Nonprofit Strategy

Template · Fundraising Strategy

Nonprofit fundraising plan template

A two-page fundraising plan template with revenue lines, targets, owners, and a board sign-off block. Sheets and Docs copies plus a Word file. No email required.

Nonprofit Strategy Editors. Published .

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Formats: Google Sheets, Google Docs, Word (DOCX). Free. The links work without an email. Licensed CC BY 4.0: use it, adapt it, credit this page.

This is the two-page plan described step by step in How to write a nonprofit fundraising plan. The guide explains the decisions. This page explains the fields. Fill it from the general ledger, not the donor database.

What is in it

Page one is a single table titled Revenue lines, with three header fields above it: Organization, Fiscal year, and Date adopted. The table has six columns: Revenue line, Last year (actual), Donors or funders, Target, Owner, and Grow, hold, or drop.

The rows are pre-labelled with seven lines: Individual gifts under $1,000, Individual gifts of $1,000 and above, Foundation grants, Government grants and contracts, Events (net), Corporate sponsorship, and Earned revenue. Two blank rows follow for lines the labels miss, such as bequests or membership dues, then a Total row.

Page two has four blocks in fixed order.

The first block is titled Growth lines. It has three numbered sections, one per line you chose to grow. Each section has four fields: Line, Target, Gap from last year, and Tactic. Tactic is one paragraph of no more than six sentences saying where the gap comes from in units the owner controls.

The second block is titled Retention target. It has four fields: Last year’s donor retention rate, This year’s retention target, Owner, and How it will be measured. The last field is one sentence naming the two donor lists you will compare and when.

The third block is titled Board commitments. It has three rows, each with a Commitment, a Count, and a By date. The rows are pre-labelled: Personal gift from every member, Introductions to the executive director, and Thank-you calls in the first quarter. Count is a number, not a range.

The fourth block is titled Sign-off. It has two signature lines, Board chair and Executive director, each with Name, Signature, and Date. Below them is a Review dates field with space for four quarterly dates, and a one-line statement that the board adopts the total target, the three growth lines, and its own commitments, and that staff may change tactics without further board action.

How to use it

Fill the fields in this order.

  1. Page one, Revenue line and Last year (actual). Use the closed books for the last full fiscal year. Show events net of direct costs. Split individual gifts at $1,000.
  2. Page one, Donors or funders. Count the distinct donors or funders behind each line from the donor database. This number drives the retention math.
  3. Page one, Grow, hold, or drop. Decide with the whole table in view. Mark exactly three lines Grow. Mark the rest Hold or Drop. Leave nothing blank.
  4. Page one, Target. Hold lines get last year’s actual. Drop lines get zero or the run-off amount. Growth lines get a single number you will decompose on page two.
  5. Page one, Owner. One staff name per line. Board members are not owners.
  6. Page two, Retention target. Fill this before the growth lines, because their targets depend on the rate you choose here.
  7. Page two, Growth lines. Write the Tactic paragraph for each of the three. If it needs more than three sources for the gap, lower the target.
  8. Page two, Board commitments. The board chair fills the counts with the executive director, before the board meeting.
  9. Page two, Sign-off. Adopt at a board meeting. Both signatures, both dates, and the four review dates.

Keep the signed copy as a PDF. Start each year from a fresh copy, with the prior year’s plan as the draft. At each quarterly review, bring one page of actuals against the page one targets. The Sheets copy sums the Total row automatically. The Docs copy and the Word file carry both pages laid out for printing.

When not to use it

Do not use it in the first year after a merger, a founder’s departure, or the loss of your largest funder. Last year’s actuals describe an organization that no longer exists. Write a six-month cash plan instead.

Do not use it when one government contract is most of your revenue. Page one will make the contract look like one row among seven when it is the whole organization.

Do not use it before the board has adopted a budget. The Target column is the revenue side of that budget, and without an expense side the Total row is arbitrary.

Do not use it during the silent phase of a capital campaign. The campaign has its own plan and counting rules, and a second document will confuse the board and the auditor.

Do not use it if one person raises all the money and also runs the programs. Fill page one only, and skip page two until a second person can own a line.

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