Fundraising Success 1 Development Plan

Your A-Z Guide to Creating a Year Round Development Plan

Last updated 2022-01-10 | 4.7

- Create a development plan that will allow you to increase fundraising results for your nonprofit organization
- Select the fundraising activities that will work best for your organization
- Create a useful timeline of fundraising activities

What you'll learn

Create a development plan that will allow you to increase fundraising results for your nonprofit organization

Select the fundraising activities that will work best for your organization

Create a useful timeline of fundraising activities

Differentiate between fundraising and development in order to increase the effectiveness of both

Determine the effectiveness of current fundraising activities

Evaluate the internal and external factors that impact your fundraising effectiveness

Identify your fundraising team (and that’s not just you)

Set achievable financial goals

Set meaningful strategic goals for your development program

* Requirements

* While not necessary
* it is helpful to have a copy of any current fundraising plans with you as you work through this course
* You will need a desire to improve your fundraising and a willingness to invest the time in creating a practical development plan

Description

Do you hold countless fundraising activities, trying to bring in more dollars for your nonprofit organization?

Do you feel like you're on a hamster wheel of special events and direct mail campaigns?

Want to get off the hamster wheel?

A well-constructed development plan is your ticket!

Create a Development Plan So You Can Raise More Money.

Start by determining where you are. Then decide where you want to go. Finally set a map for getting there.

This course will walk you step by step through the techniques necessary to create a development plan that will get the staff and volunteers around you working toward well-crafted financial and strategic fundraising goals. Many nonprofits launch into fundraising by creating a special event and before they've recovered from that event, they launch into another one. If this sounds like your organization, we've got a better way to do things.

This course provides you with tools and resources to use again and again when creating your fundraising plan. Whether you are approaching the beginning of your fiscal year or already in the middle of it, this course teaches you to create a comprehensive plan to complete the fundraising cycle: identify, cultivate, solicit and steward donors.

Brand new fundraisers and experienced professionals will benefit from the comfortable discussion style with over 2.5 hours of video lectures, Sara Leonard, CFRE, MBA, and Louanne Saraga Walters. You’ll become part of the discussion as you determine what to keep, what to add and what to eliminate from your nonprofit’s development plan.

Who this course is for:

This course is meant for anyone with responsibilities for fundraising in a nonprofit organization
Both paid staff and volunteers can benefit from this class

Course content

9 sections • 22 lectures

Course Introduction 3 lectures

Course Overview Preview 06:49

A brief look at what we cover in the course, how I structured the course and how to find out what each lecture contains. This lecture includes a downloadable PDF of the Table of Contents.

NOTE: As of June, 2018 this course is no longer offered under CFRE CE.

Why you need a development plan Preview 05:24

In this lecture, we will show you how a development plan will help your organization raise more money year round.

Fundraising and development defined Preview 06:52

In this lecture we delineate between fundraising and development. We also introduce the Fundraising Cycle.

Where are you now? 3 lectures

Review fundraising activities Preview 12:47

In this lecture we determine the fundraising activities your organization is already conducting.

What is working and what is not working? Preview 09:11

In this lecture we determine which of your current fundraising activities are effective and should be kept and which ones are not effective and should be eliminated.

What is the current climate inside and outside your organization? Preview 15:02

We use this lecture to evaluate the current climate inside your organization and how it will impact your fundraising. We also review the external factors that will impact your fundraising.

Identify your fundraising team 2 lectures

Identify the staff members on your fundraising team Preview 07:55

The good news in this lecture: your fundraising team should include more people than just you. We will identify who on your staff should be part of your development activities.

Identify volunteers on your fundraising team Preview 07:58

This lecture looks beyond the paid staff on your team to determine the roles available for volunteers and board members.

Where do you want to be? 2 lectures

Setting your financial goals Preview 05:01

This lecture identifies the wrong way and the right way to set your financial fundraising goals. We will walk through setting your goals the right way.

Setting your strategic goals Preview 06:59

Because development is about more than just the dollars that you raise, this lecture will identify possible strategic goals for your development plan.

How do we get there? 3 lectures

Define specific activities Preview 08:36

We begin defining the specific fundraising activities that should have a place in your development plan. We've provided a useful worksheet to guide you through this process.

Compare activities to the fundraising cycle Preview 07:10

In this lecture we will revisit the Fundraising Cycle to make sure that the fundraising activities you are planning cover all of the steps in the cycle.

Consider the numbers Preview 06:15

For this lecture, you will consider how much you will need to spend on your fundraising activities and how that compares to the funds you will raise.

When? Putting your plan on a schedule 2 lectures

Create a timeline Preview 07:19

In this lecture we will teach you to create a timeline for all of the activities in your development plan.

How to build your timeline Preview 05:23

This lecture takes you step by step through the creation of your development plan timeline.

Putting the plan together 2 lectures

Putting it all together Preview 10:08

In this lecture we will assemble the pieces you have created and create your development plan.

Review for strategic goals Preview 04:40

Now that your plan is assembled, this lecture will guide you through comparing your plan to the strategic goals you set then give you a chance to adjust as necessary.

Evaluation of your development plan 4 lectures

Monitor your development plan Preview 04:48

In this lecture we'll teach you how to keep track of your plan and make it a useful tool for the entire year.

Evaluate your development plan Preview 05:36

In this lecture we will cover how to evaluate your plan, who should be involved and how often you should evaluate.

Adjust your development plan Preview 05:49

Because your development plan isn't written in stone, adjustments will be possible. This lecture covers how to make adjustments - both large and small.