Prairielight Blog

Happy Tuesday, I’m 100% certain that today there will be lots of folks focused on a certain Tuesday in November that’s now only 7 weeks away (yikes). Some nonprofits have been factoring that one in for a while now, and are active participants in conversations about what’s at stake this year. Many have been working on their plans A, B, C, and a bunch of other letters to be ready for a variety of outcomes for the presidential and congressional contests. The campaigns themselves are running what should count as master classes in real time, testing tactics and journeys with test audiences larger than most orgs will ever see. And donors – even donors who are grumbling about the increased flow in their inboxes and mailboxes – many of those donors are activated and paying a little extra attention to the world around them and the role they play in it.

But even while lots of eyes are on November 5, I’m looking exactly four weeks past that. Because GivingTuesday is on December 3rd, and it’s a critical opportunity this year to gather your audience in for the season of giving between the election and the end of the year.

Since its origins in 2012, GivingTuesday has grown in popularity and familiarity every year. Where it began as a simple day for encouraging people to do good, it’s now grown into a “global generosity movement unleashing the power of radical generosity” (according to the GivingTuesday org). And I agree with them, it’s grown in the eyes and wallets of donors, and it’s grown in importance to the end-of-year fundraising budgets for many organizations across the U.S. and beyond. 

I’ve been part of efforts to kick off that EOY season that started in July, and elements that were added late in the game when opportunities came onboard that couldn’t be missed. Cohesive messaging to align efforts across multiple channels. Engaging email and ad content. Powerful donation pages. And then taking things further: Working with corporate partners and employee giving opportunities, engaging your board or key supporters’ networks through a sharing toolkit, standing up extra channels like postcards to Mid-level donors or peer-to-peer texting to your sustainer audience, this is a time to go all out.

Because the thing about GivingTuesday is: It’s not a day when you have to convince or explain to people that they should give. The surround sound from news outlets and multiple orgs, some of it starting even before Thanksgiving, lets donors know this is their moment to shine. So your job is to help them shine. To make it easy. To make it feel great. 

And then to work hard balancing between gratitude and urgency to encourage a second EOY gift before December 31 closes its eyes, or a monthly commitment ready to start in the new year ahead. 

If your nonprofit team is looking for any of those elements for your GivingTuesday efforts, we should have a conversation right away. Or if they sound like things you might want to add to larger EOY or year-round fundraising work, I’d love to talk with you. 

P.S. I know lots of folks also work beyond their primary job as volunteers or board members for nonprofit organizations, those can be great places to share resources if they are looking to ramp up their fundraising!

Getting to know Prairielight

You’re a nonprofit fundraising leader whose organization is facing the current conundrum of narrowing response rates, existential need to diversify audiences, limited budgets, and ever-increasing channels and platforms to engage your audience. Just when you think you’ve got the team fully staffed, you get an email asking if you can chat for 15 minutes. And it always feels like you’re having to choose between strategy, execution, and analysis (and let’s face it, execution always wins, gotta get stuff out the door). In today’s dynamic nonprofit sector, organizations face big challenges, including developing long-term strategy and securing budget for innovation, scaling up efforts through segmentation or adding new means and modes of giving, and addressing inevitable staffing outages and transitions.

But I’ve got good news. I’m a nonprofit fundraiser too! Writing that first paragraph set off… feelings… because every one of those challenges is way too familiar. And after 20+ years solving problems for businesses and nonprofits, I’d like to help your team feel like it’s got things under control, you’re moving forward with intention, you’ve got things working — and you can see it in the numbers. By merging strategic insight with practical execution and hands-on support, Prairielight helps nonprofits both large and small enhance their capabilities, streamline processes and operations, and amplify their impact.

The Prairielight Advantage

Prairielight offers a comprehensive range of services tailored to nonprofit needs. We work closely with your team to devise, develop, or refine fundraising strategy that aligns with your goals and mission.

Strategic Goal Setting and Planning: Crafting a Vision for Success

Strategic planning is fundamental to fundraising success. It involves turning a vision into actionable strategies, setting ambitious goals, and anticipating obstacles. Partnering with Prairielight provides nonprofits with a clear roadmap to serve as a fundraising strategy template for sustainable growth and impactful results. Prairielight’s strategic planning includes:

• Analysis of current fundraising efforts including assessment and prioritization of audiences and channels.
• Identifying areas of strength and areas for improvement, looking for both short-term optimizations and longer-term initiatives.
• Exploration of tailored fundraising strategies for nonprofits to address cost shifts or savings, maximize revenue generation, and enhance donor engagement.
• Aligning mission and strategic vision to ensure revenue and engagement strategies match the organization’s core mission and commitments to diversity, equity, inclusion, and ethical fundraising.
•  Production of a Vision, Goals, and Strategic Recommendations document to build buy-in and serve as a touchstone for your team.

Campaign Development and Execution: From Ideas to Action

Campaigns are crucial for raising awareness, engaging supporters, and meeting fundraising goals. Prairielight brings years of experience and excels in creating and managing campaigns that connect with audiences and motivate engagement and giving. Our process includes:

• Leading or partnering on innovative and compelling campaign ideation, always keeping your brand in mind.
• Developing content calendars and content creation timelines to support single or multi-channel campaigns, helping to set realistic and achievable expectations.
• Creation of key messaging that effectively conveys the cause and inspires action, then crafting channel-specific content for campaign activation across both digital (email, ads, website, SMS, donation pages) and offline (direct mail, telemarketing, face to face).

Program Management: Scaling for Greater Impact

As your nonprofit grows, managing and scaling your fundraising program is essential. By engaging with Prairielight, your organization benefits from experienced support in key operational areas, providing expertise that helps your team to evaluate resources and optimize fundraising effectiveness:

• Budget Management: Oversight and assessment of budgets to ensure financial health. Are you spending money wisely and efficiently in support of long-term value? Do you want to propose additional investment spending for new initiatives?
• Program Evaluation: Assessing effectiveness and making data-driven recommendations. Sometimes an outside perspective can help make difficult decisions easier to face or provide validation for planned initiatives that can build important support and momentum.
• Reporting: Helping you provide regular, detailed reports to keep leadership informed. Success is actually success only if people know it happened.

Team Leadership and Staffing Solutions: Building Capacity

We’ve all seen it happen, unanticipated staffing issues can hinder nonprofit fundraising progress. By working with you to address your timely staffing needs, Prairielight helps organizations maintain continuity and build stronger teams. Prairielight can help with short-term (three months or more) or longer-term interim coverage including:

• Providing experienced interim leadership during transitions or fractional leadership during periods of growth.
• Assisting with recruitment and training to ensure the right talent is in place.
• Offering team development, training, and support to improve team performance.
  
  

So Why Choose Prairielight?

When you work with Prairielight, you get deep understanding of audience motivations and behaviors, and excitement about the opportunity to connect your mission with your growing audience. Whether you are looking for ideation or execution, online or offline, a single channel or coordinated multi- or omnichannel campaign direction, we bring new ideas, energy, and optimism to your challenges. Nonprofits choose Prairielight for:

• Expertise: Extensive experience in nonprofit management and fundraising.
• Customization: Services tailored to your unique needs and goals.
• Results-Driven: Focus on delivering measurable impact and sustainability.
  
  

Looking Ahead With Your Organization

If you're a nonprofit development & fundraising leader looking for someone to help you think through your challenges, bring knowledge, vision, and optimism to the table, and help turn overload into well-defined strategy and cohesive action -- we should have a conversation!

Contact Prairielight today to set up a consultation and discover how our services can turn your vision into reality. Let’s work together to clear the clouds away and make a lasting impact.