fundraising strategyThere are various ways to run a not for profit (NFP) and, indeed, some organisations manage to survive with unplanned, chaotic, day-to-day management. The serious and motivated not for profits, no matter if they are big or small, rely on a fundraising strategy planned in advance.

What are the advantages of not having a fundraising plan? Absolutely none! Such a plan gives you the opportunity to ensure the financial stability of your organisation in advance and allows you to manage it following certain steps which will ultimately lead to a successful year.

When writing a successful fundraising plan, you can follow a certain algorithm which is successful in most cases. This algorithm will help you answer all the questions you may have about writing the plan and will aid you in achieving the final result. Just follow the steps below and, if necessary, add points relevant to your particular NFP organisation.

  • Who should write the fundraising plan? This depends on the way your NFP is structured. If you have employees who are responsible for the development of the organisation, that is their task. If there is no such position, then the fundraising plan would be a responsibility of the CEO. In both cases, the plan should be co-ordinated with the board of the directors. It is advisable that you also ask for the help of a qualified development consultant who could spot problems in your plan and solve them for you. 
  • When should the plan be written? The answer to this question is ‘as soon as possible’! The best option you have is to prepare a financial strategy at the beginning of the year and follow it until the end. You could also plan ahead – build a strategy for two or five years, which will come in handy if you have some long-term goals. In any case, having the plan as soon as possible will allow you to relax, knowing that the future of your non-for-profit is planned and secured. 
  • Speaking of goals, this is one of the points you need to actually include in the fundraising plan. What are the goals of your non-for-profit organisation? You will need to estimate how much money you will need to keep everything running and to organise the events and activities for which you have founded the organisation. The figure you come up with should be based on actual estimations and should take into consideration the actual plans you have for the development of the organisation.
  • Why do you need the money? This point in the plan will actually help you raise the money you need, because this is what you will ‘transmit’ to people in one way or another. You will need to describe what you are going to do with the money and why; that is, why they should donate money to your NFP and who will benefit from that.
  • How are you going to raise the money? This is one of the points in the fundraising plan on which you could expand. You could make a list with the fundraising tactics  you plan to use throughout the year – individual donations, major and minor donor groups, grants, direct mail, etc. You could predict the sums raised by each of the tactics so that you can get an idea how much the success of your organisation depends on a certain event. Have in mind that the tactics you can utilise are endless, what you need is employees to carry them out. Of course, some of the things you try may be unsuccessful, so always prepare a backup plan!
  • When are you going to raise the money? This point, no matter how you prefer to structure it, is essential for the fundraising plan. You will need to make a calendar of the events prepared by your NFP and follow it strictly. This calendar can be general – planning a certain period for a certain action and clearing the details when the time comes. It can also be detailed and descriptive, giving specific dates for each event and including notes about the preparation needed. No matter what your style is, make sure you have at least a basic timeline that you will follow – this will not only save you time, effort and headaches later, but will also help carry out successful events.

Creating a fundraising plan is not a hard task, however, the sooner you sit down and do it, the better results you can expect from your NFP. Have in mind that there are good people around and they are going to help, but you will need to work towards motivating them. In this sense, you will need more than luck and fortune; you will need a good strategy, a solid plan and a lot of motivation. Good luck!