Building your next nonprofit fundraising plan can feel like a big task. You know what your fundraising goal is for the year, but there are endless options to reach that goal. That’s what your fundraising plan is for. To bring focus and direction to your fundraising efforts. No more getting distracted by the latest trend or a random idea board member has (Ice Bucket Challenge 2.0 anyone?). You, fundraising friend, are a professional with a plan!
When I work with clients and students on nonprofit fundraising plans, there are 3 steps we take before we develop the actual plan. These pre-plan steps will help you make some key decisions, review data and prepare for success. In this article I’ll walk you through exactly what you need to do before you write your nonprofit fundraising plan.
Do a Fundraising Data Review First
Data is your friend, fundraiser! No matter how much you might find your donor database frustrating, it contains some real gems. Trust me on this. That’s why we’re going to start with a fundraising data review first.
Doing a data review will give you objective insight on various segments of your donor base, how much money you’ve raised, donor retention… and more!
We’ll start your data review with a broad overview of your last 12 months. Here are the numbers you’ll want to pull:
● What your fundraising goal was for this 12 month period
● How much you actually raised during this 12 month period
● How much money was raised from annual level donors (these are your non-major donors)
● How much money was raised from major donors
● How much money was raised from foundations
● How much money was raised from sponsorships or corporate partnerships
Seeing this breakdown of where you generated fundraising revenue will be helpful in our next step. But before we get there… here’s what I want you to gather next:
| Segment | Total Amount Raised from Segment | Total # of Donors in the Segment | Average Gift Amount |
| $0 – $99 | |||
| $100 to $249 | |||
| $250 to $499 | |||
| $500 to $1,999 | |||
| $2,000 + |
I find completing this table as a part of my data review to be super helpful because it helps me see where my biggest and best opportunities lie.
Finally, you’ll want to get a snapshot of your data channel by channel.
| Channel | Amount Raised | # of Donors |
Alright, fundraising friend, you’ve done some of the heaviest legwork! Take a break, get a coffee and then come back for the next part of our pre-plan work together.
Ask Your Data Questions
Your fundraising data has so much power and potential. To tap into that, you need to start asking questions about it. I use a modified strategy framework from the book Blue Ocean Strategy when I work with clients on this phase of the fundraising planning process.
Here are the questions:
- What should we continue to do at the same level?
- What should we do more of that we are currently doing?
- What should we start doing that we are not currently doing?
- What should we stop doing?
To answer these questions, you’ll want to look at the data you pulled during your data review. Your goal by asking these questions is to identify what’s working, what’s not working, low-hanging fruit opportunities and ways to free up some of your valuable time and resources.
I can tell you that these questions have helped me do some of my best fundraising work over the years. My favorite question is “what should we stop doing?” Sometimes we are so head down in the day-to-day of our nonprofit work, it’s difficult to get perspective on where we are spinning our wheels and just not getting the traction we need. I also find that my clients and students don’t often consider just giving themselves and their nonprofit a permission slip to just stop doing something. You don’t have to carry on as you always have.
Once you’ve answered these questions for yourself, you should find that you have a clear path forward for the strategies and tactics that you want to use in your next fundraising plan.
Evaluate Your Messaging
Evaluating your messaging might seem like something that is a communications task, but in this case it’s not! Messaging is part of what drives people to donate. Taking a retrospective look at your last 12 months of messaging can help you see what has resonated with your audience. Again, this is a way to find your points of leverage for your next fundraising plan.
Here’s what you can do to evaluate your messaging.
● Gather a selection of your fundraising materials from the last 12 months
● Highlight the calls to action (these often contain part of your message)
● Pull out themes that you see across these materials
Next, I want you to overlay some of your fundraising data on your messaging. Did you have any appeals or campaigns that were particularly successful? Could the messaging be part of the success? If you had appeals or campaigns that were not successful, what was different about them? How did the messaging differ from other campaigns?
Conclusion
We’ve covered three steps to take before you write your next nonprofit fundraising plan. My goal with each of these steps is to give you opportunities to reflect and get perspective on your fundraising program. With the information you’re now armed with, you’re ready to build a fundraising program that leverages your strengths and builds on your nonprofit’s successes.
