I find strategy to be an interesting concept overall: what strategies we implement, how we make decisions about our strategy and my all-time favourite…no real strategy at all.  

Strategy is simply a plan of action designed to achieve a goal. The real question is, what are your goals?  And this, right here is why a lot of churches and organizations struggle in their revenue development.  Because their strategies are not clearly tied to their goals. You can read more about that in a previous article on having a clear vision here. 

So, if you have not already had a chance to complete the Organizational Fundraising Assessment, you can click the link and download your own copy.  There are four main areas of fundraising strategy that most campaigns and initiatives would fall under and each would have their own unique costs and benefits.

Fundraising strategies:

1. Direct response
2. Major gifts
3. Legacy giving
4. Events

Direct Response

Direct response fundraising includes any mail or email campaigns, and any specific online campaigns like Giving Tuesday or a hybrid of a P2P email or social campaign.

These campaigns can really be run anytime, however there are more ideal times than others. The fall is probably the best time to run a direct response campaign. They are often low cost as well, depending on how many people you are mailing hard copy mail to.  Which is why email campaigns are more cost effective if you have the email addresses of the people you want to reach.

However, the caveat to direct mail, particularly email, is that it can be easily deleted and ignored, which is why direct response has always been a bit of a numbers game.  Traditionally the more you mail to, the better your response.  Response rates vary depending on how ‘qualified’ your list is, meaning the more past and current donors you have, the better your response rate will be.  Churches who do these campaigns tend to do fairly well because the donor list is a very qualified group of existing members and supporters. 

But the big win on direct response mail campaigns is they are very cost effective, and you can reach a lot of people.  The key is writing a good letter, or appeal.  This can be outsourced for a fairly reasonable cost, or you can do some research online to learn how to write an appeal letter that will increase your response rates.  You’ll do even better if you build some collateral media and campaign materials around the appeal about the impact your ministry has. 

Major Gifts & Legacy Giving

Few churches have a formalized legacy program and even fewer would have a major gift strategy.  And you may not necessarily need one, but it is always a good practice to give people opportunities to make significant gifts to the church, in their lifetime or as a legacy.  

It’s easier than you might think and small regular reminders of what gifts of that nature can accomplish might be all it takes.  The most important thing to remember when it comes to this strategy is that you must believethere are people in your congregation making significant gifts.  So, if they are not making them to you, they are making them somewhere else. 

I have been told many times by ministry staff how disappointed they were to find out about a church member giving a large donation to another organization when they had never given that sort of gift to the church.  I already know the answer, but I ask anyway, “Have you ever asked said person for a gift of that nature…because I’m pretty sure the organization that got the gift probably did.” 

Side note: The number one reason people do not give is because they were never asked.

This is another cost-effective strategy for fundraising financially, but there is a human cost.  The difficulty seems to be finding the right people to do the asking and relationship building.  Again, churches have an advantage here in that you can talk to some of your best donors every week about giving and share the impact your ministry is having.  But to get the larger gifts, you will likely have to cultivate a deeper relationship with some of your members.  This doesn’t have to be the minister, but it should be someone who is well respected in your congregation and able to speak to what transformational gifts can do.

Events

Everyone loves events.  They’re fun to plan, fun to attend but sadly, often have a very high cost to raise a dollar, or a low ROI.  But this is why I say events are really more for friendraising than fundraising. That’s not to say there aren’t some powerhouse events that raise A LOT of money.  But that isn’t the case for most charity events. 

To add to the burden of cost, events can take a huge amount of human capital.  But at the same time, provide the opportunity for a newcomer to get involved with your charity or church in a fun and easy way, as a participant or volunteer. Events are one of the best opportunities for outreach in the community. Which is why I say, it’s not always about the dollars. 

OTHER THINGS

TO CONSIDER

Costs of fundraising

There is a cost to fundraising.  It has taken a long time for industry and others to accept that.  In fact, there is still much debate about what the cost of fundraising should be.  Canada Revenue recommends that it should not exceed $0.42 on the dollar but that $0.24-$0.36 is a more acceptable range we should all be striving for. 

However, a recommendation is not a hard line, so of course, some charities do in fact exceed this.  And often, when they do, some watch dog like CBC Marketplace will come along and expose them. 

But the truth is, some fundraising strategies are more ‘profitable’ than others and offer a higher ROI.  I dislike that we use business terms in relation to fundraising and people’s passions…but we do, so there it is

ROI Doesn’t always have to be financial

The other point about costs and benefits is that the benefits don’t always have to be tied to a financial goal.  I can tell you without a doubt that I have raised more money at a well-planned donor appreciation event than any gala or other fundraising event in much of my career.  So, it’s important to consider the other goals that can be achieved with your fundraising strategy.  It’s not always about the money.  Most of the time it’s actually about inspiration, vision and the relationship.

Communications & Fundraising

One last thing to consider in your strategy, communications.  I’m always puzzled with organizations that don’t have fundraising and communications in cooperation with each other.  I just mentioned that fundraising is really about relationships and communications are a central part of that relationship.  For Christians, the relationship is with God and our church, for donors it’s with the charity and their mission.

This is where you should share your impact and tell your stories.   Communicate how you are living out your vision and your mission. Communication and relationship are at the centre of giving, so don’t exclude communications from your revenue development strategy.  It is integral to your success.

Let your data drive your initiatives

If you are sending two letters a year and only one of them is doing well.  Stop sending the underperforming letter and focus more resources on the one that is doing well.  The same should apply to your events and other strategies.  If they are underperforming, it might be time to shelve it.

Try new things and diversify. 

Everything has a shelf life.  Particularly events.  So, you need to be planning and looking at new initiatives every three to five years.   Coincidentally, a similar time frame in which I would recommend you review your strategic plan and goals. 

Utilizing a few different strategies for revenue generation is also recommended. COVID left a lot of charities who were heavily dependent on events for fundraising revenue scrambling to stay afloat. So much so, that several granting agencies are still giving ‘recovery’ and ‘resiliency’ grants for organizations to pivot and try to recover because they recognize the value of non-profit sector services to society.

God is asking Christians to give

In some church circles, talking about money, never mind asking for money, makes people uncomfortable. But the truth is God asks us for money. All we, as church leaders have to do is teach people about that principle. Now, whether it’s about teaching tithing or how much we should give, again, another heated debate, the principle of giving is clear. God is asking us to give. Period.

In my opinion, giving is the greatest gift God has given us (aside from eternal life that is). My hope is for everyone is to discover and feel the joy and blessings of giving in gratitude.  I don’t quote scripture much in my articles, but in this case, I think it is remarkable and not incidental, that in respect to giving, God invites us to test him.

Malachi 3:10

Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

Having a good fundraising strategy and executing it well is being disciplined and diligent with the resources God has entrusted to you and your church or organization. When you can accept stewardship as part of your ministry, amazing things will happen for your organization. 

Download the Organizational Fundraising Assessment and see what’s going on in your congregation’s stewardship program today.  Once you have the data you can move forward into a more informed stewardship plan.