With the funding community and many individual donors reducing contributions to nonprofit organizations during this recession, fundraising professionals are working feverishly to offset diminishing contributions from longtime supporters.

Following are six points, from Gar Kelley, vice president, mid-Atlantic region at Nonprofit Finance Fund, for consideration as nonprofits refine fundraising activities for the next 12 to 24 months:

1. Understand which programs are core to your mission, and the revenue and expense associated with each program, for informed decision-making.

2. Develop a clear understanding of your organization’s full cost of operations in an effort to have accurate fundraising targets.

3. To realize revenue targets, redirect resources from annual events to developing a stronger business plan.

4. Consider co-fundraising with organizations with like missions to save costs and potentially tap into larger audiences of funders.

5. Diversify revenue (with caution): Seek ways to deepen your “market penetration.”

6. Communicate with your funders, clients, community members and others about the financial condition of your organization.

Read more from Gar, Fundraising in Challenging Times: Addressing the Cost of Business.