We were thrilled to welcome the Connecting Colorado Conference to Denver in October 2024. The conference, organized by the Colorado Nonprofit Association and sponsored by incredible organizations including Southwest Airlines, aimed to connect and engage nonprofits across the state to spur creative redesigning and excitement around nonprofit growth.
This year DUG facilitated a panel, Position Your Nonprofit to Reach Wider Audiences and Attract More Funding, which included insights from:
- Linda Appel Lipsius, Denver Urban Gardens Executive Director, who shared DUG’s journey of being a 40 year old organization known for building community gardens and growing food to being known for doing so much more.
- “DUG cultivates food, community and climate resilience on a human scale” has made our work relevant to a far wider audience, helping us to grow and diversify revenue.
- Robin Chalecki, President at the Emily Griffith Foundation, who shared the benefits of aligning an affiliated foundation with the “mother ship’s” mission.
- Aligned messaging strengthens message to community and funders and better serves students.
- Margaret Bachrach, Voices for Children, CASA of Boulder County, who shared the challenges and opportunities of positioning a local chapter of a national organization.
- Leverage national branding to build trust with local audiences.
- Stefanie Jones, President & Founder at Feed Media,who shared invaluable gems about what, why and how to share information and stories about your work.
- Storytelling: Tell stories about your impact, told by your beneficiaries. Who you serve and the improvement to their lives is more powerful that “what we do.”
The room was PACKED with attendees sitting on the floor and lingering towards the back of the space, itching to learn from the experts. Our panel offered unique ideas, inspiring case studies, and posed questions around an often taboo discussion in the nonprofit sphere – fundraising!
- Key Takeaways
Expanded positioning casts a wider net and brings people to your cause who might not have been aware of you in the past. - Don’t confuse casting a wider net with marketing to everyone – establishing too diffuse of a position will not accomplish your goals.
- Dont’ “burn the house down” when updating positioning, especially with an established org. If it is still around, it is doing something right! Distill down to the core, compelling strengths and build on them.
- In the immortal words of Linda’s father – there is no such thing as a new idea. Take what’s been done and build on it.
- Share best practices with your peers and help lift all boats.
- Operate from an abundance mentality. There is, indeed, enough to go around.
After the discussion, our team connected with several organizations interested in gleaning insights from DUG’s program areas, fundraising strategies, and tips for building (and maintaining) donor momentum. We were proud to share our successes, learn about additional ways we could leverage our community better, and explore these ideas together.
