Developing a Fundraising Strategy

May 19, 2011 Leave a comment

I wrote this post for Arts Professional and thought it would be a good one to share with those of you that might not work in the arts.  After all, if you’re fundraising, you should consider developing a fundraising strategy, regardless of which sector you’re in.

Developing your Fundraising Strategy
The recent cuts have meant that many organisations have either recognised they need to fundraise or to increase their reliance on fundraising in light and with this comes the need to develop a strategic approach to fundraising – rather than just a panic, scatter gun, ‘fill the gap left by public funding’ approach.  However, if you’re already fundraising you may question the need for a strategy in the first place.

Obviously, I am an advocate for developing a fundraising strategy that complements your organisation’s vision and creates income sources that will allow you to achieve those objectives in your business plan, as a properly developed strategy will:

  • increase the chances of success for your fundraising;
  • enable you to assess the options available to you for funding;
  • allow you to plan your fundraising – which projects will appeal to which donors and when do you need to start to think about fundraising for them;
  • clarify your fundraising goals and objectives – when a few months down the line you’re asked why you’re pursuing a particular course of action, you’ll have the background to make your case.

Every fundraising strategy has different aims.  Some organisations want to continue to deliver the same services they always have but now need a strategy because the economy has changed or other funding sources have ceased to exist.  Other organisations want to develop and expand their work and need to assess where additional funds may come from; how they fit with your current plans and, of course, how this expansion will impact on your organisational fundraising resources.
In the current climate, more organisations want to diversify income streams so they’re not overly reliant on one or two sources of income in the future, while others want to increase their long term income to get on a more secure footing and plan better in the future.

I recently wrote about the top 5 areas to take into account but there are more aspects to consider:

  • Background – has previous fundraising been successful?  How much income comes from
    fundraising?
  • Vision/Mission – where is your organisation headed and how can fundraising help you to achieve this?  Your vision might also help you to identify potential funding sources interested in investing in this type of work.
  • SWOT Analysis – love them or loathe them, it’s a good idea to write down your Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats, specifically as they relate to fundraising, as this can help you to identify gaps and help you see where the strengths in your organisation may lie.
  • Resources – what resources do you have?  Are these likely to change?  Many organisations discover they don’t have additional resources and that doesn’t fit with their need to increase fundraising income.  You don’t need to spend huge amounts on brochures or expensive databases, but good fundraising takes time – that of staff, board and volunteers.  Often though it’s just a question of adapting resources to suit your needs.
  • Potential Funding Sources – once you’ve identified your aims and objectives, along with income targets, it’s possible to begin the process of identifying potential sources of income.
  • Monitoring – all good strategies should be a living document and you should have opportunities for monitoring and reviewing your strategy, ideally quarterly with the Board, if possible.  This gives you the chance to review what you might need to change or what needs more resources dedicated to it.

Developing a fundraising strategy takes time but without one, you’re setting your fundraising up to fail as you won’t have a clear idea of the fundraising landscape – both internally and externally.  A strategy greatly improves your  chances of success; enables you to plan long-term and gives you the tools to adapt to opportunities and challenges as they arise.

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How to Develop a Fundraising Strategy

April 14, 2011 4 Comments

Your board and management team has recognised that your organisation needs to fundraise.  Or perhaps you’ve already enjoyed some success with your fundraising from various sources but want to begin to take a strategic approach to your fundraising.  Where should you start?  It’s a question I’m often asked and there are a number of areas to consider – my top 5 are:

Business Plan – do you have one?  If not, there’s not much point in developing a fundraising strategy, as the whole purpose of your strategy is to look at your business objectives over the next planning period (be it 3, 4 or 5 years) and establishing how your fundraising can support these.  So, if you don’t have a business plan, get one.  If you do, what are the objectives of your organisation – and what areas have you identified in the business plan that fundraising could support?

Resources – these cover everything from staff to databases, marketing & communications to senior management and, of course, volunteers.  Look at the resources available and how they can support your fundraising.  Do you need to invest more in your fundraising resources to enable you to reach target or do you have resources that you’re not utilising effectively?

Donors – what has your fundraising looked like over the past 3 years?  A fundraising audit should happen before you put pen to paper with your fundraising strategy i.e. assessing who has given; what they’ve funded; and how much has been given.  What campaigns were successful and which failed?  Do you have particular success in raising income from trusts or perhaps companies flock to sponsor your organisation?  Or maybe no-one has ever given anything?  You need to look at all of these areas and start to question why your fundraising looks the way that it does in order to establish the potential your organisation has to fundraise successfully in the future.

Board – never underestimate the importance of your board.  If they are keen advocates for your organisation, their support with your fundraising is vital but equally, if they are negative about fundraising or refuse to support your work, you’re going to have a hard time raising any income.  Getting your Board on board and encouraging them to take a proactive approach in fundraising, is key to introducing new networks to your organisation.

Objectives – what do you need to fundraise for?  And where is the potential for raising funds for these areas?  Are some of your organisational objectives likely to appeal particularly to the Lottery or trusts – perhaps because they have a social dimension or are taking a new, innovative approach to addressing a social need?  Similarly, an objective that is likely to raise the profile of your organisation significantly and attract interest from the press and general public may appeal to the corporate market.  Look objectively at what you need to fundraise for – i.e. where your organisation is going for the next 3 – 5 years – and establish where the potential is to raise those funds.

Those are just my top 5 areas to consider when shaping a fundraising strategy and, of course, I’ve just touched briefly on each of them.  Is there anything missing?  What would you take out?

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