TEN STEPS TO CREATING YOUR FUND DEVELOPMENT PLAN While not a guaranteed roadmap to success, a development plan sets goals that promote growth and create ownership among the whole fundraising team. Fundraising plans also prevent the need for crisis fundraising. They enable you to track your progress and identify problems as they arise. You will always know where you stand related to where you want to be. And, you will be able to proactively set and balance your priorities and avoid competing timelines. This worksheet will walk you through how to create a development plan for your organization... Step One: Gather information on your past fundraising efforts Fill out the following chart* with information from last year's fundraising, current year-to date figures, and your projections for next year. Ideally, go back two years to analyze your fundraising. This will give you a better sense of how things fluctuate from year to year. The sources listed are only examples. You should use ones best suited to your organization. In the expense column, include the cost of materials, other expenses and staff time, if possible. Don't worry if you can't fill in all this information the first time you do a plan like this. You'll have a better idea of things to keep track of for future planning. Year Year Last Last Current Current Next Next Before Before Source Year's Year's Year's Year's Year's Year's Last's Last's Income | Expense Income Expense Income Expense Income Expense Individuals Total donor $ Direct mail - Events - "Major" gifts - Membership Online Bequests Earned income Government Corporations Foundations TOTALS * A larger version of this chart is on the lost sheet in this pocket.Step Two: Analyze your past efforts & fundraising strategies Look at the different fundraising strategies you are currently using. Based on your analysis above, consider the following questions: What generates the largest portion of your revenue? Which sources are most reliable? Where is the greatest potential for growth? .... Where should you devote more time? Which areas are not producing and why? Which areas should you consider eliminating? Where can you involve more board members and volunteers? If you had a larger budget for fundraising, which areas would you invest in more? Take some time to write down your responses and strongest reactions to the questions above that feel most relevant to your organization. For each specific strategy, you can also think about: What has worked well to bring in money that you want to do again? . What hasn't worked? How can you improve or modify these strategies to make them more effective? Should you consider eliminating that strategy?Step Three: Evaluate the current climate Fundraising goals are often based on how much money is needed to balance your budget. This seems to make sense on the surface. But that number really has nothing to do with your ability to raise that amount of money. You should set your goal based on all the criteria that affect your ability to raise the money, including how much you raised in the past as well as a variety of other internal and external factors. Internal Factors External Factors What's going on inside your organization that Given the economy over the past year and could impact fundraising? Do you have new counting. we're used to thinking about opportunities to take advantage of - a special economic factors. Consider how these have anniversary. a new director? Have there been and will affect your fundraising. changes on your board? Are you also raising money for a capital campaign? What other external factors could have an impact - the relevance of your mission in the How much fundraising experience does your current political environment, giving trends staff/board have? How much attention do you among donors, ctc? give to donor relations? Do you have prospects already in the pipeline or are you starting from scratch