Clarify Your Purpose, Attract Support
If you’ve ever wondered, “What comes next?” after forming your nonprofit—this episode is for you. I’ll walk you through the full nonprofit journey from idea to sustainability so you know what to expect, what to prioritize, and how to stay grant-ready at every stage.
Episode 164 | Clarify Your Purpose, Attract Support
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🔦 NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT 🙌🏿
Three Hart Connection Pt 4
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🚀 RESOURCES TO HELP YOU RUN A SUCCESSFUL NONPROFIT 🚀
The Nonprofit Mastery Academy
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You can't grow what you can't clearly define. In this episode, we're going to talk about defining your purpose, mission, and value so that funders, board members, and clients can say yes.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to On Air with Amber Wynn, where nonprofit leaders learn to fuse passion and commitment with proven business strategies to create long-term funding, impact, and sustainability. And now here's your host and resident Philanthrepreneur, Amber Wynn.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Hey, fam. Today we're talking about clarifying your purpose in order to attract supporters and not just supporters, but even potential clients, because in this day and age, I tell my nonprofits all the time, you have competitors, right? There's another nonprofit that's doing the same thing that you're doing. And so you want to be clear about your purpose so that your clients can choose your organization and so that potential donors can choose to support your organization. And what that comes down to is eliminating the vague language. Most of the time, my nonprofits provide vague language, right? I'll ask them, "So what is your purpose? What is your mission?" "Oh, our purpose is to strengthen the community. "And then this is the one, and I'm just going to keep it real. If I hear uplift or strengthen, that could mean so many things to other people. Uplifting could be providing a safe space.
(01:40):
Uplifting could be praise. What does it mean to uplift your community? You need to be more specific. Uplifting your community from a funder's perspective would be providing economic opportunities, right? We're giving our community the resources that they need to be able to create resumes or to increase their fundable skills. That is quantifiable. But just to say you're uplifting the community, that's too vague. I'm not going to support that as a funder. If I'm writing a check, I need to know specifically what my money's going to. Same thing. If you're competing against another nonprofit and you're just like, " Hey, we're here doing workforce development. Our goal is to help you become marketable. What does that mean? "But if you say," Our purpose is to get you a job in 90 days and help you keep that job for at least three years, understand what it is that I'm signing up for.
(02:43):
"And the reason why a lot of my nonprofits are vague is because they're not really sure. They're not really sure how to communicate their value in funder ready language, and that's what I'm here for, to help you translate what you do into something that demonstrates impact. And it's important because at the end of the day, when you submit your grant and another organization submits their grant, there's only so much funding. So if I have to choose between your organization and that organization and that organization is better able to articulate what the impact is, guess who's going to get funded? And the sad part about that is you may be doing a better job at delivering your programs. You may be doing a better job at creating transformation in your community. The problem with that is that the funder's not in your community watching you. The funder can only go by what it is that you wrote on that application.
(03:40):
So what you write needs to be very specific. It needs to be impact driven. It needs to have some type of tangible goal that a funder can say," Oh, okay. If I give my money to this organization, these are the types of outcomes that I can expect to see. "And unfortunately, I have nonprofits telling me all the time," I know that I was a good fit for that grant. We do exactly that. I don't understand why I didn't get funded. "And when I look at what they wrote, I'm like, " I know why you didn't get funded. "And I don't mean to be facetious, but that's really what it comes down to, right? It's not necessarily what you do, but how you're able to clearly articulate what it is that you do. So if you want to attract supporters, especially in this day and age when people are tightly hanging onto their money, they need to be convinced that their dollars, their dollars are going towards something that they're going to see a return.
(04:39):
There's a lot of mistrust in the nonprofit sector right now, right? People not feeling like nonprofits are doing what they're saying and all of the things. So you've got to take that extra step where you can explain to a potential donor, this is where your money's going to go. When we come back, we're going to talk about the building blocks of a strong focused ask, a strong focused mission statement, a strong focused program description. And in that space, I think you'll be able to understand why a potential supporter would be more apt to write that check than if you just say something vague like, " We're going to uplift the community. When we get back, we'll talk a little bit about the building blocks when we come back. "Are you looking to leverage your 501 tax exempt status to get products and services donated for an event, silent option, or to support your program, but aren't quite sure what to say?
(05:34):
Get the “Donation Request Letters Toolkit”. It provides you with the templates you can customize to fit any request. Eliminate the guesswork of what to say, how to say it, and what to offer potential donors as benefits for their donation. Ah. You had no idea you should offer donors something in exchange for their donation, did you? Offering benefits triples your response rate. Plus, the toolkit comes with a donor acknowledgement form template. It's the form you give them after they donate. This toolkit has everything you need for a successful donation request. Order your copy today. We're back, your girl, Amber Wynn, Philanthrepreneur,. And today we're talking about clarifying your purpose in order to attract more donors. Every nonprofit should have 10 streams of revenue, right? If you are focused on just securing grants, you are putting your nonprofit in peril, right? Because just having a single source of revenue is putting your organization in jeopardy.
(06:37):
If that one particular revenue source goes away, so goes your organization. Of the top eight funding sources for nonprofits, grants is number seven. Yet we put so much energy in trying to secure grants and you're competing for such a low turnout. The number one resource for funding nonprofits is donors, individual donors, and that's because it's the people who are connecting with your mission. So if you want to win over individual donors, and you do, you don't want them just to donate one time, you want them to be reoccurring, they have to know what it is that they are writing the checks for. So we're going to talk a little bit about the building blocks of a strong focused ask, right? It starts with connection. If you're asking me for money, I need to be connected to something. And so a vague, just uplifting the community, that's not connect worthy.
(07:37):
But if you say, in this community, we work with foster youth, right? And foster youth are typically, they make up 60% of the youth who are sex trafficked. Like that's something that you can be like, wow. And then if you say, we work with emancipated youth, so the minute that the courts set them free, we bring them into the fold. We not only give them a home where they become less of a prey, but we also give them life skills. Like we help them to build a budget and then we give them training where they learn how to be independent so they're less susceptible to pimps and all of the people who can take advantage of them. You have to give the people who are going to write you a check, something tangible that they can process to say you're doing the work. Right? Just saying, strengthening the community, economic development, those are all buzzwords that say nothing.
(08:43):
When you're competing against other organizations, you need to make sure that what you're putting out there, people understand exactly what that is. From a funder's perspective, when I have a grant and it's submitted and they're saying, "We're going to increase graduation rates by 20%." That says nothing to me. I don't know how you're going to do that, right? If you say we're going to provide experiential learning counseling whereby the youth is taken into college environment and they're going to learn how to process whatever, that's specific. And I can say, "Okay, I can see how this can increase graduation rates because you've got this group, right?" If you're talking about marginalized communities, we are communal people. So if you have an experiential learning group, I can make that connection. I can say, "Oh, okay. So the youth are going to meet twice a week in this experiential learning environment and that's going to give them more courage.
(09:42):
It's going to give them more support and that then is going to lead to an increase in X, Y, and Z." I can see it, but just to give 20% increase, that's not enough. So when we talk about the building blocks of a strong focused ask, when we talk about understanding impact from the perspective of your potential donor, it's really important that we move away from the vague language. And here's the other thing. I've had people say to me, "Well, I wanted to keep it vague because I thought if I kept it vague, then I'd hit more funders." No. What you do is you alienate your funders, right? A funder wants to be specific because if what you're doing doesn't align with what they're funding, then they're not going to fund you. And I know it may seem counterintuitive, but I've seen it happen time and time again with my clients.
(10:31):
The minute that they became specific, the minute that their goals became measurable was the minute that they start generating more revenue, right? So that is the goal. All right. So when we come back, I'm also going to talk to you a little bit about how being specific helps you to demonstrate legitimacy and credibility when we come back. Have you been duped by a grant writer, promising you the moon and the stars? But after collecting your $2,000, you never win a grant? No, a grant writer can't guarantee you'll get funded, but if you don't know how to vet them, you could walk right into a scam. Check out my guide, “The Questions to Ask a Grant Writer” before you hire them to help you determine if a grant writer is a bonafide professional or out to steal your hard earned money with no intentions of yielding results.
(11:21):
This guide explains what to look for in a grant writer, if they're novice or seasoned, if they're a fit for the type of proposal you need written, what questions they should ask you. Leverage my 25 years of grant writing experience, securing over $10 million in grants for clients to help you find a qualified grant writer and reduce your chances of getting scammed. Order your copy today. We're back and we're talking about clarifying your purpose in order to attract support. And the last thing that I wanted to share with you today is the connection between clarity and credibility. A lot of people think I've got this 501 funders are just writing checks. That is not the reality. The reality is there are more applicants than there is money, and so your goal is to increase your credibility. Your goal is to have the funder feel as comfortable with you as possible.
(12:15):
You want to remove all of the red flags. What does that look like? That looks like them being able to clearly understand what it is that you're doing. If I don't understand what it is that you're doing, I'm not going to take that risk. I don't have to because there are more applicants out there than there is money. I'm going to focus on those applicants who do a good job at demonstrating that they're credible. How do you demonstrate that you're credible? I have a track record, right? Over the last past 15 years since our inception, we've graduated X number of ... We've placed X number of ... We've partnered with X number of ... This is credibility numbers. It's not to say thousands. How many thousands? I get that all the ... We've helped hundreds of ... How many hundreds? When I hear language like that, I'm like, why can't you be specific?
(13:06):
Because if you're delivering direct services, you should have sign-in sheets. If you have sign-in sheets, they should go into some type of database. You should be able to go click, click, click, how many clients have we served since our inception? And the numbers should come out. 1,569. Why are you saying thousands when you've served 1,569? Those are the things that funders look for, right? If you're generalizing and saying, "Oh, we've served thousands." You're not McDonald's, right? You are a nonprofit and you should have systems in place whereby you can demonstrate the specificity of what it is that you're doing. So it's important in order for you to show up as being a legitimate organization that you can provide data, that you can provide specific numbers on your outcomes, on your deliverables, on who you're working with in the community. Listen, this is the time that you toot your own horn.
(14:01):
You say that we're so excited that we received this award by our colleagues or this particular funder or this elected official that lends to credibility. That's something specific. That's something that says, "We trust this organization." Right? When you say we generated X number of dollars in revenue, that's important. A lot of my nonprofits don't want to put on their website that they've gotten a grant. You want to put that out there. Why? Because it says to other funders that some funder trusted you. If the Amundsen Foundation or Liberty Hill Foundation, whoever wrote you a check, it means that they trust you and it creates some type of legitimacy. And the other thing is it gives you visibility, right? Funded nonprofits get funded. I know it's not the coolest thing, but because no one knows you, if a trusted foundation gives you money, it says to the other foundations, "We trust them." So you want to put it out there.
(15:08):
Again, I know it's counterintuitive, but it's how this sector works. You want to be legitimate, you want to be seen as legitimate anyway, and so it all works together. All right. Now it's time in the episode where you get to ask me your question, and this question is from Bill. Bill, what's your question for Amber?
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Hi, Amber. My name is Bill Carpenter. I totally get what you're saying about looking the part. It makes total sense. But what if I'm a startup and don't have programs yet? How do I look the part-
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Great question. What if I'm a startup and don't have programs yet? How do I look the part? We were just talking about building out legitimacy. This is the way you look the part. If you don't actually have programs, go partner with a nonprofit. Try out your program. Tell them you want to do a pilot program. Get five, six, seven of your potential clients and deliver the program. What it does is it gives you some type of legitimacy, but it also gives you an insight to whether or not your program works, right? Before you fully commit to it. It helps you to look the part because now you can say, "We did this pilot program with seven, let's just say seniors, and here was the outcome." Based off of what we've seen here and the need in the community, we've got seven senior homes. We believe that we can reduce health outcomes by delivering this program, right?
(16:41):
So start with something just enough to give you some proof. Then you can go do outreach to the different agencies that may want or could use your programs and say, "We've talked to all seven of the senior living homes. They would love the program. Now we just need to get funded for it. " Right? So now you've got some type of documented proof. You can also say, "Here's also what we learned. We thought we could do this, but the seniors actually said, no, we prefer this. This is how we're going to modify our program." So now you've got feedback from the community, you've got some outcomes and you've got potential organizations, companies, businesses who then want to work with you. This is what you're going to submit to the funders and say, "We've got all of the things we need. All we need is your financial support, and we believe that these are the type of outcomes that we can deliver." So Bill, I hope that answer helped you.
(17:45):
And now we're moving to my favorite part of the episode when I get to shine a light on the most amazing people in the universe, my nonprofit leaders. And we're wrapping up our conversation with Shanise Hart from Three Hart Foundation. So let's go ahead and jump into the last episode.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
There's a lot more to it than just being boots on the ground. Doing the work is great.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
And it's more than just passion, right?
Speaker 4 (18:23):
Right.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
It's understanding how to look the part. And so I just want to let y'all know that Shanise is about her business. She is not afraid to get out there and hump. I think what I was finding with Shanise though is that you do what most people do. It's like, "I got to get grants. I got to get grants. I got to get grants." What have you learned about sustaining your nonprofit as it relates to diversifying your funding streams?
Speaker 4 (18:47):
One of the main things that I learned is not every grant is for us. So the amount of time I could be spending on a grant that is, I won't say ... Well, yeah, it can be very random for what we're doing. It doesn't align learning what it is. You got to do your research. You have to research what-
Speaker 1 (19:12):
The guidelines?
Speaker 4 (19:12):
The guidelines, the what is the funder looking for? Not just like, what am I doing? What are we trying to improve or decrease? And as far as different streams of revenue, I don't even think that ... I'll just be transparent. I didn't really think about it. Having speaking opportunities, doing the workshops. And I didn't really consider that as a stream of revenue until a couple months ago.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Because you were thinking about your heart and you were thinking, "Oh, I'm going to give all my services away free because my community needs it. " And there's nothing wrong with feeling that way, but when those bills are due.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
Right.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
Definitely has been a big-
Speaker 1 (20:00):
And eye opener. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
An eye opener for sure.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
And I'm asking you these questions not to put you on the spot or to shade you or anything like that, but I just think that a lot of people come from the same place that you come from.
Speaker 4 (20:10):
I agree.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
You went through something, you don't want anyone else to go through it. You want to help empower your community and really just not understanding that when you start a nonprofit, you're starting a business and what that entails. It's not what Amber says, right? It's what the IRS says, it's what funders want and being able to look that part, right? Knowing what, like you said, the language, the measurable goals and objectives, all of those things are important for you to consistently receive revenue and not just from one source. Every nonprofit should have how many streams of revenue? 10.
Speaker 4 (20:42):
Okay. 10
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Streams of rent.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
What was I going to say four?
Speaker 1 (20:45):
No, 10. Streams of revenue for long-term sustainability. Listen, you can have one, two, three, four, but I'm not here to have my non-profit leaders struggle. I'm here so that you can have one job and one job only. If you have two, three, that means you got to have a job that's going to pay for your bills. If you're going to start a nonprofit, then I want that to be your only source of revenue. So you'll have to have 10 streams of revenue in order to keep that organization going in order to really live into your mission, in order to solve for this big problem that's in your community. I always say it. We got big problems. We need big money to solve those problems. Yes?
Speaker 5 (21:24):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
So do you have any events, activities, programs that you want to share with the audience? Anything coming up that you want everybody to know about, support?
Speaker 4 (21:33):
Yes. So I was referencing our Junior Thrivers program. Our six interns are graduating. We're hosting a graduation, but it's not just a graduation. It is also a showcase. So as their capstone or their final project, if you will, we have tasked them with coming up with, from their perspective, how the community can better provide programming for youth. That has been a very big topic here in the AV from our board of supervisors to other conversations is youth programming. So I can tell you about it all day. All day long. But I'm 37.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Right.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
You want to hear from those who are actually a part of that population. So we are hosting their graduation. It is August 2nd, which is a Saturday with one of our partners at the Wow Flower Project that's in Palmdale.
(22:34):
The event begins at 3:30. It's lasting till about 7:30 PM. It is by registration. It is at no cost to those who are seeking to attend. We are accepting donations, of course, but it is an absolutely wonderful opportunity, as I said, just to hear from the youth on how we, as youth invested constituents out here, how we can better serve them, not just from our opinions and things that we've seen, which matter, but what is the perspective from those who we're seeking to serve? So again, the details for that event are Saturday, August 2nd in Palmdale at the Wildflower Project, and you can register at threeheartconnection.org.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
So is this something that you think you'll be doing on an ongoing basis, getting feedback from the youth in your community?
Speaker 4 (23:27):
Oh, definitely.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
We've been taking a different approach and being sure to capture all that data because, like I said, now I see a lot of these different things and how important they are. So we actually have a longevity plan or an alumni plan with these individuals. We're going to be taking them. We just received a mini grant from Office of Violence Prevention, and we're going to be using those $50,000 to take them under our wing. Now they're going to be youth facilitators,
Speaker 4 (24:04):
And they're going to go around and do the healthy relationship workshops when we go into the high schools and whatnot. I love
Speaker 1 (24:09):
It. I love it. And the reason why I bring this up is because this is not a one-time thing, right? So for my funders looking to see how they can support some innovative programming going out in the Antelope Valley, will you have an opportunity? So yes, if you can, register for the August date, but for those of you who are looking to support grassroots programming, youth-driven, community-involved programming ...
Speaker 4 (24:42):
Yes, please. Oh, and I didn't mention from our Adult Thrive programming, we've just been so focused on the showcase because it's around the corner, but we will be doing many rounds of the mentoring for- Wonderful. ... for our 18 plus women of color who are seeking mentorship and those opportunities. So there's many opportunities to support there as well.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
All right. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. As I said before, if you're in a situation and you need some support and you're out here in the Antelope Valley, we're going to put up the information after the interview so that you can get in contact withShanise's team. If you've been looking to support an organization that's doing the work in the community, we definitely would like for you to consider Three Hart Connection. Shanise, we'd like for you to come back, of course, in the future. Tell us about all of the other programs you have popping up because she is one creative individual.
Speaker 5 (25:43):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Always moving and bobbing and trying to meet the needs of the community. So I know you're going to have some new and exciting programs. And even if you don't, if you're just developing and expanding these programs, we want you to come back and let us know what's going on.
Speaker 4 (25:56):
Definitely. It'd be my pleasure. Thank you so much, Amber. It's been
Speaker 1 (25:59):
Wonderful. Wonderful. All right, fam, you know what to do. We'll talk to you later. Welcome back. That was the final conversation with Shanise Heart. I hope you enjoyed it. Learning more about the organization. If you'd like to support, be sure to go check her out on her website. And if you'd like for me to shine a light on your organization and the amazing work that you're doing, hit me up on any of my socials. I'd be thrilled to have you on the show. And don't forget, when you are doing your work and trying to attract donors, you want to be as specific as possible, clarify your purpose, making sure that you use data, making sure that you use powerful language that explains the work that you're doing in the community because you're doing the work. Now you just need to get the money. That starts with clarifying your purpose.
(27:02):
I'm so excited that you took the time out today to join me here on On Air with Amber Wynn. I appreciate you listening to me week after week. If you enjoyed anything that you heard today, feel free to like and subscribe and share this episode with someone in your network. And I'm going to tell you, like I tell you every week, take care of yourself like you take care of your community. We'll see you next time.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and leave a review on iTunes. Head over to www.amberwynn.net/podcast for the links and resources mentioned in today's podcast. See you next time.
