From the course: Nonprofit Fundraising Tips

Your future focus

From the course: Nonprofit Fundraising Tips

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Your future focus

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- Let's talk about the future. Asking the question, where do I want to be in five years allows you to think about what you want and how you will get there. It keeps you focused on what matters to you most and sets you up to achieve your goals. In fundraising, it's important for you to know what's next, what's important to your organization, and what the big vision is for the future. In order to be an effective fundraiser, you need to know your organization's hopes and plans for the road ahead. Is there an expansion of services, programs, or physical space on the horizon? What are your plans to increase impact in the community, across your city or throughout the state that you serve? These are questions you'll likely receive from your current and future donors, and you'll want to be prepared to respond with confidence. Your organization's future focus should encompass plans for the next five to 10 years. These plans should be bold, but attainable, and you should be able to convey the confidence that you personally have in your organization when you share these plans with your donors. Donors want to feel that they're contributing to a lasting organization that is positively impacting lives. Being prepared to share what's new and next in your organization's long listed priorities can help inspire future investment and encourage current supporters to give big. Many philanthropists want to fund the expansion of proven programs and others love to have their gifts used as seed funding for something new and innovative. Both can be intrigued by a strong future focused statement from a savvy fundraising professional. By creating a brief statement in your own words that helps you share the organization's future focus, you'll be able to clearly and succinctly state to donors, here are our goals that will ensure the future of our mission for years to come.

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