How to Create a Fundraising Strategic Plan for Your Charity

A strategic fundraising plan is more than just a roadmap, it's what keeps your nonprofit's fundraising efforts aligned with realistic goals while sticking to your organization’s mission focus. Why is it so crucial? Well, without a plan, most nonprofits often find themselves constantly chasing after short-term gains and scrambling for quick donations which ultimately causes them to loose sight of their long-term goals. That's no way to sustain an organization that wants to grow and thrive!

When you create a strategic plan, you're essentially mapping out your fundraising activity or activities for a set period of time, each with their own goals and objectives. This helps in so many ways. From being able to plan ahead and overcome obstacles sooner, to knowing your budget in a set period of time. Knowing what’s ahead is always better than winging it and just hoping for the best.

And this isn’t just great for your charity either, it’s also great for your staff, supporters and donors. Your staff can better understand what activities must be completed ahead of time in order to do their jobs efficiently, your supporters know of upcoming events they may want to join ahead of time as well as see you’re sticking to your core values, and donors love seeing that you are continually trying to grow your organization without loosing perspective on the reasons it even exists. In fact, most donor’s loyalty hinges on how much trust and faith they have in your ability to deliver on your mission.

Another awesome benefit of using nonprofit strategy development is that it ensures your organizations sustainability. Remember, this may be a 501(c) corporation, but in the end it’s still a business. And without money, it’s hard t keep the lights on or keep full time employees. We feel having a yearly strategic fundraising plan is the best option. This gives you soft data on what should be expected coming in as far as funds, while also giving you an understanding of what the costs will be to fund your fundraisers. Many nonprofits find this yearly sustainable fundraising approach works the best.

So, start thinking long-term now. Your charity’s future depends on it.

10 Key Components of a Successful Fundraising Strategic Strategy

The key components of a successful fundraising strategic plan are essential building blocks that align your nonprofit’s fundraising efforts with your mission, goals, and available resources. Here's a detailed look at these each of these key components and what makes them so important.

1. Mission and Vision Alignment

Your fundraising plan should align closely with your nonprofit’s mission and vision. This is the reason people will give to your cause and if it isn’t front and center in all your campaigns, supporters may quickly forget why they’re donating in the first place. Keeping your strategies closely knitted to your mission not only helps you with long-term sustainability, it also help shore up donor trust so they continue to fund your organization. As you develop your fundraising strategic plan, ask yourself:

• Does this fundraiser directly support our mission?
• How does this initiative contribute to achieving our long-term vision?
• Are we prioritizing efforts that make a tangible difference in the areas our nonprofit focuses on?

For example, if your nonprofit focuses on mental health issues, a campaign centered around mental health or health related initiatives would naturally align with your mission. However, hosting a fundraiser that has little to do with your cause (e.g., a gala with no clear connection to your mission) might not resonate with donors or your purpose.

To ensure your fundraising activities are in line your mission, create narratives that directly connects each fundraising initiative to your cause. This helps communicate to donors how their contributions will impact your organization’s goals directly.

• Tell Stories: Use stories to demonstrate how the funds will help further your nonprofit’s mission. Personalizing the impact makes it easier for donors to see the connection between their gift and your cause.
• Example: If your nonprofit provides educational support to underserved communities, your campaign messaging should center around how the funds raised will improve access to education and empower students.

2. SMART Fundraising Goals

Setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals helps keep your objectives clear and on point. SMART goals allow you to track your progress, make adjustments based on actual data and give you a stick to measure your cuccess or shortcoming with that is real and objective. They prevent aimless activity and ensure all fundraising initiatives have measurable benchmarks.

• Specific: Define clear, detailed goals.
• Measurable: Establish metrics for tracking success.
• Achievable: Set realistic goals based on your resources and past performance.
• Relevant: Align your goals with your nonprofit’s broader objectives.
• Time-bound: Set deadlines to create urgency and maintain focus.

3. Comprehensive Donor Analysis

Knowing your donors as imminently as possible will really allow you to plan more appropriately. This relates to everything from how to engage them, which platforms are most effective, where they live, their ability to actually make a donation and so much more. The deeper you understand your supporters and what exactly motivates them to give, the easier it will be to connect with them and have them make a donation.

If you haven’t already, conduct an in-depth analysis of current donors, including their giving patterns, demographics, and engagement levels. Use this data to create detailed donor personas, a sort of fake person that you should be talking to when creating your marketing materials and other communication strategies which can help you identify opportunities to cultivate deeper relationships. You must clearly understand your donor base if you want to maximize engagement and retention.

• Donor Segmentation: Group donors by behavior, giving capacity, engagement or based on any other data that you feel will assist in your goals.
• Retention Strategies: Focus on building long-term donor loyalty through highly personalized communication and engagement.

4. Diverse Revenue Streams

Don’t get stuck on getting a bunch of one time donations to drive your mission forward. There are actually quite a few opportunities to fund your charity and a sustainable nonprofit fundraising plan includes a variety of revenue streams. Through diversification, yes just like investments, you can possibly avoid certain down times in giving, or seasonal one time giving patters so that you always have other sources of income, no matter how big or small.

Here are a few of the most prevalent ways to gain funding for your nonprofit.

• Individual Giving: This includes one-time donations, recurring giving programs, and major gifts.
• Corporate Partnerships: Leverage corporate sponsorships, cause marketing, and employee matching programs.
• Grants: Research and apply for both public and private grants that align with your nonprofit’s mission.
• Events: Consider a mix of virtual, in-person, or hybrid fundraising events.
• Planned Giving: Encourage donors to include your nonprofit in their estate planning for long-term support.

5. Fundraising Timeline

Like we stated before, we feel a complete plan includes a timeline of at least a year. This gives you a great overview of each of your fundraising objective from a long term approach, which in turn shows you what needs to be focused on the most. It also allows you to plan ahead for fundraisers during special times like Giving Tuesday campaigns or year end fundraising ensuring that campaigns and initiatives launch at the most opportune times.

6. Resource Allocation

It’s almost impossible to gain any real traction with fundraising without some sort of budget. So it’s super important to identify the resources that’ll be needed in order to achieve your fundraising goals so they can be allocated correctly. These number should include as much detail as possible so you have a realistic idea of how much the fundraiser will cost your organization, and what the total profit margin is when it’s finished. Here’s a list of things to consider:

Staffing and Volunteer Management

• Salaries and Wages: If you have staff, you’ll need to account for their salaries or wages. Even if you’re working with volunteers, you may need to allocate resources for their training and management
• Outsourcing: Sometimes nonprofits nned to hire consultants, event planners, or freelance graphic designers to help with specific tasks like event planning, donor outreach, or marketing. Factor in these costs if you're considering outside help.

Marketing and Promotion

• Digital Marketing: Running ads on platforms like Google, Facebook, or Instagram requires a budget. Even organic marketing (email campaigns, social media posts) may have associated costs, such as software subscriptions to (MailChimp, Canva, etc.).
• Print Materials: Flyers, brochures, posters, and event invitations can add up. Printing costs depend on the number of materials you need printed, the quality, and the vendor you choose.
• Donor Engagement Materials: Thank you cards, follow-up letters, or welcome kits for new donors may also be part of the marketing expenses.

Event Costs (if hosting an event)

• Venue: The cost of renting a space for your fundraiser, whether it's a banquet hall, conference center, or park can often account for a large portion of your budget.
• Catering: If you’re providing food and beverages at your event, this can be also be a significant expense, especially if you’re expecting a large amount of people to turnout.
• Event Equipment: Things like tables, chairs, AV equipment, stages, and lighting can add to the cost if not provided by the venue.
• Decorations and Supplies: Flowers, centerpieces, banners, and other decorations need to also be part of your budget.
• Entertainment: If you’re hiring musicians, DJs, or speakers, remember to allocate funds for their services.

Tools and Software

• Fundraising Platforms: Many online fundraising platforms charge fees for processing donations. Typically, this can be anywhere from 2% to 5% of each donation. But we have a free alternative that you need to check out! Here’s the link.
• Donor Management Software (CRM): If you’re using a donor management tool they’ll have subscription fees that will also need to be taken into consideration
• Event Management Tools: If you’re hosting an event, you might use event registration software like Paybee which does charge a small fee if you’re not using the free option.

Licensing and Compliance

• Fundraising Licenses: Depending on your state or country, you may need a special license to host a fundraising event or solicit donations. Check local regulations to understand th exact amount of these types of costs as it varies.
• Insurance: Depending on the type of event, you may need special insurance coverage (e.g., liability insurance).

Donor Incentives

• Merchandise: If you’re offering branded merchandise like T-shirts, mugs, or tote bags as part of your fundraiser as donor incentives, you’ll need to cover production and shipping costs.
• Auction Items or Prizes: If you’re hosting a silent auction or offering prizes, these items either need to be donated or purchased.

Post-Event Expenses

• Follow-Up Campaigns: After the fundraiser, you’ll likely want to send thank-you emails, newsletters, or social media posts updating donors on the impact of their contributions.
• Impact Reports: Some nonprofits create detailed reports showcasing how the funds raised were used. These can be printed or sent digitally, but either way, they carry costs for design, printing, and distribution.

7. Marketing and Communications Plan

If no one hears about your event, good luck getting anyone to donate!

Your fundraising success relies heavily on how well you communicate your message. Develop a comprehensive marketing and communications plan that defines how you will reach and engage your target audience. This includes:

• Key Messaging: Ensure your messaging is clear, consistent, and mission-driven.
• Multichannel Approach: Use a variety of platforms (email, social media, direct mail, events) to reach different segments of your audience.
• Storytelling: Leverage impactful storytelling to inspire action and connect emotionally with potential donors.
• Branding: Maintain consistent branding across all communications to reinforce recognition and trust.

Here are some key points to consider when creating a Marketing and Communications Plan for your charity fundraiser:

• Identify the primary groups you want to reach (e.g., existing donors, new supporters, volunteers, corporate partners).
• Understand your supporter’s motivations and create messages that engage and connect with each segment.

• Develop a clear and concise mission driven message that demonstrates the purpose of your fundraiser and its perceived impact.
• Create a value proposition: Why should people care? What difference will their contribution make?
• Use storytelling: Share personal stories or capture stories from those impacted by your organization to create deep emotional connections.

• Establish measurable objectives such as how many donations, event registrations, or volunteer sign-ups you aim to achieve.

• Segment your email list and send personalized messages with clear calls to action.
• Use platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to build excitement, share updates, and encourage your followers to make a donation.
• Create a dedicated landing page on your website for the fundraiser with easy donation options.
• Reach out to local media outlets and bloggers to generate coverage.
• Consider using Facebook or Google ads to reach new audiences.

• Partner with local businesses, community leaders, or influencers who can help amplify your message. Encourage these partners to share your content on their platforms, expanding your reach.

• Create emotional images and visuals that communicate the impact of your fundraiser.
• Produce short videos that tell your nonprofit’s story and inspire action. Video content tends to get higher engagement.

• Plan when and how frequently you’ll share content leading up to the fundraiser.
• Schedule posts and emails strategically for things like event dates or campaign deadlines.

• Incorporate elements like peer-to-peer fundraising, challenges, or matching gift offers to encourage people to get more personally involved.
• Use social media features like polls, countdowns, or live-streams.

• Communicate frequently with your donors before, during, and after the event.
• Thank supporters publicly on social media or privately via email when recognizing their contributions.

• Use analytics tools to track the success of your marketing efforts (e.g., Google Analytics, social media insights, email tracking software).
• Monitor which channels drive the most traffic, donations, and engagement, and adjust your strategy as needed.

8. Performance Metrics and KPIs

In order to really understand the effectiveness of your fundraising campaigns you’ll need to establish clear Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and performance metrics for things like like email open rates, social media engagement, or website traffic. Here are a few of the most important metrics to track and analyze.

• Donor Retention Rate: The percentage of donors who give again after their initial donation.
• Average Gift Size: How much the typical donor contributes each time.
• Donor Acquisition Cost: The cost of acquiring new donors compared to the amount they give.
• Return on Investment (ROI): The financial return of your fundraising efforts compared to the cost.
• Fundraising Conversion Rate: The percentage of prospects who convert into actual donors.

9. Ongoing Evaluation and Adjustments

Fundraising is never static. This means keeping up with current fundraising while also using your past performances in order to make your current stratifies even more profitable. That means you’ll constantly be needing to evalute all your past performance against what you’re currently doing to see where even more improvements to your campaigns can happen. Or even where things simply don’t work and need to be scrapped. This may mean tweaking your communications with supporters, adjusting your tactics either way, or shifting more or less resources where needed. The more flexible and responsive you and your team can be in making adjustmentss, the more you should be able to secure in funding over time.

• Quarterly Reviews: Conduct regular reviews to monitor progress against your goals.
• Adaptability: Stay open to making changes based on real-time data and feedback.

10. Leadership and Board Engagement

Your fundraising strategic plan should be shared with everyone in your organization, including the upper echelon of your leadership. Everyone needs to be on board in order for your plan to work. And by allowing everyone their say on what they think is strong or lacking, you can often find a few jems in their comments. This of course starts at the top. Their involvement can range from personal giving to leveraging their networks for securing support and donations. Strong leadership ensures that the plan remains a priority and receives the resources and attention it needs to thrive.

By incorporating these key components into your fundraising strategic plan, your nonprofit will not only boost fundraising its success, but also strengthen its long-term sustainability. With clear goals, diverse revenue streams, strategic communication, and a solid evaluation process in place, you'll have the structure you need to consistently meet and exceed your fundraising objectives for the next year and further.

How to Create a Strategic Fundraising Plan

The easiest way to understand each of the steps to making an awesome plan would be to go through each one as if we were working on your plan. For this example we’ll be using an animal charity, but you can substitute any sort of charity or even a foundation to suit your needs. And even if you’re starting a new charity, you can still go through this process. Just be sure to use very conservative numbers and tweak them as you see what is more realistic when it comes to your organization.

Step 1. Assess Your Current Situation (Internal and External Analysis)

Internal: The first thing you will need to do is to look at what exactly you’re doing now. How much money are your current strategies pulling in? Is it enough to cover all your costs of running your organization on a daily basis? What strategies are you implementing? Are you using online donations, events, sponsorships, grants? Who are your donors? Are they individuals, businesses, or a mix? And how well do you retain your donors? Do they make a donation year after year?

You will most likely also have some kind of budget you’re working with. Where are these funds coming from (donations, grants, events) and what money is allocated to each part of your organization? What areas are working best and which ones need more funding?

External: Next you’ll need to do an external assessment. What does the landscape look like for animal rescues right now? Are other rescues in your area competing for the same funds? How large are they? Are they competing for the same donations as your own charity? Do they overlap in services your charity is providing? What’s happening with government funding or any local policy changes that might impact donations?

You also need to consider current and future rends in donor behavior. Perhaps you’ve noticed an increase in online donations or a shift toward people wanting to see more transparency in how their money is used. How well are you addressing those areas? And how can you use this information to improve your fundraising activities?

Output: You should be coming away from this step with a solid understanding of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (a SWOT analysis). For instance, maybe you have strong community support but struggle to engage large corporate donors or securing recurring donations.

Step 2. Clarify Your Mission, Vision, and Values

You should already have a mission statement and know exactly why your charity exists. The important part is to align your fundraising plan with your mission. For example, your vision might be to create a community where every stray animal finds a loving home. We’d want to ensure every fundraising campaign directly supports that vision and in turn, supports your overall mission.

Your values are also extremely important and are a way to connect with donors on a very deep level. For your animal shelter your values may include compassion, responsibility, and transparency as far as your charity’s work. These all need to be in your messaging in order to connect to those individuals that have the same values.

Output: A short, clear document that outlines the mission, vision, and values that will guide your fundraising activities.

Step 3. Set SMART Fundraising Goals

Now comes the financial aspect of running your charity. You should be using SMART goals. These goals need to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. For example, maybe one of the campaigns in your plan is to Raise $50,000 within the next 6 months to fund a new veterinary clinic at the shelter. This is specific (we know exactly what we’re raising money for), measurable (we can track our progress), achievable (assuming we’re basing this goal on realistic figures), relevant (directly supports your mission), and time-bound (we’ve given ourselves 6 months).

Output: A clear list of fundraising goals, such as:

• Increase recurring donations by 20% in the next 12 months.
• Secure $25,000 in corporate sponsorships for the annual gala.
• Recruit 50 new monthly donors by year’s end.

Step 4. Identify Your Target Audience

Figuring out your ‘perfect’ donor can really help in targeting prospective donors and is worth the time to figure out who they are. You should be thinking about who is most likely to support your animal rescue. We already know who’s donated before, so you’d categorize them as individual donors, local businesses, pet lovers, etc. But who might want to help? Animal lovers, local veterinarians, people who’ve adopted pets, corporations with pet-related products.

Once we have a solid idea on what our perfect donor may look like, we can now create a donor persona. This means we create a fake person who will we keep in mind when creating our marketing material. We will create everything thinking about speaking to this individual directly. Maybe “Sarah,” a 35-year-old pet owner who cares about animal welfare and donates monthly, or “John,” a local business owner looking to give back through corporate sponsorships. This all helps a lot when trying to connect with your supporters in a very deep and meaningful way.

Output: A document mapping out your target audience with specific messaging tailored to each group.

Step 5. Select Fundraising Strategies and Tactics

There are a lot of strategies and tactics when it comes to raising money for your charity. And whether you’re creating a year long plan or a short term one, you need to know exactly what sort of campaign you’ll be running. This helps in assigning tasks and responsibilities as well as knowing what sort of resources need to be allocated for each campaign. For example, any of these may work well for your organization.

• • Major gifts: Reach out to high-net-worth individuals or foundations.
  • Recurring donations: Create a “Friends of the Shelter” program for monthly donors.
  • Events: Host a “Paws for a Cause” gala or a “Walk for Animals” fundraiser.
  • Online campaigns: Run social media challenges or peer-to-peer fundraisers.

Output: A clear list of strategies with specific tactics under each one. For example, under "Online Campaigns," we might schedule three Instagram posts a week featuring animals needing help.

Step 6. Create a Budget and Resource Plan

The next step involves setting out a realistic budget for each fundraising activity in your plan. This includes event costs (venues, catering), marketing expenses (social media ads, print materials), and staff and/or volunteer time. Make it as detailed an accurate as possible without getting too bogged down.

You’ll also need to take into account any tools and resources you need. Maybe we need to invest in donor management software to track contributions and send automatic thank-you emails. Or budgeting for a nonprofit software platform like Paybee that can handle every aspect of your organization while also providing tools to hold actions and much more to help expand your fundraising opportunities. If you’d like to see all that we can do, sign up for our free demo here to experience how we can literally transform your organization. Both at the front and backend.

Output: A budget document detailing how much you plan to spend on each fundraising strategy and where you need additional resources.

Step 7. Create a Marketing and Communications Plan

Marketing is so important when you’re running any type of campaign. The fact is, if no one knows you’re trying to raise funding for your mission, no one is going to give. You need to get the word out! A few of the best ways to do this are:

• Email marketing: Segmenting your donor list and sending personalized messages.
• Social media: Posting regular updates on your rescue work and upcoming events.
• Website: Updating your site with a dedicated fundraising page and donation button.
• Press releases: Reaching out to local media to spread the word about your events or milestones.

Output: Create a marketing calendar that outlines what content to post and when and where that is aligned with your fundraising campaigns and your overall mission and messaging.

Step 8. Implement Fundraising Campaigns

Once the plan is ready, you can start rolling out your campaigns. Make sure that everything is timed appropriately using your calendar from the previous step. Drip out your social media posts to go live leading up to events, make sure emails are sent before deadlines, and be sure any corporate outreach is handled in advance. You’ll also need to be sure that all staff and volunteers know their roles and what responsibilities they are responsible for.

Output: A timeline of tasks and who is responsible for each one.

Step 9. Monitor Progress and Evaluate Performance

Throughout your campaigns, you should be constantly monitoring your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). How much are you raising? How many new donors are signing up? Are people engaging with your social media posts?

If certain strategies aren’t working, adjust them as needed. It may take a simple rewording of a fundraising email, or you may need to increase your social media ad spend. No matter the situation, with your plan in place and careful observation, you can find and fix any problems as soon as possible, making sure your campaigns do the best they can.

Output: Carefully look at regular reports that track your progress toward your goals and allow for mid-campaign adjustments.

Step 10. Steward Donor Relationships

After each campaign, one of the most important tasks will be to thank your donors for their generosity and make them feel valued and special. It’s best to create a plan to thank donors and keep them engaged. This might include sending personalized thank-you letters, highlighting top donors on your website, or giving them behind-the-scenes updates on the rescue their funding help make happen. You should also have an outline on how to keep donors informed long-term, such as through quarterly newsletters or impact reports.

Output: A detailed stewardship plan outlining how you’ll maintain and deepen relationships and encourage repeat donations.

Step 11. Conduct Post-Campaign Evaluation

This is the last step and an important one. This is where you’ll evaluate what worked, what didn’t and how to improve your efforts so you can be more profitable in the future. Each aspect should be reviewed, down to how efficiently the people that were assigned tasks did. All of this information can dramatically improve your bottom line if you take it seriously and use it to your advantage.

Finally, we’d sit down and analyze the entire campaign. What worked? What didn’t? Did we meet our goals? We’d take these lessons to improve future fundraising plans.

Output: A final report with all metrics and lessons learned, plus recommendations for future campaigns.

By the end of this process, you will have a clear, actionable fundraising plan specifically tailored to your animal rescue. Each step would build on the last making sure that your fundraising efforts are both strategic and aligned with your mission to help animals.

Wrapping Up

It may seem that creating a solid strategic fundraising plan is extremely complicated and time consuming. But in reality, it’s easier than you think, especially for smaller charities. Yes, it does take some time and effort and is highly detailed, but the dividends it will produce are rewarding and far worth it. After all, it’s your nonprofit’s roadmap to sustainability and growth and a tool that can turn vague hopes into clear, actionable steps when used correctly.

The truth is, without a well-thought-out fundraising strategy for nonprofits, you're more likely to feel like you’re constantly scrambling to keep the doors open rather than building a sustainable future. The hardest part will be just getting started. Keep it action-oriented, don’t let your plan sit and gather dust. Develop your strategic plan, make it adaptable, and then, this is key, stick to it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the key elements of a fundraising strategic plan?

Clear goals, target audiences, fundraising methods, timelines, resource allocation, and metrics for success.

How long should a fundraising strategic plan cover?

Typically 1-3 years, though it should be flexible enough to adapt to changes in the nonprofit landscape.

Who should be involved in creating the plan?

Leadership, development staff, board members, and key stakeholders, including donors if appropriate.

How do you set realistic fundraising goals?

Base them on past performance, current financial needs, and realistic projections of donor capacity and campaign effectiveness.

Can a small charity create a fundraising strategic plan?

Absolutely! A simple, focused plan is even more crucial for small charities to maximize limited resources effectively. If you're new, you will have to guess a bit, but this can be adjusted as you gather more hard data.