Fundraising Planning - A Vital Key to Nonprofit Success

 by: Ken Goldstein

As a professional grant writer and consultant, I am often amazed at how few nonprofit organizations actually have a fund development plan beyond a vague idea of applying for a few grants and sending out an annual appeal letter.

Recognizing that lack of planning, I am not amazed at how often these same organizations have rounds of emergency budget cuts when they realize that they have no assured streams of income.

Very typical is the agency that has received a large grant to run their programs for one year. Then, in the tenth month of the grant period, comes the realization that they have no idea how they will fund the next year's programs. With less than two months of money left in the bank they go into emergency fundraising mode.

Their first impulse is to start applying for another large grant. But at most foundations, the process - from letter of inquiry to proposal to acceptance - typically takes at least three months, and often six to eight months.

Their next idea is to turn to their individual donors with a panicked letter that essentially says, "Send us money now or we might go out of business." That, of course, is the least effective fundraising letter you can write. Donors want to invest in your successes, not bail out your failures.

So, how do they avoid these situations? The answer is to plan.

Through the planning process, you will achieve the following:

* Limit crisis fundraising: This, as the example above illustrates, is our primary reason for creating a fund development plan, but there are others as well...

* Diversity builds in flexibility: Changes in other sectors of the economy can have a major impact on nonprofit funding. A cut in the state budget can be passed down as fewer contracts for local service organizations. The dot-com bust of a few years back cut foundation endowments, reducing the funds they had available to grant. Agencies that had become comfortable relying on one or two sources of funding found themselves struggling to survive these changes. Those with plans and diversified funding bases had the flexibility to adapt and survive.

* Planning for diversity brings in more opportunities: Through the planning process you come to identify funding opportunities you never knew existed. Further, when you stop having to scramble to pay next month's bills, you will be able to devote more time to developing new sources of income for your agency.   (continued...)

Fundraising Planning - A Vital Key to Nonprofit Success
  Page 2

About The Author

Ken Goldstein is a grant writer and consultant working and living in Silicon Valley. Since 1989 he has been an executive director, a board member, volunteer, and consultant to nonprofits. His education includes a BA in Politics from UC Santa Cruz and a Master of Public Policy and Administration from CSU Sacramento. Goldstein Consulting can be found at http://www.goldsteinconsulting.com. Ken is also the author of "Introduction to Fund Development Planning" - Please see http://www.fundraisingplanbook.com for more information.

(c) 2006 by Ken Goldstein, all rights reserved. You may re-print or re-post this article only complete and un-edited, and including the author information, active web links, and copyright notice.




Additional Government Grants Resources


Student Loans Available Directly from the Federal Government
There are different variations of a Federal Direct Student Loan available; these are dependent on whether or not the student is eligible for government assistance. Need based programs include the Stafford Loan and the Direct Subsidized Loan; while non-need based programs are the Direct PLUS program, and the Direct Unsubsidized Loan.


Common Bean Productivity Research for Global Food Security Competitive Grants Program
In keeping with this mission, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture has recently established the Common Bean Productivity Research for Global Food Security Competitive Grants Program in an attempt to develop approaches and methods that can efficiently address the various challenges facing common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) production among small holder producers in food insecure countries.


Government Grants Within the United States Disaster Prevention and Relief Sector
According to the Disaster Survival Resources website, there has been about 640 disastrous events (floods, tsunamis, typhoons, earthquakes, cyclones, etc.) that have occurred in the United States since 1980 to 2010. Cumulatively, these catastrophic instances have killed 12, 366 people.


Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Training and Technical Assistance Program
The Office of Justice Programs has recently established the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Training and Technical Assistance Program (JMHCP), wherein it seeks to increase public safety by encouraging collaboration between criminal justice, juvenile justice, and mental health and substance abuse treatment systems.


Department of Housing and Urban Development: Energy Innovation Funds for Multifamily Pilot Program
The Department of Housing and Urban Development, has recently announced a funding opportunity entitled Energy Innovation Fund: Multifamily Pilot Program.

Energy Innovation Fund is directed towards the discovery of innovations in terms of the residential energy efficiency sector and to help in the development of a standardized home energy efficient retrofit market.



Lifespan Respite Care Program - Technical Assistance Resource Center
In keeping with this mission, the Administration on Aging has recently announced the constitution of the Lifespan Respite Care Program - Technical Assistance Resource Center wherein it aims to invite applications for a competitive grant opportunity for implementing the requirements of the Technical Assistance Resource Center (TARC) as authorized in the Lifespan Respite Care Act of 2006.


Agriculture Loans From GovLoans
Are you a farmer or a rancher who is tired of scouring the world wide web for benefits and loans from the United States Government only to find yourself annoyed and frustrated due to the rather complex and confusing process of looking through hundreds of pages from numerous websites?





In the world of social enterprises, failure is a cringe-worthy moment nobody wants to talk about. But, social entrepreneurs can benefit from their failures.






More Federal Domestic Assistance Programs


Cooperative Agreements with States for Intrastate Meat and Poultry Inspection | Paralysis Resource Center | ARRA Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students | Promotion of the Arts_Grants to Organizations and Individuals | Yukon River Salmon Research and Management Assistance |  Site Style by YAML | Grants.gov | Grants | Grants News | Sitemap | Privacy Policy


Edited by: Michael Saunders

© 2004-2025 Copyright Michael Saunders