How To Foster Longevity + Sustainability with Your LGBTQIA+ Donors

Dear nonprofit leaders and professional fundraisers,

We’ve come to the end of a five-part series in how to engage LGBTQIA+ donors better, from prospecting to thanking, and now, finally, ensuring your practices keep them around for good.

There are three key topics to note here:

D-I-N-Ks

Don’t assume every LGBTQIA+ couple is a double-income-no-kids household. As a Queer person, I often jump to that conclusion myself as a fundraiser because I see no kids in my future outside of being Aunty Uncle Matt from Sausy California. Queer people make great parents, and our community has fought hard for the rights we have today for child adoption and contraception, and though there are still battles to be won before we have full equity, it would be unjust to assume every LGBTQIA+ person does not want/have children.

For the queer couples who are D-I-N-Ks, when it is time to pass their wealth, they will need to be a little untraditional about it. When you involve them in the long-term strategy and vision of the organization, they will feel ownership and obligation to preserve its legacy (maybe not as much as their french bulldog’s legacy, but still).

No matter the architecture of an LGBTQIA+ family, chosen family is the most important thing. Talk to them openly about what their family looks like and what it means to them. Chances are if you’ve gotten this far with them, you’ll be part of their chosen family too.

FRIEND-RAISING!

There are countless Queer and Queer-led nonprofit organizations across the world. Just like any other nonprofit, we are serving a community that experiences lived disparities every single day. One such outcome of those disaparities for the LGBTQIA+ community is that the majority of our community lives below the poverty line. Because of this, you may experience difficulty securing any sort of gift. But who said that’s the end of the road, and who said fundraising is only about money?!

We all know donors have more value than just cash, and donors can donate more than just money. Engage them! Harness the power of their network. This is where “a community of communities” comes in handy. If they can’t donate and still have the propensity and likelihood and interest in supporting your mission, ask them instead to help you do the work. These people are the perfect candidates for your board, or for your LGBTQIA+ advisory council. They can also help lead your peer-to-peer fundraising efforts. Make them chair of your campaign! People give to people, even if it’s modest. When you engage queer people to be your leaders and your voices and your friends, their network follows.

THINKING QUEER WILL BECOME SECOND NATURE. Don’t worry, I’m not saying you’ll become Queer. That’s not how that works. What I am saying is if you are consistent with all of the practices and behaviors from the LGBTQIA+ Donor Series in the blog (9.23 through 10.21), fundraising from all the Queer people in your community will just happen naturally. And you won’t even know who all the queer ones are! But your system will be LGBTQIA+ inclusive and will continue to consistently serve your existing constiuency while making room for it to grow with new donors too.

Think about the long-time donors in your organization. Why have they stayed around for so long? Well, it’s likely because you’ve made them feel seen and heard and given them a seat at the table and recognized their household for their continued generosity, and have data to reflect their demographic….

Advancing your mission by engaging LGBTQIA+ donors is certainly no easy task. A community of communities? Sounds complicated! And to boot, those of us in the LGBTQIA+ community don’t always agree with each other. Some Queer donors may read this list and think “??????” The majority of us live below the poverty line because of our experienced disparities – the inequity of the world. When you can’t fundraise from them, friend-raise from them. They will be invaluable.

Sincerely,

Queers

Queer For Hire provides fundraising support and LGBTQIA+ diversity training for nonprofits, professionals, and corporations.

Learn about our Fundraising Services <here> – we’ll lead or support your fundraising efforts, whether you need general support or want to focus on raising money from and for the LGBTQIA+ community.

Learn about our Fundraising Trainings <here> – we can coach your board, staff, and fundraising team on how to fundraise and how to engage LGBTQIA+ donors.

Learn about our other services <here> or our resources <here>.