Gail Perry-The Secret to a Smart Annual Fundraising Plan

By Gail Perry

It's the slow time of mid-summer, and lots of smart fundraisers are taking advantage of some well-deserved breathing room.

Many fundraisers are taking time right now to look ahead at the coming busy year. They are crafting their annual fundraising plans. We all know that a little planning now helps you stay sane later when things get really busy.

But here's the big mistake so many smart fundraisers make when they create their fundraising plans: They put everything that they want to do in the plan and load up that plan with additional fundraising strategies that they think they should be doing — even pie-in-the-sky strategies. (Yup, we all have a list of those!) Even if they are clearly unrealistic. Even if there is no way the strategies can actually be implemented.

Why do smart fundraisers keep this up? Because they are so full of energy that they're wiling to tackle more than is humanly possible. They overcommit themselves.

So please, my fundraising friend. Don't be too overly optimistic about your time availability when you set plans for the upcoming year. Be careful. Be strategic!

Here's the secret
When you put your plan together, make clear-eyed choices about what you will do and what you won't do. Be realistic about what is really possible — for you and your staff.

If you are completely realistic, then you set priorities among all the interesting fundraising strategies available to you.

When you make smart choices and set thoughtful priorities about where you are going to spend your time and resources, then you have a solid, workable fundraising plan.

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Gail Perry Author's page Gail believes in parties first, rabble-rousing second, and having fun while changing the world. Gail Perry CFRE is an international fundraising coach, speaker, trainer and thought-leader. She is a leader in a new breed of fundraisers who are on the cutting edge of fundraising today. Her Fired-Up Fundraising approach, developed over the past 25 years as a nonprofit philanthropy expert, has helped organizations raise hundreds of millions in gifts. Gail's practical and refreshing approach to raising money in today's world is based on the very latest innovative fundraising strategies. An inspirational and popular speaker, she leads energizing fundraising workshops and board retreats around the globe. She particularly enjoys working with nonprofit board members, introducing them to a new perspective on fundraising and ways they can be successful at it. Gail's book, Fired-Up Fundraising, has been called the "gold standard guide to building successful fundraising boards." Gail got her start in fundraising at Duke University, and then went on to lead fundraising at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. You can read Gail's weekly blogs at FiredUpFundraising.com, and also find her provocative articles at FundraisingSuccess, Guidestar, and Capital Campaign Magic.