Strengthen your mission with a fundraising plan template
Imagine this scenario. In the heart of a busy town, the Suncloud Community Centre helps underprivileged children. Focused fundraising efforts not only raised the chances of the centre successfully serving its mission but also gave board members and staff peace of mind that they were doing the right work at the right time to support their community and make a meaningful difference.
The centre’s director, Sarah, had recently implemented a clear fundraising plan, which included detailed strategies for grant writing, donor engagement and community events. This plan not only streamlined their efforts but also ensured that every pound raised was used efficiently to provide essential programs and resources. As the center thrived, the team felt a renewed sense of purpose and confidence, knowing that their organised approach was making a tangible impact on the lives of those they served.
Now think about your organisation. Is your plan for fundraising clear and actioned? Do you have a set of goals and metrics in place?
Why do you need a fundraising plan?
Focused fundraising efforts not only raise the chances of a charity or nonprofit successfully serving its mission. They also give board members and staff peace of mind that they are doing the right work at the right time to support their community and make a meaningful difference.
As Jeff Brooks, fundraising professional points out, “The future of fundraising is not about social media, online video or SEM. It’s not about any technology, medium, or technique. It’s about donors. If you need to raise funds from donors, you need to study them, respect them and build everything you do around them.”
Is your organisation following a clear plan for fundraising? Let’s take a look at what goes into a fundraising plan and how a nonprofit fundraising plan template can supply answers up front and simplify this important work.
What is a fundraising plan?
A French writer by the name of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once said, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
Your board probably has a long wishlist for your organisation, so it’s time to take the next step. A fundraising plan begins with setting goals for your fundraising campaigns. To turn your wishes into goals, you need to make the decisions necessary to achieve them.
A fundraising plan is a written document that outlines your organisation’s fundraising goals along with a step-by-step plan for bringing them to fruition.
At the end of the year, it’s very rewarding to see how your donations have grown and how the funds can help your charity or nonprofit expand its programmes and services.
Navigating fundraising regulations doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Stay ahead by understanding current compliance, requirements and regulations across regions in our Fundraising regulations: What volunteer boards need to know.
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How do you begin writing a plan for fundraising goals?
If you have a year of fundraising activities under your belt, the first step is to put a review of the previous year’s fundraising results on the agenda at your next board meeting. With BoardEffect, you can schedule this discussion at the same time every year, simply by adding the item to your shared board calendar.
During your discussion, draw insights from the past results by evaluating your finances, activities and results. Break down the data by assessing the total profit from each fundraising campaign as well as the combined total from all fundraising activities.
Here is a shortlist of funding sources to review:
- Government and private foundation grants
- Private donations
- Membership fees
- Ticket sales
- Product sales
- Corporate matches and sponsorships
Your board members are likely to have questions and comments about your results. It should become obvious which campaigns were the most successful. Be sure to assess whether the expenses for fundraising activities don’t outweigh the benefits.
Your board discussion should include a comparison of how your fundraising efforts correlate to your budget allocation for each activity. Also, take note of whether there was a carryover of expenses or revenue which will help you determine which activities were productive and impactful versus those that weren’t.
Use the data from past fundraising campaigns to create a new data-driven fundraising plan. A CRM or fundraising software program will yield a wealth of metrics that will help in planning, but also in evaluating the success of your fundraising programs and events.
For example, the following metrics can prove invaluable:
- Number of new donors per campaign
- Average gift per donor
- Increases in gifts per donor
- Cost per euro / pound / dollar raised
- Pledge fulfillment percentage
- Fundraising return on investment
- Conversion rate
- Board member participation rate
This type of data will enable your board to make better decisions about which fundraising activities to continue, which to modify and which to eliminate.
Many organisations find it to be helpful to establish one major impact goal. This would be a larger goal that stems from all the smaller fundraising goals. Every small fundraising activity should move the needle of the major impact goal.
Once the goals have been established, your board or fundraising committee will need to come up with clearly defined, actionable steps for how to reach each goal.
Creating a plan from scratch every time is inefficient for busy boards, however, and that’s where the template comes in.
What is a fundraising plan template?
A fundraising plan template is your guide for raising the amount of money your organisation needs or desires to do its work.
This single document, completed annually as part of the yearly plan, will help your board prioritise tasks and delegate duties. It is also an effective tool for unifying your teams by ensuring everyone is on the same page, with a shared understanding of where your organisation has been and where it’s going.
Once filled out for the year, a clear fundraising plan template will produce a straightforward document that looks at where your organization has been and identifies what is needed to achieve near-term goals. This is a good example.
When you structure your fundraising plan template, you will want to include these categories of components:
- Background. Mission, vision and strategic-plan information can be used to inspire brainstorming. Some elements, like the mission, may remain the same, but include an opportunity to include changes in priorities or other strategic elements. Additionally, including information on the previous year’s results can inform future years’ work.
- Specific goals. Goals that are SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relatable and time-based) give board members and staff enough information to move forward.
- Activities and calendar. Your list of activities should include clear staff responsibility and top-level information about the nature of each event and its goals. Creating a clear calendar template will go far in heading off conflicts and other issues with overtaxing staff and other resources.
- Budget. Having a clear idea of what to expect from each effort and its underlying cost will help every board and staff member know where to put their efforts.
Your template can be created and stored in your board management software for easy edits and future use. Your fundraising plan template should be a living document that you can modify when things aren’t working.
Using technology for fundraising planning and support
Board management software is one of the most valuable tools you have for utilizing data and streamlining your fundraising efforts. BoardEffect supports fundraising with key features, including:
- A searchable resource library that allows easy linking to supporting documents, archival information and other data boards need for decision-making
- Secure, collaborative workrooms for the planning committee to meet from different locations and on different devices
- A surveying and polling tool to ideate and gather information relevant to the organisation’s fundraising
Fundraising planning is critical for a nonprofit to succeed, so finding ways to make this work more efficient and productive helps every organisation — and board. BoardEffect is here to help. Schedule a demo today.
