JANUARY 2005: SPECIAL FEATURE

Fundraising for Refugee-Serving Agencies - Part 2

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF A FUNDRAISING PLAN

• Organizational mission and program goals must be well articulated.
• Operational and program expenses for each program should be itemized and organized as a cash flow sheet over the annual budget cycle (specific dollar amounts over each of 12 months).
• Information on current and prospective donors should include up-to-date data on past donors, i.e., institutions and individuals with a history of giving to your organization; and new prospects: institutions and individuals whose own philanthropical mission matches that of your organization or programming goals.
• Consider how to generate and cultivate relationships with new donor prospects. Cultivation techniques must target and prove appropriate for each specific audience type. Special events such as raffles, craft sales, slide or documentary presentations at community organization meetings can each provide worthwhile opportunities for reaching a new audience. Many sustaining supporters might also see the event as an opportunity to share their interest with friends, thereby widening the network of the organization’s friends as well.
• Keep in touch. Keep your organization in your donors’ minds and show them you appreciate them, through thank you notes, public acknowledgements, progress reports, program site visits, subsequent grant applications and proposals, one-on-one meetings, participation in organizational planning, etc.

You can see an example of how such basic elements of a development plan might relate to one another in Table 1, which shows information on a fictitious refugee resettlement organization. In this example, a particular organization seeks funds for a mentoring program for immigrant youth.

From Planning to Action to Planning Again

Assign specific people to each task that must be completed to fully implement the plan. Assignments should involve staff, volunteers, board members and, if necessary, consultants from outside the organization. Simone P. Joyaux, an experienced fundraising consultant, teacher, and author, advises: “...direct involvement by each staff and board member in a portion of the plan; the entire organization must claim ownership of the plan if it is to succeed.”

Don’t forget evaluation is also an important part of the development planning process. It is important to demonstrate the results your work has achieved. Results must be fed back into program planning for the next annual cycle, to build on best practices, and adjust from lessons learned. And when this feedback cycle of information runs most effectively, programs will not only function better, but fundraisers will become better at telling their stories to those who support them, and those who might do so if they were skillfully asked.

Stay tuned for future features. Next month, we focus on particular foundations with a history of giving to organizations who work in refugee and immigrant communities, including those with parenting programs as a part of their funding missions.

Related Resources

Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP, formerly NSFRE; 1996)
Fundraising Dictionary.
http://www.afpnet.org/content_documents/AFP_Dictionary_A-Z_final_6-9-03.pdf

AFP (formerly NSFRE 1999) “Module B: Planning for successful fundraising.” First Course on Fundraising: Participant Manual. Alexandria, VA.: AFP (NSFRE).

Joyaux, Simone P. (2004) “Audioconference highlights: creating a development plan that produces ownership and results – January 2003.” AFP website http://www.afpnet.org/tier3_cd.cfm?content_item_id=10468&folder_id=2527

Seltzer, Michael (2001) Securing Your Organization's Future: A Complete Guide of Funding Strategies. New York: The Foundation Center. Chapter 22. http://fdncenter.org/getstarted/onlinebooks/seltzer/text.html (government funding, foundations, business and corporations, religious institutions).

Temkin, Terrie in Carol Weisman, ed. (2000) “Mama said, never put all your eggs in one basket: boards, strategic thinking and the need for diversified revenue.” Secrets of Successful Fundraising: The Best from the Non-Profit Pros. St. Louis, Missouri: F.E. Robbins & Sons Press.

This featured search provides additional resources about fundraising.

Read more in the third part of BRYCS special feature on fundraising. The complete BRYCS series on fundraising is also available as a PDF.