Course summary

Well done on completing this course. Here is a summary of the key ideas from the course. We encourage you to discuss what you have learnt with your team.

“Whatever your fundraising goal, you are 42% more likely to achieve it just by writing it down.”

Steps to creating an effective fundraising plan:

• Start with your case for support
  • Why does your ministry exist? – Your vision
  • What goals you intend to accomplish? – Your ministry objectives
  • How you intend to reach these goals? – Your mission
  • What programmes or services do you offer?
  • Who provides those programmes or services?
  • Who are the beneficiaries of your programmes or services and how are their lives being impacted by your work?
  • Why are you best positioned to provide these programmes or services?
  • How much money do you need to carry out your work in the next three years?
  • What are your fundraising goals for the next three years?
  • How will you be accountable to all participants in your mission for accomplishing your ministry goals and using your resources wisely?

2. Assess your ministry’s financial needs

3. Understand your supporters

• Who gives to your ministry?
• How much do they give? And which supporter audience provides the lion share of income?
• Which fundraising activities produced the best ROIs each year in the last three years?
• What are the supporter retention and attrition rates over the last three years?
• Who are your most loyal donors? (Create detailed descriptions – What do they look like? Where do they live? How old are they? What church do they go to? Why do they like your cause?)
• What are our three top opportunities to grow income in the next 12 months?

4. Set SMART fundraising goals

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time

5. Create your fundraising plan

• Put your plan together by deciding which fundraising channels you are going to use. Fundraising channels are generally divided into broadly into two categories: offline and online.

6. Implement the plan

7. Evaluate and report back to supporters

• Use these fundraising reports to evaluate the effectiveness of your fundraising strategy and activities.
  • Return on Investment on all fundraising activities
  • Return on Investment on specific fundraising activities
  • Donor Retention Rates
  • New Donor Conversion Rates

Leaders guide questions:

• What are your fundraising goals for the next three years?
• Who are your loyal donors and how do you communicate with them?
• What are three SMART fundraising goals?
• How does a supporter journey look like in your organisation?
• How are you evaluating your fundraising efforts?