Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. Please follow the guidelines issued by the WHO and your respective countries’ agencies and help in the effort to contain the spread of the Coronavirus.
If you have decided with your team that your organization is in the position to play a role in the Corona crisis and you have the capacity to keep your staff safe, you will need funding. Finding donors is never particularly easy, so we have put together some tips for you to be able to find donors in this challenging time. If you need further information, we also have a variety of online courses and articles about this topic on our page.
This is a challenging time where developments happen fast. Some of the usual rules of how to approach donors are not in place anymore. Donors will be able to award money much faster and with a shorter process. Furthermore, you can approach new donors much more directly now, if you play an important role in your countries strategy to deal with the Coronavirus. Nevertheless, you will still need your documents and registration in order, so make sure you have all the necessary information and documentation at hand before you apply.
If you work locally, local donors will always be much more prone to supporting you than international ones. Especially now, look for embassies, CSR programs of local businesses, government programs, and local foundations. They will all extend their programs if your country gets hit hard by Corona and will be looking for reliable partners on the ground.
Donors that already know you will be happy to work with you again. Contact your prior donors and see if they can support you another time. Even if they have told you before that they would not do that, contact them again as things change. In a very short time, a lot of funding will be made available to deal with the crisis and they will need their network to disburse it. Make sure they have your name on the list and pick up your relationship with them now!
Like we said before, a lot of new funding will become available in the next weeks. Make sure you stay updated, sign up to newsletters and follow feeds. Many donors that have not funded in your country before might include you now, so also extend your research to new donors. We have many courses and resources on donor research, so make sure you check them out to not miss anything.
In times of crisis, the generosity of ordinary people is huge. Particularly after disasters, the readiness to contribute something grows. Take advantage of that and set up a profile for your organization on a crowdfunding page like Global Giving or GofundMe. This might take some time though, so don’t wait until the last minute.
Also Read Everything you Need to Know About Donor Research
To motivate people to donate to your project, you will also need a good homepage and channels on social media. Make sure you set them up and that they are frequently updated. Social media in and of itself also offers opportunities to fundraise.
These are some basic ways of how to find donors in the Corona crisis. Whatever you do, make sure to keep your staff and beneficiaries safe and follow the recommendations of the WHO.
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We have launched this online course where we want to give some tips for small to middle-sized organizations for how to prepare for a crisis – in this case, the corona crisis. There will be needs in a couple of weeks that you have to fulfill and your work can make a huge difference in your community. Make sure you are prepared as best as you can to have the maximum impact. In this course, our experienced expert Erik shares his knowledge with you and gives you important tips on how to get through this crisis. It will cover the following topics:
You will also receive a resource guide with important information about how to prepare your organization for this crisis and a list of potential donors that we will update daily.
Best of luck getting through this crisis and stay healthy!
Eva is based in Germany and has worked for nearly a decade with NGOs on the grassroots level in Nepal in the field of capacity development and promotion of sustainable agricultural practices. Before that, she worked in South America and Europe with different organizations. She holds a Ph.D. in geography and her field of research was sustainability and inclusion in development projects.
