What Makes Your Nonprofit Different? The Question That Could Change Your Fundraising
A nonprofit Executive Director recently told me about a multi-five-figure check their organization received in the mail.
It was unexpected.
It was bigger than they anticipated.
And, understandably, it felt like a huge celebration.
But I told them something I want you to hear:
Don't treat that check like it fell out of the sky.
This wasn't a lottery win.
It was the result of a donor relationship that had been nurtured, supported, and intentionally built over time.
The timing was unexpected. The amount was bigger than expected.
But the relationship? That was not an accident.
And that's an important distinction.
When something exciting happens in your fundraising, celebrate it. Absolutely. But then ask:
How did we help make this happen?
And even more importantly:
What do we need to keep doing if we want more moments like this?
That's the question that creates momentum.
What Makes You Different?
Here's another question I want you to sit with:
What makes your organization different?
Not your logo.
Not your colors.
Not your fonts.
And please, for the love of fundraising, not your mission statement.
I mean: What genuinely separates your organization from the others serving the same community, cause, or sector?
Because here's the reality.
You're probably not the only organization doing what you do.
If you're a local nonprofit, there may be other organizations serving the same community.
If you're an international organization, there are likely other groups working on similar issues.
And if you're feeling like you're competing for donors?
There may be significant overlap in the people you're trying to reach.
So what makes someone choose you?
That's your differentiator.
And if you don't know the answer, I can almost guarantee your donors and supporters don't know it either.
Your Audience Shouldn't Have to Do Detective Work
I recently had a series of conversations with different service providers and technology companies.
And in every conversation, I was trying to answer one simple question:
Is this a fit for my community or my clients?
So, naturally, I asked one of the most basic questions you can ask in a sales conversation:
"How are you different from your competitors?"
And I was surprised by how many people couldn't answer.
"People are really excited about our product."
Okay.
But why?
What makes it different?
Is the user experience better?
Is the pricing different?
Is the platform easier to use?
Does it produce better results?
If you're a service provider, are you faster, more efficient, or more effective than the other options?
Your audience should not have to guess.
They shouldn't have to spend 30 minutes researching your competitors to figure out why you matter.
You need to know.
And you need to be able to explain it clearly.
Your Brand Is More Than Your Logo
This same conversation recently came up with a nonprofit client during an annual board meeting.
A board member wanted to talk about the organization's brand.
And I loved that.
But here's the problem: when people hear the word "brand," they often immediately think about a logo, color palette, or font.
That's not what I'm talking about.
When I say brand, I want to know:
Who are you for?
Who should be part of your community?
What is your culture?
What do your supporters believe?
What do you value?
How are you different?
And please don't answer those questions by reading your mission and vision statements back to me.
I want you to imagine we're having coffee.
Tell me about your organization.
Tell me how it started.
Tell me what happened next.
Tell me about the people who show up.
Tell me what makes your community feel like your community.
That's where your brand lives.
Stop Writing 25-Page Plans No One Reads
Here's another thing I want to make very clear.
The answer to figuring out your brand and your differentiator is not a 25-page marketing plan that gets buried in a Google Drive folder.
The answer is clarity.
You should be able to answer these questions quickly:
Who are we for?
What do we believe?
How are we different?
The end result should sound more like an elevator pitch than a strategic planning document.
You should be able to tell someone what makes your organization special before the elevator reaches the next floor.
Because if you can't explain it simply, your potential donors and supporters certainly aren't going to figure it out on their own.
Ask Yourself: Why Should I Give to You?
One of my clients, Wente Faust from the Live Like Lou Foundation, shared a really powerful exercise.
She asked herself:
"If a donor is considering making a donation to my organization, why should they give to us?"
And then:
"What will their donation do today?"
Not someday.
Not in a vague, abstract way.
Today.
That kind of clarity makes it so much easier to communicate with donors, prospects, partners, and sponsors.
Because there are other organizations serving the ALS community.
So what makes Live Like Lou different?
Every nonprofit needs to ask the same question.
And I want you to go further.
Don't come up with three answers.
Come up with 20.
What makes you different from other organizations serving the same cause?
Keep going until your brain starts to work a little harder.
Because the first five answers are probably the obvious ones.
Look at the Organizations Disrupting Crowded Markets
Startups and direct-to-consumer companies do this incredibly well.
Let's talk about coffee.
Or kombucha.
Or ice cream.
These are incredibly crowded markets.
Walk into a grocery store and count how many options you have.
But new brands continue to find their way onto those shelves.
Why?
Because they figured out how to be different.
Take Jeni's ice cream.
They're selling a pint of ice cream for around $12.
Meanwhile, you could probably buy multiple containers of ice cream at the grocery store for the same price.
So why does it work?
Because they didn't just make vanilla, strawberry, and mint chocolate chip.
They created flavors people had never experienced before.
Everything bagel ice cream.
Balsamic strawberry.
Unexpected combinations.
They looked at a crowded market and said:
"We're going to do this differently."
And that's exactly the kind of thinking I want you to bring to your nonprofit.
Maybe your organization serves the same community as other nonprofits.
Maybe your programs overlap.
Maybe you even have some of the same donors.
So what makes you different?
What Do You Want to Be Known For?
Here's the next question:
What do you want your organization to be known for?
Not what are you currently doing.
What do you want to be known for?
Maybe it's your ethical approach to storytelling.
Maybe it's the way you use technology.
Maybe you've created a program that didn't exist before.
Maybe you serve people in a way that is completely different from the standard approach.
Maybe you're building for the future instead of repeating an outdated model.
Whatever it is, find it.
Then ask yourself:
How can we turn the volume up to an 11?
Because your ideal donor needs repetition.
They need to hear your message.
They need to see your stories.
They need to understand your differentiator.
Again. And again. And again.
Your audience is not annoyed because you repeated your message.
Most of them probably haven't heard it enough yet.
Being Different Takes Courage
Here's the part that gets uncomfortable.
Being different takes courage.
It takes the courage to say:
"This is who we are."
And then accept that not everyone is going to love it.
Some people will be completely drawn to your organization.
They will see themselves in your mission.
They will want to be part of what you're building.
And some people will say, "That's not for me."
Both are okay.
You cannot grow your organization, your funding, or your community by trying to be completely safe and universally appealing.
Vanilla is fine.
But if your organization is serving a mission that matters deeply to you, bland and forgettable is not a fundraising strategy.
Your supporters should feel something when they hear from you.
They should understand what makes you different.
They should know why your organization is worth supporting.
And that starts with you knowing the answer first.
So here's your homework:
Go for a walk. Grab a cup of coffee. Sit with your team or board.
And ask yourself:
What makes us different?
Then keep asking until you find the answer that actually makes you sit up a little straighter.
Because your next level of fundraising may not require a brand-new strategy.
It may simply require you to get crystal clear about what makes your organization impossible to confuse with anyone else.
And then have the courage to say it out loud.