How to start a fundraising program

It’s super easy to start fundraising: just ask someone! If you want to start a fundraising program that really works, though… that’s another story. 

When you start fundraising, there is so much you don’t know

The truth is, fundraising is full of uncertainty. There is so much to learn, especially in the beginning. You might find yourself wondering things like: 

• Who do I ask? 
• What’s possible, and how much money is even out there?
• How do I explain my work?
• What is the right amount to request?
• When is money going to come in? Will it ever come in? 

All the unknowns clutter fundraising planning. It’s never as simple as just asking someone for money.

The simplicity of starting your fundraising is overshadowed by one big, giant, loud question: “How?”

You need a fundraising program

A fundraising program is more than just basic fundraising. A fundraising program is an intentional, strategic effort to try to raise the money you need for the least time, energy and money. 

When you run a fundraising program, you don’t just look at each individual. You look at different relationships, from the new prospects to your existing funding partners. When you think about your fundraising program, from day one you recognize that you and your organization have limited time and resources. You figure out how to focus on effective, authentic fundraising activities that feel better and are more sustainable. 

It’s important (not lazy!) to try to save time and effort. For most nonprofits, resources are precious: You want to invest as much as possible into program work that makes a difference. You don’t want to burn people out. And you don’t want to rely entirely on chance. This is why you need a program. 

Start wherever you are

In the very beginning, your efforts are concentrated on kick-starting the fundraising cycle.

Start by making a list of all of the people and organizations that have already committed to the cause. Whether you start with zero donors, one seed funder, or a handful of friends chipping in, your goal is to ensure that all your early hard work and sacrifice blossoms into something that can thrive.

Take care of those relationships. Then start identifying new prospects.

Prospects are any person or organization who might donate to your cause. In the beginning, your list might be general (like “local businesses” or “education foundations”). Do whatever research is needed to turn those ideas into specific names, funding programs, phone numbers, and email addresses.

Sometimes prospecting is exciting. You can’t wait to dive in — maybe you see hundreds of foundations in a grant database that look like they might support your work.

Other times this step is nerve-wracking – you can only identify one or two options and it feels like it’s not enough.

Don’t panic. The length of the list doesn’t really matter, not at first. Even one prospective donor is enough to get your fundraising program started.

Use the Fundraising Cycle

The process for raising money from foundations, government programs, major individual donors, or corporate sponsors is very similar: you start with your prospects list. Then, you prioritize the donors with the most potential.

This step usually takes some research and networking. Once you know which donors are the best fit and reachable, establish relationships which will lead to a request for support.

When you start a fundraising program, your prospects are all there with you at step one. It’s possible that 100% of all the funders in your cycle are all still prospects on day one. As you prioritize, build relationships, and make asks, funders start to spread out across your cycle.

Over time, you’ll have a list of prospects, a shorter list of funders with whom you are building trust, and an even shorter list of funders who have been asked for support. That’s the cycle in motion.

It looks more linear than it feels

The fundraising cycle looks orderly on paper, but donors don’t actually move through it on a predictable, synchronized path. Fundraising is not like elementary school, where every student in a class moves at the same time.

Some funders will flow from the prospect stage to the asking stage in an hour. Some will take years. As your fundraising program grows, your day will be spent doing a mix of qualifying work, asking, and stewardship. 

So take a second to appreciate this moment in time. You’ll never be at the very beginning again. For this one brief instant, all of your prospective donors are at the same stage. The future is a clean slate, where anything can happen. It might be scary, but there’s also so much potential. 

Learn as you go

The fundraising cycle doesn’t give answers, just a way to discover them.

The real power of the fundraising cycle is the way it helps you learn. It tracks how your funding relationships flow through the cycle, giving you feedback, data, and insight. When you see how funders respond, you’ll know if you need to focus more on prospecting or re-design your pitch deck.

As you learn from each experience, your confidence and clarity will grow.  

You can’t know the answers in advance, so go ahead… dive in.