“Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world.”– Joel A. Barker
“Why do I need a three-year fundraising strategy?”
There are so many answers to this question, but we think this quote from Joel A. Barker, the first person to popularise the concept of paradigm shifts in the corporate world, and a leader in strategic thinking and planning for the future, is a great place to start.
Many, if not all charities, are visionary – you exist to enact real change in our world, having been set up to cure disease, end poverty or create equitable communities or similar. Unfortunately, these changes cannot happen overnight, and as Barker suggests, vision without action is merely a dream, or is action that simply occurs whilst other change is made, with no great impact itself.
The same theory applies to fundraising. To achieve your vision, you need the financial resources to put your action plan into place. Achieving ambitious fundraising targets is another goal that won’t happen overnight. For many organisations, the first year of a strategy would include a considerable amount of resource set up. Furthermore, creating a healthy and trusted profile, growing a community of supporters, and building long-term relationships with all donors should not be rushed. Fundraising is 95% planning, and 5% asking – it’s an ongoing process that requires solid foundations and diligent work.
We are not in the business of sales. While there might be some “quick-wins” and “low-hanging fruit”, it is essential that a future focused and sustainable lens is put onto fundraising, with higher value fundraising streams taking months to set up considered and planned programmes, plus well over a year to show growth. For major gifts, this can often take up to 18 months to convert into a realised gift, and for bequests this is substantially longer.
The risk of a one-year or shorter fundraising strategy is that an emphasis is put on the streams that have a good short-term return on investment, especially when internal fundraising reporting focuses on revenue generation. By taking the time to think about the next three-years, considering what long-term success and long-term return on investment could be, this allows your organisation to focus on building your fundraising foundations in a space where this non-financially related growth will occur in the early stages and will be celebrated (but will reap bigger financial rewards later in the strategy time-frame). Ensuring that all stakeholders involved understand this approach is essential.
The strength of your asks will be determined by the strength of your systems and processes, communications, cultivation and stewardship, and team cohesion to name a few.
A three-year strategy should celebrate what you’re doing well, appropriately resource the areas that are most likely to bring financial success over the short and long term, stabilise your activity and then increase your fundraising income and overall organisational impact, allowing you to move forward with confidence and a good understanding of the foundational principles involved.
At The Fundraising Agency, our approach to strategy development is through innovation, embracing long-range vision with a passion for transformation. If you are interested to learn more about the value a three-year fundraising strategy could add to your organisation, and how we at TFA could develop a strategy with your organisation, get in touch!
