Support for Service Providers > Fund Development and Diversification
Fund Development and Diversification
Speakers:
Capital Venture – Linda Lysakowski
National Coalition for Homeless Veterans – Kristina Hunken
Kristina Hunken, NCHV
- Welcome
- Introduction of Linda Lysakowski
Linda Lysakowski, Capital Venture
- Why Plan? Where do you want to go?
- Strategic plan: where is organization heading?
- Set realistic goals: reasonable to raise $10,000? $10 million?
- Keep from getting sidetracked
- Having too many ideas for fundraising
- “Event fever”: placing drain on staff by doing too many fundraising events
- Written plan keeps organization from getting sidetracked
- Measure success: use timelines; what fundraising events are successful; what works and does not work
Basic Elements of Development Plan
- Goals (ex: raising awareness in community)
- Objectives (ex: develop/upgrade website by certain date)
- Objectives should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timely
- Strategies
- Action steps
- Who is going to do it?
- How much will it cost/raise?
- When is it going to be done?
Areas of Focus
- Communications: how does organization communicate with donors?
- Donor Relations: relationships with donors when they aren’t donating
- Research
- Fundraising Programs
- Constituencies
- Technology and Infrastructure
- Human Resources: who is going to do fundraising? Staff, volunteers, board members?
Who Should be Involved in Planning Process
- Development Staff
- Non-Development Staff
- Board
- Development Committee
- Consultants: offer expertise, objective viewpoint
Assessing Current Development Programs
- SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
- Strength: volunteers for implementation of program
- Weakness: no volunteers, weak Board
- Opportunity: new business in community, possible donor
- Threat: economy, major funder goes out of business
- Budget: is there a budget for fundraising?
- Development Audit
- Philanthropic Profile Assessment: important to understand philanthropy before beginning fundraising; pinpoint organization’s strengths and weaknesses
The Process
- Determining who will be involved
- Gathering Information
- Planning Meetings
- Setting Goals and Objectives
- Determining Strategy
- Assigning Budgets, timelines and areas of responsibility
Basic Development Infrastructure
Technology
- Donor Software
- Personalized appeals
- Accurate recording and reporting
- Donor history: track relationship with donor
- Donor preferences: contact by phone, letter, etc.
- Acknowledgment: thank donor within 24 hours of donation receipt
- Specialized functions
Policies and Procedures
- Gift Acceptance Policies: outline what kind of gifts to accept, who to accept gifts from, how gifts will be used
- Donor Software
- Office Procedures: who accepts gifts, when they will be deposited
Case for Support
- Mission/Vision
- History
- Plans
- Compelling Reason to Give: emotional and rational case
The Integrated Development Program
- Have several sources of funding; diversify funding streams; different types of fundraising activities
Donor Pyramid
- Start at bottom of pyramid: create awareness in community through special events, publications, and public relations
- Goal is to turn continued and renewing donors into lifelong donors
- Cultivation and relationship building leads to top of pyramid: ultimate gift of bequests, planned gifts
Creating Awareness
- Public Relations
- PSAs and Press Releases: local television stations, radio, newspapers to create visibility in community
- Communications: maintain relationships when donors are not donating through giving updates, newsletters; donors want to know how their money is being used
- Promotion Ideas
- Website: have info about how to donate/support organization posted clearly on website
- Cultivation Events: bring people into organization; tour of program in action; testimonials; asking for community members to give advice/opinions often leads to donations
- Special Events
- Fund Raising or Friend Raising?
- Committees: having volunteer committee creates access to different networks
- Staff Role: help with coordination
- Timelines: take year to plan event
- Budgets: set aside seed money to run event
- Setting Goals
The Annual Fund
- Grants
- Direct Mail: most expensive; best way to reach large audience
- Acquisition
- Have a Plan
- Your Direct Mail Package
- Strategies for Renewal & Upgrading
- Telephone Solicitation: use volunteers or professional firm; more successful if calling people who have given support in the past; send pre-call letter
- Personal Solicitation: determine how much will be asked for; 95/5 rule (95% of donated funds comes from top 5% of donor base); businesses prefer to be solicited in person rather than direct mail
- Capital Campaign: conduct feasibility study; coordinate with development staff
- Planned Giving: how will it fit into overall development program?
- Board Involvement
- Commitment to Fundraising
- 100% Giving
- Asking Others to Give
Getting Started
- Set three to five goals for your development plan (ex: raising awareness in community, Board fundraising commitment)
- What are some specific objectives that could be used to reach these goals
- Discuss some strategies to each these goals and objectives
Implementing and Evaluating the Plan
- Taking Ownership: assign individual to be responsible for implementing plan
- What Happens When It Falls Apart
- Measuring Success
- Reporting Success
Remember
- The plan isn’t written in stone, but neither should it be written in disappearing ink!
- Do not be too rigid or too casual about development plan
Question and Answer Session
Closing
Kristina Hunken, NCHV
- Thank you
- Questions may be sent to Melanie Lilliston at nchv5@nchv.org or
202-546-1969
- Visit www.nchv.org for information on upcoming conference calls
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