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Friday 27 December 2019
At this time of year, many fundraisers have just finished up their fiscal year and all of the late nights, early coffee meetings and the overwhelming number of follow-up calls that go with it. It’s important to take a moment to celebrate all the work that’s been done, all of the connections made, and ideas picked up for next year.
This transition in the year is an excellent time to reflect on the lessons learned in the 12 months before - like what appeals and messaging worked better than others. With these in mind, they can brainstorm new plans of action for an even more successful next year.
Here are five ideas to consider to start the fiscal year off right. They have a special focus on maximizing time and resources to keep the momentum moving into the months ahead to generate more contributed revenue.
The start of the fiscal year is an ideal time to dig into patron data for new insights that can inform the new year. Make sure to set aside time to pull reports on the previous year’s most successful campaigns. Find out the most attended events (fundraising and artistic alike) and the percentage of targets reached.
With data from the past year in hand, fundraisers can map out what went well and brainstorm what could be improved. By consulting the data, organizations can avoid repeating strategies based on anecdotal feedback alone, and position themselves to maximize their ROI from the coming year’s campaigns.
Even at this early point in the year, fundraisers will likely have targets set. But reaching those targets requires setting smaller interim goals, and this time of year is the ideal time to make those.
Fundraisers should review each channel they are responsible for (e.g. donors under $5,000) and how much earned revenue they raised last year through each of those channels. They should then look at the revenue they earned as a percentage of total earned revenue for the year. Knowing the percentage of overall funds they raised can help them set milestones for how much revenue they need to bring in to meet the next year’s goals. Reporting will be crucial for this too.
After pinpointing the most important channels to focus on, the fundraising team will be able to focus their time in the new year and brainstorm strategies to maximize fundraising revenue. Having clear and attainable goals along the way to annual targets can help everyone track their progress, forecast income and celebrate even the smaller successes.
Though not the most glamorous task, database cleanup is crucial this time of year (and fundraisers who do it will thank themselves later). Take the time to ensure structure and organization by:
Fundraisers can consolidate their priorities into a timeline to get a bird’s-eye view of the year ahead. Organize and target prospects, grant and campaign opportunities in the timeline to get a better idea of how to allocate staff schedules and resources. Proactively set dates throughout the year to evaluate the progress of each campaign. Add in reminders leading up to major appeals to ensure all mailings are polished and ready. This will not only help the team plan out campaign schedules and events, but also anticipate especially busy periods.
With all of their efforts mapped out in one place, fundraisers can use timelines to track their progress toward departmental goals and know when to change tactics to meet them.
As fiscal year planning kicks in, it’s important for fundraisers to focus not just on what has worked for their organization, but on wider trends in the field. Turn to industry research to see how other organizations successfully drove up fundraising revenue. Use reports and studies — like this one about donors’ online giving habits — to update tried-and-true strategies to reflect patrons’ current behavior.
No matter how fleeting the calm at the start of the fiscal year might be, these ideas will help fundraisers set the rest of their year up for success. By analyzing their past wins, learning from losses and organizing their resources, fundraisers can position themselves to measure success and generate revenue from their future campaigns.
Samantha Bagwell is Global Fundraising Lead at Spektrix
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