Take a Development Audit: Key Questions for Development Planning Introduction One of the key ingredients for running an effective and sustainable non-‐profit organization is a strong development and fundraising process. Many are faced with the challenge of not having a “development department”, but the process that an organization implements can mirror the work of a full department and accomplish resource development goals. When thinking about your organization’s fundraising efforts, we encourage you to assess your current process and determine where you should prioritize your efforts. As you analyze fund development opportunities keep in mind the actual reality of philanthropic giving in the US. For instance, in 2013, $303.1 Billion in charitable funds were given from private (non-‐government) sources. These sources were1: • 72% from individuals (living) • 16% from foundations • 8% from individuals (bequests) • 4% from corporations If you were to look at the sources of your organization’s revenue, does it follow in this pattern? Do you have robust individual donor development efforts since this is the largest source of charitable giving? Do you place more emphasis on foundation sources for revenue? Do you recognize that when seeking foundation grants, it often takes the same amount of time to seek a $10,000 grant as it does a $100,000 grant? What follows are a series of thought-‐provoking questions and suggestions that can help you assess and address your organization’s fundraising efforts. Consider these questions as a type of “audit” on your development efforts.
Fundraising Strategies: What are the major strategies you are using? •
What are the strategies to identify potential donors and other funding sources? o What has worked well in the past in identifying and getting to know prospective donors? What hasn’t?
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What are the strategies for cultivating current donors?
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How do you determine which solicitation tactics are best for which audiences?
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How many asks are going out to your organization’s community (friends and supporters) in any given year? o Take the “user” perspective on this. For example, how many times is a donor asked to buy a ticket to an event, attend an event that has an auction, give to the annual fund, help raise money for a specific project or event, etc.? Who has a handle on all of this?
1 http://foundationcenter.org/gainknowledge/research/keyfacts2014/foundation-‐focus.html Development Audit
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How are fundraising and “friend-‐raising” events scheduled in relation to all of the other events that happen at your organization?
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How are fundraising activities prioritized (should be reflected in a plan and with clear rationales)? o Cost/benefit analysis using both historical and projected information o Tie to strategic fundraising goals and organization’s strategic plan
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What is the strategy for planned gifts? o How are you targeting potential donors for planned gifts? o How do you recognize planned gift donors (e.g., Legacy or Heritage Society)?
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What Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system (if any) is being used? o How is it used? Who uses it? Do you track all touch points with donors? o How do you track and acknowledge all gifts, including in-‐kind gifts? o Are all gifts acknowledged within 24-‐48 hours? Do you add a personal touch to the letter?
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Do you employ a “moves management” strategy for soliciting and closing gifts? o The focus is on the donor not donation! o What cultivation activities do you have planned for your donors who have the capacity to give major gifts? Are these activities reflective of the donor’s interests and allow the donor to get a keen perspective on your organization? ! Sample activities: lunch with the CEO, special tour of your facilities, invitation to provide feedback on a new initiative or organization’s strategic plan o Who tracks these activities?
Human Resources: What is the real capacity and capability of your team? •
Do you have the human resource capacity to implement your fundraising goals and all of the objectives of the fundraising plan? o Do current development staff members have both the capacity and capability to execute on the plan? o What are the professional development goals for all development staff? Do these goals include continuous education related to development and fundraising? o How are they keeping current on best practices in this field?
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Is the CEO/Executive Director playing a major role in your fundraising efforts? o Where does the CEO/Executive excel? Are you playing to his/her strengths? o What help does the CEO/Executive Director need to be more effective?
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How do you measure the success of the development plan?
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How are you measuring the success of the people implementing the plan?
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How does your team debrief events and projects, and establish best practices and address areas needing improvement?
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Annual Fundraising Plan: Does your plan include all of the key elements of fundraising? •
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Short and long-‐term goals o What do you hope to achieve? Include monetary objectives. o How will the development plan support the strategic plan and major organizational goals for this year? o Where will your organization be in three years? Will this plan help get you there? o Have you analyzed the plan against any strategic and operational issues that may impact fund development? ! What are the “pain points” that hinder effective fundraising? ! Are there specific “threats” or roadblocks to any part of the fundraising plan? Specific objectives o Is each objective outlined by donor source and solicitation strategy? o What is the action plan for each objective? What strategies will you implement to meet each objective? ! Who are the target audiences? ! Which tools will you use for which audiences? • Examples: personal solicitations for those with capacity to give, direct mail appeal for all current donors, special events for certain donors, general fundraising events for all donors, youth celebration/graduation as a “friend raising” event, etc. ! What are the specific solicitation strategies for each audience? Who is making the ask in each situation? ! What is the return on investment for solicitation efforts and/or event implementation? Are your efforts appropriate for that level of return? • For events, in particular, you need to assess: o Is too much effort going into an event that will raise little revenue? o Is not enough planning and effort put into an event, hindering you from raising significant revenue? o Are there are too many events planned, therefore risking donor and staff fatigue? ! What are the specific responsibilities of staff, board members, and volunteers for each strategy/effort? ! Include due dates for ALL action steps. What resources are needed to be successful? o What is the Development Department’s operating budget, including needed resource allocations for each objective? o What other resources from other areas in your organization are needed for each outlined effort? o What’s the connection/working relationship between the development staff and the program staff? Are they using each other as resources? Unifying their efforts? Master calendar/timeline (think Gantt chart!) o Does your timeline capture all activities related to fundraising, including all outreach to current and potential donors and supporters? Ensure you have captured the full breadth of ALL cultivation and communications activities that target donors/supporters:
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Individual giving, all events, direct mail, email blasts, online giving, social media, phone campaign, grants (applications and reports deadlines), corporate sponsorships, annual giving campaign, financial aid/scholarships campaign, etc. Monitoring progress and evaluating effectiveness of all efforts o Have you done cost-‐benefit analyses, particularly for major efforts and events? o Some examples of what to track and assess: ! Number and value of gifts received, and from which audiences ! Number and content of calls and in-‐person visits to prospects ! Board involvement in donor visits/conversations • Note: most board members need to be trained to effectively participate ! Grant proposals submitted and those received ! Objectives achieved by each event (participation, volunteer involvement, net receipts, staff resources) ! Donor service on committees ! Media coverage of organization ! Social media goals (followers, likes, website hits, etc.) o
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Sample *Simple* Fundraising Plan Your fundraising planning effort should address all of the items raised in the development audit. Once you work through those questions, the actual plan can be written simply and broken down into four major sections: 1. Revenue Goals 2. Strategic Goals a. Non-‐monetary goals that impact success of overall plan b. Examples include: • 100% giving by board. • 100% participation by board in some fundraising task, including cultivation of donors. • Enhanced communications about fundraising within the board and with prospects, including regular presentations at board meetings by fundraising committee chair. • Develop plan for ongoing recruitment/training of fundraising volunteers. Recruit a minimum of 10 non-‐board volunteers to help in fundraising. • Develop new prospects for personal solicitation campaign and direct mail solicitation. • Cultivate family foundations and donor advised fund holders. • Strengthen donor cultivation program, including board and staff understanding of the purpose and process of cultivation. • Actively involve the youth from our programs in special events and fundraising activities. • Maintain systems for ongoing monitoring/evaluation of progress in all areas of fund development. 3. Solicitation Strategies a. Personal Solicitations i. Time Frame ii. # of Prospects iii. $ Goal (gross and net) iv. Method v. Solicitor(s) b. Special Events (make sure to include all events) i. Event Name, including Chair(s) or Lead(s) ii. Time Frame iii. # of Prospects iv. $ Goal (gross and net) v. Methods of event implementation, outreach and follow up c. Direct Mail and Email Blasts i. Time Frame ii. # of Prospects iii. $ Goal (gross and net) iv. Methods of outreach and follow up, inc. responsible parties d. Grants (private/family foundation/donor advised fund targets) i. Time Frames ii. # of Grant Proposals Development Audit
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iii. $ Goal: total and per grant iv. Method for completion & submission, including responsible parties e. Cultivation and “Friend Raising” i. Events 1. Event Name, including Volunteer Chair(s) and/or Staff Lead(s) 2. Time Frame 3. Goals 4. Methods of event implantation, outreach and follow up 5. Responsible parties ii. Other Communications 1. List specific mailings and email blasts, including the timing and goal for each piece and responsible parties 2. Other publicity and outreach f. Master Calendar of activities [Gantt Chart(s) are often most effective] 4. Measuring progress on the plan a. Decide on what metrics are most meaningful to your organizations and would allow you to get insight on the success of your fundraising efforts.
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