Ed talks with a close colleague of his, Hugh Ballou, about the non-profit space. The big takeaway I got is that charities (and churches) have a brand too. And if that brand identity and promise is not inspiring to real human beings, you will have trouble attracting donors, board members, volunteers, people, and resources into your orbit.
The amount of social good that you can do is limited because you haven’t clearly defined what your organization aims to do, how you do it, who you do that for and, most important, why you exist in the first place. Do those things well and you become far more appealing to donors who are asked by the same charities for donations year after year.
Avoid donor fatigue by giving benefactors great reasons to be part of your mission and program (meaning, real benefit to the communities you serve).
