Fundraising strategy

As part of the development of the fundraising strategy you should be very clear about the reason for raising funds and the objectives you want to include.  The committee of management in conjunction with the management of the organisation should set these objectives.

There are some important considerations to take into account:

  • How much you need to raise?  This serves two purposes as it provides a target that needs to be achieved as well as a level of accountability to the public.  You have probably seen the fundraising thermometers that show how much has been raised to date.  These are a great tool to support your fundraising strategy by involving the general public and spreading awareness of your objectives.
  • What are the timelines to raise the money?  Identify if there is a deadline that needs to be met.   Some organisations run a tax appeal in May and June so donors can claim their donation as a tax deduction in that year.  Your choice of timing may influence your overall success.
  • What do you need to raise funds for?  This is important for the donor as often they want to know specifically what their donation is for.
  • Target the fundraising activity to the market segment that is more likely to participate in the event and make a donation.
  • In addition to raising funds are there any other objectives you want to achieve?  For example, fundraising strategies can also be used to increase the profile of the organisation and highlight the cause they are trying to promote and support.
  • As detailed in the previous post there are a number of ways to fundraise  so try to link objectives to the type of fundraising activity.

If you are Robin Hood, you have no choice but to go out and raise funds yourself.  You are not likely to be favoured by the government.

However, if you are receiving recurrent and regular funding from the government because, for example, you may be a non-government organisation, then do not use fundraising to replace these recurrent funds.  Furthermore, if you are running something like a kindergarten, do not use fundraising to replace enrolment fees.  If you do this you run the risk that if future fundraising activities are not successful, you may have a shortfall in funds.  In some cases your organisation may even cease to be viable.

One other important step to undertake prior to setting your fundraising objectives is to review what your organisation has done in the past to raise funds.  How successful were these activities?  Did they achieve the required objectives?  If the objectives were not achieved were there reasons and were there any other issues that need to be considered?

Once you have reviewed past efforts and created your target for the coming year, you are well positioned for success.