Elements of A Resource Development Plan

  1. An Overview of The Big Picture.
    Examine your organization’s overall financial needs. What programs are funded and unfunded? What are your current streams of income? How is your organization’s credit? What are your main sources of funding and how much can you rely on them to continue? Your development plan should support your overall strategic plan. You should reference and connect this document to that one and to your mission. Talk about what drives the organization, and what is needed to make your overall goals a reality. What challenges do you face? 
  2. An Assessment of Current Conditions. Conduct a SWOT analysis for each of your streams of income (fundraising, grant writing, etc.) as well as for cost-saving measures, volunteers, marketing, communications, and outreach, as these ultimately affect the bottom line. Gather feedback from stakeholders. Put some real thought into what needs to change and whether you have the capacity to change it. 
  3. Broad Goals for How to Improve Your Organization’s Overall Financial Health. These can be things like achieving a different funding mix or a certain amount to have saved. These aren’t action items, but general things you’re working towards.
  4. Narrow, Specific Goals to Support the Broad Goals. These are the SMART goals everyone talks about. These should be action items that advance your overall objectives, such as “create a Giving Tuesday campaign” or “create an online outreach system for clients.”
  5. A Plan for Things That Don’t Always Immediately Bring in Income, but advance your goals. These include: networking, partnerships, developing board participation, expanding your volunteer base, community outreach, and your marketing and communications. Consider and mention the cost of these in your plan.
  6. A Plan for Things That Do immediately Bring in Money. These include grant writing, fundraising events, membership dues, donor cultivation and stewardship, social fundraising, and other fundraising campaigns. Consider and mention the costs of these activities in your plan. 
  7. Additional Cost Saving Resources. Make sure you’re taking advantage of discounts for nonprofits. Look into your city, county, or state programs for cost sharing. Do business with business owners that have a personal connection to your mission; often, they will work with you to get costs down. 
  8. A Timeline for Action Steps. Have a calendar for communications, content, tasks that must be done for fundraising events, due dates for grant applications and reporting, and anything else you’ll need to be on top of to make your organization’s resource development run smoothly.
  9. A System for Evaluating Results. It’s important to be able to track your progress and make sure your plan is working.
  10. Nice Presentation. Finally, have visual aids, an executive summary, and table of contents. Break your text up into small chucks and include white space, especially if other people are going to be reading the plan or you’ll be presenting to your board.
  11. Consider the future. Make note of what is possible now as well as what would be possible with more support, more staff, more board participation, etc.