Fundraising Planning Toolkit
Two connected tools for growing champions and planning the year, rooted in Mi's Transformational Giving approach.
This chart answers one question: what have we built for champions to step into? For each category, write the concrete steps a champion can take at three depths of involvement. Participation steps are the entry points. Engagement steps deepen the relationship. Ownership steps invite a champion to bring others along. Most ministries are strong in a few cells and thin in others, and seeing the gaps is the point.
Participation
The entry step. Low commitment and little prior knowledge. A first invitation to get involved and experience the cause.
Engagement
Deeper, consistent involvement. Greater understanding and a longer-term, mutual commitment to the cause.
Ownership
The champion makes the cause their own and begins inviting and equipping others. Think replication: disciples who make disciples.
The Annual Fundraising Plan. Work through the seven steps, then the final step compiles your printable plan. Values you enter early carry forward automatically, and cells that fill in for you are shaded green.
Annual Fundraising Plan Template
This tool helps you gather data to set informed goals and plan the steps you will take to meet them. It contains seven steps:
- Review Vision & Mission
- Assess Current Fundraising Systems
- Review Past Fundraising Data
- Set Strategic Fundraising Goals
- Set Financial Targets
- Create Action Steps
- Establish an Ongoing Review Process
The final step compiles everything into one printable document to share with your board, in a giver meeting, or for a foundation application.
Some cells auto fill from earlier steps and are shaded green. Give yourself time for each step, and before you begin each one, pause and pray. We strongly encourage you to work with your Area Director while filling out this tool.
Step 1: Review Vision & MissionAn annual plan moves you from reacting to every funding gap to executing on purpose. Grounding it in your vision and mission first keeps the plan connected to why you raise money, not just how much.
Fundraising is not separate from your mission, it exists to advance it. That's why this plan begins here: prayerfully review your organizational foundation, discerning together with the Lord where you are headed and where you need to remain faithful.
Prayerfully review your budget. Based on where the Lord is calling you this next year, what do you need?
Prayerfully consider what adjustments or changes need to be made this year. Bring before the Lord the factors that could impact your fundraising this year.
Example: new development director, increased tariffs on shipped containers, new tax laws impacting major givers.
Consider: What are you adding? How many will be served? How much will it cost? How will it be funded? If eliminating or changing, consider how many people will be affected and how many champions are invested in those programs.
Step 2: Assess Current Fundraising SystemsBefore you can plan where you're going, you need an honest picture of where you are. Rate each activity as it actually is today, not how you wish it were. That's what sets up every goal in the steps ahead.
A fundraising system is more than one activity in isolation, it's a coordinated set of recommended practices working together toward one purpose: growing champions and resources.
Step 3: Review Past Fundraising DataThis is your funding source assessment. Look for concentration, one or two sources carrying most of the load, plus gaps and trends. A healthy mix keeps no single source above roughly 20% of total revenue.
Total % of Income auto-calculates as each stream's Current Year Target divided by the target total.
Step 4: Set Strategic Fundraising GoalsChoose 1-3 goals about champion growth or process change, not just dollar figures. The best goals are honest about where you are and genuinely ambitious about what's possible: neither a wish nor a ceiling.
SMART: Specific (What? Who? Why? When? Where?) · Measurable (Can it be evaluated?) · Achievable (Why and how is it attainable and realistic?) · Relevant (How does this grow your impact?) · Time-Bound (When will it be accomplished?)
#1
#2
#3
Step 5: Set Financial TargetsBuild this target from the ground up, source by source, the same way you set your goals in Step 4. This step also names two different numbers: your revenue goal, and what it will cost to raise it.
Strategic Goal #1
Strategic Goal #2
Strategic Goal #3
This is a different number than your revenue goal above. It's what you'll spend to raise it.
Program Budget as a share of your Revenue Goal: n/a. Healthy range is 10%-25%.
Auto-calculated: Current Year Target pulls from Step 3 · Dollar Change = Next - Current · % Change = Dollar Change / Current · Total % of Income = Next Year / Next-Year total.
Split each income stream's Next Year Target (from the table above) across the four quarters. The quarterly amounts should add up to that stream's target.
Row Total should match each stream's Next Year Target. Any mismatch shows here.
Step 6: Create Action StepsThis is where goals become a real calendar and real ownership. Map campaigns and stewardship touchpoints month by month, and assign each action step to a specific owner. Fundraising works best as shared ownership across your team and board, not one person's job.
Strategic Goal #1
Strategic Goal #2
Strategic Goal #3
For each month, note any major campaign or ask planned, and the cultivation or stewardship activity happening alongside it.
Step 7: Establish an Ongoing Review ProcessA plan only creates value if someone keeps reviewing it. Build a quarterly rhythm around four questions: where are we against each metric, what worked and why, what didn't and what needs adjusting, and what's next.
Write Your Plan
Use the previous seven steps to write a narrative plan. Green fields fill in automatically from your earlier entries and update if you change them. Click Print / Save PDF to export this page as your finished plan.
Introduction
A general overview of this entire plan and the process used to create it. Summarize significant adjustments to operations or fundraising strategy, and note who was involved in developing this plan.
Case for Support
Extend your mission statement and continue any themes or language you will use in materials this year. The MI Case for Support tool is a good resource.
Fundraising Systems Summary
Summarize what Step 2 revealed about your fundraising systems. Which systems are strong, and which need attention this year?
Strategic Fundraising Goals
Financial Goals
Campaign Calendar
Use the calendar from Step 6, or summarize its major beats here in narrative form.
Income Streams Narrative
In narrative form, list the major action steps and timelines listed in Step 6.
Review Process
Summarize the review plan developed in Step 7.
Supplemental Resources
List any additional resources you will include. Examples: fundraising plan tactics, timeline and review worksheet; major gifts tracking spreadsheet; integrated ministry communication calendar; events calendar.
Saving and Resuming Your Work
Nothing you type here is sent anywhere or saved automatically. Use the buttons above to keep your progress:
- Save (CSV / Excel) downloads everything you've entered as one file, named for your ministry and today's date. It opens in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers if you ever want to look at the raw data, but you don't need to open it. Just keep the file somewhere you'll find it again, like a shared drive or your desktop.
- Import loads a previously saved file back into this tool, exactly where you left off. Click Import, choose the CSV file you saved earlier, and every field will fill back in.
- Print / Save PDF exports the finished, formatted plan from the Write Your Plan tab. Use this once your plan is complete and ready to share.
Save often, especially before closing this page. If you're working on this with your Area Director or team, save a copy after each working session so everyone has the latest version.