Last spring, the GiveMN team reached out to you, our fellow nonprofit leaders, to ask how we could be better partners to your organizations—and you responded generously and honestly.
Our partners at Transformational Solutions administered digital surveys, and met with our stakeholders via focus groups one-on-one conversations last summer. Then, they shared their findings with us highlighting areas you say we’re doing well as well places you think we could continue to grow to better support you.
We’ve taken both types of feedback to heart, and have already been taking report findings with us as we plan short-term and long-term strategies and tactics in meetings with our staff and board.
Today, we want to share just a few of the high-level takeaways from this process.
Give to the Max provides visibility and a good reason to reach out to donors—and sometimes organizations feel lost in the shuffle.
Through our community listening sessions (and in Give to the Max post-event surveys, too), we heard an overwhelming sentiment: Give to the Max is an important fundraising campaign for nonprofits and schools in Minnesota. The number one piece of feedback offered was that GTMD gives organizations a good reason to reach out to donors and ask for their support. We also heard that the highly visible nature of GTMD helps shine a light on our sector as a whole.
That said, we heard that some organizations feel like they “get lost” in the shuffle due to the size, scope, and nature of GTMD, too. We heard that GTMD is more difficult for certain cause areas, like Arts and Culture, to leverage. And, we heard that GTMD can feel centered around the Twin Cities metro, with organizations in Greater Minnesota needing more specialized, place-based support.
We’re keeping that feedback in mind, both as we plan Give to the Max 2024 and explore new ways to support your unique fundraising campaigns and activities.
Nonprofits and schools want help in telling their story to a wider audience.
One of the most daunting tasks for many nonprofits is donor acquisition—how we find new supporters. We heard many nonprofit leaders say that telling the story of their mission and connecting with new audiences can be a challenge, and that they’d like to see more support from GiveMN in this area.
We’re looking for opportunities to turn this feedback into action, during Give to the Max Day and beyond. As a start, we’re creating new fundraising toolkits and worksheets to help you tell your story, connect with new donors, and more.
We also heard that while one-size-fits all self-service toolkits can provide support, you need more opportunities for customized support as well. To do that, we’re looking at new ways to increase access to customized fundraising coaching and training opportunities through our RaiseMN initiative and no-cost training opportunities.
We’re committed to meeting you where you’re at.
Our recent community listening efforts reaffirmed our commitment to helping you all meet your greatest fundraising challenges. We see these efforts as the beginning of a story, not the end, and we hope that this is the first of many conversations with you about how, when, and where we can best support you and your work.
We are both heartened by the kind sentiments many of you shared, and committed to strengthening our efforts in ways where we can be of more and better use to you. We’ve identified some actions we can take immediately to begin to work toward these goals, and we know others will take more time to put into action.
Like any nonprofit, we are continually trying to improve our mission pursuit, and we welcome your feedback any time! Our organization exists to serve Minnesota's nonprofits and schools, and all 14 members of the GiveMN Green Team take that work very seriously. Email help@givemn.org with any feedback or questions—we see each and every message, and work hard to respond in a timely manner!
Thank you for being part of our nonprofit community. We are grateful to be your generosity partner and look forward to continuing to help you grow your fundraising—in new and evolving ways!