Six Things That Should Be in Every Fundraising Plan. You DO have a written plan, right?

Photo by Kevin Trotman on Flickr.com

I know I sound like a broken record when I talk about the importance of having a written fundraising plan.  But honestly, I believe it is one of the top indicators of fundraising success, especially for smaller organizations.  In UnderDeveloped, a study published in 2012, it was shown that while 77% of the nonprofits surveyed reported having a fundraising plan in place, that number jumped to 93% for high performing organizations.

So what are the key components of a fundraising plan?  I believe they include a goal, a purpose, a set of revenue sources and activities, a timeline, a budget, and evaluation criteria.  Let’s look at each one of these in detail.

A goal:  Your annual fundraising goal should be set based on what you’ve been able to raise in the past, and what your organization’s planned expenses are for the coming year.  The farther apart those two numbers are, the more ambitious the plan (and the more you will need to invest in fundraising to meet your goal).  Ideally your plan will include both dollar ($) and donor (#) goals.

A purpose:  Articulate in a paragraph or two what you are raising money for.  If the primary need is general operating support, talk about the overall impact of your organization.  If you only need to raise money for a specific program, talk about why that program matters to your constituents.

A set of revenue sources and activities:  The organizations with the greatest financial stability are those that have a diverse stream of contributed revenue.  For most organizations, the bulk of your revenue will come from individual donors, along with some public or private grants, and an annual fundraising event that generates important unrestricted funds from individuals and corporate sponsors.  Activities should be evaluated and selected based on available staff resources and the cost per dollar raised for each.

A timeline:  Map out the year.  When do your direct mail appeals go out?  How do other communications such as newsletters, emails, and social media posts strengthen the case for giving?  Where are the opportunities for reporting back to donors about how their gift was used, such as a mid-year or annual report?  How often do stewardship materials get rewritten?

A budget:  identify the direct costs associated with your fundraising activities, such as printing, postage, food, and gifts.  For indirect costs, list the activities that take up the most staff time.  Wherever possible, estimate the amount of time needed for each activity identified.  Net revenue for special events is always less impressive when you factor in the months of staff time spent planning the event.

Evaluation criteria:  What analytical reports will you run and how often?  The only way to know if you are using your resources effectively is to evaluate your fundraising activities as they relate to contributed revenue.  Be sure to look at donor retention rates as well as total dollars raised.  Sometimes an overall increase in revenue can obscure an issue with disgruntled donors.

It should only take a few hours to pull together these six items.  The fundraising plan then becomes a tool you can use with your board to help them understand the many moving parts of your fundraising program and how/where they can engage more effectively.  The plan is also useful when setting goals for the following year, and justifying an increase in expenses for an activity that has shown itself to be highly effective with your constituency.

If you don’t have someone in-house who can pull together a fundraising plan, consider bringing in an outside consultant.  The one-time expense can easily be recouped through having a more efficient and effective set of fundraising activities and a board that understands how staff time is allocated.