Raising money through strategic planning

November 11, 2011

Filed under: Fundraising,Strategic Planning — Tags: , — jonathanpoisner @ 11:12 am

Strategic planning can require significant resources — both time and money.

Fortunately, going through the process can also be a means of raising additional resources.

In my mind, there are three key tactics you should think about using to raise money from your strategic planning process.

The most obvious, and the one most people think about, is using the finished plan to sell donors on funding whatever is “new” in the plan.   Usually this involves creating a short 1-2 page summary of the plan and using it with selected major donors and foundations.   If, for example, the plan calls for hiring a full-time communications director and upgrading a website, those items could be pulled into a mini-budget and presented to funders as a reason to step up their level of giving.

But there are two other tactical steps organizations should also consider to turn a planning process into a revenue generator.

For starters, you should look for funders who will underwrite the planning process itself.   Many foundations fund capacity building either in general or for those organizations with which they have a long-term funding relationship.   Occasionally, an individual major donor (perhaps a board member) who values planning will step up with an extra donation to cover a significant portion of the planning process costs.  Start thinking about this the year prior to a planning process, so you have ample time to make the case to funders.

Second, you should think about using the process to cultivate your relationship with your supporters.  Many strategic planning processes involve some sort of interview process for stakeholders and you should think consciously about whether some major donors should be added into the process as a means of cultivating their support for the organization.   This may slightly increease the cost of your process (more interviews), but with a big potential pay-off afterwards.

Cultivation shouldn’t stop with major donors.  If your organization has a membership or base constituency that it can reach via email, do an online member survey.  Ask some questions to ascertain what your supporters want you to prioritize, while lao learning things about them that could be useful for future fundraising.   Beyond what you learn, just the process of asking for their input will help cement their support for your organization’s work.

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