There’s been a lot of chatter about the critical role nonprofits are playing in the world as we hobble along trying to find our way in the dark after COVID-19 delivered a knockout punch.

The reality is, nonprofits are used to functioning in this troubled space, it’s why we exist. Albeit, we aren’t used to the depth of need we’re seeing right now, but this is what we do. Show up for people when they’re in desperate situations.

You’re also hearing about how most nonprofits are experiencing fundraising droughts because all eyes, and wallets, are focused on the immediate and obvious devastation caused by the virus. Nonprofits, as critical as we are, are drinking from a fire hose right now, but letting go of the hose just isn’t an option.

Fundraising dollars are the oxygen that keeps nonprofits alive. Which is why many compete against each other for the almighty dollar. We don’t call it out as competition but we all know there is just so much that people, companies and foundations can dole out, so of course there’s competition to secure dollars so we can meet the deep needs we are swimming in daily.

One would think in desperate times like this, when nonprofits need financial support more than ever, the fierce competition for funds would dramatically increase.

Similar to the corporate world, where Mom and Pop shops are the ones who likely won’t be able to financially survive this pandemic, many nonprofits will struggle. So, of course, competition will escalate – it’s about survival of the fittest, right? Well, that’s not the case for some of us.

At Family Reach, we’re “in this together” because we know it’s the only way out.

Before COVID-19, we took a chance and created a network of like-minded nonprofits across the country whose missions are very similar. We did it because we knew the problem we were all out to solve, the financial crisis of cancer, was too big for anyone of us to solve on our own.

Having been at this for 25 years, we knew we had critical data on the topic to share and innovative financial wrap-around services to scale – but we also knew that we had a lot to learn and wanted as many thought partners as possible.

This network is called The LiFT Network, which stands for Eliminating Financial Toxicity.