Frontloading Your Annual Fund: Helping you Jump the Shark – Part Three.

In the previous article we looked at the initial steps to analyzing how your annual campaign is “weighted” in terms of activity and revenue.  Today’s article will wrap-up the “next steps” and give you some food for thought as you go jump the shark for good!

Because time isn’t properly leveraged, many AF programs raise in excess of (a startling) 70+% of the goal in Q3-4 of the fiscal year.  That means that it took six months to get the first 30% and (hopefully) momentum will spike in the following six months to secure the second half (can anyone yell, “SHARK”!?!).  The loading of activities is all wrong for a safe, predictable campaign.

After you know the history of how your campaign is loaded, then start with your plan.  What if you could achieve 75% of your goals by the end of the second fiscal quarter?  How would you get all of the renewals, lapsed calls completed?  How could you close most of the sponsorships?  How about the “family” campaign (board, staff, musicians / artists / etc.)? What else can be ‘moved up’ in the frontloading process?

The beauty of frontloading is that it’s only painful one time, as you move to this new cycle (as opposed to backloading, which hurts all the time).  Therefore, it’s worth figuring out and getting over the hurdles that have prevented your campaign from getting this edge.

Here are just a few of the benefits associated with frontloading your annual fund activities:

* It minimizes the financial risk

*It provides time to react for any unexpected “hits” from last year’s renewing base

*It allows for proper identification, cultivation and solicitation of new prospective donors

Frontloading takes significant planning to implement properly.  My challenge to you is begin now to design a plan that frontloads your annual fund goals, activities, timeline and results, even if you can’t launch it until next year.  Once you work through the planning, you’ll see how “doable” the process is.  You won’t have to swim the shark; you’ll jump over him altogether.

Bob Swaney is a successful 20+ year veteran of fundraising for the arts and is the founder of Robert Swaney Consulting, Inc.  For more information, you can email Bob at rsc@rrsconsult.net or visit www.rrsconsult.net .