If the operations of your organisation rely on revenue from fundraising, then a creating a fundraising calendar should be a priority at the beginning of each fiscal year. Creating such a document will help build a clear picture of what you can achieve in the next twelve months, and how you can do so, dividing efforts over a number of fundraising activities through the year.

Have the Board of Directors and key employees hash out what needs to happen in order to meet strategic goals in the coming year. This will help get everyone on the same page, and provide a timeline for fundraising efforts that wont leave anyone scrambling at the last minute to find funds for projects customers need. There can always be room for review and adjustment if a particular fundraising activity is more or less successful than anticipated.

Having a plan in place will help you avoid some of the common pitfalls of fundraising. For instance, from a donors perspective, there is a limit to how often you should be asking for money. Several times a year donors may welcome the opportunity to support you, but nobody wants a direct mail solicitation arriving every week. Alternatively, if you don’t ask, regular contributors may overlook you, thinking you don’t need their support. Also, when constructing a plan you have the chance to mix things up a bit, including both some new ideas and the tried and true. It is not a good idea to have all your funds coming from one revenue source or event, so planning ahead is also a chance to plan diversity.

In essence, your fundraising calendar will help you clarify, as a group, what funds you need for the coming year, and how they will be allocated. It will also lay out how you are going to raise the required funds, and also importantly when. A lot can be learned and carried over from year to year, but when it comes to fundraising, failure to plan can mean failure full stop.