Winter 2024 - Strategic Fundraising Planning
Dear leaders,
Before I dive in: like many of you, I am finding it hard to focus on my work with the destruction happening in Gaza. I grieve for the Israelis killed on October 7th, feel fear for the hostages still being held by both Israel and Hamas, and am continually horrified by Israel’s genocidal response. I am disgusted with the role the US plays in sanctioning and facilitating the destruction of Gaza and the slaughter of over 23,000 Palestinians, over 70% of whom are women and children. As a Jew, I feel it’s particularly important for me to speak out, since these horrors are being carried out in my name, supposedly for my safety. We will never be safe or whole through the persecution and dehumanization of others. I’m proud to support the work of If Not Now, Jewish Voice for Peace, and the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights. It’s a hard balance to figure out what I can do as an individual, what our organizations can do to address the crisis, and how to continue and strengthen the great work we are already doing. But do we must - it will take all of us doing what we are able to, when we are able to.
Now, let’s talk about fundraising planning - to achieve our goals (including the goal of ceasefire), we need powerful movements. To build winning movements, we need strong organizations, and strong organizations require resources (and excellent fundraising planning). The strongest strategic fundraising plans involve a robust team in assessment and planning to ensure that there are opportunities for feedback and encourage buy-in from the folks who will be doing the work!
My first suggestion is to start by reframing fundraising. Providing people the opportunity to be a part of achieving your great mission by making a donation, or a fundraising ask, is a gift to them - not a burden. When we approach development as joyful work that elevates values, fun, participation, and creativity, we do the work with more motivation, produce less burnout, and achieve more success. Instill and celebrate how making an ask at a membership meeting, setting up a peer to peer fundraising page, calling donors to thank them, and making a donation are all forms of activism, as well as acts of joy.
First: Assess the prior year
What were the strategies you used to bring in new donors, keep the ones you have, and help them understand what their support made possible?
What were the results? For each strategy, what were your initial goals, how much did you raise, who made it happen, and how?
What worked, what didn’t, and why?
Second: Assess the current conditions for fundraising (both internal and external)
What are some opportunities and strengths your organization can utilize? What are the current conditions in the field for funding your kind of work?
What are the resources you can put towards fundraising? How much can you spend and how much time can staff dedicate to fundraising? Who are the board members, members, or volunteers who could also be involved?
Third: Brainstorm!
Brainstorm possible strategies to acquire new donors and keep the ones you have. How can you inspire and motivate your supporters to invest in your work more substantively, both with time and money?
Depending on your organization, this can include email outreach, phonebanks, peer to peer, events, mailings, and more.
Most important - what are some strategies that will help donors know what they help make possible? How can donors feel more connected with your work?
Fourth: Review and cull your strategies list
It goes without saying - you can’t do everything on your great brainstorm list! So for each of your ideas, identify what it will require to be successful. Then, ask yourself: do you have the capacity to make it happen?
For example, if you want to invite the board to participate more in fundraising, what will it take to organize them and provide the support they need to succeed? What is their current capacity and hunger to participate?
Evaluate the ideas based on possible results and outcomes - and not just what it might raise! What other goals might each strategy help meet? What are your staff and most engaged supporters excited to work on? Which strategies are the most values aligned?
Be ambitious and realistic! If you want to run a phone bank, how many people can you reliably recruit? What will it take internally to get folks there? Volunteers often reach 10-20 people an hour, so your 5 volunteers are not going to be able to call 200 donors!
Fifth - Make your plan and calendar!
I love this tool from Klein & Roth** for finalizing each strategy, setting goals, determining who’s going to do the work, and when. (This tool can also be adapted to assess and evaluate prior strategies.)
Run through the plan with those who will need to be involved! No one likes to be voluntold to do something they are resistant to do. Discuss and address their hesitancies, and revise the plan accordingly.
Build out a clear calendar for the year, and make sure it’s in alignment with the calendar for all of your organizational work. Add tasks to work plans or your task management system.
Go forth and fundraise - and good luck meeting all of your goals in 2024 and beyond!
Let’s talk about it!
Finally, if you would like to schedule a 30 minute free consultation, you can do so here. I am happy to be a resource to you and your organization, even if just to act as your sounding board. My areas of work include fundraising, assessment, organizational development, staff and board improvement, and change management.
Ceasefire now! In solidarity,
Nikki
** I have been learning from the brilliant Stephanie Roth and Kim Klein since my first fundraising job in 1998 and they continue to teach me. We are all blessed to have their leadership in the field of grassroots fundraising!
CLIENT PROFILE - HOOSIER ACTION
I’ve been supporting the remarkable organization Hoosier Action for the last year in fundraising planning and support. HA is a grassroots, statewide organization doing deep organizing particularly in rural working class communities in Indiana to fight for real change on the ground to improve people’s lives, and instill a belief in the power of organizing.
Like many organizations, Hoosier Action is disproportionately funded by grants, and wanted to diversify their funding and build an individual donor base. As a membership organization, setting up a strong dues paying model is not *just* an excellent way to raise money: it also helps to build power and ensure their work is accountable to the base. I worked with them to develop this model, and trained and supported the board to engage in fundraising. Now we are working on fundraising planning, following the model above!
