Small Nonprofit: Fundraising Tips, Leadership Strategies, and Community-Centric Solutions
Jul 14, 2026 · 22 min · 12 segments
Send us Fan Mail Posting on social media and hoping donations follow? You might be setting yourself up for disappointment. In this episode, we get…
Farra TrompeterGuestMaria RioHostBy nonprofit communications, do you mean stewardship? Do you mean fundraising, or all of the above?
There's how do we get people to know who you are? Once people start knowing who you are, maybe they are following you on social, they're on your website, they're actually on your list, you can communicate to them in some way.
How do we then make the case, get them interested in what you're doing, understand your brand, understand your work, eventually understand your impact, so that they then give? Then how do we cultivate that relationship and steward them so they continue to engage in the organization through a second gift, a higher gift, other ways of participating? We think about communications as it supports the donor life cycle, but we also do communications that support program participation, you know, staff recruitment, all other types of goals as well.
You're saying how can people get to hear about the nonprofit, 'cause that's one of the things that we always hear, like raise awareness, right? Are nonprofits struggling to do that well, and if so, what do you think are those barriers?
I've been working in this space since the '90s, so 30 years, give or take, and I think the number of communications channels even in that time have exploded, right? There's so much competing for everyone's attention.
Like, you know, here in the US right now, midterm elections are approaching in a few months.
I cannot tell you every day how many text messages I'm getting from candidates I've never even heard of.
That's just in my cell phone inbox, right? But then there's what's showing up in my email, what's showing up on social, what's the latest new app I should be paying attention to and caring about, let alone in-person conversations, the mail, the phone, you know, TV.
There's so much coming at us, and it's always been hard for organizations to figure out what they should say and where they should say it.
So you've got less time, less people, less money, and more opportunity, and your job is harder, I'm sorry to say.
By nonprofit communications, do you mean stewardship? Do you mean fundraising, or all of the above?
There's how do we get people to know who you are? Once people start knowing who you are, maybe they are following you on social, they're on your website, they're actually on your list, you can communicate to them in some way.
How do we then make the case, get them interested in what you're doing, understand your brand, understand your work, eventually understand your impact, so that they then give? Then how do we cultivate that relationship and steward them so they continue to engage in the organization through a second gift, a higher gift, other ways of participating? We think about communications as it supports the donor life cycle, but we also do communications that support program participation, you know, staff recruitment, all other types of goals as well.
You're saying how can people get to hear about the nonprofit, 'cause that's one of the things that we always hear, like raise awareness, right? Are nonprofits struggling to do that well, and if so, what do you think are those barriers?
I've been working in this space since the '90s, so 30 years, give or take, and I think the number of communications channels even in that time have exploded, right? There's so much competing for everyone's attention.
Like, you know, here in the US right now, midterm elections are approaching in a few months.
I cannot tell you every day how many text messages I'm getting from candidates I've never even heard of.
That's just in my cell phone inbox, right? But then there's what's showing up in my email, what's showing up on social, what's the latest new app I should be paying attention to and caring about, let alone in-person conversations, the mail, the phone, you know, TV.
There's so much coming at us, and it's always been hard for organizations to figure out what they should say and where they should say it.
So you've got less time, less people, less money, and more opportunity, and your job is harder, I'm sorry to say.
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