During the first week of December ConnectingUp Australia hosted a series of workshops in Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton 

Facilitated by Graeme Russell of Adage Business and Charity Matters, the workshops were well attended with participants from a wide range of organisations. and Auckland, which focused on fundraising and marketing your nonprofit.

Fundraising, as any organisation knows, can be a real challenge. The key learnings that Graeme shared in the workshops were: 

Planning - plan your fundraising well in advance, don't leave everything to the last minute. A well thought out fundraising plan is a necessity - looking forward more than one year, is a must. Planning for the immediate coming year isn't sufficient, you need to plan well in advance, up to five years. 

Budgeting - don't start any fundraising until you've set a budget, know what your targets are for the coming year.

Team work - when developing a fundraising plan, it makes the whole process so much easier (and understood by others) if a team is gathered around. The team should have someone from the management team, the board, and someone from the field along with the person charged with fundraising. This helps in getting a wider perspective and understanding of any challenges in the fundraising targets. 

Get out and about - fundraising and marketing isn't a desk job. There are many organisations in the community that non-profits can approach to talk about the work they are doing. The likes of Rotary and Lions welcome organisations to visit and share their story. However, non-profits shouldn't use this time to put their hand out; instead it should be seen as an exercise in ‘educating' others about your work. 

Donor dependency - all organisations are dependant on funding, but putting all your eggs in one basket, relying on one source of funding isn't a good idea. Not only do you run the risk of not having funds should your only source withdraw support, but you can also face the challenge of a donor wielding too much clout over how you will operate and what you will do. 

Marketing - all marketing has a shelf life, changing your message is important; people tire of seeing the same thing all the time. If you're not changing your messages you're likely wasting time and money. Look at what others are doing to promote their non-profit - what messages are they holding consistent, what are they changing; can you follow suit and do something similar in your organisation. 

Your Board - you need your board members on board with all your marketing and fundraising, they're more than a requirement, they are part of the team and should be encouraged to use their networks to help promote and raise funds for the organisation.