📌 Does a good strategy guarantee income?
Even a brilliant fundraising strategy can’t guarantee the money you need will come flowing in – but it definitely makes it more likely, and easier to achieve. A good strategy will help you spot opportunities and be ready to make the most of them, and help you avoid activities that would absorb too much time and effort for little gain.
📌 How can you tell if a strategy is working?
The most obvious measurement of a successful strategy is an increase in funds. However, this can take time to see, and many people want to know if things are going well or if they need to make changes to their plans ahead of this point.
🟥 You can identify other things you can monitor – you could count the number of positive responses to event invitations for example, the number or likes on a social media post promoting an activity, or by seeking feedback from key audiences.
🟧 You can also monitor the volume of activity you are doing and gauge whether the success rate is where you think it should be. For example, if you send out hundreds of letters to trusts asking for funds, you might expect a 5 - 10% success rate. If you are getting a lot less than this, it might be worth revisiting your letter, your assumptions or reviewing if this activity is the right one for you. If you seek feedback from key audiences and get positive feedback but not yet any funds, you might be encouraged to keep going with what you are doing reassured that some types of fundraising take time.