Nonprofit Fundraising 101. Heyman Darian Rodriguez

create deadlines. Keep people accountable by assigning them duties and clarifying who is personally charged with ensuring the fulfillment of each tactic, as well as deadlines for each.

       4. Document the Plan

      Once you’ve gone through the steps in this process and answered all the relevant questions, it’s time to document your plan. Without a written plan, you have no plan at all. This document should be specific, but also as short as possible and easy to read. Organize the plan by two to five goals and associate each goal with three to six objectives, and then associate each objective with tactics. Assign a lead person and deadline for each tactic.

      Here is an example:

      ABC 2016–2018 Fundraising Plan

      Goal 1: To build a strong and adequately resourced fundraising infrastructure that includes staff and volunteer resources, technology, policies and procedures, and professional development that provides a foundation for fundraising sustainability and growth as required.

      Objective 1: Build fundraising personnel resources.

      Tactic 1: Hire a Development Associate. Lead: Development Director. Deadline: 8/10/16.

      Tactic 2: Secure at least one skilled volunteer to help with administrative fundraising tasks. Lead: Development Associate. Deadline: 1/12/17.

      Objective 2: Build a strong board with reach and influence, as well as fundraising and giving capacity.

      Tactic 1: Create and implement a board member agreement detailing board responsibilities, including financial and fundraising commitments. Lead: Development Director. Deadline: 11/10/16.

      Tactic 2: Recruit at least three new board members able to contribute major gifts and facilitate introductions to major donors. Lead: Development Committee. Deadline: 6/15/17.

      Objective 3: Build a strong annual fund program that will contribute sustainable revenue toward operating expenses.

      Tactic 1: Select and implement a CRM platform to serve as our donor database. Lead: Development Director. Deadline: 3/15/17.

      Tactic 2: Build prospect list with 15,000 mailing and 25,000 email addresses. Lead: Marketing Director. Deadline: 5/1/17.

      Tactic 3: Select and implement an online fundraising platform. Lead: Development Director. Deadline: 6/15/17.

      Tactic 4: Create an editorial calendar mapping out all 2018 mail and email solicitations, plus major marketing communications. Lead: Development Director. Deadline: 9/15/17.

      Goal 2: To increase fundraising revenues by 25 % and raise $1,000,000 in FY 2017/18.

      Objective 1: Increase revenues from foundations by 30 %.

      Tactic 1: Research, qualify, and prioritize 10 new foundation sources each year. Lead: Development Associate. Deadline: 6/30/16-18.

      Tactic 2: Prepare Letters of Intent and/or grant proposals according to foundation deadlines. Lead: Development Associate. Deadline: FY according to required deadlines.

      Tactic 3: Maintain schedule for research, qualification, prioritization, grant preparation, and follow-up. Lead: Development Associate. Deadline: Ongoing.

      Objective 2: Build a strong and compelling Case for Support for fundraising purposes.

      Tactic 1: Consult with staff, volunteers, donors, and clients regarding why they give and key messages. Lead: Development Director. Deadline: 3/30/16.

      Tactic 2: Draft key messages and circulate in small but representative group for feedback. Prepare final Case for Board Approval. Lead: Development Director. Deadline 6/30/16.

      Tactic 3: Develop mini Cases of Support for each program. Lead: Development Director. Deadline: 9/30/16.

      Tactic 4: Communicate Case messages through various formats, including print, proposals, social media, website, marketing, etc. Lead: Development Director. Deadline: 9/30/16.

       5. Gather Your Prospects

      Donor prospecting is absolutely crucial to fundraising. So much so that we’ve dedicated all of Chapter 5 to it. Your prospect list will be critical to the development and implementation of your fundraising plan. You will need it to assess your current donors and determine where to focus your efforts, as well as to identify new opportunities. Ideally, this information should be stored in your CRM or database (see Chapter 6), but you should export it into a spreadsheet to visualize the full list and better prioritize and discuss it with your team.

       Assign a lead fundraiser to each prospect , so you know who is accountable and can provide updates during regular reviews. Create separate tabs for each type of prospect, especially foundations, companies, and individual donors. Add to the list regularly and review it frequently with your team to measure progress and identify fundraising opportunities. As detailed in Chapter 5, it’s helpful to implement a ranking system, even a simple one, to help you prioritize prospects and determine where to focus your efforts. How connected to your cause and organization are they, and what’s their giving capacity? Focus first on people in your inner circle, such as your board and close connections. Then think beyond the usual suspects, like the wealthy donors in your town known for their philanthropy. Try to identify people off of the radar who are connected to your cause, and devise a strategy for your most important prospects.

       6. Keep It Alive

      Once you’ve spent precious time and resources creating a solid fundraising plan that secures board approval, the worst that can happen is for it to sit on a shelf. Your plan must be a living document that guides your activities, and it must be updated or at least reviewed annually. At each review, involve the board, key staff, and volunteers and evaluate whether you are on point or falling behind. This will allow you to hold people accountable, make strategic decisions, and shift tactics as needed. It will also enable you to recognize and celebrate your successes, something too few of us fundraisers take the time to do! Use your objectives to create key performance indicators and include them in your organizational dashboard, as outlined in Chapter 7, so that evaluation of your fundraising efforts is integrated into the evaluation of your overall organizational health.

Conclusion

      Muhammad Ali once said, “The fight is won or lost before I even get in the ring.” To succeed in fundraising you need to know where you’re going and how you’ll get there. How much money are you trying to raise? and Who are you going to raise it from? You need to be strategic and think long-term, but also clarify the interim steps required for you to succeed. Prosperity for your cause typically doesn’t come quickly; it comes from hard work, a well-conceived strategy, diligent execution, and the investment of time and resources. You need to identify your revenue sources, your resources, and your prospects before you get started to ensure a more mindful approach. Be crystal clear on both your strategies and tactics, and hold yourself and your team accountable to concrete deadlines. Engage key leadership, like your board, and volunteers in your efforts, and revisit your strategy and progress regularly with everyone involved. Create the systems to measure progress, learn from shortcomings, and celebrate successes. When done right, a fundraising plan will do all of this for you; it’s simply a matter of creating it thoughtfully, keeping it alive, and holding yourself to it.

Do’s and Don’ts

      Do..

      .. include as many key staff, board members, and volunteers as possible in your fundraising planning process.

      .. review your prospect list in advance to ensure your goals are realistic and achievable.

      .. build a diversified fundraising plan that includes goals and objectives, plus tactics that are assigned to an owner with a deadline for each.

      .. review your tactics in the fundraising plan