.
Speaker 2:K? But be a good steward. Like, you know, and you're thoughtful, and you're wise as to how to use God's money for his people. So
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:It's big. But yeah. So we talked about recurring, we talked about one time gifts, we talked about large gifts. Next up, we're talking about foundations and grants. So that can be, you know, family foundations.
Speaker 2:That can be a business. That can be like, we just got a grant from the Lake Highlands Exchange Club. It could be community
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Organizations. And it's important to have those. Like, we we have gotten there's a a foundation in town that they consistently, for the last 5 years, have given us anywhere between $50 a100000. And that's a good thing. Right?
Speaker 2:Like, we are we're partnered with with a group down in Houston, and they've given us, you know, $50,000 for the last 5 years. Now, I'll say this about foundations. Foundations are awesome, you know, but depending on the foundation, because everyone's different, sometimes they require lots of work. Sometimes they require lots of reporting, and you have to assess your nonprofit to see if you can handle what comes with the money. One other thing is sometimes they will force you to spend money on something, and if that something doesn't fit within your vision, it's really easy to get off your vision because of funding.
Speaker 2:So if someone came up to us and said, Zach, I'll give you $250,000 to, you know, build a sports complex, I would say no. Thank you. Because we don't do sports. There's someone else in, like, Highlands who does sports. Go give that money to them because they're passionate about that.
Speaker 2:Right? But don't ever take the money out of fear that God's not gonna provide.
Speaker 3:That's the thing. I feel like the the larger gifts, the foundations, the those kind of things can really influence you fairly quickly. It I mean, it becomes like a political kinda deal.
Speaker 2:It can. It can, but not always. Right? So I see foundations and things like that as partners. Right?
Speaker 2:And if you're partnered with someone, y'all better be on the same page. And so, yeah, like, there's a lot of foundations and things like that that they won't fund orgs that talk about Jesus. Well, guess what? We talk about Jesus, so we're not gonna be a good fit for them. But it's up to you and your nonprofit to figure out who is a good fit and who can we partner with to advance the kingdom.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. Right? And there's different consultants that can help you find those people. Most of the time, the family foundations, they're kinda hard to find. They're kinda hard to find on purpose.
Speaker 2:I'll also say this. They're gonna ask you to to fill out an application or things like that, and sometimes they ask you to do weird things. They're asking you to do weird things because they wanna see if you can follow instructions. Right? So, like, every foundation has a system, and pay attention to the system because if you mess up, that's the easiest way to not get funded from them.
Speaker 2:I'll also say this, keep on tossing seeds. So if you get rejected, keep on applying because for us, we've there's been certain foundations, certain types of grants that we have applied to that we've gotten denied year 1, denied year 2, denied year 3. Year 4, they give us x amount. So sometimes it takes a couple of cycles for them just to get to know you. Right?
Speaker 3:And That's good to know.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So find a good partner, find a good fit, and just pursue them.
Speaker 3:I was gonna say on the reporting end because I just filled out my first grant this last week. And for for this foundation, there was a lot of, tell me what you're doing next year, the following year, 4 years from now. I have a plan. And a part of that was, like, really, like, difficult for me to think through, okay, this organization's wanting wanting me to prove that I'm gonna be in it for the long haul, and I actually have an intention with I'm not just asking you for money this year. I'm thinking about what I wanna ask you next year to make this better.
Speaker 3:And and and so if anyone's sitting out there and they're frustrated looking at this foundation who's who wants to know that you have a plan, check yourself and recognize that they're actually wanting to help you in your vision, that they wanna make you more successful in in asking you, requiring you to to think through where you're headed and what you're doing.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:And I know, obviously, you're just naturally thinking 5 years ahead. That's not where I'm at. And so the process of filling out that application in a very real way informed my own thought process of where this ministry is headed. Yep. So It's good.
Speaker 3:It's helpful.
Speaker 2:Alright. We talked about recurring. We talked about one time. We talked about large. We talked about foundation grants, things like that.
Speaker 2:Next up, churches. So we love partnering with churches because churches I mean, if Steven and I had it our way, the church would mentor. But that's okay, church. We still love you. Instead, partner with us.
Speaker 2:But churches can give you mentors. Churches can give you board members. Churches can give you funding. So we've got 2 key church partnerships, and that's where the majority of our of our mentors come from. And they give us a nice check every month, and we're very grateful for that.
Speaker 2:But and that is, like the cool thing about a church is depending on the size, it can be like a foundation, but, like, you know you guys are on the same team because the end goal of a church is to advance the kingdom. That's our end goal too. So I just like it. So
Speaker 3:Yeah. Well and I think that goes back into the volunteers become donors, donors become volunteers Mhmm. And that the the church is really a place of activation where Yep. People are learning to live on purpose, and that comes with your finances, but as well as just your time. And so, I mean, doing interest meetings at churches, just sharing about opportunities to volunteer, that plays a part, I think, in your donor strategy, your fundraising strategy because you're getting in front of the church sharing your vision for what you're doing.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So, like, I mean, here's a here's a here's a great example. I go share at Lake Highlands Exchange Club. I go share at community organizations like the Lake Highlands Women's League, Lake Highlands Junior Women's League. I'll go share at churches.
Speaker 2:I'll go share at schools. I'll go share at PTAs. I'll go share at any anytime anyone asks me to go share, I'll go share. Because it's just a great opportunity to toss a bunch of seeds at one time. And almost all of our large donors, almost all of our grants, almost all of our family foundations have come from someone hearing me speak, or someone volunteering with us, or someone hearing about us and supporting us with a small amount.
Speaker 2:They see what we're up to. They get kind of a little bit of a deeper dive. Mhmm. And then they're like, hey, I need to introduce you to my uncle. Hey, I wanna introduce you to to my best friend.
Speaker 2:We we had lunch with a guy we had breakfast with a guy yesterday who great dude. I mean, has given away in the last 5 years. I mean, 8 figures? Not to us. That'd be awesome if he did.
Speaker 2:But, I mean, tens of 1,000,000 of dollars. Mhmm. And now he knows about us, and he has, you know, supported us more than that. He's just a great guy.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:He's our friend. But how did I get to know him? I my best friend's dad played golf with him. And I know my best friend. I know my my best friend's dad.
Speaker 2:My best friend dad knows what we do. My best friend's dad trusts me, and he said, hey. I wanna introduce you to this guy. And that was in 2018. And so it's like, you never know who knows who.
Speaker 2:Yeah. You never know who knows who. And so it's a big deal.
Speaker 3:Well and I joined forerunner because you you spoke at my church. Right. You gave a sermon. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it was awesome. It was a great sermon.
Speaker 3:It was. It was it was good. It was good.
Speaker 2:Didn't stutter at all.
Speaker 3:And I think that that one got Clint justice too. And so
Speaker 2:I got a
Speaker 3:You got yeah. You got volunteers Yeah. To share. Board members Mhmm. And funders
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 3:Just from sharing one Sunday at the church.
Speaker 2:All at once. Last one. This is a good one. This is one that we like to do. 1, because you can find volunteers to put on the events.
Speaker 2:2, you can find people in your support system to possibly donate. You know, like, we have a huge fundraiser every year, and the person who caters the food, which is fantastic, he's one of our donors. Mhmm. He's a friend of mine. And he said, hey, Garce.
Speaker 2:I would love to support this event at cost. Woah. You you just saved us $20,000 on food. Like, thank you, Jordan. He's a stud.
Speaker 2:But
Speaker 3:I like what you said about the people that believe in you that are like, love the vision of your organization, giving them opportunities to leverage their network Mhmm. To Yeah. Jump in.
Speaker 2:People wanna help, man.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So we Like Chris Chris Conlon, who
Speaker 2:Kyle, we're the most guy.
Speaker 3:Randomly saying, hey. I wanna do a 1,000 pull ups for Jesus and for 4 runner, And I'll just post about it on Facebook, and he raised $5 in, like, a few weeks.
Speaker 2:So we do 6 events here at 4 Runner, and every event has a specific purpose. Sometimes it is to raise money. Sometimes it's to raise awareness. Sometimes it's just to have fun. Sometimes it's it's to celebrate.
Speaker 2:So I'm just gonna go through these. We do a spring fundraiser in early March, and what that is is it's a 2 and a half hour event at a nice venue. It's an hour long, happy hour, and then a 90 minute long dinner with us sharing for about 20 minutes. That's nice. That's where we make big asks.
Speaker 2:We, you know, we hope to raise about a third of our budget there. And so that's our big dog. Like, that is what we really focus in on. We haven't had that in the last few years because of the pandemic, and we've still gone over we've still made more than we have asked for in our budget. So the Lord provides.
Speaker 2:That's amazing.
Speaker 3:But that's a that's a fruit of diversifying your fundraising strategy.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So we we missed out on an event for the last 2 years that typically brings in about 2 to $300,000, and we still made budget and then some. That's because we diversify.
Speaker 3:Yeah. That's really good.
Speaker 2:And that's in early March. The second one we do and that is for, like, the community people. That's for our donors and their friends and things like that. The point is to raise money. The next one is the spring clay shoot, and that is in early May.
Speaker 2:The point of that is to get funding from businesses, and it's also to raise awareness and to get new people finding out about our nonprofit. So it's it's not necessarily to make money. Yes. We do want to make a little bit of money, but the main point of that is to build connections with businesses and to introduce new people to forerunner.
Speaker 3:I I loved our conversation about corporate sponsorships versus individuals Mhmm. And recognizing that there are opportunities to engage the companies that people work for
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Who already have strategies or plans in place to give. Why shouldn't they give Yeah. To what we're doing?
Speaker 2:Yeah. There's businesses out there that say, we're gonna give away $500,000 this year. We're gonna give away Tell
Speaker 3:us who?
Speaker 2:$10,000,000 this year. And there's a board of people that they find good orgs and they give money to them. And you wanna be on that list, so, I mean, that's a big deal. But we make it easy for them to, like, sponsor a station at a clay shoot, sponsor a whole lot of golf tournament, and so on. So next up, we have the fall golf tournament, which is in late October, early November, and it's the same thing.
Speaker 2:Get businesses involved, new people, have a good time. For the clay shoot and the golf tournament, it'll take you about 3 years to get good at it, so just be patient and just have fun. Make it a smooth event. Like, just create an event where people leave and they say, I wanna do that next year.
Speaker 3:So That it that it might not necessarily I guess, your goal, like, financially successful, what is what does that look like really for these events? You don't recognize the intangibles of relationships Mhmm. Of connecting with new people Right. And how much cultivating those relationships will, in the long run, be more important than whatever they give at the event.
Speaker 2:Would I rather have 20,000 dollars or 20 new connections? 20 new connections. Because if those 20 people give a $100 a month for the next 5 years, it's a lot more than $20,000. Right? But I don't know.
Speaker 3:I'm not very good at math, but I'm picking up what you're throwing now.
Speaker 2:See there that's $1200 times 20 is $22,000. Oh, it's fine. Is over a $100,000, Steven. So, yeah, that's great. Welcome to math.
Speaker 2:Okay. So we got the spring fundraiser. We got the spring clay shoot. We got the fall golf tourney. Also, make an ask there.
Speaker 2:So, hey, give $25 a month. Give $100 a month. Don't talk for an hour. They're there because they know about
Speaker 3:your own profit. $18 a month?
Speaker 2:You can do that if that's what you wanna do.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Because there's 18 holes.
Speaker 2:Yeah. You do that. I don't care what you do. Just Just do it. Just ask.
Speaker 2:You know, don't ever waste a good opportunity to ask.
Speaker 3:It's good.
Speaker 2:Next up, we do the fall North Texas Giving Day.
Speaker 3:I was just gonna say, what if we tell them to give monthly their score? Yeah. Because, like, usually, a 100 is, like That's a that's
Speaker 2:actually a really good idea.
Speaker 3:I'm gonna do it. You're awesome.
Speaker 2:Alright. Next up, we have this thing called North Texas Giving Day, and that's just, you know, just pick a day and say, hey. On this day, we wanna raise a $100,000. On this day, we wanna raise a $150,000. Create a campaign, make a video, you know, send out a news note card beforehand saying, hey.
Speaker 2:In 2 weeks, we wanna raise x. Just give people a reason to give. Mhmm. I think that's cool. And then lastly, we just did this last last week.
Speaker 2:Man, we've been doing a lot. We had a community event, and we, like, got snow cones. We got bounce houses. We got food trucks. We got face paint.
Speaker 2:I mean, we just brought the community together for just a good old time. And it was from 4 to 8. And the whole point of that was really just to have fun and to have people who know about us bring their friends to learn about us. And we didn't we made a little bit of an ask, but not much, which I think we could've done. We should've asked.
Speaker 2:We didn't, but that's okay. Don't ever waste an opportunity for a good ask. But it was fun, and Steven got to meet Do you should
Speaker 3:you ask at every event?
Speaker 2:I don't know. That's a good question.
Speaker 3:I mean, we are
Speaker 2:the ones doing the
Speaker 3:podcast, so maybe we should know, but I guess we don't. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I don't know. But
Speaker 3:I think there is, like, a prime the primary is relationship.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Secondary is giving people away. It's like the gospel. It's like, if you don't give people an invitation to receive Jesus
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 3:Are they going to to make that take that next step? And so
Speaker 2:Like, there could have been people at that event who wanted to give, which didn't give an opportunity.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And that's on us.
Speaker 2:So I would say whether it's a big ask or a small ask.
Speaker 3:More than just putting a QR code on a table.
Speaker 2:You love QR codes. Golly. I've never met anyone who loves QR codes more than you. You're getting a QR code tattooed on your face.
Speaker 3:But asking people for money is not putting a piece of paper on a table that says give today.
Speaker 2:It's not about asking for money. It's asking them to support. Yeah. Get that out of your head. It's about team members, teammates.
Speaker 2:People give to people. Give them a opportunity to be involved with what God's doing through you. I love that. Alright. So and then the last one, we just did this thing.
Speaker 2:It's a brunch. We're going to do this this year. It's a brunch for all of our all of the, moms in our community. It's gonna be on, like, a Thursday morning. Hey.
Speaker 2:Drop the kids off at school at 8. Go have a nice brunch on us at 8:30, and support our women's ministry. If we get a 100 moms there, if we get 200 moms there, and if we say, hey, if everyone here gives $50 a month, that can be nice. So
Speaker 3:Well and I'd I've listened to a few podcasts about nonprofit fundraising. And
Speaker 2:You've been listening to other podcasts?
Speaker 3:I I'm sorry. I've been cheating on Oh my gosh. Mentor. But they've just talked about how in a in a lot of nonprofit circles, there aren't very many strategies about how to get women engaged in giving. It's it's more I don't wanna come off negatively, but it's like this patriarchal kind of
Speaker 2:I make the money, and I will tell you where I'm going to give the money to. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yes. And and just like, in our conversation about the women's ministry, who's gonna care more about the women's ministry? Exactly. Is it gonna be moms?
Speaker 2:Or That goes back to our value proposition, which I talked about with Jeff Giddens. The podcast, tune in. I'll say this though. We were at a board meeting on Wednesday morning, and one of our guys on our board said, if my wife comes home on fire for something, you better believe I will support it. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:So it's like I mean, yeah. Focus on the men, but also focus on But
Speaker 3:I was asking you, like, how many how many women do you take out to lunch to ask for money? You probably don't do that very often because you don't wanna get murdered.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Well, yeah. That's not I mean, you gotta be smart. Like, I'm not gonna go out to lunch every day with, you know, a bunch of women. Like yeah.
Speaker 2:Like I mean, you can do that if that's what you wanna do. I that I don't feel comfortable doing that, but that's why it's good to have a diverse board so your board members can do that. Right?
Speaker 3:You could take a friend group out.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. Or yeah. So, like, I won't go out to lunch with I won't go out to lunch with, you know, with with the female 1 on 1. I'll go 1 on 2.
Speaker 2:I'll invite Beth along. I'll invite Steven along, but, yeah, you've just got smarter with that. Well, that kinda ended on a weird note. Thanks. Thanks, Steven.
Speaker 2:Really appreciate your 2ยข on that one. Golly. Alright. So those are the ways that we fundraise here at 4 Runner. There are different ways.
Speaker 2:You know? Just get people on your team, whether it's through recurring, one time church, large gifts, foundations, or events.
Speaker 3:If someone's listening and they're overwhelmed by all these different buckets
Speaker 2:You should be. It's on you.
Speaker 3:I'm not saying it's me. I'm not saying it's it may be me. But is is there any encouragement you would give to them?
Speaker 2:I would say just have a plan. Have a plan and work the plan. Don't worry about how much someone gives. Just worry about sharing their vision and giving them opportunities, multiple opportunities to get involved. So every time that I meet with someone, it's, hey.
Speaker 2:Here's how you can help us. You can pray for us. You can volunteer with us. You can give us a connection. You can provide financially.
Speaker 2:You know? It's like, hey. Here are the 4 ways. I I don't really care which one you do, just do one of them, you know. And so but yeah.
Speaker 2:Fundraising when I first started, it was crazy. Here's a great book, The Spirituality of Fundraising by Nowen. Spirituality of Fundraising changed my perspective on fundraising, changed my heart on fundraising, displaced all fear in fundraising. Go order that book. Nowen.
Speaker 2:It's green. It's a green book. I like green. It's a good color.
Speaker 3:Henry Nowen's good. Gosh. She's so good. I I just thought because you have this image of a pyramid total budget into these 6 streams, but really in between those, it's personal connection.
Speaker 2:It's all about relationships. Relationships change lives, and that includes fundraising.
Speaker 3:I've heard you say that before.
Speaker 2:I guess I shouldn't say it's like a pyramid, like they stack on each other. It's like the movie Ghostbusters. When they're at the top of the building and there's all these streams, don't cross the streams. There's, like, 6 streams. That's what it is.
Speaker 3:I've never seen Ghostbusters.
Speaker 2:You've never seen Ghostbusters? Dude, don't cross the streams, bro. Golly. We just showed our age. Alright.
Speaker 2:Let's get out of here. We love you fundraising. Hey. God owns the cattle on a 1000 hills. First vision, then provision.
Speaker 2:He is faithful. He is faithful. He is faithful. The one who calls you is faithful. He has called you.
Speaker 2:He will provide financially. Don't be scared of money.
Speaker 3:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Alright? God's got you. Give people an opportunity to join what God is doing through you and through your ministry. You can mentor.