Learned and Learning – COVID-19 Lesson #2

Lesson #2

Innovative thinking and a fund development plan will keep you from being caught flat-footed.

More than likely, your nonprofit board had to throw its original 2020 strategic plan out the window and start over from scratch. Programmatic goals that seemed achievable in January already appeared improbable by April due to a myriad of factors -- insufficient funding topping the list. If ever there was a case for having a fund development plan, this was it.

First, for those unfamiliar with the term, a fund development plan is designed to support an organization’s strategic plan. Where a strategic plan puts forward WHAT the organization hopes to accomplish in a given time period, the fund development plan is a blueprint for HOW those goals will be accomplished. Either drawn up simultaneously with the strategic plan or immediately following, a fund development plan specifies what in-kind and financial resources will be needed to meet the strategic goals, and how they will be acquired. A good fund development plan includes periodic benchmarks to check if the agency is on track to meet its year-end fundraising goals. A great development plan has backup fundraising strategies at each benchmark in case the agency misses a mark.

While this sounds like common sense, it is not common practice among nonprofits. It’s true that every nonprofit board member should expect to participate in at least one strategic planning board retreat during their tenure. Too often, however, the case is as follows: after being closeted for a day or weekend of high-level visioning led by an impartial, outside facilitator, board members shake hands and walk away feeling that their job is done. It is then left up to the Executive Director and/or Development Director to determine how to implement the plan. A calendar of fundraisers is devised, with goals assigned to each, and when one falls short everyone resolves to make up the difference by working harder on the next planned activity. And if a pandemic strikes, forcing the nonprofit to cancel that next activity, everything screeches to a halt because the assumptions upon which the plan was originally created no longer hold true.

What if, instead… after setting strategic goals, the agency’s board and leadership created a timeline for when resources would be needed, and how they would be raised? This is the first step in determining whether the goals set forth in the strategic plan are reasonable. The next step is assigning fundraising roles and setting periodic benchmarks. Last of all, plan a separate backup fundraising activity for each benchmark, in case the interim financial goal is not met. Making these early adjustments is the best way to ensure that the agency reaches its intended year-end goals. And have fun with it! While your backup fundraiser might be an extra mailing, a socially distant Happy Hour at someone’s home, or a GoFundMe campaign, use this as an opportunity for board members, staff, volunteers — perhaps even clients — to roll up their sleeves and get creative. Here’s a chance to experiment on a small scale with an idea that, if it works, could become your next signature event! Let imaginations soar. After all, who would have guessed that a Rubber Duck Race (an idea “hatched” over 30 years ago and still widely used today) or the flash-in-the-pan Ice Bucket Challenge would be so successful?

Truth is, it’s unlikely that anyone would have anticipated the current pandemic and how it would put the brakes on 2020’s nonprofit fundraising cycle. One thing we’ve learned for certain, is that virtual events will be a staple in our planning toolbox from now on; and it’s likely that even in-person events in the future will include a virtual component. But imagine this: How much easier would it have been if, when we began to shelter-in-place, we already had a fund development plan with backup fundraisers that were ready to launch?

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Linked below is an article, written in partnership with Jennifer Pelton, CFRE, outlining a methodology for how to construct a fund development plan from scratch and evaluate its effectiveness.