fundraising business plan template free

Home » The DoJiggy Fundraising Blog » Write a Successful Fundraising Plan [Free Templates]

Write a Successful Fundraising Plan [Free Templates]

It’s not always easy to know where to start with fundraising. Although it may seem like a complicated process, it doesn’t have to be if you create a solid fundraising plan before you begin. With the proper guidance and tools, you’ll find it easier than you think.

This blog will guide you through the process of developing an annual fundraising plan so that your organization can maximize funds and impact for your cause. We’ve even thrown in a few example fundraising plan templates.

What We’ll Cover

What is an annual fundraising plan, why does your organization need a fundraising action plan, create an effective fundraising plan in 6 simple steps, fundraising back-up plans are a must, free nonprofit fundraising plan templates.

Annual fundraising action plans provide a detailed layout of a nonprofit’s future fundraising projects, goals, and activities for the year and how to achieve them.

Here’s what to include in your annual fundraising plan:

• Specific fundraising goals
• Clear timelines
• Details of fundraising events and campaigns
• Long and short-term strategies to accomplish your nonprofit’s goals
• Available resources to meet those objectives

Many nonprofits, particularly smaller charities and groups, operate without a fundraising plan. When someone has an idea for a campaign, these organizations put together a host committee and start planning without firm goals and objectives. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what needs to be done next or if goals are reached in a case like this.

This is where your fundraising plan comes in handy. With clearly defined goals and appointed roles, a solid fundraising plan will help to ensure that your nonprofit’s strategies are well organized, run smoothly, and as successful as possible. Also, with a strong fundraising plan, you can take the time, energy, and creativity required to find new donors and develop the right strategies to smash your nonprofit’s goals . 

Designing a successful annual fundraising plan enables your nonprofit to track and monitor its progress, which is vital for mission fulfillment . So, let’s help your organization create long-term strategies and achieve your desired results by giving you the tools to create an effective fundraising plan in 7 simple steps.

Step 1: Decide Who and When to Write the Plan

Although starting your fundraising plan can feel like a daunting task, the longer you put it off, the more likely you will regret not doing it sooner. Just think – every minute you waste thinking about starting is valuable time you could be raising money for your cause. With this in mind, the answer to when you should get planning is now!

Fundraising action plans are generally written by the Development Director or Development department. The nonprofit board of directors and the Executive Director also have an essential role to play, and their feedback and participation are critical. Your nonprofit may also wish to hire a skilled development consultant for assistance; many have experience drafting fundraising plans.

It’s essential to keep up the momentum once you have the hang of writing fundraising action plans. Preferably try to create one by the start of every year, or write a two, three, or five-year plan and revise it at the start of each year.

Step 2: Define Fundraising Goals

Establishing a clear fundraising goal will help your group to design an effective fundraising plan. From the get-go, define your goals and objectives for your yearly fundraising processes.

Ask your committee to determine the following:

• How much money do you need to raise?
• What resources do you have available?
• What do you plan to do with the money raised?
• What is your operating budget?
• What other outcomes do you want from your campaigns?

Don’t leave these things to chance. Keep your eye on the prize throughout the event planning phase to help ensure success.

Check out our free printable Fundraising Goal Planner template here .

Step 3: Analyze Past Fundraising Efforts

If you don’t know where you went wrong, how can you improve next time? This is a crucial tip when it comes to creating your fundraising plan. Refer to the previous year’s fundraising events to evaluate their successes and failures. Ask yourself:

• Did you meet your objectives? If not, why not?
• What went right? How can we build on that to make it an even bigger success?
• Did we stay within budget?
• What unexpected costs did we encounter?
• What benefits did we generate? (such as brand awareness, income, donors, and sponsors)

By asking the right questions and analyzing past fundraising efforts, you’ll be on your way to designing an effective fundraising plan that will bring success to future events.

Step 4: Identify Current Resources and Gaps

Outlining clear fundraising goals is one thing, but your nonprofit needs many resources to meet them. It’s important to determine what you have at hand and what you’ll need to obtain to achieve your goals successfully. Create a list that can be regularly updated with everything and everyone available to support your campaign.

This can include:

• How many staff members, volunteers, sponsors, board members, and vendors do you have?
• How many hours are they willing and able to contribute to fundraising efforts?
• What is the annual budget?
• Do you need to outsource anything to get the job done more effectively? How will that affect the budget?

Step 5: Map out a Timeline to Get it Done

It can be challenging to keep track of everything that’s happening within your organization. This is where creating an effective timeline comes in handy. Help your nonprofit stay organized and keep tabs on your projects and goals by:

• Setting realistic deadlines for each stage of your fundraising campaigns
• Highlighting special occasions and other key dates in your fundraising plan
• Pinpointing how much time you have to achieve each goal
• Identifying campaign milestones and tracking their progress

Don’t fail at the last hurdle by not building or sticking to a solid timeline. Make sure to always include one and if in doubt, remember that a detailed timeline forces you to think critically about your fundraising choices and offers priceless advice on your actions as the year goes on.

Check out our free printable  Annual Fundraising Planner template  here.

Step 6: Establish Yearly Strategies

Once you’ve identified your fundraising goals and available resources, you’ll need to list ways to achieve your desired results. Are you planning to raise all the money you need this year? Or is the campaign part of a longer-term project, such as a two or three-year capital campaign?

The best approach is to develop your annual strategies using donor patterns and knowledge of your donor base . There are countless strategies to meet your fundraising goals; here are some of the most popular:

• Asking for donations from individuals
• Selling custom merchandise
• Fundraising events – walk-a-thons , auctions , and raffles
• P2P Crowdfunding campaigns
• Corporate Giving – Gift Matching programs
• Grants from governments, corporations, and foundations
• Recurring giving and membership campaigns
• Board Fundraising
• Direct mail campaigns
• Social media hype with online giving options

Check out our free printable Fundraising Event Planner template here .

As you can see, the list of ways to reach your fundraising goals is incredibly varied. This is an excellent opportunity to show how diverse your nonprofit is by applying a creative mix of fundraising strategies. Use your fundraising action plan to list which tactics work well together and which don’t. Remember, fundraising through multiple income streams can boost your nonprofit’s exposure, profitability, and awareness beyond what you might think imaginable.

Having a sound fundraising action plan is great, but what do you do when the unexpected happens? Contingency planning is a vital part of your fundraising plan to ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible and keeps your donors happy. Here are a few ideas for backup plans that could end up saving your fundraising event:

● Be Ready to Go Virtual or Hybrid

If we’ve learned anything during the last couple of years, it’s how the show must go on, regardless of the circumstances. Switching your nonprofit’s fundraising event from in-person to a hybrid or virtual format is a great example. Make big savings, promote inclusivity , and boost participation numbers and outreach by offering online options.  

● How Flexible Are Your Contracts and Vendors?

If you don’t have a backup plan, unexpected cancellations could be disastrous for your fundraising budget. When organizing a fundraiser, it is critical to verify how strict your contracts are and opt for flexibility, cancellation clauses, and adaptable vendors and partners.

● Make it Simple and Convenient to Donate Online

Ideally, your annual action plan will be full of projects, fundraising campaigns, and key events. But what happens to donations if anything is postponed or canceled at the last minute? This is where online giving options can save the day! Provide online bidding for auctions, donation buttons on your fundraising pages, and online ticketing and registration for a safe and seamless experience for your donors and staff. 

Fundraising plans don’t need to be complicated. Use our free sample fundraising plans to get started.

Fundraising Goal Planner Template

Annual fundraising planner template, fundraising event planner template, fundraising plan conclusions.

A solid fundraising plan can make or break your nonprofit’s charity efforts. Remember that your plan is a living document. It’s forever adapting, evolving, and improving along the way. Make sure to add regular changes and updates when necessary to optimize the success of your fundraising campaigns. Ideally, you want to review the plan monthly to ensure you’re on track. So, take these simple steps and start writing.

Create a free account and see how we can help your organization smash your fundraising goals!

P2p crowdfunding, golf tournaments, online stores, sweepstakes, raffle fundraising, related resources.

About Sarah Bender

Originally from Surrey, UK, Sarah has worked remotely in various online fields for the last 8 years. Currently, she is focusing on writing blogs on online fundraising and special events for a UK audience. When she is not spending her days researching and writing, you can find her running around after her two highly active young sons which constitutes a serious workout program!

See other posts from Sarah Bender

• P2P Crowdfunding Websites
• Charity Raffles
• Walk-a-thon Resources
• School Fundraising

Help & Support

• Support Center
• DoJiggy.com Knowledgebase
• DoJiggy.io Knowledgebase
• Privacy Policy – DoJiggy.io
• Privacy Policy – DoJiggy.com
• Security Statement

Company Websites

• Golf Tournament Software
• Service Status
• IT & Software Outsourcing

Digital Methodology

Proven three-step approach to raising funds online.

Customer Reviews

1500+ nonprofits trust CauseVox. Read their reviews.

Expert Support

Main Street style helpful support from people that care.

We're unlike other fundraising software. Here's how it started.

Peer to Peer

Personal and team fundraising pages.

Event Ticketing

Sell free or paid tickets for in-person or virtual events.

Crowdfunding

Campaign pages for project fundraising.

Track donors and manage their giving history.

Forms and buttons for one-time and recurring giving.

Integrations

Connect CauseVox to other software.

Pledge Now, Pay Later

Take installment donations automatically.

Blog Articles

Latest fundraising tips and techniques.

Take a deep-dive into digital fundraising.

Guides & Templates

Free guides, how-to's, and templates.

Attend live or watch on-demand sessions with experts.

Case Studies

Read how other nonprofits are raising funds online.

Help Center

Support articles on how to use CauseVox.

Schedule Demo

Watch on-demand or book a live demo.

Find and post nonprofit jobs for free.

• Get Started

Why CauseVox?

Nonprofit fundraising plan: 13 must-do steps for success.

Education Writer

A nonprofit fundraising plan is a guiding document designed to help you raise the money you need to achieve your goals.

It breaks down your organization’s vision into actionable, highly-specific steps for success.

It doesn’t matter if you are running a multi-million dollar nonprofit organization or are a small start-up: the key to financial success is a well-thought-out fundraising plan. Don’t set yourself up for failure by just ‘winging’ the fundraising process.

Instead, get your team together (or go solo if it’s only you) and get to work on creating your nonprofit fundraising plan.

What Is A Nonprofit Fundraising Plan?

A nonprofit fundraising plan is a document that strategically organizes all of your fundraising activities over a certain period of time (usually one year). These strategic plans chart out campaign dates and strategies, donor-tracking and retention plans, special event details, and a targeted communication schedule.

In addition to being strategic, you want to make sure that your fundraising plan is flexible enough to accommodate changes as they arise. If your fundraising plan is rigid and formulaic, chances are, you’ll miss out on some great opportunities. The key is to have an adaptable fundraising strategy with set goals that will also allow you to respond to unexpected challenges. We know this all too well – after all, the pandemic certainly threw a wrench in even the best-laid plans.

Before we dive in on how to create your own nonprofit fundraising plan, I want to go over a couple of questions you might be asking.

What is Strategic Fundraising?

I mentioned strategic fundraising earlier but what is it exactly? Strategic fundraising refers to moving your organization’s mission forward by honing in on what you do best. It involves the buy-in of multiple stakeholders such as your staff and board members, and maps out a path forward as you raise funds. 

A strategic fundraising plan is intended to keep you on track toward your fundraising goals by using your organization’s resources as effectively and efficiently as possible while keeping aligned with your overall mission and vision.

How Does a Nonprofit Fundraising Plan Differ From Other Fundraising Plans?

A nonprofit fundraising plan organizes your fundraising activities over the course of a year. You may have other fundraising plans that detail the fundraising campaigns and activities included within your overall plan.

Download a free fundraising plan template:

Why do you need a fundraising strategy.

First and foremost, fundraising plans get everyone – staff, volunteers, board members, and potential donors – focused and on-track to hitting your goals throughout the year. With a set plan in place, you can ensure that everyone is on the same page and won’t lose sight of priorities along the way. It should give your team a clear idea of what will be expected of them as well as the anticipated results.

These documents are also essential in shifting an entire organization’s attitude about fundraising. Let’s face it, fundraising is oftentimes reactionary. Problems such as an economic downturn or changes in federal funding can arise at any time.

A better way forward is to have fundraising goals, which then dictate your fundraising efforts and fundraising strategy.

A fundraising plan should provide a clear course of action from diversified funding streams, leaving everyone with a little less stress on their plate when problems do pop up.

It all boils down to the fact that when you are in the thick of an underperforming capital campaign, you are much more likely to come out on top if you have a plan in place to tackle the issues.

Are you ready to create a great fundraising plan? There’s no time like the present to get started. Follow these 13 must-do steps to ensure your fundraising plan is ready.

How To Write A Successful Fundraising Plan

1. reflect on your past finances.

Before you start putting together a fundraising plan for the upcoming year, it’s best to look at last year’s finances. At minimum, take a note of your total revenue and expenses. What’s going to carry over to this year? Which fundraising initiatives were successful? Which ones didn’t go as planned and either need more attention or should be scrapped altogether? Should more funds be allocated towards a certain initiative over another? Will new staff be brought on?

If you maintain a donor database or other CRM , you’ll be able to access this data quickly. If that data isn’t available or you are a start-up, look at your estimated budget or check out the stats of similar organizations.By reflecting on your past finances, you’ll be better equipped to create targeted fundraising goals going forward.

2. Define Your Vision

Any successful fundraising plan will have a vision. A vision statement acts as an anchor for your organization but outlines the direction going forward.

There’s only so many hours in a day, and only so many days in a year. Being able to articulate your organization’s vision allows you to strategically set priorities rather than attempting to tackle everything all at once. It lets your staff and your donors know the direction of where your organization is going and how you’re planning to get there. Keeping your vision statement top-of-mind as you’re creating your fundraising plan leaves little room to get sidetracked along the way.

3. Consider New Trends for Your Fundraising Plan

Through the pandemic, nonprofits have demonstrated their resiliency by rolling with the punches and reimagining the way they market their fundraising. It’s no surprise that how we market and fundraise is constantly changing, especially with new technology. 

Keeping up to date with emerging fundraising trends can help you market and engage more effectively and efficiently. Here are a few new marketing trends worth considering when putting together your fundraising plan:

Influencer Marketing

Does the adage “people donate to people who they trust” sound familiar? That’s because it’s so true! With 49% of consumers depending on influencer recommendations , influencers are here to stay.

Teaming up with a celebrity or a public figure to amplify your reach isn’t a new concept but social media has created all sorts of opportunities for specific niches of influencer marketing. These days, influencers can be any popular figure or subject matter expert with a significant online following. They can be local celebrities, board members, or politicians eager to advocate for your cause. There’s also varying levels of influencers but they generally fall into one of two buckets: 

• Macro influencers – larger reach (100K+ following)
• Micro influencers – smaller reach (10K-100K following)

There’s benefits of leveraging both but it certainly depends on your budget. Macro influencers obviously have a wider reach which is helpful for growing brand awareness. On the other hand, micro influencers may have fewer followers compared to their macro counterparts but they tend to have higher engagement due to being closer with their audience.

If you’re in the beginning stages of influencer marketing, know that it’ll take time, effort, and research. However, when you find the right person to endorse your cause, they’re enhancing your credibility by putting you front and center of an audience that already trusts them too. 

Video Marketing

In today’s digital world, nonprofits and charities should consider investing in video and visual storytelling as a key fundraising tool.

Over the past decade video marketing has only grown in popularity. With more and more smartphone users, people are spending an average of 19 hours a week watching videos online. When it comes to fundraising, 80% of the highest-grossing campaigns on CauseVox have used video as part of their campaign. In fact, 57% of people who watch nonprofit videos go on to make a donation .

Without a doubt, an impactful nonprofit video is one of the most effective tools in your belt for rallying support. I’m referring to those videos that showcase the remarkable journey from trial to triumph of an individual or group.

The best thing about video marketing is that it doesn’t have to be a full-scale production especially if you have limited marketing dollars. These days, shooting high-quality videos doesn’t have to cost an arm and leg. Short-form videos on TikTok and Instagram Reels are extremely popular ways to connect with your audience. All you need is a smartphone and good lighting to get started!

SEO… you’ve likely heard this acronym tossed around but what is it exactly?

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is another way to target your audience and expand your reach organically. How search engines work can seem like a mystery but SEO can help demystify it a bit. In short, search engines use algorithms that crawl, index, and rank websites. When a user enters a search query, a search engine will return content that best matches the query. 

Effective SEO means optimizing your website to show up at the top of search engine result pages (SERPs) when users enter keywords and phrases relevant to your mission. The higher you rank, the more often you show up – which means that users will be more likely to see and click on your link. Ultimately, the goal of SEO is to increase website traffic and subsequently bring in and convert donors .

If you haven’t made SEO a central part of your fundraising strategy yet, you should. This means making sure that you have relevant keywords that represent your brand, creating high-quality content, and mobile-optimizing your website. I can talk about SEO all day and it certainly deserves a dedicated article (or class) of its own. Luckily, there’s a webinar you can check out that breaks down how to build a sustainable SEO strategy.

Although it can take up to six months to see improvements in your search engine ranking, the long-term ROI proves that it’s an effective marketing and fundraising tactic. 

4. Set Your Fundraising Plan Goals

Your fundraising goals should be based on what funds you need to keep the organization operating.

Your goals are also the catalyst and “North Star” for all your fundraising activities.

It is best to start with what your costs were during the last three fiscal years. If that data isn’t available or you are a start-up, look to your estimated budget or check out the stats of similar organizations.

Jot down the precise amount you need for the upcoming year. Then, build on this goal. Do you see growth in your organization’s future? If so, increase your year-to-year goals based on your anticipated growth.

You’ll notice that the fundraising goal worksheet example above follows the SMART framework: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Here’s how to get SMART when charting out your goals: 

• Specific:   What will the goal accomplish?  How will it be accomplished?
• Measurable: How will you measure success? How will you know when you’ve accomplished your goal?
• Achievable:  Is it realistic and possible? Have others done it before?
• Relevant:  Is the goal relevant to the problem you’re trying to address?
• Time Bound: When do you expect to complete this goal?

5. Align With Your Mission

You’ve got the right team in place and a basic idea of the goals you need to meet. Now it is time to make sure these goals align with your nonprofit’s fundraising objectives.

Bust out that organizational mission statement. This statement should answer these questions:

• Why is your organization in operation?
• What types of change are you making in the world?

Base your fundraising plan on how these dollars are helping put your mission into action.

You aren’t just raising money. You are raising money to make a difference. So, dissect your mission statement and goals and align the two. Explain, in detail, how much money you need to accomplish everything in your mission.

6. Detail Your Methods

After you’ve aligned your goals and mission, it is time to describe exactly how you will be raising those funds. You want your fundraising plan to be so detailed that even those outside of the organization will be able to understand it!

List the types of fundraising techniques you will be using. Include strategies such as:

• Crowdfunding campaigns
• Face-to-face asks
• Phone calls
• Mail campaigns
• Email marketing campaigns
• Fundraising Events
• Thank-a-thon
• Grants and matching gifts
• Corporate giving and partnership development
• Recurring donation campaigns
• Month-long focus on endowments and planned giving
• Capital campaigns

(Be sure to also check out our comprehensive list of fundraising ideas for more inspiration.)

Then, list the steps you need to take before and after each of the above activities. You may need to train volunteers, get your materials ready, or talk to someone about setting up the campaign website. Take some time to really dive deep into each of your fundraising strategies.

Also, be sure to think of both short-term and long-term activities. What can you focus on now and what fundraising tactic can you expand if your organization needs additional funding?

7. Look at the Big Picture

Does your organization have a strategic plan? If so, you’ll want to make sure that your fundraising plan aligns with it. Creating 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year plans is a best practice in the nonprofit world, and you can do this with your fundraising plan as well.

Your 1-year fundraising plan should be very specific. Detail every fundraising activity you will engage in over the course of the year.

Your 3 and 5-year plans can be much broader. Highlight key activities for each month, as well as your ultimate goals. If you see your organization growing and needing additional resources in 5 years, then outline a basic schedule that includes the steps you need to take in order to meet this demand.

Also, be sure you’re tracking every cent of fundraising revenue from previous years, as this will help you create data-backed fundraising goals for the future.

8. Bust Out Your Fundraising Plan Calendar

You’ve written down all of your fundraising plan information in a document. Your team has come to an agreement on appropriate financial goals, aligned those with your mission, described your fundraising techniques in detail, and then put this information into 1, 3, and 5-year plans.

Now, it’s time to get out your calendar which will supplement your total fundraising plan. Your fundraising calendar will help you to stay on task throughout the year. Let’s say you are nearing the busiest time of the year for fundraising—the holidays.

Your calendar should detail all the steps you need to take before the “busy season” starts such as establishing your goal, website preparations, and volunteer training.

Mark down your hard deadlines, action deadlines, communication schedule, and your donor retention strategy schedule. Viewing these dates as inflexible will keep you on task, even if you have to make adjustments here and there.

Keep your fundraising calendar on hand at every development meeting. This is a great tool to keep your schedule and goals top of mind. Need to keep track of important dates that may be related to your cause? Check out NonProfit Tech for Good’s sample cause awareness day calendar .

Take a look at our article on creating a fundraising calendar for additional information on creating a stellar fundraising calendar. You’ll find a template and worksheet you can use to build your own calendar.

Your final fundraising plan is likely to change as your organization grows, and that is okay! It isn’t meant to be a static document.

You should never ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ in fundraising. You are setting yourself up for failure if you go this route. Taking the time to develop a thorough fundraising plan will pay off in dividends and help you and your fundraising team stay on-task for years to come.

9. Assemble the Troops

When it comes to planning, you definitely need all hands on deck, so figure out who needs to be involved in the process. After all, your development team may be in charge of fundraising, but it takes the entire organization to produce consistent results.

So, let’s get the right people sitting around the table. First, make sure that your board of directors is involved. Their input and support are necessary for this document to “go live.”

Small organizations may only have one or two employees, and it is, therefore, best to have your board there to advise you and get involved helping to create the plan.

Larger organizations that have many departments should focus on creating this plan with top-down support. Therefore, it is best to include the leadership team, the development department, and those working with communications and marketing.

If you are at a loss as to where to start, talk with a professional nonprofit consultant. They can get you started or even guide you through the process if you require extra help.

10. Determine & Delegate Activities

At this stage, it might seem like there’s so much to do and only so much time to do it in. Once you’ve got your team assembled, create a timeline to determine who’s doing what and when. Your timeline will be a roadmap for all your fundraising efforts and can include things like when to launch a campaign or when to schedule out social media posts.  

Make sure to review your timeline with your team to ensure that everyone’s on the same page and that it’s realistic. Chances are, your team members are saddled with other responsibilities so by divvying up activities, you can ensure that you’re not overwhelming them if they already have a heavy workload. 

Consider using a project management software to help with this process.

11. Perform a SWOT Analysis

As an additional level of assessment and to make sure nothing is slipping between the cracks, you may want to perform a SWOT analysis . When done correctly, a SWOT analysis can be an extremely powerful fundraising tool.

But what exactly is a SWOT analysis and why should you use it?

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. A SWOT analysis is a strategic planning and evaluation tool that can provide direction by assessing your organization’s internal (strengths and weaknesses) and external factors (opportunities and threats). Below is a SWOT analysis template with sample questions in each domain:

A SWOT analysis takes a critical look at your operations, giving you a clearer idea of the overall health of your organization, how you’re doing compared to similar organizations, and areas where you can improve.

12. Segment and Strategize For Different Donor Types

When it comes to fundraising, personalization is key. You wouldn’t talk to a ten year old the same you would communicate to a thirty-year old. It’s the same concept with your donor base.

You donors aren’t a monolith so skip the generic communications and instead, segment and tailor your messaging for different donor types. One of the most common ways you’ll see a nonprofit segment donors is by gift amount. You could have a segment for small-dollar donors, mid-level donors, and major donors. Of course, it’s up to you to choose what the cutoff amount for each category is. 

Major Donors

The definition of a major donor will vary from organization to organization. For some, the criteria for a major donor could be anyone who gives $10K or more, while others may view anything above $1K as a substantial gift. Regardless of how you define who a major donor is, as a fundraising professional, you already know that they’re important, especially since 88% of all nonprofit funds come from just 12% of donors .

Mid-Level Donors

Similar to major donors, the amount threshold will vary based on your average gift size and donor base. Mid-level gifts can range anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars.

Small-Dollar Donors

Small-dollar donors are just as important as mid-level or major donors. These are individuals providing $5, $25, or even $75 to your organization each year. Even if it may seem like a nominal amount, it’s still important to steward them well .

Once you’re done segmenting, make sure the messaging to your donor is appropriate for the amount they’ve given. If the most a donor has donated to your organization was $25, asking them for $1,000 doesn’t make a lot of sense and would likely turn them off. 

In a similar vein, small-dollar and mid-level donors have the best potential to be monthly recurring donors which can provide more value over a lifetime compared to a one-time donor who may donate a higher amount. Sometimes, breaking down a large amount into smaller chunks over time is more digestible and an easier ask for your donor.

For instance, Anne is a $25 donor but she donates to your cause every month. That’s $300 every year. Ben on the other hand is a $500 donor but he only gives once. Over the course of 3 years, Anne will have given $900 compared to Ben’s one-time gift of $500. While you still value and appreciate Ben’s gift, based on this, it’s worthwhile for you to focus on communicating recurring giving programs to your small-dollar and mid-level donor groups.

To maximize gift size while fully automating donation payments, CauseVox’s pledge donation option allows donors to make a donation pledge now and pay in designated installments. 

Other Ways to Segment

While segmenting by gift amount is popular and common, it’s not always the most personal approach. How much someone gives only tells you their giving capacity but it doesn’t provide much more information otherwise. You’re not going to know how often they give on average (propensity), why they gravitated to your cause, and what they care about (affinity). 

If you don’t want to segment by gift amount, you can always consider segmenting donors based on their level of involvement, their interests, or even by geography. For example, a volunteer will interact differently with your organization compared to someone who’s receiving services. Alternatively, you wouldn’t want to send the same messaging to a lapsed donor and to someone who engages with your organization regularly. 

When you’re attuned to the specificities of a donor (i.e. their interest and intent), you can make their donor journey way more meaningful. The possibilities are endless, so go wild!

13. Keep Everything Organized With the Right Software

The last step in your fundraising plan is to figure out how to keep everything organized. 

Are you cobbling together disparate donor information across multiple spreadsheets? Are you struggling to find the most recent version of a spreadsheet? Do you have spreadsheet fatigue? If the answer is a resounding ‘yes’, you’re not alone. It honestly sounds like a nightmare. 

Fortunately, there’s a better way. Whether you’re using Google Sheets or Excel, it is not remotely close to being a replacement for a dedicated donor database. When it comes to keeping everything organized, it’s time to ditch the spreadsheets and switch to a customer relationship management (CRM) software. CRMs are designed to help you track donor information, provide insights, and give you more control of your fundraising efforts. Of course, choosing the right software can make or break your fundraising plan. 

Let’s face it, there’s no shortage of fundraising software out there. If you’re trying to narrow down your options, here’s why you should choose CauseVox. Our fundraising platform is designed increase giving and reduce back-office tasks with features such as:

• Smart donation forms,
• Automated receipts,
• Donation tracking and insights,
• Built-in CRM to track and build donor relationships,
• Event ticketing,
• Customizable peer-to-peer and crowdfunding campaigns,
• And expert support delivered by real people

We’ve helped thousands of nonprofits simplify their fundraising and reach their goals. You’ve put in the blood, sweat, and tears all year. Let us help you make your job a little easier, all starting at an unbeatable cost of $0 . 

Download a comprehensive fundraising plan template:

Get started on causevox.

Book a demo to learn how CauseVox can help you maximize your digital fundraising in 2023 and beyond!

This post was updated in December 2023 for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.

Ultimate Guide To Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

Customer Story: Spur Local Raises Over $1M With Their Give Local Campaign

Fundraising Strategies for Nonprofits: Craft the Best Approach for Your Organization

Create a Killer Fundraising Plan - Best Practices, Strategies, & Downloadable Template

Product Update: CauseVox Automated Matching

Maximize giving day success with peer-to-peer fundraising, choose another topic to explore:, fundraising, peer-to-peer, social media, simplify and grow your fundraising.

It honestly felt like using CauseVox expanded our team by another member.

Kelly McLaughlin

Director of Donor Engagement at CCAN

Here's what we found for you:

Nothing on that. However, here are a few recommended searches others have found helpful:

Share via: Ever wished your donations could go even further? Enter automated matching—an indispensable tool that transforms the way your organization secures support for its cause.  Research from the CauseVox […]

Share via: Chances are, you know what Giving Tuesday is by now. However, it’s important to recognize that Giving Tuesday is just one of many giving days your organization can […]

Share via: Here at CauseVox, we love a good success story. And we couldn’t think of a better organization to highlight than Spur Local. Spur Local blew it out of […]

6 Simple Fundraising Plan Tips [With Free Templates!]

Your nonprofit’s fundraising plan is the backbone of your success as an organization.

Without a solid fundraising plan in place, there would be nothing to guide your fundraising efforts and no way to tell if your nonprofit is on track to meet your goals.

Before implementing any change in fundraising strategy, you need to have an official fundraising plan in place. To get you started, here are 6 simple tips to consider:

• Gain fundraising plan input from key stakeholders.
• Develop goals (and challenges)!
• Set a fundraising plan timeline.
• Determine your fundraising methods.
• Build corporate partnerships into your fundraising plan.
• Tailor your case for support.

Bonus! Once your fundraising plan is in place, you should periodically assess your strategy. Check out Double the Donation’s ultimate fundraising strategy assessment to stay ahead of the curve!

Ready to get started on your fundraising plan? Let us break these tips down into a bit more detail.

1. Gain fundraising plan input from key stakeholders.

Stakeholders are an important part of your nonprofit’s team. Not only do they help fund your organization’s philanthropy, but they typically have final say over big-picture fundraising decisions.

Since a fundraising plan outlines a nonprofit’s key activities, it is important to get support from these board members and other key stakeholders.

There are a couple of ways you can gain input from your stakeholders:

• Experiential input. You can ask stakeholders directly about what fundraising strategies have worked well for your nonprofit in the past. Inquire about past fundraising activities, strengths and weaknesses. Take their feedback into consideration and be sure to demonstrate to them how you address their input.
• Consultant interviews. You might find it helpful to bring in a fundraising consultant . They can conduct stakeholder interviews to determine what is most important to your board and how to get everyone on the same page when designing your fundraising plan.

Remember: Your nonprofit’s board members are just as passionate about your organization’s mission as you are. Do not think of their approval as a bureaucratic hurdle to overcome, but rather an important step towards improving your fundraising plan.

2. Develop goals (and challenges)!

When designing your fundraising plan, your final product should reflect your nonprofit’s primary goals above all else.

It is easy to fall into the trap of vaguely fundraising without an endpoint in sight, but to stay on track your nonprofit needs to actively work toward a defined set of central goals.

Before designing your fundraising plan, your nonprofit needs to sit down and agree upon what goals to prioritize across all levels of your organization. Your goals should be:

• Specific, actionable, and measurable. Do not just decide to increase fundraising revenue, or plan to retain more donors. Set numeric benchmarks and timelines, and decide how you will tackle these goals.
• Evaluated against metrics. You cannot accurately assess your progress towards achieving a goal without having metrics in place to track your success. Diligently monitor consistent metrics so you can see how well you are improving and when you need to make changes to your fundraising plan.

( Bonus tip! Be sure to collect valuable data when carrying out your fundraising plan to help evaluate these metrics and shape your future fundraising plans. Check out Fundly’s guide to nonprofit CRMs for an idea of how your nonprofit can maximize the power of your donor database to improve your fundraising strategy.)

Additionally, one way to help your nonprofit stay on track is to identify upfront what potential challenges or obstacles you will face in the process of achieving your goals.

Some obstacles you might encounter could be:

• Seasonal fundraising dry spells
• Low donor retention
• Failure to obtain major gifts
• Poor fundraising event attendance
• Inadequate online engagement

For example, an animal shelter that wants to increase donor retention by X% over the summer months might identify the challenge of supporters being less engaged during this season since they may be traveling or caring for children on summer vacation. To reach their goal, they’ll need to recognize this challenge and develop strategies to overcome it.

Remember: Use your nonprofit’s history to guide you in identifying roadblocks and deciding on goals. Every nonprofit has its unique strengths and weaknesses and when designing a fundraising plan, it is important to know going in what is reasonable to expect from your organization.

3. Set a fundraising plan timeline.

Staying on top of your goals also means staying on top of your fundraising plan’s timeline.

Fundraising plans typically plot out a 3-5 year timeline for your nonprofit, with the first year being very detailed and the following years becoming less defined.

Your fundraising plan’s timeline should be developed into an annual fundraising calendar that details the year’s worth of activities for your organization.

When developing your timeline, keep a few things in mind:

• Milestones. Structure your timeline around a set of core milestones. These will both guide your progress and help you regularly assess your fundraising strategy.
• Accountability. Your timeline (and subsequently, your fundraising calendar) should clearly identify what departments are responsible for individual fundraising activities. This will help keep the different arms of your nonprofit on track and help your departments prioritize tasks throughout the year.
• Accessibility. Your timeline and calendar should be easily accessible to all members of your team, regardless of their department or role. Every team member should be aware of what other departments are up to; this way, they will have a better sense of the big picture of your organization and how your core fundraising goals are being achieved.

Not sure where to start when designing your fundraising plan timeline? Consider enlisting the help of a fundraising consulting firm. If you need a recommendation, DonorSearch has got you covered with their list of the top 11 fundraising consulting firms in the field!

Remember: During the design process, your fundraising timeline should be as specific as possible and you should hold yourself to the timeline as much as you can. However, if you find you are not progressing as quickly as you had planned, identify the roadblock and always give yourself room to edit the timeline if necessary.

4. Determine your fundraising methods.

A common thread among these tips has been specificity and when plotting out your fundraising plan, it is doubly important to specifically determine your fundraising methods.

It is not sufficient to simply say you will raise $XXX by such-and-such date. You need to plan out how you will raise that money and from whom you will solicit donations.

Fundraising is not a one size fits all process, and you should curate your fundraising methods with your prospects in mind. For example, consider these fundraising methods and how they serve prospects:

• Online donation pages. If your donors cannot all come to you, meet them where they are. Online donation is simply convenient; for nonprofits interested in prospects in varying geographical locations, utilizing optimized online donation tools is a must.
• P2P fundraising. For nonprofits seeking to grow their network of donors, P2P fundraising is a great way to engage constituents online and leverage the power of their social network to help your organization reach a broader audience.
• Text-to-give. Mobile giving is a fundraising style that has been growing in popularity over the last several years. Like online donation pages, text-to-give fundraising makes it convenient for donors to give. Additionally, because donors are not tied to a desktop, they may consider donating more frequently.
• Fundraising events. A strategic fundraising event help you engage donors and bring in major donations, too! Just make sure you plan out your fundraiser well in advance so you have plenty of time to consider important elements, such as the type of event, when and where to host it, and  what technology you’ll need to pull it off.

Remember: You should consult your nonprofit’s existing data when determining which prospects to pursue and which fundraising methods best serve your prospect pool. Consider past data and metrics when determining fundraising methods, as well as what has worked for other nonprofits of a similar donor makeup and mission as yours.

5. Build corporate partnerships into your fundraising plan.

Corporate partnerships can be important sources of revenue and support for nonprofits.

When designing your fundraising plan, develop a strategy that will help you achieve corporate partnership so that you do not bypass such a valuable asset.

If you already are partnered with a corporation, consider these ways to leverage that relationship during the fundraising plan design process:

• Event sponsorship. Your corporate partner could agree to sponsor a fundraising event for your nonprofit. With their name and notoriety attached, prospects may be more inclined to participate in your fundraiser.
• Challenge grants. Your corporate partner might be amenable to offering your nonprofit a challenge grant. With a challenge grant, your organization and your partner agree upon a specific fundraising goal. If the goal is met, they might match the amount of funding raised or commit to donating an agreed-upon sum.
• Matching gifts.  One of the simplest ways to incorporate corporate philanthropy into your fundraising strategy is to seek out a matching gift tool. In a matching gifts program, a corporation agrees to match the donations of their employees either to a certain percentage of the donation or to a consistent maximum value.  With a tool like this one offered by Double the Donation,  donors can quickly determine whether their donation might be matched by their employer.

Take a look at DTD’s matching gift tool in action! The donor simply types the name of their company into the tool, and then DTD searches their database to see if they are matching gift-eligible.

Remember: Every nonprofit has unique needs and that extends to any relationship you have with corporate sponsors. You do not have to go after a partnership with a multi-million dollar company if that does not suit the scope of your organization. Partnering with small local businesses can get the job done, especially for regionally-focused nonprofits.

6. Tailor your case for support.

Your case for support underpins the success of your nonprofit, but it is often taken for granted when designing fundraising strategy.

Organizations and hospitals often create cases for support when they launch a capital campaign. These documents outline every detail of the campaign from how the funds will be used to the ways supporters can contribute.

Moreover, the case for support acts as an effective promotional tool to help educate potential donors on the importance of your cause. The content in your case for support can easily be posted on your website or published in a brochure.

While they’re common practice for capital campaigns, organizations should create a case for support as a part of any fundraising strategy.

Donors will not give to your organization unless you have a compelling case for support, so you need to take the time to thoughtfully develop your case.

Your case for support should answer these important questions:

• What is our mission?
• Why should donors give to this cause?
• Why should they give to our organization in particular?
• How much should donors give?
• What specifically will our nonprofit do to achieve our mission?

At all levels of engagement, your nonprofit should actively communicate with donors the ways that your fundraising strategy addresses your case for support. The more compelling your case, the more likely it is that donors will give to your organization.

Remember: Your case for support should govern your fundraising strategy. Just as you should choose fundraising methods that target your prospects, you should similarly design your fundraising plan with your case for support as a foundation.

Your fundraising plan is the single most important tool in your arsenal when enacting a new fundraising strategy. Get closer to achieving your nonprofit’s fundraising goals by designing a detailed fundraising plan today!

Additional Resources

• Conduct a Fundraising Feasibility Study: 6 Steps to Success.  Capital campaigns can help your nonprofit reach larger goals as part of an effective fundraising plan. But first, you need to conduct a capital campaign feasibility study before your campaign can begin. With our step-by-step guide, your feasibility study is sure to give you the information you need to succeed!
• Top 5 GoFundMe Alternatives.  After developing a fundraising plan, your nonprofit may decide to pursue crowdfunding as a way to meet your fundraising goals. You might initially consider GoFundMe as a crowdfunding host, but don’t make your choice so quickly. There are many other crowdfunding sites just like GoFundMe (but better)! Check out our guide for some awesome alternatives.
• 14 Charity Auction Tools.  Similarly, your nonprofit might choose to hold a charity auction as a fundraising event. Not only are auctions great ways to raise funding, but they’re also useful events to strengthen your donor relations. Be sure to consult our guide to the 14 best charity auction tools that are perfect for nonprofits of any size!

Get started

• Explore our Product
• Auto-submission
• Browse our Integrations
• Meet our Customers
• Get Pricing
• Attend a Demo

The Database

• About the Database
• Add a New Company
• Update Company Information
• Matching Gift Basics
• Volunteer Grant Basics
• Top Matching Gift Companies
• Top Volunteer Grant Companies
• Webinars and Matching Gift Videos
• Meet the Team
• Common Questions
• Trust Center

Request a Quote

Ready to start with 360MatchPro? Request a demo and quote today!

The Essential Fundraising Plan Template for Nonprofits

Craft your nonprofit’s next fundraising plan with these 7 expert strategies.

The Fundamental Fundraising Plan Template

Fundraising plan template.

Fundraising is a challenging, but critical aspect of keeping your nonprofit afloat. It’s what allows your organization to earn the funds needed to grow over time and help more people. 

As a professional fundraiser, whether you’re working with a brand-new nonprofit or an organization that’s been around for many years, you likely focus much of your energy and time on figuring out how to improve your fundraising strategy.

The most successful fundraisers will tell you that an effective fundraising strategy requires top-notch organizational skills to stay on track. A comprehensive fundraising plan template can make a major difference in your approach and provide the framework for more intentional, successful fundraising.  Here at Aly Sterling Philanthropy , we equip nonprofits with the fundraising solutions they need to understand their donors better and ultimately raise more for their cause. Our consultants have constructed this fundraising plan based on years of experience. 

Follow these comprehensive seven steps to create a fundraising plan that works for your organization: 

• Determine your nonprofit’s fundraising goals.
• Outline your nonprofit’s budget.
• Create a fundraising plan calendar.
• Construct a gift range chart for your fundraising plan. 
• Build your case for support.
• Define the logistics of your fundraising initiative.
• Delegate fundraising plan tasks to your team. 

Keep in mind that while these tips are most easily applicable to major fundraising efforts such as capital campaigns, they can be adjusted to work for your annual giving program and other initiatives as well. These steps can also be adapted to work for nonprofits of all types and sizes. 

Check out our free blank fundraising plan template below, and continue reading for step-by-step guidance through each fundraising aspect. 

#1. Determine your nonprofit’s goals.

When crafting your nonprofit’s fundraising plan, identify specific, tangible goals that will help your organization succeed in its mission. These goals should be achievable and based on your strategic priorities and goals for the future.

Use a goal chart as a visual aid during this process. By recording your objectives with this tool, you can revisit them later on when building your fundraising plan.

Avoid focusing on fundraising benchmarks alone. In addition to fundraising aspirations, set goals to help you grow your community, improve donor retention, increase the number of major gifts you acquire, and more. The more varied your goals are, the better. Here are some examples of types of goals you might set:

• Major gifts: Major gifts are the largest contributions your organization receives. How many major gifts are you aiming to receive, and what amount would you like each gift to be? 
• Donor acquisition: Donor acquisition refers to the number of new donors you secure over a given period. How many new donors would you like to engage throughout your fundraising initiative? 
• Donor retention: Donor retention measures how many donors continue to give to your nonprofit from year to year and campaign to campaign. What donor retention rate are you aiming for throughout your upcoming fundraising drive?

For each goal, identify any obstacles that may stand in the way of achieving it. These might be time constraints, budget, the nature of your organization, or any number of additional potential roadblocks.

When you identify the potential obstacles, you can incorporate a strategy for tackling them into your overall fundraising plan. 

If you are conducting a major campaign, this is the right time to undertake a feasibility study . It is recommended that you use a third-party consultant like Aly Sterling Philanthropy to conduct the study. These experts help determine if your organization is ready to take on a large campaign, how to prepare, and how much you can expect to raise. The feasibility study will survey your stakeholders to answer these questions:

• Is your cause compelling?
• Does the project/campaign make sense and provide a solution?
• Does the campaign have support among volunteer leadership and board members?
• Who are the potential campaign leaders?
• Are there any external concerns?
• Is now the right time for a campaign?
• How much should your organization expect to raise? 

A feasibility study prepares you for your campaign by helping you develop realistic goals and proactively address obstacles. This helps your organization build a stronger case for support and generate excitement and support for the campaign among the people closest to it, such as donors, board members, and volunteers.

Lay out fundraising plan objectives with a goal chart.

When crafting your nonprofit’s fundraising plan, identify specific, tangible goals that will help your organization succeed in its mission. These goals should be achievable and should have an eye towards growth.

Do not just focus on fundraising benchmarks: set goals to help you grow your community, improve donor retention, increase the number of major gifts your acquire, etc. The more varied, the better.

#2. Outline your nonprofit’s budget.

An integral part of crafting your fundraising plan is settling on a budget. Your budget will ensure you don’t expend too much money while pursuing your fundraising goals, and it will be shaped by how effective your past budgets have been. For example, review the success of your last capital campaign or other major fundraising push to determine whether you allocated enough resources in your budget to achieve your goals. 

Account for the sources of your income before allocating it to your various expenses. One way to clearly identify where funding will come from is by crafting a budget chart. This chart should reflect:

• Specific sources of income.
• Specific expenses.
• Income and expenses from previous fundraising drives.

With this information in hand, your team can better decide whether or not an expense is reasonable for your budget and craft your fundraising plan to account for trends from past budgets.

Make sure your budget also has the flexibility to account for any unexpected circumstances that arise throughout the initiative. Your budget should be as detailed as possible to keep your team on track and ensure nothing is left to interpretation. 

Finally, craft your budget to be forward-thinking and use past results to predict future outcomes. This helps you keep an eye on expansion and maintain a positive outlook on the future.

How should funding be allocated across your nonprofit?

An integral part of crafting your fundraising plan is settling on a budget. Not only will this budget empower your organization to achieve your fundraising goals, but it will also be shaped by how effective your past budgets have been.

Account for the source of your income before allocating it to your various expenses. One way to clearly identify where funding will come from is by crafting a budget chart. This chart should reflect:

• Income and expenses from previous years.

#3. Create a fundraising plan calendar.

Outlining a fundraising calendar is an essential element of developing your nonprofit’s fundraising plan.

Mark the dates of the start and end of your fundraising push, budget meetings, board meetings and more in this fundraising calendar. 

Share this calendar across the different departments of your organization to keep everyone on the same page as you work through the tasks in your fundraising plan.

Having a detailed plan laid out in a calendar is especially important for large undertakings such as capital campaigns since these fundraising initiatives are split up into a series of phases, including:

• Planning Phase
• Quiet Phase
• Kickoff Phase
• Public Phase
• Conclusion and Follow-Up Phase

Each phase has a different timeline, so by noting each stage in your shared calendar, you can make sure your entire team is aware of where you are in the process. 

Remain flexible when necessary, but use the calendar as a way to track the progress of your fundraising efforts.

Do you have a fundraising calendar in place?

Crafting out a fundraising calendar is an important part of developing your nonprofit’s fundraising plan.

Mark the dates of campaign beginning and endpoints, budget meetings, board meetings and more in this fundraising calendar. 

Even further, your nonprofit should share this calendar across the different departments of your organization to help keep everyone on the same page when accomplishing the tasks in your fundraising plan.

#4. Create a gift range chart for your fundraising plan.

When developing your fundraising plan, your nonprofit should create a gift range chart to identify the donations needed to achieve your fundraising goals.

Gift range charts help nonprofits plan out efforts by breaking down fundraising goals into smaller, more manageable benchmarks.

So, how do you make a gift range chart? Here’s what to do:

• Break down your gift sizes. Specify different tiers of gifts as well as how many donations you’ll need to secure within each tier. The largest gift should make up 10-20% of your goal. 
• Add the number of prospects you should contact for each tier. Include more than you really need. For example, if you need two donors to make the highest gift, reach out to four prospects.
• Note the cumulative totals for each gift amount. 

With a gift range chart, your team can see:

• The size of gifts necessary to meet your goal.
• The number of prospects needed to supply these gifts.
• The total proportion of your fundraising goal accounted for in each gift level.
• The need for additional fundraising pushes you’ll need to meet your overall goal, like partnering with a product fundraising company to sell different items to your supporters or launching a peer-to-peer initiative on social media. 

The major gifts at the top of your chart will take longer to cultivate, so it’s extremely helpful to know how many prospects you’ll need to connect with upfront. 

Remember, when you’re conducting a major fundraising push like a capital campaign , you’ll know you’ve reached the end of the quiet phase when you’ve obtained 50-70% of the gifts outlined on your gift range chart. 

Armed with this information, your team can be strategic when choosing which prospects to engage with during your fundraising effort. You can spend less time reaching out to supporters that aren’t needed to reach your fundraising total and ensure you do get in touch with the high-value supporters needed to help achieve your goal.

How will your fundraising goal be achieved?

When developing your fundraising plan, your nonprofit should create a gift range chart to identify what is necessary to achieve your fundraising goals.

Gift range charts help nonprofits plan out campaigns by breaking down fundraising goals into smaller, more manageable benchmarks.

• The total proportion of your fundraising goal accounted for in each gift range.

#5. Build your case for support.

Prospects need to have a compelling reason to give to your organization. There is no better way to grab their attention than by creating a dynamic case for support.

Your case for support needs to be specific and actionable— no one wants to give their money to an organization that doesn’t have a clear direction for using those funds

Your case for support should include:

• A clear mission statement.
• A brief history of your nonprofit.
• Your specific fundraising goals.
• Your gift range chart.
• A detailed overview of what your organization will achieve with donor support.

This should be one of the first tasks your team works on so you can prepare all your marketing materials and donor information packages before the fundraising initiative kickoff. You can create a branded case brochure that delivers prospective donors everything they need to know about the initiative in a professional, detailed package. 

Also, community-specific appeals can highlight how a nonprofit impacts a community and how its network of local support is integral to the organization’s success. Check out how Aly Sterling Philanthropy serves the Cleveland, Ohio area to get an idea of how a local consultant can impact your team’s fundraising approach. A consultant can help you articulate your needs and craft a donor-centric fundraising appeal that’s informed by the fundraising landscape of your local area.

#5. Create your case for support.

What is your case for support.

Prospects need to have a compelling reason to give to your organization and there is no better way to grab their attention than by creating a dynamic case for support.

Your case for support needs to be specific and actionable – no one wants to give their money to an organization without clear direction.

Your team should be sure to include:

• A detailed overview of what your organization will achieve with their support.

Community-specific appeals can highlight how a nonprofit impacts a community and how their network of local support is integral to the organization’s success.

#6. Define the logistics of your fundraising push.

Your team should ensure that you do not encounter any surprises throughout your fundraising efforts. The best way to be prepared? Diligently breaking down the logistics of your upcoming fundraising projects.

Using a planning chart, identify as much relevant information as you can relating to your projects, such as:

• Date, time, location and attendance.
• The cost of the project (payroll expenses, marketing budget, cost of the venue, etc.).
• Goals associated with your projects.

By taking the time to lay out this information, you can marry your budget with your calendar to ensure you stay on track financially throughout the entire process. 

Plus, your team can more effectively delegate tasks among departments, set aside money in your budget for these projects and overcome potential roadblocks before they pose a real issue.

#6. Plan out your campaign.

How will you execute your fundraising campaign.

Your team should ensure that you do not encounter any surprises over the course of your fundraising campaign. The best way to get prepared? Your nonprofit should diligently break down the logistics of your upcoming fundraising projects.

Using a campaign planning chart, identify as much relevant information as you can relating to your projects, such as:

• The cost of the project (payroll expenses, marketing budget, cost of venue etc.).

#7. Delegate fundraising plan tasks to your team.

To successfully achieve your fundraising goals, your nonprofit should delegate fundraising activities across your organization. One way to optimize role delegation is to use a calendar matrix.

A calendar matrix helps team members in varying roles stay on top of their work by outlining fundraising activities by department.

In your calendar matrix, include logistical details to improve your team’s understanding of the big picture of your fundraising initiative. These details may include:

• Costs associated with events or projects.
• Anticipated fundraising income from each activity.
• Personnel required to carry out activities.
• Deadlines and benchmarks associated with each task.

Every team member should contribute to achieving your nonprofit’s fundraising goals. By using a calendar matrix, you help those in different departments see how their work fits into the big picture of your organization.

#7. Delegate fundraising plan tasks among your team members.

Who is responsible for your campaign tasks.

To successfully achieve your fundraising goals, your nonprofit should diligently delegate fundraising activities across your organization. One way to optimize role delegation is to use a calendar matrix.

A calendar matrix helps team members in varying roles across your nonprofit stay on top of their work by outlining fundraising activities by department.

In your calendar matrix, include logistical details to improve your team’s understanding of the big picture of your fundraising campaign. These details may include:

Wrapping Up & Additional Resources

By following these seven steps, your team should have the foundation it needs to tackle your fundraising efforts and successfully meet your goals. Crafting your strategic fundraising plan may take a lot of effort up front, but it’s worth it in the end because it provides the structure needed to keep your team on task throughout the entire fundraising push. 

For additional help building your fundraising strategy, check out these resources:

Hiring a fundraising consultant, nonprofit feasibility studies, the ultimate capital campaign guide.

PO BOX 140668 TOLEDO, OHIO 43614

[email protected] alysterling.com

The Nonprofit Store

Your one-stop-shop for high-quality, affordable DIY tools focused on fundraising, strategic planning and board governance.

News & Resources

Sign up for our email newsletter and receive FREE resources, exclusive tips, news and offers!

Have A Question?

Contact us for more information about our services and how we can help your mission.

THE NONPROFIT STORE

News & resources, have a question.

Fundraising plan template: Your step-by-step guide

With our fundraising plan template, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about drafting your own campaign fundraising plan.

What does every nonprofit and charity have in common? They all need a fundraising plan for each campaign!

A fundraising plan template will help you organise and maximise your campaign’s success. It doesn’t matter what your organisation does, or who or what you’re raising money for. Without a strategic plan, you’ll be leaving money on the table.

Luckily, whether you’re planning a peer fundraising campaign or an active fundraising event like a 5k race, most fundraising plans follow a similar formula:

• Determine your desired outcome
• Set fundraising goals and benchmarks
• Define a budget
• Decide on a fundraising tactic
• Create a timeline
• Give your campaign a test run
• Market your event or campaign
• Launch your campaign
• Send out “thank yous” and analyse your results

Let’s explore each of the steps in a typical fundraising plan template, using a peer-to-peer campaign as an example. Keep in mind, this is for a single campaign, not your organisation’s overall fundraising strategy.

1. Determine Your Desired Outcome

Your fundraising campaign’s goals are really the heart of what your efforts are all about. In fact, you should consider them the foundation of your entire plan, from conception to completion .

Before you define your budget, audience, or fundraising goal, you should think about what you want to get out of your fundraising campaign. What are you hoping to do and achieve with the funds you raise? Are you looking to increase awareness and the engagement of your supporters? Who will benefit from your campaign? Which fundraisers and donors will you target as your intended audience?

Your desired outcome will serve as your campaign’s North Star, and will help you determine the rest of your decisions.

2. Set Fundraising Goals and Benchmarks

Let’s assume you’ve decided on a peer-to-peer campaign. If you do a specific annual fundraising campaign, you can look to your previous year’s metrics to get an idea of what your goals should be. If this is your first peer-to-peer campaign, no worries! As long as your goals are clearly defined, your chances of hosting a successful fundraising campaign will go way up.

We recommend setting SMART goals. This means they’re:

✅ Specific : Your goal should be precise ✅ Measurable : Your goal needs to be quantifiable ✅ Achievable : Your goal is realistic and you have the necessary resources ✅ Relevant : Your goal aligns with your overall efforts ✅ Time-Bound : Your goal has a set deadline

Let’s say your nonprofit is a breast cancer foundation. You formed it after surviving breast cancer, and every year host a walk-a-thon to raise money for cancer research. Last year, your nonprofit raised $22,000 and acquired 50 new donors.

Here are some examples of SMART goals:

Goal 1: Raise $25,000 for breast cancer research by hosting your annual walk-a-thon on Sept 7.

🎯 Specific : You want to raise $25,000 for breast cancer research during your annual walk-a-thon. 📈 Measurable : Your goal is measurable in dollars. 🏆 Achievable : Your nonprofit raised $22,000 last year. Increasing your fundraising revenue to $25,000 this year seems achievable. 🙌 Relevant : You’ve hosted walk-a-thons before to great success. 🗓 Time-Bound : You have until the end of Sept. 7 to achieve your goal.

Goal 2: Increase your number of new donors to 60 by the end of the walk-a-thon.

🎯 Specific : You want 60 new donors to give during your annual walk-a-thon. 📈 Measurable : Your goal is measurable in your number of new donors. 🏆 Achievable : You acquired 50 new donors last year. Acquiring 60 this year seems reasonable. 🙌 Relevant : You’ve hosted walk-a-thons before to great success. 🗓 Time-Bound : You have until the end of Sept. 7 to achieve your goal.

3. Define a Fundraising Budget

It’s time to crunch the numbers . As we just mentioned, it’ll come in handy to first review your budget and expenses from last year.

Create a spreadsheet that lists the items and costs of everything you need to budget for. Here are a few line items to consider:

• Fundraising platform costs (unless the platform is free )
• Personnel and administrative expenses
• Credit card processing fees
• Marketing costs (direct and indirect)
• Social media advertising
• Fundraising consultant fees

If this is your first campaign of this nature, do your research to estimate roughly how much each of these items may cost. Luckily with a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, you might find that a small budget can go a long way

4. Decide on a Fundraising Tactic

Here are a few questions you should ask yourself, your staff, and maybe even your active board members:

❓ What is your fundraising campaign’s message? It should be tangible, clear, concise, and emblematic of your organisation’s work.

❓ What type of fundraising campaign do you want to do? Are you planning a Facebook birthday fundraiser , social media challenge, grassroots community effort , etc.?

❓ Are you going to focus solely on individual donors or teams? Corporate sponsorships? Public figures or influencers? Some combination of the three?

❓ How will you encourage major donors to give more? Are you going to gamify your fundraiser by encouraging team members to compete against one another

to rank on a leaderboard? Will you entice them with major gifts for each donation level?

❓ What fundraising software will you use to track and quantify the success of your campaign?

The questions might feel endless at first, but they’re key to settling on a fundraising idea and getting the planning process started. Ultimately, you’ll be glad you spent the time preparing up front.

You may find yourself revisiting and updating your basic plan as you go, and that’s okay! Your answers to these questions are meant to give you direction — they’re not etched in stone … yet.

If you feel like you need a little help, we have multiple free campaign templates for you to use.

5. Create a Timeline

Now that you’ve identified your goals, budget estimates, and approach, it’s time to put everything together. Create a fundraising campaign timeline , and fill it out thoroughly with each step of the process to launch your campaign — remember, details matter!

Your timeline will serve as your team’s roadmap throughout your campaign and keep everything on track. Think of it as a checklist that you’ll complete to execute your fundraising efforts. This could include creating a campaign website , scheduling social media posts, sending email blasts, and obtaining donor prizes.

Review it with your team to ensure you’ve covered all your bases and your timeline is realistic, then assign tasks accordingly.

Pro tip: Sometimes it’s easier to start at your campaign’s launch date, then work backwards.

6. Give Your Campaign a Test Run

Go over your campaign before launching it to identify any potential errors. If something isn’t working, it’s better to fix it before, rather than during.

Review your event’s timeline, determine when you’ll engage with your donors, and what you’ll say. Ask your team for feedback, and make corrections as you go.

You should also test your idea with your regular, long-term donors and supporters to get their feedback. For a peer-to-peer campaign, they could offer some insight, like what attracts their followers, or how to clarify your overall message.

The more prepared you are, the more successful your efforts are likely to be.

7. Market Your Campaign

With your nonprofit fundraising campaign in place, it’s time to start marketing ! There are literally hundreds of ways to market to your current donors. For example, if you’re running a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, here are a few marketing tactics to consider:

📢 Create a landing page on your website highlighting your campaign, complete with an effective call to action and a user-friendly donation form .

📊 Create a wealth of organic content (copy, photos, videos, charts, graphs, etc.) to share on your website and social media.

📲 Post about your campaign on social media, and encourage your donor base to get their peers involved.

📝 Create an online petition, manifesto, or declaration to generate a list of potential donors prior to your campaign launch.

🧑🏽‍💻 Start an email marketing campaign. The average open rate for nonprofit emails is 25.17% , compared to the average open rate across a spectrum of industries, which is only 21.33%.

🗞 Contact media partners — like your local newspapers, radio, and other relevant sources — that may be inclined to boost your message.

8. Launch Your Campaign

You’re ready to launch! Congratulations! All your planning and hard work has led you to this point.

There are three key things you need to focus on at this point:

• Engage with your donors. This will help you leave a memorable impression and improve your donor retention rates.
• Have fun! If you’re enjoying yourself, your donors will, too — and in some cases, they’ll be inclined to donate more.
• Be flexible. Sometimes supporters will provide helpful feedback during your campaign, or you may need to make tweaks to adapt to changing circumstances. Also, it never hurts to have a back-up plan, just in case!

9. Send Out Thank-You Notes and Analyse Your Results

The final step to build into your fundraising plan is to thank donors. Thank your donors throughout the entire event, not just when they’re donating to your cause. After your fundraising event ends, thank them again for participating and share your campaign’s impact and success. Tell donors what you’ll be able to do with the funds raised, and stay upbeat, optimistic, and appreciative, even if you didn’t reach your goal (now you’ve got a goal for next year!).

In addition to thanking your donors, meet with your team and analyse the results of your fundraising efforts. Now that you have data, you can look back on every step of the campaign and determine what went well and what you can improve upon next time. The more you learn, the better chances you’ll have at running successful campaigns in the future.

A Fundraising Plan Template Can Organise Your Campaign

Not every campaign will emphasise each of the steps we’ve mentioned in this fundraising plan template, but it’s a general format that can help you map out your ideas. We know that planning a fundraising campaign can be a challenge. At Raisely, we’re simplifying the process with an all-in-one fundraising platform that provides plenty of tools to get a headstart on your next campaign, including easy website creation, a signature three-step donation form, and more.

Ready to create your next campaign?

Anthony Greer is a freelance content writer who crafts consistent, engaging, on-brand copy for nonprofits, real estate, and digital marketing agencies.

Giving Tuesday 2023 Guide: everything you need for a successful campaign

7 Key Elements of a Successful Regular Giving Program: A Comprehensive Guide for Charities & Nonprofits

Double your regular giving with Raisely’s new upsell feature

Boost your fundraising by up to 5% in 10 minutes: dollar handle order and default amounts

Stay in the loop..

Delivered to your inbox twice a month.

Grab This Fundraising Plan Template for New Nonprofits

In the beginning you may self-fund your fledgling organization. (Many founders do.)

Or you may ask your friends, coworkers, and family to give a few bucks.

But long term, you can’t run an entire organization from the generosity of only a handful of people. And unless you’re independently wealthy with an endless revenue stream, you can’t self-fund forever (nor should you – more on that in a minute).

What this means is that over time, your fundraising approach should change to meet the needs of your growing organization.

The bottom line: you need a fundraising plan built on the right fundraising plan template — one that outlines goals, actions, and the specific results you want.

What Fundraising Plan Template is Right For YOU?

No two nonprofits are exactly alike.

And no two fundraising plans should be exactly alike either.

That means you need a fundraising plan template that meets YOUR needs, plays to YOUR strengths, and helps you reach YOUR goals.

Ideally, your fundraising plan should include your overall fundraising goal and the strategies you plan to use to reach that goal.

Your fundraising plan should include a detailed activities calendar showing all the various ways you plan to generate funds during the year.

Your plan should also include what you’ll do when you’re NOT asking for money like donor communications, stewardship, and warm touches — all designed to give the donor a GREAT experience.

The more detail you include in your fundraising plan template, the easier fundraising will be throughout the year because you’ll always know what to do next with no more guessing or DIY disasters.

The Challenge of Fundraising Planning for New Nonprofits

In short, they can see what worked and what didn’t, and use that to decide what to do in the coming year.

They also have the benefit of knowing their donors, including the reasons why people give and what they’re passionate about.

As a new nonprofit, you don’t have these benefits.

But fear not – you can use this to your advantage!

Since this is your first year, you won’t have any “but that’s how we did it last year” to deal with. You can start with a clean slate and build the fundraising plan you want.

You also have the chance to start identifying ideal donor prospects and create a plan for finding them in the community.

The good thing is, you can take the time now to develop the voice of your organization and define your brand. These are two key elements that’ll form the basis for fundraising.

All of these will get you started on the right foot for donor-based fundraising, which is the best way to create fundraising revenue you can count on.

Remember that in the early months of your nonprofit, you are essentially “training” your supporters about what they can expect from you.

That makes this a great opportunity to purposefully decide how you want your new nonprofit to be seen.

Fundraising Planning When You Are New to Fundraising

No one starts a nonprofit to raise money.

You started yours to make a difference.

Then you figured out that you needed funds to pay for the good work.

When you come to nonprofit leadership with no fundraising experience it makes planning tough.

That’s why having the right fundraising plan template can save you time, money, and headache!

Lucky for you, fundraising planning is a skill that can be learned, and it won’t be long before you’re on your way. (Hey, just stick around and keep reading this blog and you’ll learn A LOT!)

The key to success in fundraising is to be curious.

That means learn everything you can about how donor-based fundraising works so you can draft a fundraising plan to create that kind of revenue for your nonprofit.

As you plan, you may come up with good ideas that seem impossible to implement.

That’s when you’ll need to get creative and think outside the box.

Anytime you see or feel a hurdle in front of you, look for options.

Don’t say “we can’t do that.” Say “HOW can we do that?”

Asking the right question can help you jump that hurdle or find a way around.

Even if You Can Self Fund, You Shouldn’t

In the early days of your nonprofit, you may be tempted to self fund (pay for everything yourself).

It might be your only option. And that’s ok.

If you’re fortunate enough to have the resources to support your nonprofit, that’s wonderful and it’s a great thing to know that you have that in your back pocket.

But that’s where you should keep it.

That means that there’s only so much you can do by yourself.

You NEED the support of people who are excited about the work your nonprofit will do.

And the more of those people you have around you, the more revenue you’ll have and the more lives you can change.

Plus, you’ll experience less stress because you’ll know you have financial supporters who always have your back.

So, be sure to build in activities into your fundraising plan to find more of these ideal donors.

You see, people want to help and they want to feel like they’re a PART of something that matters.

Self-funding and just sharing results with your followers is robbing them of the opportunity to be a part of the team!

You’re basically taking away the opportunity for them to invest both emotionally and financially.

Many supporters feel a real connection when they send that donation. Their gift helps fulfill their personal philanthropic goals.

So, by all means, find people who are most likely to care about your cause and give them the chance to give.

Let’s Build Your Fundraising Plan!

Okay, it’s time to draft your plan. Are you ready??

Use the 3 steps below and the 1-Page Fundraising Plan template you can download at the end of the article to get started.

Step 1: Set a Fundraising Goal

Having an open call for donations just to help your organization may work a few years down the road once you’ve developed a strong support base, but as a new nonprofit it won’t garner much results.

It also doesn’t work to blindly ask people to give when you can’t tell them how the money will be used.

In other words, don’t try to raise as much as you can then figure out how to spend it.

Start by mapping out what programs and services you plan to offer during the year. You need to figure out:

• What are you trying to provide?
• How many will you serve?
• What will be the impact?
• How much will it cost?

Plan Your Programs FIRST: You need to plan your programs for the year before you set your fundraising goal.

What specifically are you doing to accomplish your mission? Think in terms of action.

It’s not enough to say you want to make sure children don’t go hungry. You have to be more specific. You want to provide X number of meals to X number of children for X amount of time.

• What will this cost? This number is your direct program cost .
• How much do you need to run your nonprofit this year? This includes rent/facility costs, payroll, admin, fundraising, phones, and any other expenses you need to keep the organization’s doors open. These are your operating costs.
• Add those two together to get your fundraising goal.   

       Direct Program Cost + Operating Costs = Fundraising Goal Amount – this is how much you need for the year!

When you figure out your fundraising goal down to the penny, you can build a fundraising plan to help you reach that goal without guessing.

Step 2: Choose the RIGHT Fundraising Strategies

When your nonprofit is new, it’s easy to grab at any opportunity for some quick cash.

You might get really excited about restaurant nights, candle parties, t-shirt sales, or voting contests.

And yes, sometimes there is a place for these types of fundraisers , especially when they’re planned and executed well..

But these should only be a small part of your overall fundraising strategy, and here’s why:

These “transactional” fundraisers do nothing to build a relationship with your donors. 

In fact, when people participate in these fundraisers, they’re not really donating at all.

They’re just eating at a restaurant or purchasing something for themselves, and it happens to benefit your nonprofit.

The difference between fundraisERS and fundraisING is just that: what the person gets in return.

True donor-based fundraising involves getting donations for your cause just because people believe in the work you’re doing and they trust you to be responsible stewards of their hard-earned money.

Their giving is “transformational” meaning they give to make a difference, not to receive something in return.

Again, there are times when transactional fundraisers are fun and can fit into your overall fundraising plan.

Just remember that they’re quick cash with no future rewards.

For a new nonprofit, the most beneficial strategy is to think longer term. Think about the kinds of fundraising activities you’ll need in place to create the revenue you must have to fund your nonprofit when everything is up and running.

Choose fundraising strategies that:

• Play to your strengths personally. Don’t try to do something you’ll hate doing.
• Get you the MOST bang for the buck . Don’t do lots of things that only generate nickels and dimes. You may have to try several things before you figure out what works — just ditch the ineffective efforts fast.
• Are “rinse and repeatable.” Do productive fundraising that can be repeated every year. Then you won’t be reinventing the wheel every January.
• Build your donor family. THE most important thing you can do as a fundraiser is to bring in new donors . So make sure the fundraising activities you’re planning cannot only raise money but identify new donors, too.
• Help you take big steps toward your fundraising goal. You won’t have time to use every idea you or your Board come up with, so choose ones that will bring in enough money to be really worth it.

If you’re not sure what fundraising strategies to include in your fundraising plan, start with these:

• Smaller online campaigns. You can use really powerful messaging, photos, and videos to show the need and how your programs will meet that need, even if you haven’t gotten started yet. Small online campaigns are great for educating followers and bringing in new donors. Start small with a modest goal so you can have a win. Over time you’ll realize that you can grow these efforts and ask for more as the general public builds their trust in you.
• Monthly giving. NEVER underestimate the power of small monthly donations. It may not seem like much at first to receive a $10 monthly gift, but over the year that’s $120. That’s way more than you would get if that same person bought a t-shirt or ate a spaghetti dinner. Also, studies show that monthly donors are far more likely to leave something to the charities they support in their wills or estates. Think long game and treasure the folks that give each month, no matter the amount!
• Periodic appeals . If you want to raise money like the pros do, build a donor base and ASK people to give two or three times during the year using a powerful appeal (aka fundraising letter). The more people you have in your donor family and the better job you do of giving them a great experience when they give, the more money you can raise and the easier it will be. Yes, there’s both art and science to a good appeal, and you can learn how to do it in a way that motivates people to give.

If you plan to enroll in a grocery store affinity card program or something similar, be sure to include times in your fundraising plan when you’ll promote these.

These Strategies Can Be Unproductive At First

In your first year or two, you’ll spend a lot of time testing fundraising strategies to see what works and what doesn’t.

You may have a few ideas of where to start raising money, and if they include any of these, you may want to think again.

• GoFundMe or other crowdfunding sites . No one wakes up in the morning and says “Gee, I feel like giving some money away. I think I’ll find a good one online!” You can set up a GoFundMe campaign, but you’ll still need to drive traffic to that site to get people to give.
• Grants. Grants are not a good option for new nonprofits because 99% of funders want to see several years’ worth of data showing the impact your programs have. You simply don’t have the history as a brand-new nonprofit. So skip grants until you reach year 3 or 4 and are grant ready.
• “Rich people.” People don’t give based on their wealth. They give based on their interest and your value. Targeting “rich people” is a waste of time. Just because they have money doesn’t mean they’ll give to charity, and if they’re philanthropic, they probably have a favorite cause (and that may or may not be YOUR cause).
• Social media . Yes, you need to create social media accounts for your new nonprofit, but it takes time to build the audience. And you need a decent-sized audience before you’ll raise decent money from Facebook.

Crowdfunding, grants, and social media will work for you later. But right now, they probably won’t generate the results you’re looking for.

Ultimately, if you want to raise the money you need this year and every year to come, start NOW by working on fundraising – not fundraisers .

Step 3. Chunk It Up and Write It Down!

Once you’ve chosen the fundraising strategies you want to use, it’s time to get everything in writing.

Because if the plan isn’t in writing, it isn’t real.

You need two main pieces for your fundraising plan: a yearly calendar and a 90-day action plan .

A 90-day action plan allows you to break your year down into smaller segments of time that feel much more manageable. It also helps you to think through the tasks that need to be completed for each fundraising effort — further breaking things into smaller bites that are easier to plan for and that you can hopefully delegate or get help with. Plus, life changes FAST, and you’ll need to be able to adjust quickly.

To create a 90-day action plan, start at the date of the event and work backwards . What should be completed a week before that event? What about 2 weeks, or a month before? Is there printing to be ordered? Any other initiative that requires lead time? These are the things that are commonly overlooked, but really important for a professional event. So start mapping it out and you won’t let these things fall through the cracks!

In your 90-day action plan, identify each separate task to be completed, a due date or deadline, and who will get it done. That will help make sure you stay on schedule for getting things done on-time.

Sometimes, creating your 90-day action plan with good old-fashioned paper, markers, and stickies is really helpful. I like sticky notes because if you change your mind during the planning process about where something goes, it’s no big deal to move the sticky. Plus, it’s fun to color-code your plan using different colored stickies or markers.

Be sure to grab the New Nonprofit’s 90-Day Action Plan below!

Patience, Grasshopper

Good fundraising is built on relationships. Relationships are built on trust. And that takes time to develop.

It’s not realistic to expect to raise $50,000 in 2 weeks as a new nonprofit.

You need to give people time to get to know you and understand that the work you are doing is important.

Give them time and reasons to fall in love with your mission, and the support will follow!

Additional Resources

1-Page Fundraising Plan. Download our simple annual fundraising plan template so you can see at a glance what’s happening and when. www.GetFullyFunded.com/plan

New Nonprofit’s 90-Day Action Plan. Get help laying out your fundraising plan template for the next 90 days with these worksheets. www.GetFullyFunded.com/Action

Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!

About the author: sandy rees.

Related Posts

The Ultimate List: Tools Every Small Nonprofit Needs to Be More Productive

Set SMART Fundraising Goals for Fundraising Success

Create a Fundraising Plan that Plays to Your Fundraising Strengths

How to Write a Successful Annual Fundraising Plan in 6 Steps

How to Grow Your Nonprofit When You’re a Team of One

[…] Wild Apricot has an article about How to Prepare a Nonprofit Fundraising Plan. We especially like the section on thinking through fundraising trends. Get Fully Funded has a guide specifically for new non-profits. So if you yelled “but I don’t have any past results” when you started reading this article, check out this Fundraising Plan Template for New Nonprofits. […]

The 1-Page Fundraising Plan link appears to be broken. I’d love to use it. Is anyone else having this problem?

Hi Anna, we’re so sorry you are having trouble with the link. It is working on our end, but please try this link and it should work for you: https://getfullyfunded.com/plan/

Hi, great ideas and strategy. I also recommend the following article which discusses types of fundraisers, how nonprofits raise money, and steps to create a solid nonprofit fundraising plan. Embedded in the article is a fundraising plan template that you may find very useful: https://karelane.com/blog/how-to-create-a-bulletproof-non-profit-fundraising-plan-7-steps/

I have tried several times to order the Fundraising Plan but have not been successful. I tried the link you provided on the webpage and in your comment above. Thanks.

Sorry you’re having trouble with it. Try this link: https://getfullyfunded.com/plan

This was such a helpful article on fundraising. It truly is a great place for me to start thank you! However, it doesn’t seem like the link for the free plan is working. I keep refreshing my email and I don’t see it :/

Sorry Andrea. I just double-checked it and it’s working. Try it again: https://getfullyfunded.com/plan

Leave A Comment Cancel reply

Product Overview

• Donor Database Use a CRM built for nonprofits.
• Marketing & Engagement Reach out and grow your donor network.
• Online Giving Enable donors to give from anywhere.
• Reporting & Analytics Easily generate accurate reports.
• Volunteer Management Volunteer experiences that inspire.
• Bloomerang Payments Process payments seamlessly.
• Mobile App Get things done while on the go.
• Data Management Gather and update donor insights.
• Integrations
• Professional Services & Support
• API Documentation

Learn & Connect

• Articles Read the latest from our community of fundraising professionals.
• Guides & Templates Download free guides and templates.
• Webinars & Events Watch informational webinars and attend industry events.
• DEI Resources Get DEI resources from respected and experienced leaders.
• Ask An Expert Real fundraising questions, answered.
• Bloomerang Academy Learn from our team of fundraising and technology experts.
• Consultant Directory
• Comms Audit Tool
• Donor Retention Calculator
• Compare Bloomerang
• Volunteer Management

Guides & Templates

Get the latest fundraising articles

Essential reading.

These free eBooks are rooted in best practices that are based on researched and tested principles of philanthropy.

Explore Additional Guides

Utilize these free templates to save time and get back to making the world a better place.

Spread joy through a better fundraising experience.

Free Nonprofit Business Plan Templates

By Joe Weller | September 18, 2020

• Share on Facebook
• Share on LinkedIn

Link copied

In this article, we’ve rounded up the most useful list of nonprofit business plan templates, all free to download in Word, PDF, and Excel formats.

Included on this page, you’ll find a one-page nonprofit business plan template , a fill-in-the-blank nonprofit business plan template , a startup nonprofit business planning timeline template , and more. Plus, we provide helpful tips for creating your nonprofit business plan .

Nonprofit Business Plan Template

Use this customizable nonprofit business plan template to organize your nonprofit organization’s mission and goals and convey them to stakeholders. This template includes space for information about your nonprofit’s background, objectives, management team, program offerings, market analysis, promotional activities, funding sources, fundraising methods, and much more. 

Download Nonprofit Business Plan Template

One-Page Business Plan for Nonprofit Template

This one-page nonprofit business plan template has a simple and scannable design to outline the key details of your organization’s strategy. This template includes space to detail your mission, vision, and purpose statements, as well as the problems you aim to solve in your community, the people who benefit from your program offerings, your key marketing activities, your financial goals, and more.

Download One-Page Business Plan for Nonprofit Template

Excel | Word | PDF

For additional resources, including an example of a one-page business plan , visit “ One-Page Business Plan Templates with a Quick How-To Guide .”

Fill-In-the-Blank Nonprofit Business Plan Template

Use this fill-in-the-blank template as the basis for building a thorough business plan for a nonprofit organization. This template includes space to describe your organization’s background, purpose, and main objectives, as well as key personnel, program and service offerings, market analysis, promotional activities, fundraising methods, and more. 

Download Fill-In-the-Blank Nonprofit Business Plan Template

For additional resources that cater to a wide variety of organizations, visit “ Free Fill-In-the-Blank Business Plan Templates .”

Startup Nonprofit Business Planning Template with Timeline

Use this business planning template to organize and schedule key activities for your business. Fill in the cells according to the due dates, and color-code the cells by phase, owner, or category to provide a visual timeline of progress.

Download Startup Nonprofit Business Planning Template with Timeline

Excel | Smartsheet

Nonprofit Business Plan Template for Youth Program

Use this template as a foundation for building a powerful and attractive nonprofit business plan for youth programs and services. This template has all the core components of a nonprofit business plan. It includes room to detail the organization’s background, management team key personnel, current and future youth program offerings, promotional activities, operations plan, financial statements, and much more.

Download Nonprofit Business Plan Template for Youth Program

Word | PDF  | Google Doc

Sample Nonprofit Business Plan Outline Template

You can customize this sample nonprofit business plan outline to fit the specific needs of your organization. To ensure that you don’t miss any essential details, use this outline to help you prepare and organize the elements of your plan before filling in each section.

Download Sample Nonprofit Business Plan Outline Template

Nonprofit Startup Business Planning Checklist Template

Use this customizable business planning checklist as the basis for outlining the necessary steps to get your nonprofit organization up and running. You can customize this checklist to fit your individual needs. It includes essential steps, such as conducting a SWOT analysis , fulfilling the research requirements specific to your state, conducting a risk assessment , defining roles and responsibilities, creating a portal for board members, and other tasks to keep your plan on track.

Download Nonprofit Startup Business Planning Checklist Template

Tips to Create Your Nonprofit Business Plan

Your nonprofit business plan should provide your donors, volunteers, and other key stakeholders with a clear picture of your overarching mission and objectives. Below, we share our top tips for ensuring that your plan is attractive and thorough.

• Develop a Strategy First: You must aim before you fire if you want to be effective. In other words, develop a strategic plan for your nonprofit in order to provide your team with direction and a roadmap before you build your business plan.
• Save Time with a Template: No need to start from scratch when you can use a customizable nonprofit business plan template to get started. (Download one of the options above.)
• Start with What You Have: With the exception of completing the executive summary, which you must do last, you aren’t obligated to fill in each section of the plan in order. Use the information you have on hand to begin filling in the various parts of your business plan, then conduct additional research to fill in the gaps.
• Ensure Your Information Is Credible: Back up all the details in your plan with reputable sources that stakeholders can easily reference.
• Be Realistic: Use realistic assumptions and numbers in your financial statements and forecasts. Avoid the use of overly lofty or low-lying projections, so stakeholders feel more confident about your plan. 
• Strive for Scannability: Keep each section clear and concise. Use bullet points where appropriate, and avoid large walls of text. 
• Use Visuals: Add tables, charts, and other graphics to draw the eye and support key points in the plan.
• Be Consistent: Keep the voice and formatting (e.g., font style and size) consistent throughout the plan to maintain a sense of continuity.
• Stay True to Your Brand: Make sure that the tone, colors, and overall style of the business plan are a true reflection of your organization’s brand.
• Proofread Before Distribution: Prior to distributing the plan to stakeholders, have a colleague proofread the rough version to check for errors and ensure that the plan is polished.
• Don’t Set It and Forget It: You should treat your nonprofit business plan as a living document that you need to review and update on a regular basis — as objectives change and your organization grows.
• Use an Effective Collaboration Tool: Use an online tool to accomplish the following: collaborate with key personnel on all components of the business plan; enable version control for all documents; and keep resources in one accessible place.

Improve Your Nonprofit Business Planning Efforts with Smartsheet

Empower your people to go above and beyond with a flexible platform designed to match the needs of your team — and adapt as those needs change. 

The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed. 

When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time.  Try Smartsheet for free, today.

Discover why over 90% of Fortune 100 companies trust Smartsheet to get work done.

Charity Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Charity Business Plan

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 500 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their charity companies. We have the experience, resources, and knowledge to help you create a great business plan.

In this article, you will learn some background information on why business planning is important. Then, you will learn how to write a charity business plan step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

What is a Charity Business Plan?

A business plan provides a snapshot of your charity business as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategies for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.

Why You Need a Business Plan for a Charity

If you’re looking to start a charity business or grow your existing charity company, you need a business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your charity business to improve your chances of success. Your charity business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

Sources of Funding for Charity Businesses

With regards to funding, the main sources of funding for a charity business are personal savings, credit cards, bank loans, and major donors . When it comes to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan (hand it to them in person or email to them as a PDF file) and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to ensure that your financials are reasonable, but they will also want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business. Donations and bank loans are the most common funding paths for charity companies.

Finish Your Business Plan Today!

How to write a business plan for a charity business.

If you want to start a charity business or expand your current one, you need a business plan. The guide and sample below details the necessary information for how to write each essential component of your charity business plan.

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal of your executive summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the kind of charity business you are running and the status. For example, are you a startup, do you have a charity business that you would like to grow, or are you operating more than one charity business?

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan. 

• Give a brief overv iew of the charity business industry. 
• Discuss the type of charity business you are operating. 
• Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target customers. 
• Provide a snapshot of your marketing strategy. Identify the key members of your team. 
• Offer an overview of your financial plan.

Company Overview

In your company overview, you will detail the type of charity business you are operating.

For example, you m ight specialize in one of the following types of charity businesses:

• Public charity business: A charity business that is defined by the Internal Revenue Service as a “public service support,” is one that benefits the public at large. This may include chambers of commerce, labor unions, and certain types of insurance companies. If a charity business fits within the specifications set by the IRS, the charity is considered a 501c3 entity, and receives preferential tax treatment.
• Private charity business: By far, the majority of charities fall within the category of “private charities,” which can be identified as serving a specific group of people. This may include philanthropic foundations, churches or synagogues, and other clubs or associations that serve via a privately-funded means. If a private charity business fits within the specifications set by the IRS, the charity is considered a 501c3 entity and receives preferential tax treatment.

In addition to explaining the type of charity business you will operate, the company overview needs to provide background on the business.

Include answers to questions such as:

• When and why did you start the business?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include the number of people served, the number of charitable outcomes, reaching X number of geographic locations, etc.
• Your legal business structure. Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.

Industry Analysis

In your industry or market analysis, you need to provide an overview of the charity business industry.

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the charity business industry educates you. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating. 

Secondly, market research can improve your marketing strategy, particularly if your analysis identifies market trends.

The third reason is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section of your charity business business plan:

• How big is the charity business industry (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential target market for your charity business? You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Donor Analysis

The donor analysis section of your charity business plan must detail the individuals or business entities who donate or those you expect to donate to your charitable business. 

The following are examples of donor segments: individuals, families, foundations and corporations.

As you can imagine, the donor segment(s) you choose will have a great impact on the type of charity business you operate. Clearly, individuals would respond to different marketing promotions than corporations, for example.

Try to break out your target donors in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, including a discussion of the ages, genders, locations, and income levels of the potential donors you seek.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target donors . The more you can recognize and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your donors . Ideally you can speak with a sample of your target donors before writing your plan to better understand their needs.

Finish Your Charity Business Plan in 1 Day!

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your business plan?

With Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less!

Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are othe r charity businesses. 

Indirect competitors are other options that donors may contribute to that aren’t directly competing with your product or service. This includes service-related charitable endeavors, private foundations, and organizations that serve specific communities, etc. You need to mention direct competition, as well.

For each direct competitor, provide an overview of their business and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as

• What types of donors do they solicit ?
• What type of charity business are they?
• What is their donation model (cash, assets, estate-wealth)?
• What are they good at?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the donors’ perspective. And don’t be afraid to ask your competitors’ donors what they like most and least about them.

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you provide recognition for all your donors?
• Will you offer premium products or services for your top-tier donors?
• Will you provide consistent communication with your donors?
• Will you offer directorships or preferential placement for your donors?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.

Marketing Plan

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For a charity business plan, your marketing strategy should include the following:

Product : In the product section, you should reiterate the type o f charity company that you documented in your company overview. Then, detail the specific products or services you will be offering. For example, will you provide food for the homeless population? Will you improve the neighborhood park? Will you invest in artwork on behalf of your charity to support the art world? 

Value : Document the specific value your charity provides and how that compares to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of yo ur plan, yo u are presenting the products and/or services you offer and their respective values.

Place : Place refers to the site of your charity company. Document where your company is situated and mention how the site will impact your success. For example, is your charity business located in an affluent neighborhood, a warehouse, a standalone office, or is it purely online? Discuss how your site might be the ideal location for the donors who contribute and the services you provide.

Promotions : The final part of your charity business marketing plan is where you will document how you will drive potential donors and charitable recipients to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Advertise in local papers, radio stations and/or magazines
• Reach out to websites 
• Distribute flyers
• Engage in email marketing
• Advertise on social media platforms
• Improve the SEO (search engine optimization) on your website for targeted keywords

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your charity business, including answering calls, planning and providing fund-raising events or campaigns, correspondence with donors and charitable recipients, and maintaining records of acts of service.  

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to serve your Xth charity recipient, or when you hope to reach $X in donations. It could also be when you expect to expand your charity business to a new city.

Management Team

To demonstrate your charity business’ potential to succeed, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company. 

Ideally, you and/or your team members have direct experience in managing charity businesses. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act as mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in managing a charity business or top-tier donors who are regularly involved in your charity business. 

Financial Plan

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your donation and gift income statement, balance s heet, and cash flow statements.

Income Statement

An income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. In a charity business, profits can be made through sales; however, the majority of income is received from donor gifts and activity. Your income statement will show several avenues of income as a result. It will demonstrate your receipts and then subtract your costs to show the IRS the activity of your 501c3 organization. 

In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, will you hold 5 donor events each year, and/or offer acts of service weekly ? And will your charity business grow by 2% or 10% per year? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.

Balance Sheets

Balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. While balance sheets can include much information, try to simplify them to the key items you need to know about. For instance, if you spend $50,000 on building out your charity business, this will not give you an immediate return on the investment. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you maintain your charity business for years to come. Likewise, if a lender writes you a check for $50,000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Cash Flow Statement

Your cash flow statement will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your business, and ensure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can generate gifts or assets , but run out of money and go bankrupt. 

When creating your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing a charity business business:

• Cost of equipment and office supplies
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Other start-up expenses (if you’re a new business) like legal expenses, permits, computer software, and equipment

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your list of top-tier donors, or examples of how your charity has changed lives or communities for the better. 

Writing a business plan for your charity business is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the template above, by the time you are done, you will truly be an expert. You will understand the charity business industry, your competition, and your donors. You will develop a marketing strategy and will understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful charity business.

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your Charity business plan?

OR, Let Us Develop Your Plan For You

Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of companies who have gone on to achieve tremendous success.   Click here to see how a Growthink business plan consultant can create your business plan for you.  

Charity Business Business Plan FAQs

What is the easiest way to complete my charity business plan.

Growthink's Ultimate Business Plan Template allows you to quickly and easily write your charity business plan.

How Do You Start a Charity Business?

Starting a charity business is easy with these 14 steps:

• Choose the Name for Your Charity Business
• Create Your Charity Business Plan
• Choose the Legal Structure for Your Charity Business
• Secure Startup Funding for Your Charity Business (If Needed)
• Secure a Location for Your Business
• Register Your Charity Business with the IRS
• Open a Business Bank Account
• Get a Business Credit Card
• Get the Required Business Licenses and Permits
• Get Business Insurance for Your Charity Business
• Buy or Lease the Right Charity Business Equipment
• Develop Your Charity Business Marketing Materials
• Purchase and Setup the Software Needed to Run Your Charity Business
• Open for Business

Where Can I Download a Free Business Plan Template PDF?

Click here to download the pdf version of our basic business plan template.

Our free business plan template pdf allows you to see the key sections to complete in your plan and the key questions that each must answer. The business plan pdf will definitely get you started in the right direction.

We do offer a premium version of our business plan template. Click here to learn more about it. The premium version includes numerous features allowing you to quickly and easily create a professional business plan. Its most touted feature is its financial projections template which allows you to simply enter your estimated sales and growth rates, and it automatically calculates your complete five-year financial projections including income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. Here’s the link to our Ultimate Business Plan Template.

Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of companies who have gone on to achieve tremendous success.  

Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates

All Formats

Table of Contents

5 steps to write a fundraising plan, 6+ fundraising plan templates, 1. annual fundraising plan template, 2. non profit fundraising plan template, 3. sample fundraising plan template, 4. development fundraising plan, 5. fundraising plan model, 6. fundraising strategic plan, 7. sample fundraising plan, plan templates, how to write a fundraising plan [5+ templates to download].

Throughout the world, nonprofit organizations hold fundraising drives for many reasons including humanitarian causes as well as research and development. Nonprofits need funding and support from the government and profit or business organizations to survive and keep serving their audience. However, many still fail to plan, specifically startups and smaller charities without realizing that effective fundraising planning makes a lot of difference in the success of campaigns and the success of the organization as a whole.

Step 1: Define Your Goals

Step 2: don’t follow hunches, step 3: identify your strongest supporters, step 4: create a timeline, step 5: finalize your plan and document it.

More in Plan Templates

Simple charity marketing plan template, nonprofit organization fundraising plan template, nonprofit fundraising development plan template, sample charity event marketing plan template, public outreach plan template, fundraising strategic plan template for nonprofits, fundraising operational plan template, volunteer recruitment plan template, fundraising work plan template, fundraising strategic plan template.

• 7+ Financial Plan Templates
• 10+ Operational Plan Templates
• 9+ Training Plan Templates
• 5+ Shooting Schedule Template
• 11+ School Counselor Lesson Plan Templates in PDF | Word
• 9+ Interdisciplinary Lesson Plan Templates in PDF | MS Word
• 10+ Business Continuity Plan Templates in Google Docs | Ms Word | Pages | PDF
• 18+ Compensation Plan Templates in Google Docs | MS Word | Pages | PDF
• 10+ Executive Bonus Plan Templates in PDF
• 8+ Facility Management Plan Templates in PDF
• 10+ Diversity Recruitment Plan Templates in PDF | MS Word
• 11+ Audit Corrective Action Plan Templates in MS Word | Excel | PDF
• 9+ Recruitment Agency Marketing Plan Templates in PDF
• 10+ Recruitment Marketing Plan Templates in PDF | MS Word
• 10+ Student Recruitment Plan Templates in PDF | MS Word

File Formats

Word templates, google docs templates, excel templates, powerpoint templates, google sheets templates, google slides templates, pdf templates, publisher templates, psd templates, indesign templates, illustrator templates, pages templates, keynote templates, numbers templates, outlook templates.

Project Plan Template for Fundraising

• Great for beginners
• Ready-to-use, fully customizable Subcategory
• Get started in seconds

• Set goals and track progress
• Organize resources into realistic tasks
• Visualize how each task contributes to the overall project

Benefits of a Fundraising Project Plan Template

• Easier time management when dealing with multiple tasks at once
• Reduced stress and better communication between team members
• Preparation allows for smooth execution, resulting in a successful fundraiser

Main Elements of a Project Plan Template for Fundraising

• Project goals
• Who is contributing funds to the project
• How will funds be used
• Timetable and milestones
• Risks and challenges

How to Use a Fundraising Project Plan Template

1. set goals., 2. research potential donors., 3. create an action plan., 4. promote your project on social media., 5. assess progress regularly & adjust strategies accordingly, related project plan templates.

• School Project Plan Template
• LMS Migration Project Plan Template
• Business Intelligence Project Plan Template
• AI Project Plan Template
• Product Project Plan Template

Related Templates

• Project Plan Template for Data Migration
• Project Plan Template for Business Process Reengineering
• Project Plan Template for Software Engineering
• Project Plan Template for Road Construction
• Project Plan Template for Survey

Template details

Free forever with 100mb storage.

Free training & 24-hours support

Serious about security & privacy

Highest levels of uptime the last 12 months

• Product Roadmap
• Affiliate & Referrals
• On-Demand Demo
• Integrations
• Consultants
• Gantt Chart
• Native Time Tracking
• Automations
• Kanban Board
• vs Airtable
• vs Basecamp
• vs MS Project
• vs Smartsheet
• Software Team Hub
• PM Software Guide