10 Practical Fundraising Tips I Took Away from the ILSS Fundraising Program
Aiswarya – Director, Strategy and Operations, is officially enrolled in the ILSS Fundraising cohort, which is proving to be a great source of knowledge, networking opportunities, connections, peer learning avenues and tools and templates that can help bolster Sanjog’s fundraising processes. Some key strategic learnings, reflections, and potential implications for Sanjog emerging from the programme thus far are outlined below.
1. Don’t assume good work will automatically attract funding
Many nonprofits doing powerful grassroots work still struggle with fundraising because they are unable to clearly articulate their work, positioning, or long-term vision. Funders increasingly support organisations that can communicate clarity, credibility, and institutional maturity — not only impact.
2. Treat fundraising as an organisation-wide function
Fundraising cannot remain dependent on one founder or one fundraising person. Strong fundraising systems require coordination across programmes, communications, finance, compliance, and leadership. Organisations become more resilient when fundraising ownership is distributed institutionally.
3. Build donor relationships before you need money
Long-term fundraising depends heavily on trust and continuity. Regular updates, thoughtful engagement, responsiveness, and stewardship often matter as much as proposals themselves. Donor relationships should be nurtured continuously, not activated only during fundraising cycles.
4. Stop using one generic pitch for every donor
CSR, HNIs, family philanthropies, institutional foundations, and systems-change funders all think differently. Each donor category responds to different motivations, language, and outcomes. Tailored donor journeys and differentiated communication strategies are increasingly essential.
5. Fund your institution — not just your projects
One of the strongest insights from the programme was the importance of “Pay What It Takes” thinking. Communications, HR, fundraising, leadership development, MEL, technology, reserves, and organisational development are not secondary “overheads” — they are core infrastructure that sustains impact and long-term resilience.
6. If institutional systems don’t grow, organisations become fragile
Many nonprofits scale programmes faster than they scale systems. Over time, this creates burnout, fragmentation, weak coordination, donor dependence, and operational instability. Sustainable growth requires simultaneous investment in systems, leadership depth, communication infrastructure, governance, and organisational culture.
7. Communications is now fundraising infrastructure
Fundraising today is deeply shaped by narrative clarity, storytelling, digital presence, visibility, leadership voice, and institutional positioning. Websites, donor-facing collateral, annual reports, thought leadership, and communication consistency increasingly influence donor confidence and credibility.
8. Donors increasingly fund legitimacy and systems influence
Funders today are not only asking what programmes organisations run, but whether they shape discourse, influence systems, generate knowledge, and build ecosystems. Institutional credibility, thematic clarity, and ecosystem positioning increasingly affect fundraising success.
9. Diversification is about reducing vulnerability, not just increasing donors
The real fundraising question is not “How many donors do we have?” but “What happens if one major donor exits?” Strong diversification requires balancing restricted and unrestricted funding, short-term and long-term grants, CSR and philanthropy, and programme funding alongside institutional strengthening support.
10. The future of fundraising is deeply tied to institution-building
Fundraising is no longer only about proposals, budgets, and grant cycles. Increasingly, it is tied to organisational coherence, leadership maturity, communications systems, donor stewardship, institutional legitimacy, and long-term public trust. The organisations most likely to sustain themselves are those that evolve into resilient, credible, learning-oriented institutions.
