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Strategic Planning

Riding the Emotional Fundraising Rollercoaster

Fundraising can feel like you’re on a crazy amusement park ride. One minute you’re soaring high after a killer pitch, the next you’re plummeting into the abyss of rejection. But take a deep breath, friend, because you’re not alone. Every development director knows the ups and downs of this game. The key is to keep your head cool and keep moving forward.

Recently, I participated in a dialogue with fellow fundraisers and many communicated about the biggest frustrations faced in their role and how to overcome them. Here’s the lowdown:

  1. Getting leadership on board: Sure, a great plan is important, but it’s nothing without the active support and commitment of your leaders. Just saying they’re good with it isn’t enough. Your administrators and board members need to be truly involved, if you’re going to reach your fundraising goals.
  2. Feeling isolated and misunderstood: Sometimes it feels like you’re all alone on this fundraising island. People think you’re just about raking in the dough, but they don’t see the real work it takes. We build relationships, offer spiritual support, and deal with all sorts of emotional stuff with donors. It’s not just a sales job, it’s a life-changing one.
  3. Needing board support and engagement: Fundraising isn’t just our responsibility. The board needs to be actively involved too: developing and affirming long-term goals and priorities alongside executive leaders, raising funds, engaging with donors, setting a good example, and providing us with the resources and connections we need.
  4. Recognizing the emotional toll: When people see development professionals, they often just see dollar signs. They forget that we’re human too and hearing about people’s struggles day in and day out can be exhausting. We need to be recognized as the empathetic and compassionate beings we are.
  5. Prioritizing long-term relationships: Building relationships with donors is like running a marathon, not a sprint. It takes time and dedication. And guess what? The decisions our leadership makes directly affect our ability to build those relationships. So, let’s invest in the long game together!
  6. You need to grow with others: Ever felt like you’re alone on an island of development? Don’t worry, you’re not! There’s a whole community of folks who’ve been there and are happy to help. Find your development tribe – those who understand your unique challenges and can offer a healthy dose of encouragement and perspective. It’s like having a crew of fellow adventurers, cheering each other on and making the journey a little less lonely. So, don’t hesitate to reach out and build those connections. You’ll be surprised at how much they can lift you up.

By acknowledging these challenges, you can navigate the complexities of your roles and achieve sustainable fundraising success. Remember, we’re in this together, and we can ride this roller coaster to new heights. It is always more fun to navigate the ups and downs with friends at your side.

About the Author:  Jody Fausnight, CFRE has worked in the fund development field for more than 25 years serving as a director of advancement, a community/public relations director with four non-profit organizations, and as a consultant. Jody has expertise in Christian school recruiting, public relations, fund development, and major gift cultivation strategies. He has successfully raised many millions on behalf of numerous organizations and has grown ministry development programs from the ground up on more than one occasion.

Strategic Planning

Building a Culture of Generosity – Part 2

Building a culture of generosity is crucial for nonprofit organizations as it establishes a strong connection with donors, volunteers, service recipients, and employees. By creating a culture that values generous giving, nonprofits can attract and retain supporters, raise more resources, and ultimately advance their mission and impact in the community they serve. Here are five strategies and target markets to help you put that culture into action.

  1. Communicate: Nonprofit organizations have various channels of communication to connect with their supporters and attract new donors. While impersonal means such as mailed appeals and newsletters can be effective in attracting new donors, building a relationship with regular and major donors through personal connection visits is equally important. By doing so, nonprofits can retain their donors and reduce donor turnover rates. For smaller organizations, building a broad communication strategy and targeting major donor prospects with personal approaches can be an effective way to engage donors and retain their support.
  2. Cultivate: It’s important to have a balanced communication calendar that includes regular newsletters, social media posts, annual report summaries, fundraising appeals, and other events. However, don’t overlook the importance of face-to-face interactions with donors, especially those who have consistently given for several years. Personalized phone or email connections with mid-level donor prospects and personal visits for coffee or a kitchen table visit with major donor prospects can go a long way in building a lasting relationship with donors.
  3. Ask: Identifying the right prospects is key. Board members, volunteers, service recipients and their families, and current and former employees are all potential donors who can help advance your organization’s mission. Board members should be men and women of character who believe in your organization’s mission and lead by example. Volunteers have firsthand experience working with your organization and are more likely to donate. Service recipients and their families are grateful for the impact your organization has had on their lives and may be willing to give back. Current and former employees have a deep understanding of your organization’s mission and can help spread the word about your work.
  4. Thank: Showing gratitude to donors is essential. Thanking donors for their support, no matter how small, is important in building a lasting relationship. Personal touches like happy birthday calls to donors or personalized thank-you notes can make a big difference in retaining their support.
  5. Repeat: Finally, it’s important to repeat these steps consistently to build a strong culture of generosity within your organization. Regular communication with donors, cultivating lasting relationships, targeting the right prospects, showing gratitude, and repeating these steps consistently will help ensure your organization’s long-term success.

About the Author:  Jody Fausnight, CFRE has worked in the fund development field for more than 25 years serving as a director of advancement, a community/public relations director with four non-profit organizations, and as a consultant. Jody has expertise in Christian school recruiting, public relations, fund development, and major gift cultivation strategies. He has successfully raised many millions on behalf of numerous organizations and has grown ministry development programs from the ground up on more than one occasion.

Strategic Planning

Building a Culture of Generosity – Part 1

Do these thoughts describe your ministry?

  • “We do events to raise money and awareness but don’t seem to have many big donors.”
  • “Our organization is small, and people are not accustomed to giving much outside of normal fees for services.”

How can you encourage a culture of generosity among those who know, volunteer, or benefit from what you do in your community?

Understand Giving Motivations
What motivates your donors to give to your ministry? For many, there is a spiritual component rooted in one or more of the following scriptural principles:

“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and the one who is wise saves lives” (Proverbs 11:30).

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 16:19-20).

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’” (Matthew 25:40).

You must answer four key donor questions to start a culture of generosity:

  1. What is your funding model?

Yes, you are doing good work in your community, lifesaving, life-changing work. Do your donors realize that sustaining your work requires money? What does a dollar do to advance your ministry’s mission? Present an overview of your budget and how much you need to deliver what you provide to those you serve. Use graphs and charts to communicate your annual revenue vs. expenses. Help your donors understand your complete financial picture.

  1. What needs you are trying to solve?

Express what you do in meaningful and tangible numbers such as “X dollars…

  • “…educates a child (for a day, month, year)”
  • “…nourishes a homeless person today”
  • “…covers an ultrasound test or counseling session for a pregnant mom”
  • “…provides a scholarship for Y days/months/years.”

 

  1. Are you regularly communicating what you accomplish with the people and resources God provides?

Have you shared a compelling vision for serving more people? How will your donors know that advancing beyond the status quo requires more money? Donors won’t give to something they don’t understand. Clearly communicate your vision through appeals, newsletters, events, annual report, and social media posts. Show them how they can change lives by partnering with you. If don’t have one or more of these communication tools working for you, consider adding them to your communication strategy. Before you know it, momentum in your communications and growth in your number of donors will provide more opportunities and enthusiasm for others to get involved.

  1. What is the return on investment and the spiritual return on investment?

Tell your story in different ways and tell it often. Share data to prove your solutions are working. Fundraising involves telling stories about your impact. Paint a picture of a life changed and do it often through reporting back results to those who care about your ministry – in newsletters, appeals, social media, etc.

To start a culture of giving, you need to invite your prospective donors to participate. Engage them for the first time through events. Ask them to take the next step and become a monthly partner. Show them how their gifts tangibly change the lives of those you serve. Don’t worry about where to start. The only mistake is not starting a culture of generosity for your organization, your stakeholders, and your community.

About the Author:  Jody Fausnight, CFRE has worked in the fund development field for more than 25 years serving as a director of advancement, a community/public relations director with four non-profit organizations, and as a consultant. Jody has expertise in Christian school recruiting, public relations, fund development, and major gift cultivation strategies. He has successfully raised many millions on behalf of numerous organizations and has grown ministry development programs from the ground up on more than one occasion.

Strategic Planning

HASIT!

If you’ve worked in major donor development for any length of time, you understand the importance of knowing your donors. A key step in the fundraising process is “qualifying” your donors before you ask them for a gift. Successful solicitation requires the RIGHT person asking the RIGHT person for the RIGHT amount for the RIGHT project at the RIGHT time in the RIGHT way. But how do we know when these six “Rights” line up?  Is there a sure-fire way to “qualify” our donors?

John D. Rockefeller advised, “It is a great help to know something about the person whom you are approaching. You cannot deal successfully with all people the same way. Therefore, it is desirable to find out something about the person you are going to — what his interests are, whether you have any friends in common, whether he gave last year, if so, how much he gave, what he might be able to give this year, etc. Information such as that puts you more closely in touch with him and makes the approach easier.”

When you research your donors for a special campaign or project, consider asking these qualifying HASIT questions:

H – Heart for the Lord. Does this donor have a heart for the Lord and kingdom work? Have they demonstrated their generosity through past giving or service? Does he/she give primarily to faith-based organizations? Do he/she understand biblical stewardship? If yes, ask with boldness. If not, do some more research to discover what motivates the donor to give.

A – Ability to give. Does the donor have the capacity to give at the level required to fund the project or need? Do you know their giving history to your organization or other similar ministries? Ask for an appropriate gift amount. If someone’s largest known gift is only $1,000, they are probably not a qualified prospect for a six-figure ask—unless you know some insider information about them. If you’re unsure, you should conduct some type of wealth screening or donor research.

S – Spirit of giving. Is this donor a cheerful giver? 2 Corinthians 9:7 teaches, “Every man should give as he purposes in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” Do you know this person? Is he/she known for their cheerful generosity? If not sure, talk with others who know him/her better. It will make your visit a lot more fun (and productive).

I – Interest in the ministry. Every donor doesn’t give to every ministry just because it is Christian. Does your prospect know about you and support your mission? Some people are drawn to education. Others to medical and humanitarian relief. Others to rescue ministry. Make sure your prospective donor knows who you are and what you do. If your mission and vision match their giving values, you are on the right trajectory.

T – Timing is right. Timing can be very critical in a donor’s ultimate decision to give now, wait until later, or not give at all. What is happening in your donor’s life that would motivate a large gift? What might be a limiting factor? Is he/she going through any personal challenges right now? On the flip side, has there been a recent windfall in their business or personal finances that would open the door to a larger gift? You need to know as much as possible before you make the ask. You rarely get a second chance.

Love on your donors. Get to know your donors. Qualify them according to these five criteria and boldly ask them to partner with you. If you qualify your donors through the HASIT grid, you will see greater success in your fundraising work.

About the Author: Kent Vanderwood, Vice President – Kent offers clients over 35 years of non-profit experience including teaching, administrative, consulting, and directorships. Through his work as Development Director for The Potter’s House, Gospel Communications International, and Mel Trotter Ministries, Kent brings a wealth of experience in fundraising and development. He currently serves as a board member for the West Michigan chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). His passion for seeing Christian stewardship principles applied in a systematic way helps the non-profit organization or ministry be successful in fulfilling its mission.

Strategic Planning

Maximizing Your Impact Starts with Your Strategic Plan

For those of us who lived through the 1980s and even those who have just learned about them from famous cultural expositions like ABC’s “The Goldbergs,” greed and materialistic capitalism became hallmarks of that era. In fact, corporate icons like Peters and Waterman coined the term “Management by Walking Around (MBWA)” and Peter Drucker, the father of the modern management concept “Management by Objectives (MBO)” left indelible marks impacting us today. 

Drucker’s book espousing management theory centered around key goals dates to 1954 and has been increasingly applied in successive decades along with Hewlett-Packard’s success from 1973 onward in use of MBWA strategies have enshrined both into the lexicon of Fortune 500 and small business organizations.  Mainstream in the 1980s and beyond, they have inspired productivity and efficiencies as well as employee satisfaction, growth, and retention.

Actually, it should be no surprise that employees in organizations would be inspired and satisfied helping to achieve organizational objectives that advance common purposes. As stakeholders see a connection between personal ownership of goals and results combine with rewards for achieving personal and departmental goals that further the broader mission of the organization, natural enthusiasm and satisfaction are byproducts. More than 50 years later, these two prevailing theories for stakeholder satisfaction and effectiveness have impact on non-profit ministries.

·         Most who advocate for, serve, or support you want to be a part of effectively helping the hurting and lost.
·         They long to shape the future through education and life improvement.
·         Each one rightly desires to honor God as a steward meeting the most basic needs of the head, body, heart, and soul.

God has called your employees to work alongside you to pursue a mission for change that lasts! Your donors want to fund success for people now, in future generations, and for eternity. Community leaders and Christian men and women want to see real material, educational, and mental health needs met for this generation and the ones that follow. Your most committed Christian supporters and volunteers desire God’s best for those you serve here on earth but also His best for them into eternity.

How you plan for next week, next month, and next year determines how you execute a plan impacting those benchmarks in time. See a problem? Absent a plan with clearly defined objectives, you won’t know whether you met your goals. Your employees, volunteers, donors, and foundation or corporate partners won’t be able to latch onto a big vision or celebrate success of benchmarks met if you don’t have a plan with measurable objectives.

Planning is hard work, but worth the outcomes it can provide. Consider the following key elements:

·         Focus – What comprises your mission, vision, core values, and unique identity as a ministry?
·         Strategy – Do you have a strategic plan for advancing the whole organization, its operations, its growth, maintenance, and change? Does it contain no more than three or four organization-wide objectives for each plan year? Have you developed a program strategy for each of your ministry’s programs and services focused on delivery of your mission?  Have you incorporated solid plan objectives with essential fundraising and marketing strategies that strengthen current funding sources, develop new ones, and engage current and future stakeholders in securing success for your plan objectives and the larger organizational outcomes sought?
·         People – Do you have adequate support for plan objectives in the areas of leadership, program, operational, fundraising, and marketing/communications staff? Is your board invested in the plan? Have you recruited the right board members, trained them how to govern well and fundraise plus given them tools to meaningfully engage our stakeholders in achieving strategic planning goals?
·         Progress – Have you established a structure for quarterly goal and priority setting along with interactive engagement on goals progress with leaders, board, and staff which provides for ongoing measurement and adjustment? What annual objective and key results planning review points have you put on your calendar along with all-staff update meetings, methods, and deadlines to disseminate annual impact reporting to all stakeholders regarding objectives met and in progress?

Take a look at our Timothy Toons, Peter Drucker’s 5 Questions to learn what questions you should be asking. Give us a call if we can help you clarify your strategic plans.

About the Author:  Jody Fausnight, CFRE has worked in the fund development field for more than 25 years serving as a director of advancement, a community/public relations director with four non-profit organizations, and as a consultant. Jody has expertise in Christian school recruiting, public relations, fund development, and major gift cultivation strategies. He has successfully raised many millions on behalf of numerous organizations and has grown ministry development programs from the ground up on more than one occasion.

Capital Campaigns, Strategic Planning

1. Develop a Strong Strategic Plan

Organizations do not plan to fail; they just sometimes fail to plan. Strategic planning is a process every organization must do well to compete in the ministry marketplace. John Stott said, “Vision begins with a holy discontent with the way things are.” Strategic planning should clearly identify those areas of discontent. Your capital campaign should flow from your desire to solve these problems and create a new preferred future for your ministry and those you serve.

Strategic planning is a military term. It has to do with battle plans. With 1,500,000 not-for-profit agencies seeking their position in the marketplace, strategic planning will help you position your organization to clearly share your story and plan a great capital campaign. It will allow you to identify your uniqueness and your “sweet spot.” It will help you keep your message clear, concise, and visionary. Begin planning with mission, vision, core values, and desired key results. Here is an outline to create or tweak your ministry’s strategic planning process.

An honest SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis should be a major part of your strategic and campaign planning process. What are your organizational strengths? What are those core competencies that define your organization?

Next identify your organizational weaknesses. What could you and should you be doing better? For every organizational strength you identify, there is often an organizational weakness on the other side of the coin. Your greatest strength may also be your greatest weakness.

Continue the SWOT analysis by clearly identifying your organizational opportunities. What’s on your ministry horizon that you should be doing? Here are excellent questions for you to ponder as you begin to think and plan strategically to get ready for a capital campaign:

•  If we went out of business tomorrow, would we really be missed?

•  What segment of society would not be served or impacted or would be underserved if we ceased to exist?

•  Do we really need to act upon the opportunity now and is it a part of our strategic ministry plan?

Ask yourselves what could become a threat to these very great “organizational opportunities.” A financial threat? A staffing threat? A leadership threat? A donor threat? What can potentially derail, delay, or prevent your moving forward with funding your strategic plan with a successful capital campaign? You can minimize your threats if you carefully and prayerfully plan your work, then work your plan.

Here are some additional questions that could emerge in the strategic planning process.

1.  What is needed and feasible in our service area?

2.  What are we capable of doing well (core competencies)?

3.  How will we do what we intend to do better?

4.  Are our mission and vision clear to all our audiences?

5.  What will we be doing five years from now?

6.  What might we not be doing five years from now?

7.  Do we want to grow? If so, how large, and why?

8.  How will we accommodate our plans for growth?

9.  If God answered one prayer about our organization’s future, what would that one prayer and its answer be?

These questions are by no means exhaustive, but they will help you establish benchmarks for planning your capital campaign. The quality of your strategic planning will impact the success of your campaign, so get busy planning!


About the Author: Pat McLaughlin President/Founder – Pat started The Timothy Group in 1990 to serve Christian ministries as they raise money to advance their missions. TTG has assisted more 1,800 Christian organizations around the world with capital, annual, and endowment campaigns. More than 25,000 of Pat’s books, Major Donor Game Plan, The C Factor: The Common Cure for your Capital Campaign Conundrums, and Haggai & Friends have helped fundraisers understand the art and science of major donor engagement. Pat makes more than one hundred major donor visits annually and provides counsel to multiple capital campaigns.

Fundraising Verse of the Week, Strategic Planning

Meaningful Engagements

“I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me” (Romans 16:1-2).

Paul mentions 33 people in Romans 16. These were close ministry partners to whom Paul shared specific words of encouragement moving them forward in their faith. He asked them to welcome and help Phoebe because she had blessed many people, including him. Notice the positive words Paul used to describe his friends: “co-workers” (v. 3), “risked their lives” (v. 3), “worked very hard” (v. 6, 12), “outstanding” (v. 7), “my dear friend” (v. 8, 9), “who has been a mother to me” (v. 13).  Paul’s goal was to spur these friends on “to love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24).

How can you spur your team on to be more successful? How do you measure the effectiveness of those in your organization who have donor relations responsibilities? Certainly, the bottom line is how much money they raise monthly. Other metrics could include how many written gift proposals they have presented. Some organizations track how many phone calls, texts, emails, and thank you cards are sent each month. While all these items indicate activity, they don’t necessarily monitor productivity.

One way to combine all these steps leading to a gift is to track “meaningful engagements.” A meaningful engagement is an action where the development officer moves the donor closer to aligning his/her interests and passions with your ministry. Meaningful engagements can include cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, or some combination.

Meaningful engagements can be face-to-face, in an email exchange, or over the phone. Here are three guidelines:

• Be an active listener. Ask good questions that reveal your donor’s heart. How are they connected to your ministry? What specific aspect of your ministry motivates them to give?

• Draw the donor closer. In what ways can you engage your donor to participate in your ministry? Involved people become generous people.

• Create a pro-active plan. To clarify, simply emailing a donor, talking on the phone, or being at an event with a donor does not constitute a meaningful engagement. A meaningful engagement is your specific action step that brings the donor closer to your ministry.

The men and women Paul mentioned weren’t just casual acquaintances; they had made a significant contribution to Paul’s life and ministry. He, in turn, desired to move them even closer to Christ. Your relationships with your ministry partners must move forward toward a gift, or your efforts will merely devolve into a social encounter.

Response: Lord, help me understand how I can encourage my ministry partners to grow in the grace of giving and move closer to our mission.

Think about this: You know when you have had a meaningful engagement with a donor, and you know when you haven’t. Focus on activities that matter.

Have a Spirit-led fundraising week,

Ron


Ron Haas has served the Lord as a pastor, the vice president of advancement of a Bible college, a Christian foundation director, a board member and a fundraising consultant. He’s authored two books: Ask for a Fish – Bold Faith-Based Fundraising and Simply Share – Bold, Grace-Based Giving. He regularly presents fundraising workshops at ministry conferences and has written fundraising articles for At the Center magazine and Christian Leadership Alliance’s Outcomes magazine.

Major Donors, Strategic Planning

Big Vision = Big Dollars

Is your ministry vision big enough to capture your donors’ attention? Major donors look for organizations that can make an eternal impact. They desire to fund ministries that are not content with the status quo but those that have a compelling plan to meet a significant need. Why should a major donor consider giving to your ministry? Your answer begins with an agile and comprehensive strategic plan.

Strategic planning is a very broad and often confusing topic. All non-profit organizations need a plan, but less than half have one – or a current one at least. The life cycle of a strategic plan is five years maximum and should be reviewed every three years. Consider these three questions:

1. What is a strategic plan?
2. Why does your organization need a strategic plan? 
3. How can you best leverage this plan for maximum fundraising results?

WHAT IS A STRATEGIC PLAN? Here is a definition: “A strategic plan results from an intensive process in which highly invested stakeholders reach consensus about the future direction of the organization over the next 3-5 years.” A strategic plan usually involves:
Reviewing the organization’s purpose (mission), vision, and core values.
Examining who you serve and/or should be serving in the future.
Analyzing your organizational strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT).
Understanding your “competitive advantage,” what you do better than anyone else.
Establishing a limited number of “strategic goals” or objectives for the next 3-5 years.

Strategic planning is related to, but different than annual and long-range planning. While both are important, they should be driven by your strategic plan.

Annual planning generally happens in conjunction with your fiscal year and focuses on annual needs and operations. It may include items like budgets, projected personnel costs, staff assignments, facility maintenance, programming, and estimated costs of doing business.

Long-range planning generally happens every two to three years and focuses on what new programs you will add and what facility upgrades you need to make to accommodate these programs. It may also involve changes in staffing levels, service statistics, replacement of major equipment, and leadership succession plans.

WHY DOES YOUR NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION NEED A STRATEGIC PLAN? A strategic plan accomplishes five critical goals.

1. It shows you are serious about your organization’s mission and that it is worth continuing.
2. It builds strong ownership and “buy-in” from stakeholders.
3. It helps you stay focused on what is most important—”doing the right things, the right way.”
4. It prioritizes your funding needs and
5. It provides incentive for donors to support you.

Donors give to your ministry for three reasons:

1. They believe in your mission (why and what you do).
2. They appreciate your vision for the future (as opposed to status quo).
3. They trust your leadership (this comes from relationships).

All three reasons are connected to your strategic plan. 1) Why you are in business, 2) what you want to accomplish, and 3) as a leader, will you do what you say you’re going to do.

People give to vision. A strategic plan helps you frame and present your vision.
Strategic vision provides long-term direction for your organization. What is your BHAG? (big, hairy, audacious goal, or better yet, big, holy, audacious goal). Your vision statement needs to be far reaching, but attainable. Here are two vision statements that may have sounded crazy at the time:

“We will put a man on the moon before the end of the decade and bring him back.” (President John F. Kennedy)

“A computer on every desk and in every home using great software as an empowering tool.” (Microsoft)

HOW CAN YOU MAXIMIZE YOUR STRATEGIC PLAN TO ENHANCE YOUR FUNDRAISING PLAN? Here are some tips to consider:

Make sure your plan is current; if more than five years old, refresh it, or better yet, start over.
Encourage your board to review and update your plan annually.
Post a short version of your plans on your website to engage your entire constituency.
Tie your annual fundraising goals/needs to your strategic plan initiatives.
Take a copy with you to every donor cultivation meeting.
Personalize the ask; if an initiative or goal in your strategic plan aligns with the donor’s interest area or “hits a hot button,” emphasize how their gift will accomplish that key strategic planning goal.
Highlight your annual progress. Use a checklist or colorful graphic. Show what you have accomplished!
Include your strategic plan, along with an update on progress, with every corporate or foundation proposal you submit. Smart foundations will request it.
Rethink your strategic plan every five years. It gets stale setting on the shelf.

A good, current, and compelling strategic plan will greatly enhance your fundraising efforts. Please contact us at The Timothy Group if you need help creating big vision that will attract big dollars!

Author: Kent Vanderwood, Vice President

Fundraising Verse of the Week, Strategic Planning

4 Helpful Strategic Planning Questions

“When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)” Numbers 13:17-20

Moses sent twelve spies into the Promised Land to discover all the blessings God had in store for the Children of Israel. This wasn’t a recreational trip but a reconnaissance mission. Moses had many questions and needed answers, “Bring back some fruit of the land.” Moses wanted to prepare his people for what was ahead. As you envision your preferred future for your ministry, ask your key stakeholders these four questions.

What is right that we should amplify? Focus on what your ministry does well. Identify your unique characteristics. W. Edwards Deming championed the concept of continual improvement which simply means, “getting better all the time.” What changes could you make to your most effective programs to produce even greater results?

What is broken that we should fix? It takes courage to identify and change things that aren’t working. Sometimes, the best move is to eliminate a program, but those are painful conversations. If the program is worth salvaging, don’t take a band aid approach. Invest the personnel and dollars to completely turn it around.

What is missing that we should add? Sometimes we jump to what’s new and shiny. Instead of doing many things in a mediocre way, concentrate on doing a few things exceptionally. Test your assumptions with some key donors to make sure they believe your new idea has merit.

What is confusing that we should clarify? Communication is the greatest challenge for every organization. Apply the preacher rule, “A mist in the pulpit becomes a fog in the pew.” Clearly articulate your vison. Donors won’t give generously to a strategic plan they don’t understand.

The twelve spies believed the land was “flowing with milk and honey,” yet ten let fear stand in their way. This is a great strategic planning lesson. You can see all the evidence pointing to a God-inspired vision for your ministry, but if you lack faith you won’t move forward.

Response: Lord, I praise you for your perfect plan. Help me ask the right questions to discover your plan and take the right steps of faith.

Think about this: Many organizations put great effort into developing a strategic plan, only to have it gather dust on a shelf. General George S. Patton said, “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.”

Have a Spirit-led fundraising week,

Ron


Ron Haas has served the Lord as a pastor, the vice president of advancement of a Bible college, a Christian foundation director, a board member and a fundraising consultant. He’s authored two books: Ask for a Fish – Bold Faith-Based Fundraising and Simply Share – Bold, Grace-Based Giving. He regularly presents fundraising workshops at ministry conferences and has written fundraising articles for At the Center magazine and Christian Leadership Alliance’s Outcomes magazine.

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