Fundraisers’ Perspectives: Today Víctor Naranjo and María Pía Rodríguez del Pozo

At in2action we continuously ask questions such as: What is working today in fundraising? What challenges lie ahead? What major changes have occurred in our field? That is why Norma and Lazaro engage in conversations with fundraisers from different countries and expertise, to get their perspectives and understand how fundraising strategies are evolving.

In this article we share the interviews with Víctor Naranjo, a fundraising consultant with over 35 years in the sector in Costa Rica and Central America, and María Pía Rodríguez del Pozo, Head of Strategic Partnerships and Fundraising at Fundació Maria Raventós in Spain, with more than 25 years as a fundraising professional.

Both of them were asked from their personal perspectives as seasoned fundraising professionals the following questions:

  1. What strategies worked effectively in the past?
  2. What strategies are working now? What has changed?
  3. Looking to the future, what is the main challenge you face in fundraising, and what strategies do you think could be successful in overcoming them?

Here’s what they shared with us:

In your view and experience, what strategies worked effectively in the past?

Víctor Naranjo: “In the past, international cooperation was key. We conceived and put together projects to pitch to international foundations and cooperation agencies. We attracted millions of dollars with a team that costed less than us $5,000 a month. Additionally, we had an income-generating activity that involved a publishing house selling books, postcards, posters, and some individual donor campaigns, but these didn’t generate much money. These strategies allowed us to easily generate a million dollars annually.

Back then, I worked at the National Parks Foundation and the Neotropica Foundation. Both organisations were dedicated to protecting biodiversity, and Costa Rica was a pioneer in this area. At that time, there was significant international interest in protecting tropical forests, and Costa Rica was a model for tropical biodiversity protection. This attracted international interest, especially from cooperation agencies that wanted to support neutral or right-wing countries during the Cold War. Back then, we wrote a grant proposal every month, at fast pace. I remember that at international conferences, people joked about how we raised more funds than Brazil, even though Costa Rica was the size of a national park in Brazil. This geopolitical context allowed us to raise funds with impressive efficiency.”

María Pía Rodríguez del Pozo: “In my experience in the past, Face-to-Face (F2F) or Direct Dialogue was very effective when attracting new members and small donors. Today, it’s  become increasingly expensive, and it is harder to retain young people. The Millennial generation doesn’t want to commit to regular donations, and Generation Z, in addition to having fewer economic resources, follows the same trend.

With companies, they used to support with general donations or for specific projects in exchange for image benefits, such as promoting the collaboration, including logos in annual reports and posts. Now, they seek to involve their teams through non-financial contributions. This requires understanding their expectations, creating new formulas, and negotiating. If successful, it helps to build long-term partnerships. Some examples are participating in pro-bono projects, training teams and beneficiaries.”

What strategies are working now? What has changed?

Víctor: “In my view nowadays, fundraising has changed significantly. Costa Rica’s popularity as an environmentalist country is no longer the same, and many foundations have shifted their focus to other geographical areas like the Amazon or the Andes. With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, Costa Rica became a middle-income country, which affected our eligibility for international funding. Back then, we produced excellent documents, but that was no longer enough. It wasn’t about the PR with the Danish, the Japanese, or the Americans anymore. The NGO landscape changed. Many small NGOs that used to receive that funding collapsed. All that money that came in the 80s and 90s dried up, and many organisations and projects were discontinued.

In my last twenty years, I stepped out and began to re-learn the art of fundraising. I’ll tell you the most important thing: eventually, an organisation asked me if I knew how to run a capital campaign. I didn’t have any experience about it so I studied, read, went to conferences, and took it on as a consultancy. I learned how to run a capital campaign, raising funds from Costa Rican sources for an international project, and it went very well. That led to others asking for similar help, and subsequently I was asked how to raise funds from wealthy individuals or major donors. I realized it was very similar to the principles behind capital campaigns, so  I’ve been doing it successfully for about fifteen years now.

I’ve been working with major donors in the Dominican Republic, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. We spent a couple of years in Costa Rica, and also in Mexico. To my surprise, we secured donations, from local wealthy families  in every country, including  several in Honduras, Dominican Republic, and Costa Rica. But I have to emphasize again that it wasn’t trial and error. I was hired for this. When I arrived, the client asked if I could do it in Central America, and I said yes, I would help, and we had good results. I also have to say that many people told us no, that they had no money or interest, or we couldn’t approach them.

Now, although it’s not my area of expertise, I see organisations like UNICEF, SOS Children’s Villages, and World Vision that have robust individual donor programmes here in the country, with really solid results.

I also see new organisations returning to the topic of international cooperation, especially in the Central American triangle of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, due to massive migration toward the United States. The US are investing into stimulating the economies of these three countries through development projects to improve employment and prevent migration. This has become a new funding “topic”, and now I see people talking again about writing grants. Throughout this process, I still see organisations with income-generating activities: a hospital sells some services, a foundation runs radio stations, where they also sell advertising. This idea that it’s not only philanthropy, but that they generate part of their income by selling something, is still happening.”

María Pía: “Currently, personalisation is key. To attract and retain middle and major donors, one-on-one relationships are essential, with the involvement of executives in meetings and events, and ‘account managers’ handling a portfolio of donors. For small donors, personalised communications via email, such as newsletters and thematic ‘special appeals,’ work well. For example, Médecins Sans Frontières does a great job in this regard.

Spontaneous donations in response to emergencies remain an important source of income. We saw this with the massive response to the disaster in Valencia. However, turning these one-time donors into regular ones remains a challenge.”

Looking to the future, what is the main challenge you face in fundraising, and what strategies do you think could be successful in overcoming them?

Víctor: “In the future, I think generating income through the sale of services or products will remain relevant. The idea of diversifying income has been around for a long time, and it continues to be important.

Philanthropy will also have opportunities with the Baby Boomer generation, who will have more time and, in some cases, more resources to donate. Organisations will need to adapt their strategies for this group, especially in terms of personal contact and the use of technology. Social media will be a powerful tool for attracting young donors who are already sensitive to social causes. I’m making a comparison between thirty years ago and now—back then, it was rare to find someone around forty who had an interest in what we call an NGO. Now, these people have their own organisations, they collaborate, and they are a more educated population, more sensitive to social causes, recognising that the government can’t do everything and the private sector isn’t set up for that. So, I see a new opportunity here.

And I must finish with the corporate sector. I see that corporate social responsibility is becoming more professionalised. I think it’s going to be the same. For most people who have entered this field, that’s the first thing they see and think. They believe that’s where the money is, so everyone rushes to target the same companies, which in reality aren’t in it for philanthropy. This micro-market will become increasingly competitive, but at the same time, companies also have the same population I’m referring to—just as individuals are working on these causes, so are businesses. I think that’s where we will see adjustments, changes, and opportunities. But to summarize, I see a great opportunity with the older adult population that’s entering the market. They will become an attractive potential market, as will international cooperation agencies in some countries. And individual donors, I believe that remains a great opportunity across all countries.”

María Pía: “For the future, non-financial involvement will be key to retaining Millennials and Gen Z. These groups want to be active participants and experience things firsthand, such as solidarity initiatives among friends, races, concerts, and events where they can ‘get physically involved.’

Generation X and Boomers remain loyal donors, and we must continue to care for them for both their current value and potential future contributions. These groups have greater financial capacity and are the ones who can contribute the most as ‘middle donors.’

Finally, legacies and bequests have significant potential as a long-term funding source. During the pandemic, many NGOs in Spain received bequests, which has prompted organisations to promote more charitable wills.”

Fundraising in Latin America and Spain has evolved significantly in response to social, economic, and technological changes. The strategies that worked in the past are no longer as effective, and organisations must adapt to new realities. Diversifying funding sources, personalising approaches, and using digital tools are key to future success. Building strong communities and creating meaningful experiences for donors are also essential for facing the challenges in fundraising.

We’d love to hear about your experience—write to us, and we can share it! You can find more testimonies from colleagues here.