Nonprofits: Never Fundraise Without the Financial Facts. Download the Ultimate Financial Checklist for Fundraisers
Picture this: your fundraising team is gearing up for a digital campaign followed by the annual gala. Your goals are set per the annual budget and it’s time to plan. So, what’s your next step?
Typically, it’s meeting with your communications team. Time to plan press releases, social media graphics, online sponsorship forms, website updates and other marketing related deliverables.
But wait!
You’re missing one critical step that the most successful nonprofit organizations are doing on a regular basis. That is consulting with your finance and leadership team to understand the financial position of the organization, how that interacts with your fundraising goals, and analyze the data.
When you do a deeper dive into past, current, and projected financial and donor metrics the information will propel your fundraising efforts, and here’s how:
– Shape or reshape your giving goals
– Motivate the staff, committee members and board of directors
– Inform the messaging of your appeals (financial analysis can reveal true impact data)
– Reveal donor trends and opportunities
So, where do you start? How does the entire team prepare for and execute this financial analysis? Here’s a handy tool. Download the Ultimate Financial Checklist for Nonprofit Fundraisers, created by the nonprofit accounting gurus at Blue Fox. It offers step-by-step guidance in three phases:
– The Basics: get your accounting data up to date and as accurate as possible
– Interpret the Data: parse out your WINS and WINDFALLS and analyze the revenue story from a list of recommended reports
– Prepare Your Back Office: work smarter on financial reporting by leveraging technology
When your analysis is complete you will have a clear picture of how much money you need to fund a specific program, who is most likely to contribute and what information might encourage them to give.
Good luck. You got this!
