Fundraising planning can be pretty challenging, especially for newbies. Experienced fundraising organisers understand that there are certain factors involved to ensure that any fundraising plans will push through successfully. As well it ensures that no matter what hitches surface along the way, they can be immediately addressed and resolved.

By understanding these success factors and making the effort to achieve them, you are greatly reducing the chances of failure. In the end, this benefits not only the organisers but everyone in general, including, most importantly, the cause and the participants of the activity.

Here are the different factors that impact your fundraising planning and which are highly valuable tools in achieving your goals.

1. Inspiring vision and a worthy cause

Fundraising should be more about the cause and vision of the campaign than about the organisers, participants or the activity. Although these things are also very important. All else will fail unless your vision for the school or community is really worthy of the time and investments of people. That being said, it is important that the community understands the vision and goals of the campaign and that they develop a special interest in the cause.

2. Organisational leadership

Unless you have someone to lead the campaign with the right skill sets in event organising, you are at risk of failing. Organisation leadership is a technical skill that is developed over time. It is the ability to handle all phases of the event effectively and the skill to gather and instruct the right people to help you in your cause.

3. Efficient planning methodology

The method of planning is obviously crucial in the planning stage of the campaign. Understanding the concepts of planning at different levels is very important. This means that you need to determine who will be the one to sit down during certain parts of the planning and what needs to be discussed. Involving a small number of people could limit the ideas, while too many people may only cause distractions.

4. Financial management skills

Planning for a fundraising event involves money management. You need to have a clear understanding of the expenses, income, fund sourcing, and other financial matters related to the event. Lacking the ability to foresee these things will limit your opportunity to maximize the campaign and raise sufficient money for your cause.

5. Spirit of volunteerism

Fundraising is not a one-man show. It requires the efforts of a group of people who have the heart and skill to facilitate and run an activity. An active spirit of volunteerism in the community or inspiring volunteerism among peers is important to get the right people on the ship towards a successful campaign.

6. Impactful public relations

Fundraising is all about people. Understanding how to communicate effectively with the general public is an integral part of fundraising planning. It is very helpful in recruiting volunteers, approaching potential sponsors, and reaching participants to ensure that the campaigns get as much support as possible.

7. Supportive community

All efforts in a fundraising plan can be wasted if the community is not responsive to the call of the cause. A supportive community is very important as it constitutes the biggest part of the success of a fundraising activity. Having a community that understands and supports your cause makes planning easier for a successful campaign.

By knowing, understanding, and working with these success factors, there is a very slim chance for your fundraising activity to fail. Consequently, having the right strategy to ensure these factors is very important. Your fundraising success is as good as your planning and preparations.