People's impulse to give is coming out of a deeply-felt desire to make a difference. In the face of new policies put into place every week, donating to nonprofits fills a need to replace hopelessness with action. In the same way that pleas to call politicians are ricocheting around the Internet, an appeal to donate offers a powerful way to counter the new Administration's most distressing orders.

But it's important to choose the correct framing for your fundraising message. Messages asking people to invest in strategies for victory are much more effective than communications focused solely on what's wrong. Donors want to feel that they are contributing to a successful effort to make a difference. The most forceful ACLU tagline? He Discriminated: We Sued.

The nonprofit community is an integral part of combating hopelessness. Every nonprofit must find its own way to help potential donors be part of the solution - both programmatically and in our fundraising messages.

Large-scale impulse political giving has the most in common with disaster-relief gifts. These gifts arise from an immediate, emotional response to the moment, not necessarily as a statement of support for an organization's core issues. Even the ACLU is having a hard time converting impulse donors to monthly sustainers.

Think of a disaster-relief gift (and that's what Trump resistance gifts are - an attempt to forestall a perceived disaster) as a door-opener. You know your donors are concerned and that they think that your proposed action might be part an effective strategy. But that's all you know. Your job? To build a relationship so their next gift is actually made as an investment in your agency.

That's one reason why, from a fundraising standpoint, creating volunteer opportunities can help build familiarity and donor loyalty. Consider how you might reinforce donor/volunteer identification with your nonprofit (T-shirts with your logo above the slogan?) as they show up to volunteer, attend your rally or sign a petition, to help convert casual givers into donors who are enthusiastic about your cause.

Whether you have volunteer opportunities or not, consider targeting your appeals to particular actions rather than the overall cause. It's often easier to move new donors to give $50 towards a specific rally, legal need, or counseling session, than for a more general gift. Start people off with concrete asks (that can be met successfully, so you can "share our victory" with supporters afterwards), and worry about converting them to general donors later down the road. Goodness knows there's no lack of urgent concrete needs right now!

Remember those unique strengths that you have as a

local organization which give you a comparable advantage over national nonprofits - you're on the ground making a palpable, touchable difference in your communities. That immediacy allows all of us - families/friends/neighbors - to exhibit our core values. Use that compelling vision in your fundraising appeals.

Finally - these challenges aren't going away soon. If your organization is not around to lead the charge, who will be? But if all your fundraising is action-specific, how can you keep the lights on and staff around to steer the movement forward?

The answer is the 20% strategy. As much as you can, allocate 20% of all fundraising proceeds to keeping the organization itself alive. After all, if there aren't any computers, how can you send out a call to bring people to an impromptu rally? That's an extreme example, but it's a telling one that anyone can understand. Without adequate infrastructure, rapid response is ineffective.

And don't "ask for permission" for this strategy - even with institutional sources, tell the funder that you're doing t

his and why. If they push back, you've at least started a dialogue on what it really takes to implement systemic change. (With small individual gifts, no explanation is necessary - if the action they're supporting takes place, however you spent the money to get there is fine.)

We're in a time of heightened anxiety - we feel it, and so do our donors. Without being unduly alarmist, let's acknowledge this shared viewpoint and extend our sense of communal responsibility to the fundraising sphere. 

Cause Effective client Mak e The Road New York (MRNY) builds the power of Latino and working class communities to achieve dignity and justice through organizing, policy innovation, transformative education, and survival services. Since the election, MRNY has been at the forefront of New York City resistance to anti-immigrant policies and practices.

With heightened visibility due to its high-profile organizing efforts, Make The Road New York started fielding numerous inquiries from people wanting to help. With limited staff, MRNY realized early on it needed to heighten its efforts to incorporate this new supporter energy. MRNY decided to transform its Junior Board, named Aliadxs (allies), from a cohort of 7-8 high powered young professionals into a larger group committed to providing political support and direct action while organizing fundraisers for the cause.

Over 400 people came to the last Aliadxs meeting, where people volunteered for new tasks and were encouraged to make recurring donations and recruit 10 friends. MRNY has received many new donations from this group, including a number that were made in someone's honor, or that came through opportunities such as businesses donating the proceeds from a day of operations.

Because MRNY pushed the idea of monthly giving through the message "Give us money we can count on," close to half of their 2017 donors have become monthly givers. But because these monthly gifts tend to be smaller than one-time gifts, monthly giving constitutes only about 10-20% of MRNY's small donor support each month.

Read more about Aliadxs in this Chronicle of Philanthropy article.