Have You Written Down the Answers to Your 2014 Fundraising Questions?

Now is a great time to capture in writing the answers to your nonprofit's 2014 fundraising questions. 

Once you have the questions written down, they will provide a great framework for tracking your progress, reporting and discussing throughout 2014. 

Those questions include:

• What is your mission?
• How are you going to communicate that message?
• What is your 2014 fundraising goal?
• What tactics do you plan to use? They may include:
• Direct mail 
• Special events, like a community meal or a walk-a-thon
• Regular, personal visits that include asks to key contacts and established supporters
• Online giving 
• Grants

• How will you use the funds you raise?
• How will you communicate your results to your supporters? 

Once you have these answers written down, get to work on making your goals happen.

What questions would you add to the list above?

Photo credit above: http://www.flickr.com/photos/clarkstonscamp/

What options are there to test drive your nonprofit?

Recently, we've been going through a painstaking process of car buying. It's time to update our oldest vehicle. Our vehicle purchase planning steps have included lots of online research, conversations with friends about vehicles and dealerships, and of course, a few test drives.

For us, test driving has literally become where the rubber meets the road in terms of narrowing down the vehicles of interest. After test drives of just a few miles, we've both eliminated vehicles from consideration and added possibilities to the list as we looked at similar cars since we were on the lot anyway. 

The experience got me to thinking: could your nonprofit offer more opportunities to test drive involvement with your mission?

It feels like there are never enough human resources to move your mission forward. Those who are already involved, like you, can be at risk for burnout. Large scale commitments like serving on your board of directors or chairing your special event can feel overwhelming to those not already intimately familiar with the good work you do. 

As you look towards 2014 for your nonprofit, consider: 

• What aspects of the work you do are the most inspirational? 
• How might you invite others to experience these inspirational aspects in easy, low time commitment, "test drive" style ways? 
• Who are three people you will invite to test drive your nonprofit in 2014?

Photo credit above: http://www.flickr.com/photos/inhabitat/