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Your Fundraising Plan can Make or Break your Nonprofit's Fundraising Success
A fundraising plan will keep your fundraising activity efficient, effective, and focused on actions that raise the most net revenue.
Article from the Growth & Co Blog | Posted on November 24, 2021 by Larissa
Do you ever wonder if your organization’s fundraising efforts are focused on the activities that raise the most revenue? If you do not have a fundraising plan in place, the answer is probably not!
A fundraising staff member will have difficulty meeting fundraising revenue and activity goals if the goals aren’t clear. They will also fundraise less efficiently and effectively, resulting in lost donations for your mission. Fundraisers who do not know how to spend their time waste days, weeks, and months on low payback activities like updating brochures that will never get used.
A lack of a plan can also result in multiple team members duplicating fundraising activities. An example of this is an organization without a fundraising plan that assigns one person responsible for creating the organization’s Case for Support. If no one is assigned this task, a different staff member may make another Case for Support version every time a new donor meeting, campaign, or event is approaching. Talk about wasted donor dollars!
Additionally, fundraisers without a fundraising plan often fall prey to the ‘bright shiny object’ syndrome. Without clear revenue goals, strategies to achieve them, and activities that need to happen at certain times by specific people, the fundraiser may have difficulty declining requests for their time. An example of this is when a board director suggests the fundraising staff host a second annual gala. Depending on the organization’s size and past success, the gala could raise $10,000 to $500,000 in gross revenue but take 160+ hours to plan and have significant expenses that decrease net income. It is easier to avoid planning a low net revenue event when a fundraising plan shows meeting a donor over coffee can result in a donation cheque for the same amount the event would raise.
If you’re want to create a fundraising plan to focus your fundraising efforts, here are some tips to guide your efforts:
- Understand your current fundraising situation! By conducting an audit on your fundraising operations first, you can gain insight into what activities have the potential to result in the lowest cost per dollar raised.
- Consider the resources your organization can spend on high payback fundraising tasks! Create a list of all the fundraising tasks you want to complete, how much money each could raise, how much time and money each requires, and who (staff, volunteers, vendors) can complete the work for you. This list will help determine where you should focus your efforts.
- Block the time in the calendar for the tasks you’re responsible for once the plan is complete! Schedule time in your calendar to complete tasks like calling donors on the first day of each month to thank them. This will help ensure the job gets done.
A fundraising plan will keep your fundraising activity efficient, effective, and focused on actions that raise the most net revenue. If you want to increase revenue and need guidance putting your plan in place, get in touch for a free strategy session!