Change it up for the New Year

You’ll be successful if you faithfully do the best you can with what you have

On a scale of 1 – 10 where 1 is “Terrible” and 10 is “100% Successful” where would you rate your ministry’s fundraising efforts in 2022?

This is actually a good question to talk about with your leadership team.  Because, unless you gave yourself a 9 or 10, then you need to plan to do something different in 2023.  And not only plan to do something different, but actually do something (or many things) different.

Here are 6 tips to get you started…

  1. Don’t Fear

Lots of people speak doom and gloom but don’t forget your big advantage “But God…”

God doesn’t succumb to anyone’s rules – He makes His own. So pray, seek God and then don’t be afraid to…

  1. Try Something Different

If what you did last year wasn’t a “10” then obviously you need to change things up. Look at what was working and work on improving it. But if your score was under 5 then your fundraising plan needs a radical upgrade, and that might involve doing things that make you feel uncomfortable.

  1. Up Skill

Guess what? You don’t have all the answers. There is a lot of stuff you don’t know, so it is important that you ‘keep your axe sharp” (remember that from last year?) Subscribe to some emails and sign up for some video training.  A little bit of good input each week is important to every leader.

  1. Look After and Celebrate with Your Team

Your team is full of wonderful people who share your vision for Christian broadcasting in your country. So make sure you plan ways you can make them feel special.  Celebrating success with them is always good, and it can just be a cake or cookies at staff meeting. Celebrating birthdays and wedding anniversaries is a feature of all Vision’s staff meetings.

  1. Do Your R&D

“Research and Development” is important, but I prefer the “Rob and Duplicate” definition.  Find someone who is achieving what you want to achieve and (adapt and) copy what they are doing. With the one caveat of “under God’s guidance”.

  1. Plan the Work, Work the Plan

None of this will work if you don’t put your plans into action.  So make a calendar (paper or digital) and then make sure you follow your plan.

So there are my 6 thoughts for this week to help set your ministry on the path to success in 2023.

Below are some recommended websites/blogs on fundraising to help you with 2, 3 and 5.

Record Your Donor Details

Here is a simple Excel spreadsheet as a starting place for recording your donor details.

Download

Read a little more on CRM systems.

CRM Software

There are literally hundreds of options for a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system for your ministry. There are some free options but usually they are limited to a short time or a small number of records.

One truly Free option worth exploring is TNTConnect

As CRM software is a rapidly changing field you are probably best to do your own search. But before you do here are some questions you should consider. Start by thinking about Strategy.

  • Are you doing agressive donor acquisition or more focussed on retention activity?
  • What Details do you want to store? For Who? Donors, Customers, Volunteers?
  • Where do you want to house your data? Locally? Cloud?
  • How many donors do you need to manage?
  • What questions do you need reports on?
  • How many people will need access to your donor details on a daily basis?
  • What other systems do you need to work with? eg email lists, websites, events, social media?
  • How will you manage Privacy and Security?

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