How can you develop a fundraising plan that includes both events and campaigns?

1 Assess your current situation

Before you start planning, you need to understand your current fundraising performance, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. You can use tools such as SWOT analysis, fundraising audit, donor survey, or benchmarking to gather data and insights. You should also review your mission, vision, values, and impact to align your fundraising plan with your organizational goals and priorities.

3 Plan your events and campaigns

Now that you have your objectives and strategies, you can start planning the details of your events and campaigns. Events are one-time or recurring activities that involve direct interaction with your donors, such as galas, auctions, walks, or webinars, while campaigns are coordinated efforts to raise money for a specific cause or project. When planning your events and campaigns, consider the purpose – how it relates to your mission and objectives – the audience – their interests, needs, preferences, and motivations – the value proposition – what unique benefit or impact it offers to your audience and how to communicate it effectively – the logistics – date, time, location, format, agenda, speakers, sponsors, partners, registration, tickets etc. – the promotion – best channels, tools and tactics to spread the word and generate interest and participation – and the evaluation – key performance indicators and metrics to track and analyze as well as feedback from donors and stakeholders.

5 Follow up with your donors

After your events and campaigns are over, you need to follow up with your donors to thank them, acknowledge their contributions, report on the outcomes, and build relationships. You should use different methods and channels to express your gratitude and appreciation, such as thank-you letters, emails, phone calls, cards, certificates, or gifts. You should also share stories, photos, videos, or reports that show the impact of your events and campaigns on your mission and beneficiaries. You should also invite your donors to stay connected and engaged with your nonprofit, such as by joining your newsletter, following your social media, attending your webinars, or volunteering for your programs.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?