Giving Compass' Take:

Gautam John argues that nonprofits need to actively diversify their funding sources, and crowdfunding is one way to achieve this to become sustainable.

How can donors support crowdfunding for nonprofits?

Read more about what crowdfunding means for philanthropy.


Every donor is concerned with the sustainability and longevity of the work they fund. Likewise, for nonprofits, expanding their donor base is a priority.

The traditional approach has been to target a few high value donors rather than build a network of many small donors. And understandably so. The effort and capacity required to do the latter is very different from what is required to unlock institutional or philanthropic capital.

While this might be seen as a choice or a trade-off, we believe that this is better understood as a continuum that nonprofits ought to progress along and something that philanthropy ought to acknowledge, support and accelerate.

Funds from foundations, corporates and high net worth individuals will continue to feature as substantial components of an organisation’s budget. But we also believe that nonprofits must actively diversify their funding bases and look beyond ‘large’ ticket sizes.

Read the full article about crowdfunding for philanthropy by Gautam John at WASHfunders.