Fundraising can be a hit and miss affair. Often, particularly in the smaller organisations, the fundraising tasks are given to people with little or no fundraising experience.

It is extremely important for those people to understand that fundraising is a discipline. It should be approached as such, and any fundraising effort should be preceded by a properly thought out fundraising plan. Planning a successful fundraiser is a plan to succeed, failing to plan your fundraiser is a plan to fail.

It's not particularly difficult to develop a fundraising plan. It needn't be especially detailed or involved, but you do need to give it some thought.

The first thing to think about is your goal. What is it you are trying to do? How much are you trying to raise? What is your ultimate objective for your fundraiser?

Who do you have available to run the fundraiser? What skills do they have? How much time do they have?
What will your fundraising activity be? Will you be selling something? How? When? Where? To whom? How much profit will a sale make? How many do you need to sell to make your goal? Is there demand? Who will your buyers be? Will you be where they are on the day?

Once you have the basics drawn up add meat to the fundraising plan. Details. Who will do what when. How they will do it. What resources will they need? Assign tasks and duties according to the skills different people have. Make sure they know what they are doing and are happy doing it. Plan supplies. Plan small details like change available, stock available.

Create a calendar with all the steps marked on it. Create deadlines. Stick to them. Let everyone know what their duties are and when they are assigned to them. Follow up to make sure each step is completed.

Review the plan as you go. Be prepared to alter some details if necessary. What if someone is sick? Does the whole fundraiser fall over? Have some alternatives planned. What if the weather is bad? What will happen? Where will you go?
And on the day make sure that everything is in place before it all starts. Then get on with making it a great fundraiser.
Fundraising is like a war. If you want to win you've got to work out how and plan out every step. Expert fundraisers know this and know exactly how to plan a successful fundraising event. Make sure you do the same and you'll be an expert fundraiser in no time.