Fundraising Services
Fundraising Strategy Development
Sustainable fundraising is easier when you have laid the practical foundations, understand which actions are most likely to pay off, and have clear steps to take.
Done right, fundraising is 95% planning and 5% asking, and everything starts with a good strategy. Under Sarah’s direction, we have created over 250 multi-year/long-term fundraising strategies for New Zealand charity Boards based on actions and insights into what actually works.
Our fundraising strategies are designed to strengthen your organisational capability. They focus on your priorities and goals, and consider your existing capacity, connections and advantages (especially the ones you may not see). We outline opportunities across different fundraising streams; the groundwork required to best utilise each; and the resource, support systems and tools you will need to deliver on this strategy.
Whether you require a comprehensive, multi-stream strategy, or wish to focus on implementing one specific revenue stream (e.g. major giving), we can provide a clear pathway with a detailed strategy.
"The questions they asked were always the right ones – it helped us stop, think, and answer them correctly because we knew it was shaping the fundraising strategy".
REBECCA NELSON, C0-FOUNDER OF TE KIWI MĀIA
Fundraising Strategy
When fundraising for ongoing costs, it can be hard to decide where to place your limited energy and resources, or to know which fundraising stream will return the best results for your organisation. More activity does not equate to more money, security or sustainability so, where do you start?
Working alongside your Board and fundraising team, we can design a comprehensive multi-year fundraising strategy that will help you build fundraising capability and develop more sustainable revenue streams to cover your ongoing needs. With those foundations in place, you will be better equipped to find people aligned to your vision, provide opportunities for them to support you, and understand the processes and systems that will enable you to receive their support well.
What does a fundraising strategy cover?
Aligning with your organisational strategy, your fundraising strategy will focus on your fundraising priorities, needs and requirements. It will consider the opportunities available to you across different fundraising streams, and outline actionable steps and goals, providing you a clear pathway for stability and growth. This strategy will also consider the resources that will help you to deliver on your goals, and will be supported by access to helpful resources such as policies and procedures templates.
Why do I need a fundraising strategy?
To achieve your vision you need support from people who care about your purpose and, the bigger your aspirations, the more support you may need. A fundraising strategy provides you clarity about how to meet those needs. It will help you attract the people who care about your vision and mission; consider what they might want or need in return from you, so that you can build long-lasting relationships; articulate what your organisational needs might look like over time; and outline realistic and practical steps to move forwards.
The process of creating this strategy will also enable you to review your organisational capability and readiness, asking questions such as how clear you are about how your organisation makes decisions, uses donations, or reports back to donors, or how will you build and maintain donor relationships over time.
Major Gifts Fundraising Strategy
It is possible that you have existing or potential donors who could support you in more substantially; a major gifts strategy outlines the steps your charity can take to make that giving easier.
This strategy will ensure that you are well prepared to implement your own major gifts programme, with clear steps to take for growth and development. We can also build and implement a major giving programme for you.
What does a major gift strategy cover?
A major gifts strategy will help you identify, attract and retain major gift donors. These are people who have established a connection with your charity and have committed (or would be likely to support) to your long-term vision and want to support you financially in a significant way. Identifying who to approach is just one small part of your major gift strategy; you need to establish their likelihood of donating; consider who should approach them, when, and what messaging or approach will work to engage different donors. That is where our extensive experience comes in.
Why do I need a major gift strategy?
Your care for your donors needs to match the significance of their donations and the impact these can make. Because major donors (often referred to as High-Net-Worth Individuals – HNWI) are investing often substantial amounts, they are typically drawn to the most impactful aspects of your charitable purpose. For this reason, your standard messaging may need nuancing. Their relationship with you will also require more consideration and care, including planned acknowledgement and ongoing stewardship.
Bequest Strategy
Bequests, also known as legacies or gifts in wills, are gifts given when a supporter includes your organisation in their will, whether by gifting a specific sum of money, an asset, or a percentage of their estate.
For those who are deeply connected to your mission, and who understand that this may be long-term or even multi-generational, bequests offer a meaningful and realistic way to genuinely make a difference. Some of the largest gifts charities ever receive are through bequests, because the giver can donate their assets to causes they care about without experiencing a direct financial impact. This makes the creation of a bequest strategy an essential part of your long-term fundraising mix, especially given the Great Wealth Transfer that is taking place.
Bequest fundraising requires careful consideration as it involves legal, financial and ethical considerations. This strategy will ensure that you are well prepared to implement your own bequest programme, with clear steps to take for growth and development. We can also build and implement a bequest giving programme for you.
What does a bequest strategy cover?
A bequest strategy will identify the elements required to activate this stream. Whether you want to start simply and passively (e.g. through a page on your website) or proactively (by identifying and seeking bequest gifts) you must still understand the different types of bequest gift; have identified how you can use a bequest while honouring your donor’s wishes; and undertaken certain decisions at Board level (e.g. whether/how you can use gifts of property; will bequest gifts be spent or invested). You will then require polices and processes to cover these decisions.
Your strategy will outline the above, and more, and consider messaging; potential naming of your programme; identification of potential bequest givers; cultivation and stewardship considerations; and acknowledgements.
Why do I need a bequest strategy?
Given the long-term and sensitive nature of this revenue stream, and its potential financial significance, you risk missing opportunities or being unprepared when they arrive if you have not planned for it. Bequest fundraising takes time to show results; it is important to introduce the concept of bequest support even if your overall fundraising is still in early stages. A strategy can outline actions based on your current resource level, identify barriers to securing bequests (e.g. a lack of clarity about how these gifts would further your purpose), and help you plan for opportunities that occur, or which you can encourage.
Capital Campaign Fundraising Strategy
Sarah’s first major project as a consultant (then Barrer & Co) was a capital campaign fundraising strategy (and implementing it) for Cholmondeley Children’s Home in 2012. The detailed and staged strategy she used to achieve a multi-million-dollar target in just 18 months has formed the base of over 40 capital strategies since, 15 of which have been successfully implemented.
Led by Sarah, our experienced consultants can design a comprehensive capital campaign fundraising strategy that will become an essential resource for your capital campaign. Guided by this strategy, your organisation can implement clear and considered actions and activate the relevant fundraising streams to move you towards your goals with confidence.
What is a capital campaign?
Capital fundraising campaigns are designed specifically to raise large amounts of money for a major asset build or purchase; this may include new, remodelled or restored buildings, or significant equipment purchases essential to the delivery of your charity’s purpose.
Capital fundraising campaigns are typically one-off or staged projects and are not part of ongoing or everyday operational costs. Although they often have fixed timelines, capital fundraising campaigns may span several years; their duration can affect the approach you take.
What does a capital campaign fundraising strategy cover?
Capital campaigns require a specific and nuanced approach which covers three stages: Set-Up, Active and Tidy-Up. Different stages draw on different resources and fundraising streams; timing and messaging are crucial to maximise opportunities and momentum, and not make approaches too early or too late.
If your organisation is ready to raise significant donations for capital projects, we can help you with a proven approach to successful capital fundraising. Our capital campaign fundraising strategies encompass all three campaign stages, and outline resources required, what actions to take and when, who to involve and how to proceed at each stage.
How long do they last?
Although they often have fixed timelines, capital campaigns may span several years; their duration can affect the approach you take. The exact length will depend on several factors, including the quality and readiness of your current supporter pool; the amount you need to raise; and the logistics of the capital project itself. We can help you establish a realistic and workable time frame that ensures momentum, without exhausting your supporters’ giving ability, or good will.
Why do I need a capital campaign fundraising strategy?
Just as an architect designs a building, you should design the way in which you will fund its creation (or the purchase of other assets). A considered capital campaign fundraising strategy will identify all the resources and assets available to you, the availability of each stream of the fundraising mix which you can activate (and when, and for how much support), and the strength and breadth of support for your project. It will cover your communications and build a timeline and milestones. With all of this in place, and clear actions to take, your organisation will be well placed to advance its capital fundraising goals.
Read how St Bede’s raised $800,000 in eight months to rebuild their Chapel.
"They’re very professional, very astute and extremely good to work with. We raised over $800,000 in four months. We would have raised merely a fraction of that money without them ... And it went beyond the money raised because St Bede’s learnt so much in the process and has the benefit of that knowledge and experience".
HAYDEN RYAN, CHAIR OF ST BEDE'S OLD BOYS' FOUNDATION