When the Funding Fire Hose Turns into a Drip: Why North Dakota (and ALL State’s) Nonprofits Need a Fundraising Plan Now

There’s an interesting headline floating around North Dakota this week: the House Majority Leader is retiring.

On its own, that’s just politics doing political things.

But paired with what’s happening economically? This is a massive signal flare.

More interesting to consider, as my friend Dustin Gawrylow from ND Watchdog stated so eloquently: no sane human gives up power when times are good.

People leave leadership when the fun part is over and the hard conversations are coming.

And in North Dakota, those hard conversations almost always start with one thing - the budget.

If you run a nonprofit in this state, you already know how our math works.

Oil money flows into the Legacy Fund.

The Legacy Fund props up state spending.

State spending fuels grants, contracts, and program funding.

And when oil prices are strong, it’s a fire hose.

But when oil prices tank?

That fire hose becomes a dribble real fast.

And oil prices are sliding.

Which means the “free cash” nonprofits have relied on - sometimes quietly, sometimes heavily - is about to get very, very tight.

Not next year.

Not “someday.”

Soon.

This is the part where most organizations panic after cuts are announced. They scramble. They rush appeals. They call emergency board meetings. They throw spaghetti at donors and hope something sticks.

ALL of that is the wrong move.

Now is the moment to get your fundraising crap together before the panic sets in.

I’ve got a few ideas on how to prep your nonprofit, regardless of what state you live in, or what type of organization you serve, to set the table for a more proactive plan to reduce the inevitable anxiety that budget cuts across the board will create.

Step One: Acknowledge Reality Out Loud

The biggest mistake nonprofits make during looming budget uncertainty is pretending it’s not real. We’re fantastic at impersonating an ostrich.

Boards don’t want to talk about it. Staff don’t want to scare donors. Everyone hopes it’ll blow over.

It won’t.

This doesn’t mean doom-and-gloom messaging. It means grown ass adult conversations. With your board first. Then with your donors.

Start with this framing:

“We don’t know exactly what cuts will look like, but we know they’re likely. Our job is to be ready, not reactive.”

That single sentence shifts you from fear to leadership and sets the table for an action plan that is purposeful rather than hair-on-fire panic mode, which is never really attractive to leaders and donors alike.

Step Two: Prep Your Board Before They’re Forced to Decide

Boards hate being surprised. They hate being asked to make massive decisions under pressure even more.

So don’t wait.

Now is the time to walk your board through:

• What percentage of your budget is tied to state funding or grants

• Which programs are most exposed if cuts happen

• What decisions you don’t want to be making in crisis mode

  
  

This isn’t about slashing programs today. It’s about scenario planning.

To facilitate these conversations, ask questions like:

• “If we lost 10% of state funding, what would we protect first?”

• “If we lost 25%, what becomes unsustainable?”

• “What revenue streams can we control?”

  
  

Boards feel calmer when they know there’s a plan, even if it’s hypothetical.

And bonus: this often wakes them up to the reality that fundraising isn’t optional anymore.

Combined with some suggestions that they reach into the giant rolodex they’ve been hoarding since they joined the board might set you up for the biggest fundraising boon you’ve ever experienced. So, hooray!?

Step Three: Start the Donor Conversations Before You Need the Money

More than boards? Donors really hate emergencies they didn’t see coming.

But your supporters will step up when they feel trusted, informed, and invited into the solution early.

You don’t need to call donors and say, “Hey, the state’s about to gut us.”

That’s not helpful.

It’s dramatic, that’s for sure. And as a former theater kid, I love me some drama.

But definitely not helpful.

You can say:

“We’re doing some proactive planning because we know public funding can fluctuate. We want to make sure the work you care about stays strong no matter what happens.”

That’s not a panic pitch at all. That’s fantastic proactive leadership in the face of questionable horizons.

Need a list of things you can do right away to set the table? Here:

• Reconnect with your top 20 or 30 donors

• Share what stability looks like for your organization

• Begin conversations about leveling up your nonprofit, not one-time bailouts

  
  

Donors don’t want to rescue sinking ships.

They want to invest in steady ones that see the waves coming.

And you’re the Russel Crowe of armada commanders in the sea of uncertainty.

(Oh, a Master and Commander movie reference? You’re welcome. Underrated film BTW.)

Step Four: Clean Up Your Fundraising Infrastructure

If your fundraising systems are messy now, they’ll be useless under pressure.

Now, do you need to buy a whole new $20,000 CRM, hire a marketing director, host a strategic planning event with your board and start from scratch on your mission? Hell no.

But should you reapproach the boring-but-critical stuff in order to lay the groundwork for future task at hand? Absolutely. For example:

• Is your donor list accurate?

• Do you know who gave last year but not this year?

• Do you have clear giving levels and impact tied to them?

• Have you connected to say “hi” or “thank you” in the last 6 months?

• Could someone explain “what we’re funding” in one paragraph?

  
  

If the answer to most of those is “ehhh…kind of,” now is your window to fix it. Not when you’re six weeks into a budget shortfall.

Strong fundraising isn’t about clever campaigns. In fact, spending time on being cutesy or creative is the opposite of what you should be spending time on right now.

It’s about clarity and consistency.

Especially when external funding gets shaky.

Remember, people have the attention span of fruit flies and require a crapload of reminders to take action…or at least remember that you deserve action…which, ironically, leads to action.

Step Five: Stop Treating Fundraising Like a Backup Plan

Hey nonprofits that have been on the government gravy train: for years, fundraising has been treated as a “nice supplement” because state money was reliable.

That era may be ending.

Which means fundraising has to graduate from “that’s the Development person’s job“ or “that’s something we’ll focus on later” or “board participation in opening doors is a goal and expectation we don’t really enforce” to:

• A shared leadership priority

• A board-level responsibility

• A strategic, year-round effort

  
  

This doesn’t mean everyone becomes a fundraiser overnight.

In fact, there are a lot a folks in your organization that have no business asking for money. However, it means everyone understands that private support equals stability when public dollars wobble.

This headline really isn’t about one politician retiring. It’s about a shift in conditions.

When people at the top start stepping away, it usually means the easy decisions are over.

For nonprofits, that’s your cue - not to panic - but to prepare.

Because the organizations that survive budget contractions aren’t the loudest or the scrappiest.

They’re the ones who talked to donors early and had them understand the importance of the work they do.

They’re the ones who got honest with their boards about the need or door opening to great conversations.

They’re the ones who built fundraising plans before they needed them and now get to reap the benefits on hyper-focused conversations with supporters who love the mission.

If the fire hose slows to a drip, the nonprofits that planned ahead won’t be scrambling for buckets.

They’ll already have a system in place.

And that’s the difference between reacting to cuts - and leading through them.

So get after it my friends…and if you need a little help along the way?

Gimmie a buzz!

-Patrick