Budgeting For Fundraising Growth: Where to Start

Creating a budget for how much a charitable organization needs to spend to increase contributions usually starts with an assessment of the existing fundraising operation, an exercise known as a development audit.

Consultants from OAI, a fundraising consulting firm, and other companies that perform such assessments look at the following four aspects of an organization’s fundraising, basing their assessment and recommendations on both current status and the potential for improvements.

Case for support. An organization must present a compelling reason why it is raising money and why prospective donors should not only support the organization, but increase their gifts over time.

Leadership. Executives ultimately determine how successful any fundraising operation is in substantially increasing donations. Leaders play a vital role in bringing in new supporters by making introductions and tapping into their professional and personal networks. If leaders decide that fundraising is not their responsibility and foist it onto development staff, organizations will never reach their full fundraising potential.

Potential donors. To boost contributions by large amounts, organizations must identify people with interest in the cause who also have the resources to give generously. While current supporters are the best prospective donors, organizations must also make finding new donors a priority.

Fundraising systems. Nonprofit organizations need adequate back-office resources to increase fundraising returns by identifying and monitoring potential new donors while keeping existing supporters engaged. These resources include high-quality development staff and working software and hardware. Also important: methods for setting fundraising goals and measuring progress toward them.