A fundraising plan contains the fundraising activities your organization will implement over a set period of time.  These activities will have specific, measurable goals.  The end result will be a sustainable fundraising program that provides the necessary funds to fulfill the nonprofit organization’s mission.  The fundraising plan is a powerful tool for any nonprofit.  Before proceeding to Part 9 in our Writing a Fundraising Plan series, please review Part 1: Planning to Plan , Part 2: Reaching Out Into the Community, Part 3: Engaging Your Board in Fundraising, Part 4: Individual Donors, Part 5: Lapsed Donors , Part 6: Non Donors and Prospective Donors, Part 7: Donor Acquisition, and Part 8 Tribute and Corporate Matching Programs.

Nonprofit memberships basically fall into two groups: membership programs with benefits and supporting membership programs.  Membership programs with benefits are most often integrated in fundraising plans for organizations like zoos, museums, and botanical gardens. Social service or health care nonprofits will have a supporting membership program. The final analysis of which fits your nonprofit is based upon whether you are providing benefits that the IRS would say have monetary value. Read more →