According to statistics on giving by Philanthropy Australia, charities and other nonprofits received $12.5 billion in Australia in 2016. Individual donations like these account for nearly 9% of the total funds that Australian nonprofits receive each year.

Donations are an important source of income that nonprofits use to complete capital projects, provide services and meet overhead and other budgetary needs. When setting fundraising goals, it’s important to aim high enough to stimulate interest and passion for the NFP’s mission, while remaining realistic. After all, there are few things that are as demoralising to your supporters as missing your fundraising goal.

The following are a few suggestions to help your nonprofit be able to set more realistic goals that are challenging but attainable.

Determining How Much Money You Need to Raise

When creating a fundraising goal, it’s important to remember to include the actual cost that your nonprofit incurs when it seeks to earn a donation.  This amount should include advertising and other marketing efforts that will be used to publicise the fundraising drive. You should also include other costs, such as venue charges, catering and so forth if a gala or other ceremony is part of your fundraising drive.

Determine Your Average Donation, and How Many Donations You Need to Reach Your Goal

When setting your fundraising goal, it’s important to determine your average donation, as well as how many donations you can reasonably expect to receive during your event. Ideally, you will use statistics that reveal the typical amount and number of donations that nonprofits of your size receive during similar fundraising drives.

It’s also helpful to review the historical data from your NFP’s past fundraisers to help you be able to determine a realistic amount for your average donation and number of contributions that you can expect to receive.

Do You Need to Adjust Your Goal?

Based on this information, is the amount that you hope to ultimately raise in line with the average number, and amount of donations that you will likely receive? If it isn’t, you may need to adjust your ultimate fundraising goal for the event.

For example, if you need to raise $25,000 and you are hosting a gala which costs $200 per person to attend, and you invite only 100 people, you could reasonably expect to receive only, $20,000, leaving you with a $5,000 shortfall. This amount is before your other costs to host the event are included. To have a reasonable chance of reaching your goal, you would need to adjust the amount that you charge for attendance upwards, or, increase the number of attendees.

If your fundraising goal isn’t realistic based on the average number and amount of donations you can expect to receive, another option is to extend the time frame to raise funds, and then consider breaking up your ultimately fundraising goal into a series of smaller ones. Next, you would host a series of multiple, smaller fundraisers to help your NFP raise the amount that you need over time.

Is Everyone on Board?

When creating your plans for your fundraiser, it’s important to keep in mind what you will need from the various segments of your NFP’s base of support. Make certain that you’ve clearly communicated what everyone needs to do to help make your NFP’s fundraising drive a success.

For example, do you need each supporter to donate a specific amount, or, do you need them to help you get the word out about the good work that your NFP does and how others can help your mission? Make certain that you’ve clearly defined the goals of your fundraiser and that you’ve made it easy for your contributors, volunteers and others to support your drive.

Many times, NFPs create a realistic fundraising goal, but the drive still fails to hit the mark because donors aren’t fully invested in the drive, or they are confused about how they can best assist the fundraiser. Creating an achievable goal, and communicating a clear call to action can help you to rally the community and make it easier to succeed.