Need back in 2 hoursAnswers 1Homework Assignment

Respond to each peer intial post with 3-4 sentences

Peer 1 initial post

Skills needed in managing non-profit organizations

Bearing in mind that the non-profit organizations are not up to making a profit but are just in need to offer certain service to the populations, the fundraising managers need to be very persevering because there might be many challenges which are involved. This is because during the process of offering service, the people may be very hard to manage and they may cause chaos when they are left free.

In addition, the manager has to be hard working because it is tedious work which needs real straining. Preparing plans and how they will execute the plans may be very hard, but he has to keep doing it. Further, he has to ensure that he motivates the workers who are working together with him so that they can do their best. Knowing that the work is not having any profit, the workers may be working at their own paces, and it will take the manager a good time to convince them they have to work hard to help the populations (Wagner, 2012).

In non-profit organizations, demographics are not important to follow because they care for any person who qualifies for their class of beneficiaries and therefore if they consider demographics, it will be like they are biased and are serving only those whom they want while they ignore others.

There are a number of challenges which may be in the working atmosphere. This includes the possibility of people refusing to contribute because they do not trust that the funds are going to the expected areas as this has happened before. This means that the manager will actually have a very hard time convincing them that the cash they give will go the expected work within the organization.

The workers may also be a headache in determining whether they will work in harmony or not

Peer 2 initial post

According to Linda Lysakowski (2014) there are at least ten top qualities of a successful fundraiser.  The first quality she noted was “impeccable integrity” one of the first things funders observe is the reliability, honor, and uprightness of the fundraising leader because they want to make sure they can trust that the person or organization will do what they said they will do with the money donated.  A fundraiser need to also be a good listener; Lysakowsi (2014) stated, “Active listening is important to good donor relations” (Lysakowski, 2014, para 1).  Substantial funding can be obtained by a fundraiser who listening skills were sharpened.  Lysakowski (2014) stated, “Listening for what the donor’s interests are is even more important than being able to persuasively explain the organization’s case.”  Other skills, abilities, and qualities that fundraisers should possess is the ability to motivate, be a hard worker themselves, have a concern for people, a high expectation, love for the work and organization, high energy, perseverance, and presence.  Weinstein (2009) mentioned that, “Mature fundraising programs rely on a three-part strategy.” (Weinstein, 2009, p. 6, para 2)   The three-part strategy is treat all donors and prospective donors with the utmost respect, broaden the base of support, and nurture personal relationships with the major current and prospective donors (Weinstein, 2009, p. 6, para 2).  

A study was conducted by Hope Consulting and their findings was published in a book titled “Money for Good.”  In this study the Hope Consulting firm concluded that demographics was irrelevant.  They surveyed individuals in 4,000 high income households and with an average of $300,000 calculated they determined nonprofit agencies could obtain more funding from individual (Frost, 2010, para 3).  The authors also determined from their statistics that there is an additional $45 billion market opportunity for philanthropy which results in loyalty in charitable giving.  In my experience of soliciting donations for foundations I have found that they can have a tendency to want to give to more established, older organizations before funding new and beginning entities.  I have learned that building a relationship with the donors is more effective, but to me that has no bearings on demographics.  I would have to say everything is based on the personality, mission, temperament and decisions of the funder.

Some challenges and issues that fundraising professionals may face in the strategic plan essential to successfully raising funds are marketing and getting the word out on the organization/program and what they do.  If the agency does not have experts that know how to publicize who they are and what they do funding could be hindered due to lack of exposure.  Another challenge can be setting priorities and proper strategic planning can also be a challenge.  The challenge that we faced in our first efforts of trying to retrieve funds was creating a “realistic” budget; some funders what a graduating cash flow analysis and if you do not know the cost of everything you need and try to guest it could cause you not to receive funding.