
Writing Your Fundraising Strategy – my notes from Alice Ferris’s talk
Here are some notes I took during Alice Ferris's excellent talk on writing your fundraising strategy, hosted by Fundraising Everywhere. I've recently become a Fundraising Everywhere member, and really recommend it.
Create a fundraising plan you'll actually use! Covid-19 edition. Should we be fundraising right now? Yes. 1) Your mission. If it's important, why is it different now? Even if non-essential, your work is still important, and you still have operational costs.
2) People want to help! It can be their way of connecting right now. But not willy nilly or business as usual. Reboot your plan. Because hope is not a strategy. If you don't plan it, you won't get there.
1. Where are you now? Think of your planning as a journey. You need to know where you're starting from. Quick assessment: a) how much raised historically? what's a normal yr? b) what do you need to raise right now? c) how many donors do you have? d) how many tend to renew?
Alice is seeing fewer new donors right now, but they're giving bigger gifts. Also Covid-19 considerations, for right now, as part of your assessment. How has it affected your donors? Any risks? What new sources might there be? How have your own financial plans been affected?
Who's your "ideal donor avatar"? * What motivates them? Grateful patient? Alumni? Recognition? Emotional connection? * Demographic questions: gender, capacity, age, education etc Give them a name & picture (as internal exercise!).