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After a year of prioritizing digital fundraising and communications, it is clear that many of our new virtual strategies are here to stay. On February 12, 2021, YW Boston’s Director of Marketing & Communications Coralys Negretti and Associate Director of Annual Giving and Special Events, Dominique Calixte, facilitated a virtual workshop with Massachusetts Nonprofit Network entitled, “How nonprofits can break through the virtual world of fundraising and communications.” In this workshop, attendees learned how to adapt their communications and fundraising strategies to respond to shifting stakeholder leads, such as a demand for greater diversity, equity, and inclusion and growing your online presence through COVID-19 social distancing measures.

Here are a few points to keep in mind from How nonprofits can break through the virtual world of fundraising and communications:

Involve various audience by using a IOS approach to digital communications.

As Coralys explains, the IOS approach refers to understanding the ‘inwards,’ ‘outwards,’ and ‘sideways’ resources. This method can be used for any goal, but she used the example of approaching the goal of creating a content calendar. First, ask yourself or your team what internal resources you can utilize (such as your staff or existing content) and how do you use these to fill your content calendar? Then, do the brainstorming about your external resources, such as your constituents or donors. Finally, your ‘sideways’ resources include fellow nonprofit partners or networks you are a part of. By breaking down the areas of your organization in this way, your team will be better suited to recognize your assets and put them to use.

Virtual fundraising can strengthen your ability to be a more inclusive fundraiser.

Dominique drew a strong connection between inclusive fundraising and virtual fundraising in the second part of the workshop. Inclusive fundraising is “the active work of grounding your fundraising practices in equity, anti-racism, and justice, so that folx who were missing from the funding conversation are now invited to the table.” Virtual fundraising focuses on creating community while physically distant, expands a fundraiser’s reach, requires intentionality, and is relevant to the times. Each of these assets of virtual fundraising works to create a more inclusive fundraising strategy, too. Virtual fundraising gives your team the opportunity to reevaluate donor engagement — and in turn, envision more inclusive strategies.

Watch the recording of “How nonprofits can break through the virtual world of fundraising and communications” to learn more and get additional strategies.

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About YW Boston 

As the first YWCA in the nation, YW Boston has been at the forefront of advancing equity for over 150 years. Through our DE&I services—InclusionBoston and LeadBoston—as well as our advocacy work and F.Y.R.E. Initiative, we help individuals and organizations change policies, practices, attitudes, and behaviors with a goal of creating more inclusive environments where women, people of color, and especially women of color can succeed. 

As part of that work, we are helping organizations prioritize Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and become socially connected while staying physically distant. During this time, YW Boston is providing organizations with digital workshops and resources to help them better understand the challenges faced by their employees. For more information, please contact Sheera Bornstein at sheera@ywboston.org.