Prospecting & Outreach: The Two Repeatable Moves That Actually Grow Your Nonprofit
If you want more funding, visibility, and impact — there are two things you have to do on repeat: prospecting and outreach. Not as one-off panics. Not as last-minute “pray-and-post” binges. On repeat. With a plan.
I built three businesses this way. I’ve watched nonprofit leaders do it and scale from scraping by to consistent five- and six-figure results. It’s simple. Simple doesn’t mean easy. It does mean it’s doable, measurable, and repeatable.
Here’s how to stop treating fundraising like laundry in a creepy basement and start treating it like the growth engine it is.
What prospecting vs outreach actually mean (and why both matter)
Prospecting = identifying people. Inside your network, outside your network. Friends, former classmates, neighbors, baristas, community groups, people at your gym, wealthy prospects, corporate sponsors, influencers. Your sphere of influence is bigger than you think.
Get Your Guide Here!
Outreach = the active work: booking conversations, stewarding donors, having the ask (not burying it in the last 30 seconds). Outreach is the rhythm you schedule into your week, quarter, and year.
Both are marketing. Both are fundraising. They’re the same pipeline aimed at different audiences and tactics. If you treat them as separate silos, you slow growth. Integrate them and you build momentum.
The mindset that wins (yes, this matters)
A lot of leaders treat prospecting like a fear-facing contest: “Just push through and grit it out.” That works short term — but it burns you out. You don’t have to be numb to the fear. Name it. Talk to it. Normalize the discomfort and then act with strategy.
Think Kevin in the basement: the furnace looks spooky until you walk down, turn on the light, and realize it’s just a furnace. Prospecting becomes less monstrous when you stop treating your nervous system as the enemy.
Two practical mindset moves:
Acknowledge the anxiety (it’s normal).
Reframe the risk: you already have $0 without outreach. So what’s the downside of one more ask?
Tactical starter plan (do this weekly)
Make prospecting and outreach non-negotiable. Here’s a rinse-and-repeat weekly plan I use with clients:
Prospect list (30 min/week): Add 10 names — 5 warm (people you know) + 5 cold (new organizations, influencers, corporate contacts).
Outreach blocks (2 x 90 min/week): One block for warm outreach (personal messages, calls), one for cold outreach (intro emails, LinkedIn notes, warm intros).
Social Street Team push (1 hour/week): Recruit or brief 2–3 advocates to post or share a concrete ask.
Follow-up (30 min/week): Call or email anyone who’s gone quiet — you can’t lose more than zero.
Measure (15 min/week): Track conversations booked, asks made, gifts promised — then iterate.
Do this for 12 weeks and you’ll have momentum. Small consistent actions beat heroic, exhausting weeks.
Scripts & cues (short, usable)
You don’t need long speeches. Use tiny scripts and real conversation cues:
Warm outreach (text/email):
Hey [Name] — long time. Quick ask: I’m launching a short campaign to [one-sentence impact]. Can I share one idea with you this week? No pressure — just want your take.
Cold outreach (LinkedIn/Email):
Hi [Name], I noticed you [connection point]. I lead [org] and we’re doing [concise mission/impact]. Would you be open to a 15-minute conversation about a campaign idea that might interest you?
When you get nervous, breathe, name the feeling out loud: “I’m a little nervous to bring this up — but I think it’s worth asking.” That disarms the anxiety and makes you human.
Monthly giving, wealth screens, and runway (don’t treat launches passively)
Monthly giving won’t land just because you add a button. It’s a program: launch plan, donor journey, stewardship flow, and acquisition channels. Same with wealth screening — it’s prospecting at a different level. You screen, then you outreach, then you cultivate.
Give initiatives runway. Invest the time and a modest budget to test and learn. Measure conversion and lifetime value. Iterate. Growth isn’t miracle marketing — it’s disciplined experimentation.
When a donor ghosted you — try again
If a high-profile donor went quiet after a gift, that $0 you have now is already rejection. You can’t lose more than zero — so pick up the phone, send a handwritten note, ask for an intro. Passive emails alone often protect you from rejection; active outreach protects your mission.
Practical challenge
Pick one belief you’re carrying about fundraising (example: “we’re in a saturated market” or “money is hard”). Replace it with a specific counter-belief (“we stand out because [reason]” or “we will pilot one bold ask this quarter”) and act like it.
Then do this week’s plan. Track what changes.
If you want help turning outreach into predictable revenue (without burn out), we built Outreach Genius inside the Purpose & Profit Club — a coaching track that gives you scripts, cadence, and the support to do this without feeling depleted. Enrollment is open; join the waitlist so you’re first when doors open again: splendidcourses.com/waitlist