How Overflow can help your nonprofit's fundraising issues

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12 Minute Read
Posted by Overflow Team on May 31, 2022

Tags: Drops

You take a sip of your coffee and inhale deeply. You haven't even had five minutes to check your email before someone knocks on your door. Another meeting. You scan your daily schedule and see that there's a seemingly endless list of tasks demanding our time, effort, and attention.

Anyone who's ever worked in a leadership or management position knows that being responsible for a team can be stressful. But as a nonprofit organization leader, you have unique challenges. On one hand, you're incredibly passionate about serving a meaningful cause, but on the other, the nature of nonprofit work often entails working on a tight budget with a small staff. You're also probably reliant on donations to keep the lights on, and therefore have to manage donor expectations.

Working with an array of different donors is challenging, as many will only pledge their support for a short amount of time before bailing. Sometimes it's because they don't like the direction your NPO is going, and other times they simply can't commit to more funding. Or perhaps they didn't feel valued as a donor. In any case, money is often the common denominator.

Even though money isn't the reason why you chose to lead a nonprofit, it ends up dominating many of the conversations at work. Without money, the mission lacks a backbone.

When it seems like your back is up against the wall, or you're out of options, what do you do?

That's a tough question to answer, and a position that isn't fun to be in. You're obviously smart, driven, and highly capable of solving problems if you're making key strategic decisions for a nonprofit. However, even the wisest among us can't force people to give or coerce donors who've already made up their mind.

It's easy to feel overwhelmed or stressed out of your mind when you know exactly what you want to do, but simply don't have the means to do it.

What if there was an untapped source of funding that could be more consistent and profitable than traditional giving methods?

Consider stock & crypto giving as a wild card option. While saying that may come with some eye rolls or deep sighs, give us a chance to show you why this might just be the missing link that saves you time and creates much-needed financial stability in your organization.


Introducing the avenue of stock & crypto

You may have already heard of organizations accepting stock or cryptocurrency donations. Maybe you even get the gist of giving appreciated wealth. However, there are some crucial indicators that show that stock and crypto giving might be the future of generosity as a whole.

Consider the following benefits:

Wealth isn't held in cash: A common misconception is that stocks are "for the rich" and that the average donor wouldn't have much to give. However, 93% of the average American's wealth is held in assets other than cash, per the Saint Paul and Minnesota Foundation. That telling stat shows us that most people have the means to give stock or other assets, but don't always know that it's a possibility, or that they can do it.

Tax Advantages: Appreciated wealth from both stock and crypto holdings is subject to federal capital gains tax, which takes a 20% bite out of your donation. Many think they have to liquidate their stock or crypto holding first and then donate to their charity of choice via cash. However, giving stock directly avoids having to pay any kind of capital gains liability and therefore maximizes your donation. For instance, a $10,000 gift becomes $8,000 when subjected to capital gains tax. That extra $2,000 goes a long way – especially in the nonprofit world. The gifts are also tax deductible, potentially saving the donor considerable amounts owed on their tax returns.

Gift Sizes: Stock and crypto gifts tend to be larger on the whole. The average stock gift given through Overflow, for example, is $12,000 (as of May 2022). Why is this? As we mentioned before, many people hold their wealth in stocks. Cash is instead used for everyday, routine purchases, whereas their stocks are designated for long-term investments like giving. Moreover, the inherent tax breaks and write-offs entice people to give more via stock.

Everyday ordinary use – relationships

You've probably had more coffees than you can count with prospective donors. Relationship management may not have been in your job description, but it ends up dominating most of what you do on a daily basis. You're constantly looking to improve relationships and satisfy your constituents, even if you're not "selling a product" like a typical company.

Bringing up the idea of stock and crypto donations could be a way to show donors that a.) your nonprofit is adapting with the times, and b.) you're providing them with more giving options.

One of the biggest reasons donors stop giving is skepticism around the use of their money. If they don't feel that their money is being stewarded in the best way, or that the organization isn't proactively working with them, they often withdraw their funding.

Unveiling a new giving route is a win-win from a relationship standpoint, as the donors will feel seen and heard, and reminded that they're part of a dynamic organization constantly seeking to improve and maximize their reach. Though we don't often think of gifts to charity as returns on investment, they really are. When we invest in people, we want to know that our money is put to good use.

Beyond that, people want to give. Studies from the University of California at Berkeley have shown that giving makes us feel good on multiple levels. Biologically, it releases oxytocin - the "love/feel good" hormone, and more intrinsically it builds relationships and helps us feel connected to the world around us.

All that to say, presenting stock and crypto as giving options to your donors will likely be a huge deal to them. It'll start more conversations, create "buzz" around your nonprofit, and most importantly provide an extremely profitable outlet to further your mission.

How Overflow works

Stock and crypto giving have historically been a nightmare for both the donor and receiver. In fact, Overflow was started after our CEO Vance Roush noticed that many people would give up on the giving process because of its esoteric and time-consuming nature.

The traditional way of stock giving, for instance, entails a huge amount of paperwork and back-and-forth with the brokerage and NPO.

Overflow not only handles any kind of paperwork and tracking of the donation, but also provides donors with an easy-to-use online giving tool.

The only thing your organization has to do is put a prominent, noticeable link on your website that clicks out to Overflow, and communicate Overflow's services to your donors as you see fit.

In a matter of button clicks, someone can give a stock directly from their portfolio. Here's the basic process:

-First, the platform links directly to your portfolio (or crypto wallet)
-Next, the stock or crypto donation is sent directly to the nonprofit
-Tax deductions are automatically factored based on the "Fair Market Value" of the stock.

We live in the "Amazon age," where if it's not convenient, people likely won't do it. Simply removing barriers and resistance can open up way more willingness to give, and confidence in the process itself. We've seen a marked increase in donor retention when organizations use Overflow, and much of that retention is due to the positive user experience.

Book an Overflow demo

Whether you're simply curious about us or want to take the first steps in a potential partnership, we encourage you to do the following:

Book an Overflow Demo: This is a 15 minute call to walk through what a potential partnership might look like, and an opportunity to get any questions answered.

Follow up with an Overflow member. If you’ve ever spoken to an Overflow member, they'd be happy to continue the conversation. One of the areas we pride ourselves on is being constantly accessible and available. If you get in contact with us, you won't have to wait days to get a response.

Read our blogs and check out our website to see our results for yourself. We have several published "case studies" explaining how Overflow helped different organizations and churches meet their fundraising goals and open up new pathways of generosity.