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| Photo by Caleb Roenigk at Flickr.com |
There are several benefits to taking the time to articulate your plan:
1. It gives you an idea of how realistic or ambitious your revenue goals are.
It is important to know where there are big gaps or stretch goals in your budget. Especially if you were not part of the goal setting process. If you are handed a set of revenue projections broken out by grants, individuals, and special events, it is in your best interest to outline a set of activities and a timeline that will break those goals into smaller, more manageable chunks and allow you to measure your progress as you move through the fiscal year.
2. You can use it to ensure that you’re making the most strategic use of your time.
If you are a small development team (or team of one!), you have to be selective about how you spend your time. Social media posts and community events are not going to help you meet your bottom line. I’m not saying your organization doesn’t need a Facebook page, but posting daily won’t raise more money. And community events that masquerade as fundraising events are only helpful to the extent that they allow you to build relationships with attendees and committee members. Special events take a tremendous amount of time to plan, and typically raise only $.50 on the dollar, or worse.
3. It can help your Executive Director and board understand how your time is spent.
It is not uncommon to have an Executive Director and/or board members who do not have a clear understanding of what is involved in the fundraising process. Running your written 12-month plan by your ED and board will help them understand how you spend your time, and why. Ideally your plan includes some metrics about number of donor touches (phone, email, meetings) that you can report against throughout the year. Closing gifts takes time and shouldn’t be the only measure of a development officer’s progress.
4. It can help protect you against the fundraising idea of the day.
Just like having a written mission statement for the organization helps your leadership evaluate new opportunities (and avoid mission drift), having a written fundraising plan helps you protect against those well-intentioned fundraising ideas that board members so often generate. When you are approached about yet another event or online voting contest, you can point to the plan and say “We know what we need to do to raise this year’s budget. We can consider that idea for next year.”
I’ve worked at many organizations where the culture has been very reactive. Running from event to event and putting out fires is exhausting. Taking the time to identify the activities that will help you meet your annual fundraising goals will allow you to be proactive, help to prevent burnout, and get everyone’s expectations in line.It is important to know where there are big gaps or stretch goals in your budget. Especially if you were not part of the goal setting process. If you are handed a set of revenue projections broken out by grants, individuals, and special events, it is in your best interest to outline a set of activities and a timeline that will break those goals into smaller, more manageable chunks and allow you to measure your progress as you move through the fiscal year.
2. You can use it to ensure that you’re making the most strategic use of your time.
If you are a small development team (or team of one!), you have to be selective about how you spend your time. Social media posts and community events are not going to help you meet your bottom line. I’m not saying your organization doesn’t need a Facebook page, but posting daily won’t raise more money. And community events that masquerade as fundraising events are only helpful to the extent that they allow you to build relationships with attendees and committee members. Special events take a tremendous amount of time to plan, and typically raise only $.50 on the dollar, or worse.
3. It can help your Executive Director and board understand how your time is spent.
It is not uncommon to have an Executive Director and/or board members who do not have a clear understanding of what is involved in the fundraising process. Running your written 12-month plan by your ED and board will help them understand how you spend your time, and why. Ideally your plan includes some metrics about number of donor touches (phone, email, meetings) that you can report against throughout the year. Closing gifts takes time and shouldn’t be the only measure of a development officer’s progress.
4. It can help protect you against the fundraising idea of the day.
Just like having a written mission statement for the organization helps your leadership evaluate new opportunities (and avoid mission drift), having a written fundraising plan helps you protect against those well-intentioned fundraising ideas that board members so often generate. When you are approached about yet another event or online voting contest, you can point to the plan and say “We know what we need to do to raise this year’s budget. We can consider that idea for next year.”
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