The following fund raising basics provide the foundation for annual fund
growth.
A
Appeals: Your organization’s case for support
provides a foundation for the entire development program. Re-examine your case at the beginning of
your fiscal year. Ask yourself: Does
your case need to be refreshed? Is it still compelling? Have external changes in the environment
affected your organization? Be prepared
to make changes, but do not throw out what works! Consider testing your appeal on a small focus group. You may need to develop several tailored
cases for each of your funding constituencies.
Don’t forget to include the full breadth of what you offer –
testimonials on why people are supporting your organization; what solutions the
organization provides; how you are unique; your impact, results and cost effectiveness;
as well as past successes and anticipated results.
Include stories in your case; make it personal, punchy, and
memorable. Be brief!
B
Board: Get Your Board on Board First! Kick off the year with a Board retreat or dedicated meeting to
review the past year’s accomplishments and lay out the upcoming year’s
goals. Take this opportunity to discuss
Board roles, committee responsibilities and each member’s
responsibilities and contributions.
Discuss the year’s budget and assumptions upon which the budget is
built. The Board President, Executive
Director or Director of Development should schedule individual meetings with
each board member at least once a year to discuss their role and contribution.
C
Core Prospects and Donors: Start
the year with an assessment of your base of supporters. Do you have enough prospects and donors to
support your financial goals? How much
do you know about your prospects and donors?
Where are your shortfalls and what must be done to keep on target? A primary activity of every year is to
increase your number of supporters and to keep building your prospect list.
Other helpful tips to manage your donors
and major gifts:
· Create an
annual fund gift table to help you reach your goals.
· Start with
your largest donors first and involve your donors and volunteers in soliciting
others.
· When you
can, make a visit in person to larger donors.
One visit is worth a thousand letters!
S
Strong Management & Evaluation:
Develop systems to monitor and report
progress including:
· Monthly and
quarterly income and expense reports.
· Donor
performance: number of additions, attritions, and upgrades.
· Compare
current reports to last year’s performance.
Welcome!
The McConnell Consulting Group welcomes two new clients: Help
the Afghan Children (Vienna, VA and Kabul, Afghanistan) which is
embarking on a Planning Study to assess support for their effort to build
thirteen schools in Afghanistan, and The Patricia M. Sitar Center for the
Arts (Washington, DC) which is embarking on a campaign to renovate a
new arts space for the children they serve in Adams Morgan.
Seminar Series Offered
MCG plans to continue its successful seminar series
initiated this year through 2003.
Recent programs included Considerations in Undertaking a Capital
Campaign and Building Your Annual Fund. Watch the mail for notices on programs next year, including Fund
Development Data Bases, Building a Fundraising Board, and Developing
a Fundraising Plan. Call Rebecca
Hayes at 202.223.0207 for more information.
McConnell Consulting Group News! Congratulations to…
§
Noris Weiss Malvey,
new Director of Development for the Economic Policy Institute, Washington, DC.
- The
Family Tree, Baltimore, MD on its $500,000 challenge gift from
The Harry & Jeannette Weinberg Foundation.
- Patricia
M. Sitar Center for the Arts on its Impact Award from the Lehrman
Family Foundation and nomination for the Mayor’s Arts Award for
“Outstanding Contribution to Arts Education.”
Best wishes for a happy and successful holiday season from
The McConnell Consulting Group.
The McConnell Consulting Group
2120 L St NW Suite 200
Washington, DC 20037