Want to raise money for your nonprofit more effectively? The first step is getting out of your own way.

Nonprofit consultant and coach Rhea Wong, founder of Rhea Wong Consulting, has more than 20 years of experience as a multi-million-dollar fundraiser. She says the key to successful fundraising is to shift your mindset and identify strategies that will help take your nonprofit fundraising to the next level.

Here are her top four tips for doing just that.

Ditch the Pitch

The problem isn’t your pitch. In fact, Wong is on a mission to convince people to ditch the pitch when it comes to fundraising—because pitches can be inherently impersonal.

“Going into a meeting with a pitch is like bringing a resume on a first date,” she says. “When we start to treat people like walking checkbooks instead of actual people, we lose the soul of the work.”

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be prepared, though. Wong suggests telling donors why you, personally, are passionate about the project or program, and talking about the positive influence their participation can have. It’s still sort of a pitch, but you are using storytelling and anecdotes instead of data and price points.

Use the first meeting as an opportunity to build a relationship and trust with potential donors. Get them excited about the work you’re doing and allow them to collaborate with you—and pitch their own ideas—so they feel more involved.

“We need to let donors lead and tell us who they are, too,” Wong says.

Embrace Abundance

As a nonprofit fundraiser, you are probably aware of all the competing financial priorities your donors face—and you should absolutely be respectful of that. After all, if they give you a donation, that’s money they no longer have to spend on themselves or other things.

But Wong believes that this is entirely the wrong way to look at money. “The number one limiting factor I see among nonprofits is fundraisers’ own complicated relationship with money,” she explains. “If you believe there isn’t enough out there, that you won’t be able to access what you need or that you’re not worthy of what you need, those beliefs will carry into your work.”

The result? Operating from a place of anxiety and panic, which not only burns you out but is also reflected in your fundraising efforts. So rather than seeing money as a finite resource that you’ll be lucky to get a tiny slice of, Wong recommends embracing an abundance mindset.

“By changing our core beliefs to accept that there is enough in the world and that it’s our job to funnel it to the right causes, we can change the energy with which we approach fundraising,” she says.

Make Friends With Your Systems

Many nonprofits treat fundraising as an art rather than a science. But the idea that talented fundraisers simply have a golden touch is just not true—and operating your nonprofit without systems and workflows in place will mean losing out on potential funds.

A prime example of the power of systems is the “leaky bucket” problem. “Donor retention is at all-time lows because, as a sector, we are not great at stewardship—that is, telling people how we used their money or making them feel like valued members of our community,” Wong explains. “Is it any wonder that they take their ball and go home?”

Putting a workflow system in place for what happens after a donation is given can help plug the leaky bucket. “Start by writing down a workflow for each step of the donor journey and post-gift actions,” Wong suggests. Having such a system in place can ensure that you maintain communication with your donors and make them feel appreciated.

Building Connections

Successful fundraising requires you to be a visionary, a storyteller and a salesperson. While it may seem daunting to wear so many hats, Wong says there is a common thread that unites them all: connecting with others.

“The best fundraisers genuinely like people and see themselves as conduits between their donors’ desires and their organizational missions,” Wong says.

In short, if you build connections and community, the donors will come.

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Emily Guy Birken is a former educator, lifelong money nerd and Plutus Award–winning freelance writer. She is the author of five books including “The 5 Years Before You Retire” and “Stacked: Your Super Serious Guide to Modern Money Management,” written with Joe Saul-Sehy. Emily lives in Milwaukee with her spouse, two sons, a dog and a cat.