The job of a nonprofit is to create and keep a supporter

Management consultant, Peter Drucker, believed that the purpose of a business was to create and keep a customer. For nonprofits, this is about creating and keeping a supporter. It’s certainly not the only job of a nonprofit, but it is an important one.

Supporters might be volunteers, donors, funders, grantmakers, legislators, politicians, partner organizations, social entrepreneurs, journalists, advocates, or the general public. A network of supporters can help ensure that a nonprofit is healthy and thriving, well-funded, and widely recognized.

Supporters are different from customers in one key way: Supporters don’t directly benefit from your work. They need to believe in your mission and see your vision. The work you do for others needs to align with their vision for the world, too. And they need to be engaged frequently.

In order to create and keep a supporter, nonprofits must first know their audiences and offer them something of value. During strategy work, we ask: “How do you want supporters to feel” and “How do we want them to talk about us?” Then, we can answer: “What must we value for this to happen?”

For most nonprofits, creating a supporter requires tapping into social and emotional value. This supports the person’s aspirations for who they hope to become or what they want to achieve through their relationship with an organization. It reveals to the world who the supporter is, what they believe, and what they stand for.

Volunteers, donors, and advocates seek out nonprofits that align with their values and address the unmet needs they see in the world. Ensuring these two visions clearly align through storytelling, data, and clear communication is key to creating and keeping supporters. Ultimately, it’s about creating a relationship.

What does your organization need to do to create and keep a supporter? ◼