Increasing Nonprofit Effectiveness by Fundraising in Diverse Communities

Nonprofit organizations are faced with the need to evaluate their current business model in order to survive and flourish in the future. They are impacted by external forces that are undergoing systematic changes and will therefore impact the effectiveness of the organizations, such as the state of the economy, reach of globalization, changes in population demographics are some of the forces exerting extreme impact on the outcome for nonprofit organizations. Nonprofits are mostly financed by a donor base that provides stable and continuous income to support the organization’s mission, and therefore maintaining and growing good relationships with donors is a competitive advantage for nonprofits. All donors have expectations and a nonprofit’s development department is charged with meeting and, if possible, surpass such expectations. The capacity of development professionals to meet their donors’ needs is fundamental for a nonprofit to survive and thrive. This paper will look into the stated external forces that have direct impact on nonprofits and how effective they are in growing and serving society by fulfilling their mission. The academic support for this thesis comes from research in three different areas: First a study and definition of organizational effectiveness as it relates to nonprofits; next a summary of fundraising best practices and trends of giving in the United State data; third an overview of demographic changes in the country affecting fundraising and nonprofit effectiveness. The research’s findings suggest that nonprofit organizations need to review their approach to fundraising in diverse communities, in order to increase their effectiveness