Strategic Fund Development: Building Profitable Relationships That Last, Third Edition

The Written Fund Development Plan

It’s easier to carry out the process if you have some idea of what the result might look like. What do you want in your written fund development? Remember, this is a strategic plan that the board typically sees, talks about, and endorses. This is not your detailed operating plan. Make sure you find the right balance between sufficient strategic direction and too much operational detail.

The fund development plan is a written document, used regularly by staff, the development committee, and the board of directors. Like the organization’s strategic plan, the development plan sets direction, defines boundaries, and guides action.

Keep your fund development plan close at hand. Monitor progress, report on achievements, and develop interventions as necessary.

Decide the content areas of your fund development plan by facilitating a conversation with the development committee. This helps them accept the complexity, scope, and length of the resulting plan. Engage staff colleagues. Also talk briefly with the board about the scope and content of the plan.

Staff decides the format of the plan. Typically, plans include narrative sections as well as an outline of action steps/strategies and financial information. Review the common components, described in detail here. See Exhibit 9.2 for a summary. Note: This is neither an all-inclusive nor a requisite list. Invent what works for you. But make sure you keep key elements like relationship building and solicitation ...