What is the best way to create a fundraising plan that adapts to change?

1 Assess your current situation

Before you create a new fundraising plan, you need to understand your current situation. This includes analyzing your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT), as well as your fundraising performance, sources, and costs. You also need to review your mission, vision, and goals, and how they align with your donors' needs and interests. By assessing your current situation, you can identify gaps, challenges, and areas for improvement in your fundraising strategy.

3 Choose your fundraising methods and channels

Once you have your objectives and indicators, you need to choose the most appropriate and effective fundraising methods and channels for your target audience and budget. You can use a mix of traditional and digital methods, such as direct mail, email, social media, events, grants, or crowdfunding. You should also research the best practices and trends in each method and channel, and how they suit your cause and message. You should also plan how to integrate and coordinate your fundraising methods and channels to create a coherent and consistent donor experience.

4 Create a fundraising calendar and budget

The next step is to create a fundraising calendar and budget for your plan. Your fundraising calendar should outline the key activities, tasks, and deadlines for each method and channel. You should also assign roles and responsibilities to your staff, volunteers, and partners. Your fundraising calendar should also include contingency plans for potential risks or changes. Your fundraising budget should estimate the income and expenses for each method and channel, as well as the overall return on investment. You should also monitor and adjust your budget as needed.

5 Implement and evaluate your plan

The final step is to implement and evaluate your plan. You should follow your fundraising calendar and budget, and communicate regularly with your team and stakeholders. You should also collect and analyze data from your indicators and feedback from your donors. You should use this information to measure your results and impact, and to identify what works and what doesn't. You should also report your findings and achievements to your donors, board, and staff, and celebrate your successes.

6 Adapt and improve your plan

Creating a fundraising plan that adapts to change is not a one-time process, but a continuous cycle of learning and improvement. You should regularly review your plan and make adjustments based on the changing internal and external factors that affect your fundraising. You should also seek new opportunities and innovations to enhance your fundraising methods and channels. You should also involve your donors and stakeholders in your planning and evaluation process, and solicit their feedback and suggestions. By adapting and improving your plan, you can increase your fundraising effectiveness and resilience.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?