Last week during our monthly Nonprofit Academy call, I found myself in a conversation that felt both familiar and frustrating. The topic? How tariffs and rescissions are creating confusion among donors and nonprofit boards—and making fundraising feel nearly impossible.
Sound familiar?
Donors appear hesitant. Board members are second-guessing more than ever. Major gift conversations were getting stalled as donors try to figure out how to lead their businesses.
The silver lining in this conversation?
One of the members made a simple observation: “It comes down to this: We need to stick to the basics. Directly communicating with our donors and sharing stories that connect them to the work.”
I felt a shift in my emotions. When the world feels chaotic and distracted by the latest news cycle, that’s exactly when you need to get back to what actually works in fundraising.
The Ask Without Fear Basics Still Work
What I’ve noticed in the last two decades of fundraising is that while the challenges change, human beings remain very consistent. We’ve been asking people to support causes for millenia. The tools we use to communicate change. But the fundamentals don’t change just because the headlines do.
Whether we’re facing a recession, a pandemic, political upheaval, or any other crisis, the basics still deliver results:
- Research your donors’ passions and capacity
- Engage them with authentic relationships
- Ask them directly and confidently
- Love them through genuine appreciation
These aren’t complex strategies. It’s easy to overcomplicate the process, but you don’t need to. These just require you to remember that fundraising is about people connecting them with causes they care about.
When uncertainty strikes, donors gain confidence from being able to take action on something. When their world feels out of control, they feel relief from tangible impact their donation makes. They need you to share stories that remind them why they got involved in the first place. They need you to help them see through the noise to what really makes a difference.
Two Ways to Reconnect with The Basics
If you’re feeling stuck on the basics or if you need a refresher on how to implement them, here are two ways to bring clarity. The first is the Do It Yourself Fundraising guide. It’s a distillation of my book Ask Without Fear!® and designed to walk you through the R.E.A.L. approach step by step. Working through this will help you identify practical steps to act on immediately.
The second resource is something newer: I’ve been beta-testing FRC GPT at fundraisingcoach.com/frcgpt/. This AI tool is loaded with 20 years of my fundraising writings and training content. Think of it as having a thought partner available 24/7 to help you work through specific challenges, craft better donor communications, or just remind you of the fundamentals when you’re feeling overwhelmed.
It’s still in beta, so you might encounter some quirks. But during trying times like these, having a resource that can help you think through donor conversations or craft compelling case statements might be exactly what you need.
The Bottom Line
Stephen Covey taught us about the difference between our Circle of Concern and our Circle of Influence. The Circle of Concern is full of legitimate things to be concerned about—tariffs, rescission, economic uncertainty. But dwelling on those concerns without focusing on what we can actually influence is a recipe for paralysis.
Your Circle of Influence contains the things you can really act on. In this circle are things like treating donors like real people with real passions, telling authentic stories about your impact, and asking directly for support.
The world might feel chaotic, but your mission is still vital. Your donors still care. And you still have the tools to connect those two realities.
So take a deep breath, get back to basics, and remember—the best fundraisers aren’t the ones who time the market perfectly. They’re the ones who stay focused on what matters most, day in and day out, no matter what’s happening in the headlines.
Your cause needs champions now more than ever. Time to get R.E.A.L. about making that happen.
#nonprofitleadership #nonprofitfundraising #askwithoutfear #fundraisingbasics #nonprofitacademy
