Hidden Channels for End-of-Year Fundraising
This time of year finds many nonprofits and NGOs hard at work on their year-end plans. We’re sharing a curated collection of posts below to help you make the most of some common “hidden” assets that often get lost in the mix of activity throughout the year.
The relationships that seem ordinary can often contain extraordinary potential. At a time when organizations aim to maximize every option possible, we’re hoping these suggestions can help you and your teams as well.
Hidden Channels: Diaspora giving
Diaspora giving represents one of the most underutilized relationship categories in fundraising, partly because it requires thinking beyond your current zip code. These are people with deep geographic or cultural connections to your community who now live elsewhere – former residents who moved for work, college students who graduated and relocated, immigrants who maintain ties to their homeland, military families who were stationed locally and transferred elsewhere.
Hidden Channels: Alumni connections
Alumni connections are based on shared institutional identities that can be activated years or even decades after the original connection was formed. From kindergarten to post-doctorate, school ties are worth exploring.
Hidden Channels: Friends and family
By activating your closest personal connections as connectors— instead of sources of money— you just might gain more in terms of access to professional expertise, corporate giving programs, volunteer networks, and opportunities that expand your organization’s impact.
Hidden Channels: Former employees, volunteers, and beneficiaries
Former employees, volunteers, and program participants represent some of the deepest connections your organization can have. They didn’t just learn about your work—they lived it, experienced it firsthand, and invested time, energy, and personal growth in your mission. Yet most organizations treat departure as relationship termination rather than transition.
Hidden Channels: Missed Social Media Connections (Part 1)
Social media networks often represent a potential base of active support that too many organizations treat as passive audiences.
Hidden Channels: Missed Social Media Connections (Part 2)
Being present online is not just about showing up. It’s about being active. Rather than spreading yourself thin across platforms that don't serve your goals, invest time in places and spaces that benefit your organization and audiences.
Hidden Channels: Recheck the trashbin
It seems embarrassingly basic, yet it’s still true: One of the biggest sources of support you're missing is sitting right in your spam folder—or about to be deleted in your trash. These forgotten zones are where way too many legitimate inquiries end up.