Fundraising plans, Part 2

Now in the home stretch, we have been creating and refining fundraising plans. (See Fundraising plans, Part 1 here.) Below is an example of a one-year fundraising plan, courtesy of Laura Randall. In theory, each line item represents a specific strategy and timeline that has been carefully considered.

In practice, at least in my experience, there is a fair amount of guesswork involved, especially in the beginning years of a new initiative when there is no history of fundraising success to build upon. This is where fundraising becomes really exciting! Creating something out of nothing, and growing the base of philanthropic support, is a significant risk. Putting a strategy in place to guide your fundraising efforts over the course of a full year (including modifying the plan as you learn new information) gives you the best chance for success.