planning

Get Ready for 2014 – Creating a Fundraising Plan

Ann Green donor relations, fundraising, planning

Many of you are probably knee-deep in your year-end fundraising campaign.  But 2014 is less than a month away, and if you haven’t starting planning for it, you need to do that now.


Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll write about ways you can plan for 2014, which includes creating fundraising and marketing/communications plans, as well as a communications calendar.  All are very much interconnected.

You must have a fundraising plan
Most nonprofit organizations receive the bulk of their revenue through donations, so it’s crazy not to have a fundraising plan.


You may have heard the sayings if you fail to plan, you plan to fail, and not having a plan is like starting a journey without a map (or programming your GPS). Cliches? Maybe, but they make a lot of sense.

Putting together any kind of plan doesn’t need be painful. It will take some time, but it’s time well spent. It’s a lot better than being taken by surprise when you come up short on revenue.

Ideally, you should have a multi-year fundraising plan that is based on your strategic plan. Here are a few other things to consider as you put together your fundraising plan.

Did you measure your progress in 2013?
I hope you did, because it will make it easier for you if you can factor in what worked and what didn’t as you plan for 2014.

How much money do you need to raise?
The revenue part of your fundraising plan is fairly straightforward. Figure out how much money you get from other sources, such as fees, and how much you need to raise. Remember to build in a reserve, too.

Be realistic
Determine how much you want to raise from each source – individuals, grants, events, etc. The funding climate is still precarious, so you need to rely on a variety of sources.

Be realistic about what you can do. Cultivating major donors can be worthwhile, but it takes time to build these relationships and you need to involve your board. Events and online auctions can take up a lot of staff time and sometimes don’t bring in that much revenue.

Look at what’s worked in the past. Remember, just because you’ve always done something, doesn’t mean you need to continue doing it.

Make it detailed
Fundraising plans don’t just cover how much money you are going to raise. You also need to include a strategy. Map out each step of an individual appeal campaign or an event and include a timeline. You don’t want to leave anything out.

Also, figure out who will be involved and in what capacity. Make sure to include your board.

Include a donor relations component
Even though your  fundraising plan will include ways to find new donors, don’t neglect the ones you already have. Donor relations is a crucial, but often overlooked, part of fundraising.

Include ways to thank donors, such as holding an open house or sending out holiday cards, as well as donor communication, such as newsletters and social media updates.


You want your donors to give again and to give at a higher level. This means you need to keep them engaged and interested in your work. Also, as you look for new donors, find ones who will support you long-term.

Measure your progress
Don’t ignore your fundraising plan after you finish it. At least once a quarter, check to see if you are on track with your goals. Determine what is working and what isn’t. If you are falling short in your grant revenue, perhaps you are applying to foundations that aren’t the right match for your organization.

In addition, each time you hold an event or run a campaign, figure what worked, what didn’t, and how you can make improvements in the future.

Here is a dashboard you can use to keep track of your progress.
Library of Sample Dashboard Indicators

Don’t make the mistake of not having a fundraising plan. Read on for more information about putting one together.

How to Write a Successful Fundraising Plan
What Should Your Fund Development Plan Include?

Sample Fundraising Plan


Fundraising Plan 1 Year Template

Photo by 401K via Flickr

Once is Not Enough

Ann Green Communications, fundraising, planning
I imagine many of you have sent out your year-end appeal within the last few weeks. Are the donations pouring in? Maybe not, but don’t worry yet.


Even though the end of the year is when most nonprofits see the highest level of giving, it’s also a busy time for your donors.

Once is not enough and you need to follow up with friendly reminders. In most cases, you will use a multi-channel approach. This is contingent on the type of contact information you have and what channels your donors use. You may not have email addresses or phone numbers for all your donors.

It’s also important to make your follow-up messages positive. Don’t make your donors feel bad about not contributing yet.


Here are some ways to follow up with your donors.

By email
Email is often the easiest way to get your message across to a large number of people. You probably have email addresses for most of your supporters.


Send friendly reminders once a week. At the end of December, send messages a couple of times between December 27 and 31.

If possible, only send email reminders to people who haven’t donated. If you can’t do that, be sure to thank the people who have already donated. Continue to share success stories. You can also give updates on your progress, if you have a goal and a deadline.


Your email reminder should include a link to your user-friendly donation page.

By social media

Post similar reminders on social media. Provide updates and thank your donors. You can post reminders several times a week, but if you don’t have that many followers, you’ll want to spend your time elsewhere.

Again, include a link to your website to make donating easy.

By phone
Sometimes a quick phone reminder is all it takes to spark a donation. It’s up to you if you want to call everyone who hasn’t donated. Your best bet is to call people who have donated in the past, especially if they have given at a higher level.

This is also a good opportunity to thank your donors. Leaving a message is fine, but be sure to include a call back number and the link to your website.


By mail
In this case, you may want to target a few select groups. If a mailing address is the only contact information you have for a donor, then you’ll want to send a follow-up letter. You can also send letters to higher dollar donors. Be sure to include a pledge form and return envelope. Always make things easy for your donors.

#GivingTuesday
#GivingTuesday is December 3 and this is a great opportunity to remind your donors.  Find ways you can incorporate #GivingTuesday into your follow up plan.
Get ready for #GivingTuesday: resources for nonprofits

A Playbook To Kickstart Your Nonprofit’s #GivingTuesday Campaign

Is your nonprofit ready for #GivingTuesday?
It may seem like you are communicating a lot with your donors, and of course you need to be mindful of contacting them too much, but sending follow-up reminders makes a difference.

Photo by Phil Scoville via Flickr

Create a Thank You Plan

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, planning, writing
This post is included in the November Nonprofit Blog Carnival | Giving Thanks and Gratitude

You probably have a fundraising plan (if not you should) and maybe a donor relations plan, but do you have a thank you plan?

Nonprofit organizations spend a lot of time on their fundraising campaigns, but treat thanking their donors as an afterthought.

You need to spend just as much time thanking your donors as you do on fundraising.

Creating a thank you plan will help you stay focused on gratitude all year round. Donor retention rates keep plunging and some of the reasons are donors don’t feel appreciated and that they only hear from nonprofits when they are asking for money.

Here are some things to consider as you put together your thank you plan.

Plan to thank your donors right away
Every single donor, no matter how much they have given or whether they donated online, gets a thank you card/ letter mailed to them or receives a phone call.

Try to thank your donors within 48 hours. This shouldn’t be hard to do. Carve out some time each day you get a donation and thank your donors.

Plan to go beyond sending a boring thank you letter

Instead of sending a generic thank you letter, mail a handwritten card or call your donors. Calling your donors to thank them is something your board can do. It’s often a welcome surprise and can raise retention rates among first-time donors.

Here’s where planning comes in. Find board members, staff, and volunteers to make phone calls or write thank you notes. Come up with sample scripts. You may also want to conduct a short training.

If you can’t send handwritten cards or call all your donors, send them a personal and heartfelt letter. Don’t start your letter with “On behalf of X organization we thank you for your donation of….” Open the letter with “You are amazing” or use one of the suggestions from this post. 22 Delightful Ways to Say Thank You!

Add a personal handwritten note to the letter, preferably something that pertains to that particular donor. For example, if the donor has given before or attended one of your recent events, mention that. In addition, make sure all the letters are hand signed.

Let your donors know how much you appreciate them and highlight what your organization is doing with their donation.

Here is more information on how you can do a better job of thanking your donors and some sample phone scripts and letters.

Let’s Do a Better Job of Thanking Donors

Fundraisers, Fix Your Thank You Letters!!


Plan to keep thanking your donors all year round
As you put together your communications calendar, incorporate ways to thank your donors. Try say thank you at least once a month. Here are some ways to do that.

  • Send cards or email messages at Thanksgiving, during the holidays, Valentine’s Day, or mix it up a little and send a note of gratitude in June or September when your donors won’t be expecting it.
  • Invite your donors to connect with you via email and social media. Keep them updated with accomplishments and success stories. Making all your communications donor-centered will help convey an attitude of gratitude. Share accomplishments such as:

Thanks to you, we just started an afterschool program at the Northdale Middle School. Now these students have a safe place to meet and learn new skills.

  • Be sure to keep thanking your donors in your newsletter and social media updates. Emphasize that you wouldn’t be able to do the work you do without your donors’ support.
  • Create a thank you video and share it on your website, by email, and on social media. Our Favorite Nonprofit Thank You Videos 
  • Hold an open house at your organization or offer tours so your donors can see the inner workings of your nonprofit. 

Show Appreciation by Holding an Open House

The Power of Place – Making the Most of Tours For Donors

  • Keep thinking of other ways to thank your donors.
Creating a thank you plan will make it easier to keep showing appreciation to your donors all year round. If you treat them well, maybe they’ll treat you well the next time you send a fundraising appeal.

The Year is Almost Over. Are You on Target With Your Goals?

Ann Green donor relations, fundraising, planning
The year is winding to a close. You may be busy with your fall fundraising appeal right now, but you should take some time to see if you are on target with your 2013 goals.


This is important for two reasons. One, you want to see if you are coming up short this year, and two, you can use some of this information as you plan for next year. 

Here are a couple of things you should measure.

Fundraising
Are you on target with your fundraising goals? If not, how far off are you? We are entering the “giving season”, but If you are way off, there’s not much time to fix it.

This is a good time to assess what worked and what didn’t. If your spring gala was a huge success, keep doing it. If you didn’t raise enough money and everyone on your staff wanted to go on vacation after it was over, then you need to decide whether it’s worth doing next year.

In addition, be sure to keep track of the results from your year-end appeal, so you can apply what worked to future fundraising campaigns.

Donor communications
Nonprofit organizations often don’t do a good job of communicating with their donors. Are you thanking your donors and keeping them engaged on a regular basis? 


One way to track engagement is to measure the response rates of your email messages and website pages. Another way is to get feedback by sending out a short survey or starting a conversation on social media.

It’s important that you stay connected with your donors at this time of the year. Not only with your year-end fundraising, but also with updates and thank you messages.

If your messages aren’t resonating with your supporters, figure out why. Maybe you need better email subject lines or more compelling content. Are your messages filled with gratitude and success stories about how your donors are helping you make a difference, or are you sending out something long, boring, and focused on your organization?

Looking at your number of email subscribers and social media followers is just one part of the equation. Make sure you are keeping them engaged with good content.

Another reason your response rate might be low is you are sending messages to people who aren’t strong supporters or you are trying to connect on channels they don’t use.


More on year-end measurement
The folks at Veritus Group ask Are You Ready For Q4? Most of their suggestions are focused on major donors, but we should all “start every day with donor-centered purpose.”

Here is a great tool to help you with your measurement. Library of Sample Dashboard Indicators There may be other areas you want to measure now, as well.

Make sure you are still on target for this year and start planning for next year. I’ll write more about that in a few weeks.


Photo by Frank Lindecke via Flickr

Why You Need to Plan a Multi-Channel Fundraising Campaign

Ann Green Communications, fundraising, planning
Fundraising season is here and you are probably busy getting ready for your annual appeal.


Today we have many ways to reach out to our donors – by mail, email, social media, phone calls. But your fundraising campaign will be more effective if you use a combination of these.

Some donors may respond to your direct mail piece, but donate online. Others will see your email message, but prefer to send a check. Some donors will respond to the first appeal, while others need a few reminders. This is why you need a multi-channel plan.

BEFORE YOU START

Clean up your lists
If you haven’t already done so, make sure you Clean Up and Organize Your Mailing Lists

Prepare your website
You must have a donation page that’s engaging and easy to use. Test all links in email messages and social media posts. The last thing you want is a donor contacting you about a broken link or having to hunt around on your website for the donation page.

Right before your annual appeal goes out, include a blurb on your homepage that your appeal is underway. Make sure your donate button is in a prominent place.

Here is more information on How You Can Create A Welcoming Donation Page

Consistency is key

Your messages need to be consistent across all channels. Use the same story and call to action in direct mail, email, and on your website.
Everything you send out needs to look like it’s coming from the same organization.

Which channels do your donors use?
Don’t spend a lot of time on channels your donors aren’t using. Figure out in advance where you want to focus your efforts.

SAMPLE SCHEDULE AND STRATEGY

Come up with a schedule of when the appeals will go out. I’ve created a sample schedule below. Of course, you can adjust the timeframe as needed.


October 23
Give your supporters a heads up by email and social media. Let them know that your annual appeal is underway and they should receive a letter from you soon. Encourage them to donate online right now. This means your donation page needs to be ready to serve your donors.

Week of October 28
Mail out your appeal letter.

Week of November 4
Send out follow up reminders via email and social media. If possible, don’t send reminders to people who have already donated. Otherwise, be sure to thank your recent donors. You can even phrase your reminders as more of a thank you or an update.

A big thank you to all of you who have donated to our annual appeal. We are more than half way to our goal. If you haven’t donated yet, please help us out today by visiting our website (include a link to your donation page) or sending us a check (provide address). 

Week of November 11
Send out another reminder. It’s a busy time of year and some people might need a gentle prompt. 

Week of November 18
Start making reminder calls. If time is an issue, you could just call people who have donated before. That’s probably most effective.

Week of November 25
Send a Happy Thanksgiving greeting along with a friendly reminder. Share a success story in your appeal.

Week of December 2
December 3 is Giving Tuesday so you could tie that into your reminder. 

The rest of December and beyond
Keep sending reminders throughout December. It’s tricky because you want to get your message across without annoying your supporters.
Continue to send out your newsletter and other updates. You don’t want the only messages your donors receive to be fundraising appeals.

Network for Good recommends sending a fundraising email on December 27, 29, and 31. This is especially relevant if your fiscal year ends on December 31 or your donor wants to give before the end of the calendar year.

Look to see who hasn’t contributed yet. Concentrate on people who are most likely to donate, such as past donors. 

Also, keep track of how many donors come through each channel.

We live in a multi-channel world. Take time now to plan your strategy in order to boost your fundraising results.

Here is more information to help you with your multi-channel fundraising.



Image by Daniel Iverson via Flickr