Craft your nonprofit’s next fundraising plan with these easy steps and a helpful template.
Fundraising is a challenging but critical aspect of keeping your nonprofit afloat. It allows your organization to earn the funds it needs to grow and help more beneficiaries.
The most successful fundraisers will tell you that an effective fundraising strategy requires top-notch organizational skills to stay on track. A comprehensive fundraising plan template can make a major difference in your approach and provide the framework for more intentional, successful fundraising.
At Aly Sterling Philanthropy, we equip nonprofits with the fundraising solutions they need to better understand donors and raise more for their cause. Our consultants have constructed this fundraising plan template based on years of experience.
Follow these seven steps to create a comprehensive fundraising plan that works for your organization:
While these tips are most easily applicable to major fundraising efforts such as capital campaigns, you can adjust them to work for your annual giving program and other initiatives as well. No matter your nonprofit’s type or size, you can find success with the following steps and template.
When crafting your nonprofit’s fundraising plan, identify specific, tangible goals that will help your organization succeed in its mission. These goals should be achievable and align with your strategic priorities and goals for the future.
Use a goal chart as a visual aid during this process. By recording your objectives using this tool, you can revisit them later when building your fundraising plan.
Avoid focusing on fundraising benchmarks alone. In addition to fundraising aspirations, set goals to help you grow your community, improve donor retention, increase the number of major gifts you acquire and more. The more varied your goals are, the better. You might set a goal to increase your nonprofit’s:
For each goal, identify any obstacles that may stand in your way of achieving it. These might be time constraints, budget, the nature of your organization or any number of potential roadblocks.
When you identify the potential obstacles, you can incorporate a strategy for tackling them into your overall fundraising plan.
If you are conducting a major campaign, this is the right time to conduct a feasibility study. Work with a third-party consultant like Aly Sterling Philanthropy who can help determine if your organization is ready to take on a large campaign, how to prepare and how much you can expect to raise. The feasibility study will survey your stakeholders to answer these questions:
A feasibility study prepares you for your campaign by helping you develop realistic goals and proactively address obstacles. This process helps your organization build a stronger case for support and generate excitement for the campaign among donors, board members and volunteers.