Nonprofit Fundraisers Need to Study and Understand the Stock Market
You know what would be a game-changer in the nonprofit sector? Ensuring all Fundraisers study and understand the stock market.
[Insert “This is not stock advice” disclaimer here.]
Seriously.
Consider:
📈Opening a brokerage account.
💹Researching, then investing any amount of money in the S&P 500.
🕰️Then, let it sit. For a long time.
You’d learn how to:
➕Be excited when the market “is up”
➕Not overreact when the market “is down” (zoom out and it’s not a big deal)
➕Take the doomsday news as just chatter.
➕Confidently know that over the next ten years you’d likely have an average annual rate of 9%+ return.
(Over 9% is what the S&P 500's annual rate of return has averaged over the last 30 years. So, if you invested $10,000…in 30 more years you’d likely have over $25,000 with an annual 9%+ return.)
Fundraisers would stop saying:
💬“That donor can’t give right now because his stocks aren’t going great.”
💬“I shouldn’t ask now with the stock market the way it is.”
💬“We shouldn’t ask for more this year because of the poor stock market.”
Great fundraisers never decide what size gift a donor can give. That means not making assumptions about a donor’s private stock portfolio. Great fundraisers present the organization’s need and ask for their best gift toward that need.
Bottom Line for Nonprofit Leaders:
Your fundraisers need to be able to have sophisticated financial conversations with donors. They need to be able to speak their language in investment level meetings. Confidently guide donors through your financials. Answer the “difficult numbers questions”.
Sophisticated donors are not investing for the short-term. They aren’t swayed by short-term market fluctuations. They are long-term thinkers. So, fundraisers need to be as well.
Leaders: Have you equipped your team with this knowledge?
Enjoy this graphic from The Personal Finance Club!
Whenever you’re ready, here are THREE things you can do next:
👣 Follow me on LinkedIn where I share insider info daily — the same lessons I teach my clients about attracting larger gen-ops dollars and diversifying revenue.
🍎 Grab FREE Guides + White Papers — download robust resources you can use to push against the sector’s misconceptions, equip your board, and shift your team into High-ROI fundraising.
📈 Work with me to diversify revenue & secure the gen-ops gifts you need to grow. If you’re a business-minded nonprofit CEO with big growth plans but need to make charitable revenue from investment-level donors a bigger part of your budget, you can apply to work with me here.
