fundraising strategy

“You take nothing with you that you gained—only what you gave away.” Francis of Assisi

how to grow income and scale your impact

a financing plan to align and optimise all your money-raising activities

successful income growth starts with a great financing plan which connects your strategy with money! a financing plan isn’t just about fundraising, it aligns and optimises all activities that bring money in the door.

this approach ensures:

  • your strategic plan has a plan for the money needed to make it happen
  • fundraising works as part of a broad, integrated financing plan
  • new sources of money are explored and income risk is diversified
  • short and long term goals are funded, including capacity-building for planning, systems and staff needed to end the non-profit starvation cycle

better charity will typically guide you through the following steps, tailored to your needs, to ensure fundraising and financing success. the process assumes your nonprofit already has a strategy and case-for support.

stage 1: evaluate your current situation

the first step is to take a look at your current situation and money-raising performance. it helps to understand where you are on the income growth journey. it includes:

  • benchmarking your financial performance
  • an assessment of your organisation’s income growth performance and potential
  • your fundraising readiness (people, systems, activities, channels, and methods)
  • a recency, frequency and money (where appropriate) analysis of donor giving history
  • a donor survey (where appropriate) to understand their motivations, preferences, behaviours, and needs.

stage 2: define your financing goals

your organisational strategy guides the financing plan. the goals establish what you want to achieve, and how to measure progress. key components include:

  • fully-costing your strategy, including both program and capacity building budgets, to achieve your objectives across 3-5 years
  • updating your case for support document to include both program and capacity-building funding needs
  • setting goals, objectives, targets and KPIs for income growth

     stage 3: develop your financing plan

    the financing plan describes your money-raising, activities and timelines. it articulates how to allocate resources, budget, people and systems to achieve your funding targets, including:

    • an exploration of income sources, growth potential, risks and costs
    • prioritisation of funding products and channels, considering return on investment and risk
    • identify the people and systems needed to raise money and maintain funder relationships
    • define the activities, budgets, timelines and responsibilities, including the role of the board
    • strategies for donor acquisition, retention and engagement
    • marketing and communication materials

    stage 4: monitor and evaluate your results and impact

    your nonprofit needs to collect and analyse data from its money-raising activities. this is essential to support learning and improve the results of your next campaign.

    as a boutique charity consultant, better charity can help you assess your capacity to attract more money for your mission and develop a financing roadmap for social and environmental change. order your Financing Plan or contact better charity for a free consultation and additional information.