On Air with Amber Wynn, Philanthrepreneur

Funders don't know you from eve. All they know is what you show them. Words have meaning to the IRS. What are your coordinates? What street will your sign lead funders to? Stop making stuff up. It hurts you in the end. Learn what your lack of knowledge could be doing to your ability to generate revenue and how to change directions so that you lead funders to an organization ready to receive funding.

Are you at every community meeting? Do you sit on multiple committees? Join every rally? If so, ask yourself if those efforts are moving your organization forward? Chances are they are not. What they are doing is keeping you Busy. Learn how to develop a strategy that maximized your time and effort. Learn how to Stop Moving and start Being in Action -- doing things that moves your organization forward instead of burning you out.

Be careful when accepting donations. Because they are tax deductible, individuals/companies are incentivized to donate. However, often these donations may not align with your organization's goals, may be obsolete and unusable, and end up costing the organization either in space, time trying to figure out how to use it, or money--getting rid of it. Learn how to make donations work for your organization by establishing donation criteria that helps guide the process so that it helps, not derails your organization from accomplishing its goals.

You may have a mission statement, a budget, program descriptions, and a board of directors. But, are they Funder-Ready? Funders use the documents they request to weed out nonprofits. Learn what Funder-Ready means, and how to get there.

Funders need to know if they cut you a 6-figure check, they will be able to determine if your nonprofit made an impact or not. They use the measures you set as the barometer for accomplishing your goals. Learn how craft measurable goals that help you tell your Success Story.

Not getting funded? It could be how you describe your Programs and Projects. A Funder doesn't know you or the work you do. If you don't explain your programs in a way that shows ROI, you could be missing an opportunity. Learn exactly what it is a funder is looking for so you can increase your odds of securing funding.

There's a lot of conversation around the disconnect between the Full Costs of running a nonprofit and what Funders cover (90% Direct Cost v 10% Direct Cost). Learn the Funder's perspective behind funding a nonprofit's overhead and how it impacts your organization.

Mission creep is when take money to administer programs that aren't aligned with your mission. You take the money to fill gaps. It's tempting but it's expensive: you need to hire staff, that takes away resources, but most importantly it distorts your IMPACT. Instead of chasing money, build out your organization to position it for consistent revenue by building out your infrastructure. If you don't know how check out 90 days to a Profitable Nonprofit, the roadmap.

If you're struggling to move to the next level, you need to assess where your organization is. What stage? Be truthful. When you know what stage it's in, you can move to the next stage by checking off the foundational elements you have (or don't have). Don't check off the box to move forward. If you've been self-funding your organization, chances are whay you've been doing isn't working (so don't check that box! Fix the issue!) That's what gets you to consistent revenue.

Funders look for proof of success when determining who they will fund. Get some quick wins: quotes, testimonials, praise from collaborators. Show your impact: Pre/Post Tests, graduations, Sign in sheets, number of clients served, food bags given away, volunteer hours transformations. Build a track record by demonstrating proof of impact.