Build a Successful Annual Fund Campaign: The Essential Guide

Annual Fund Campaign Essentials

Your nonprofit’s annual fundraising campaign is your biggest campaign of the year. As you plan your fundraising calendar, be sure to brush up on these annual fundraising essentials so your team can reach (and exceed) its goals this year.

Every year, your nonprofit raises money for its annual fund. This refers to the money set aside to cover essential operational costs of your organization, as well as funding used to supplement other ongoing campaigns.

Contributions to your annual campaign are considered “unrestricted funds,” meaning that your nonprofit can apply these gifts to any expenses you have. That makes finding annual fund supporters high on the priority list for nonprofits of all shapes and sizes.

However, because givers often consider your annual fundraising campaign to be less “urgent” than your other, more targeted campaigns, securing the supporters you need to reach your annual fund’s goal can sometimes be a real challenge.

Luckily, when your nonprofit applies an expert-level understanding of annual fundraising with a well-thought out annual fund campaign plan, there’s nothing stopping your team from securing the gifts you need and building lasting relationships with supporters.

Although reaching your annual fund’s goal is an essential factor in covering the operational expenses of your cause, many nonprofits fail to give annual fundraising the same attention as they do for other high-impact campaigns, like capital campaigns.

The fact of the matter is, though, that annual fundraising makes carrying out your nonprofit’s mission possible.

Better yet, your annual fund campaign calendar gives your team ample opportunity to strengthen relationships with supporters while building fundraising capacity.

Not only does that set your annual fundraising campaign up for success, but it also lays the groundwork for future fundraising achievements.

Some other benefits of robust annual fundraising include:

• • Building recognition of your cause and organization.

• • Learning more about what inspires your contributors.

• • Testing out new solicitation and stewardship strategies.

• • Boosting your giving retention rate.

• Introducing new supporters to your cause.

Finally, what’s the best reason to give more attention to your annual fundraising efforts? Reaching your annual fundraising goals is a sure-fire way to prove to givers that your organization is worthy of their support. Without that level of basic trust, soliciting gifts for other campaigns will be an uphill battle.

Timeline of an Annual Fund Campaign

One of the biggest factors at play when it concerns reaching your annual fund’s goals is successfully carrying out the timeline of your campaign. In preparing for your annual fundraising campaign, keep in mind these key benchmarks to be aware of.

During this planning phase, your team will convene to plan out your annual fundraising campaign and lay the necessary groundwork to carry it out over the next year. This typically will begin several months before your annual fund campaign actually launches.

Here’s how the first phase of your annual fundraising campaign should occur:

1. 1. 1. First, partner with a fundraising consultant if you haven’t already. Fundraising consultants can provide your team with wisdom and an outsider’s eye that will prove crucial to effectively planning your annual fund campaign. Your consultant should be among the campaign planning leadership to ensure their voice is heard.

1. 2. Next, develop a preliminary annual fundraising campaign plan with your team. Set your initial fundraising goal and compile a list of prospects for giving. Create assets like a case for support, gift range chart, and solicitation plan. Be sure to involve staff members, volunteers, important contributors, your board, and other key stakeholders.
2. 3. Then, conduct a fundraising feasibility study with your consultant. They’ll interview stakeholders in your organization and ask them how they feel about your preliminary campaign plan. After the study you’ll incorporate their feedback as you finalize your nonprofit’s annual fundraising plan.

During the last few months of your annual fundraising campaign, you’ll need to be aware of some necessary final steps. The following guidelines will help your team ensure that your goal is met and that the givers you’ve connected with will come back for your next campaign.

Your nonprofit should end your annual fundraising campaign by:

• • Promoting matching gifts. Did you know that as much as $10 billion in nonprofit gifts is left on the table every year by individuals who are unaware of how to receive an employer matched gift? Ensure that your annual fund gifts are maximized by promoting corporate matching gifts to your supporters throughout your campaign, and especially at the end.

• • Running a year-end fundraising initiative. The last months of the calendar year are some of the most successful for fundraising. Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve a large portion of your supporters will make charitable gifts, so be sure to steer them toward your annual fundraising campaign for a last-minute fundraising boost.

• Sending final appreciation letters. Even if you’ve already thanked your supporters for their contributions, near the finish line of your annual fund campaign your team needs to send out a final appreciation letter. This serves the dual purpose of showing thanks to givers as well as reminding them of your ongoing campaign.

Annual Fundraising Best Practices

Now that we’ve reviewed the ins and outs of planning and implementing your annual fundraising campaign, it’s time to take a look at some of our top strategies for making your annual fund campaign a big success.

When an organization hits fundraising roadblocks, there’s often an impulse to double down on your fundraising strategy. While snags in your fundraising plan are bound to happen, one of the keys to annual fundraising success is to always remain open to updating your fundraising plan.

As difficulties arise, confer with your fundraising consultant to determine how to change your approach. For example, if your team has trouble securing gifts at a certain level, you may need to revisit your prospect lists and do additional stewardship work.

Adapting to challenging situations has the added benefit of increasing your supporters’ belief in the trustworthiness of your organization. They’ll also appreciate your willingness to work for and with them to achieve your goals.