When is it time to bring in an outside professional to help assess your fundraising program? How do you know if your development efforts are in line with national averages? How do you measure success? How do you prove to your boss and your board that your efforts are paying off? This slide show outlines what is involved with a development audit, and why you might need one.
2024: The FAR, Federal Acquisition Regulations, Part 30
Do You Need a Development Audit?
1. Measuring Success: The
Development Audit
Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE
President, Linda Lysakowski, LLC
Linda Lysakowski.com: Dedicated to inspiring philanthropy and creativity
2. Why is it Important to Evaluate your
Development Program?
Funding sources expect more bang for
their buck!
Boards have greater expectations!
Organizations often feel development
is “dispensable.”
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3. How Do You Evaluate Success?
Development Audit
Self Evaluation
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4. What Needs to Be Evaluated?
Infrastructure:
Software
Policies and procedures
Case for support
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5. What Needs to Be Evaluated?
Donor Relations
Do you communicate with donors when you’re not
asking for money?
Do you let donors know how their money was used?
Do you thank donors promptly and accurately?
Do you recognize donors in meaningful ways?
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6. What Needs to Be Evaluated?
Awareness
Does your community know your
organization?
Is the media aware of your
organization?
What tools do you use to create
awareness?
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7. What Needs to Be Evaluated?
Development Program
Do you incorporate all types of fundraising?
Do you measure how successful each type of
fundraising is?
Do you incorporate this analysis into your
development plan?
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8. What Needs to Be Evaluated?
Human Resources—do you have the right people in
the right seats on the bus?
Board
Staff
Volunteers
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9. Infrastructure
Donor software:
Is your software doing what you need
to have it do?
Web based or not?
Coding
Reporting
Staff training
Budget
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10. Infrastructure
Policies and Procedures
Gift acceptance policies
Investment policies
Office procedures for receiving, recording,
reporting and acknowledging gifts
Development budget
Case for Support
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11. Awareness
Website
Social media
PR/development relationship
Media relations
Annual report
990 Form (U.S.)
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12. Fundraising Program
The integrated
development
program—don’t put all
your eggs in one basket
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13. Fundraising Program
Grants
Special events
Direct response
Social media
Major gifts
Capital campaign
Planned giving
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14. Do Your Program Outcomes Fall
Within Acceptable Standards?
Acquisition Mailings $1.25-$1.50 per $1 raised
Direct Mail Renewal $.20-.25 per $1 raised
Special Events $.50 per $1 raised
Foundation Proposals $.20 per $1 raised
Personal Solicitations $.10-.20 per $1 raised
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15. Constituencies
Are you reaching them all?
Individuals
Foundations
Corporations
Organizations
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16. Constituencies
How to reach individuals:
Direct response
Mail
Phone
Website
Social media
Events
In person: one-on-one
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17. Constituencies
How to reach foundations
Grant proposals
Personal contact
Trustee connections
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18. Constituencies
How to reach corporations
Proposals
Fact sheets
In person
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19. Constituencies
How to reach organizations
Speeches
Meetings
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20. Long Range Development Plans
Capital Needs
Endowment Needs
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21. Human Resources
Board
Staff
Volunteers
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22. Human Resources
Board:
Large enough?
Effectives?
Diverse?
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23. Human Resources
Staff
Do you have enough people in
development?
Do you provide training and support?
Do you invest in staff?
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24. Human Resources
Volunteers
How do you involve volunteers
in fundraising?
Do you provide training and
support?
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25. Assessing Current Development
Programs
SWOT Analysis
Budget
Development Audit
Philanthropic Profile Assessment
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26. SWOT Analysis of Your
Development Office
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
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27. Assessing Current Development
Programs
Budget:
Who develops the fundraising budget?
Is it realistic?
Are you spending too much? Too little?
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28. Assessing Current Development
Programs
Philanthropic Profile Assessment: how do you rank?
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29. Implementing and
Evaluating the Fundraising Plan
Taking Ownership
What Happens When It Falls Apart
Measuring Success
Reporting Success
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30. Governance
Board size/make-up
Board contributions
Attendance/involvement
Board recruitment
Board education
Committee structure
Board self-assessment
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31. Staffing
Size of development
staff
Staff duties
Organizational chart
Professional
development
The 95/5 Rule
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32. Volunteers
Involving volunteers in
Planning
Cultivating
Soliciting
The development committee
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33. We Need a Development Audit,
but……..
We can’t afford it (or can we afford
not to?)
We don’t have the time.
We want to do it ourselves.
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34. Hiring a Consultant to Do the Audit
How much will it cost?
How long will it take?
What are the pros and cons?
What is the role of staff if we hire a consultant?
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35. What can we evaluate ourselves?
Know your development history
Review your strategic plan and your
development plan
Do a SWOT analysis
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36. Development History
Use your donor software to track all
development events and activities:
Direct mail/telephone/Internet responses
Special events
Grant proposals
Major Gifts
Planned gifts
Capital Campaigns
Volunteer Results
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37. Review Your Strategic Plan
Have you included
development strategies in
the plan?
Are the goals realistic?
Is the development plan
part of the strategic plan?
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38. Review Your Development Plan
Were the planning goals based on past
performance?
Were there too many goals/too few?
Did the entire development staff
participate in the planning process?
Was the budget realistic?
Was the timeline realistic?
Were there sufficient human resources to
implement the plan?
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39. Tools to Help
Evaluation tool available at 4Good.org
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40. Remember
If you can’t measure it, you can’t
manage it!
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41. Special Offer
15 % discount on my books, use the code:
linda2014books at CharityChannel.com,
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42. Thank You
Linda@LindaLysakowski.com
www.LindaLysakowski.com
www.cvfundraising.com
Check out The Fundraiser’s Private Vault ™ and the
Fundraiser’s Personal Muse™
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