1. PREPARING FOR GREATER
FUNDRAISING SUCCESS
Mark W. Jones
Flywheel Strategies

2. 8 Elements of Success
1. The Case
2. Capacity
3. Resources
4. Relationships
5. Persistence and
Consistency
6. Stewardship
(Donor Relations)
7. Leadership
8. Volunteer
Engagement
Essential Elements for Sustained Fundraising Success

3. 8 Elements of Success
1. The Case
 The vision
 The need—and the cost of meeting that need
 The organization’s proposed response
 The impact of the projects and programs
 The impact that donors and their philanthropic
gifts can impart

4. 8 Elements of Success
2. Capacity
 What new/additional revenue sources are
available?
 What is the potential for new/additional
philanthropic revenue?
Potential of key philanthropic constituencies
Readiness of those philanthropic constituencies
Timeframe for maximizing philanthropic potential

5. 8 Elements of Success
3. Resources
 Capable personnel
 Adequate budget
 Robust and reliable data
 Reasonable expectations
 Realistic timeframes
The Critical Question: Are you positioned to unlock
the potential capacity that is in your donor base?

6. 8 Elements of Success
4. Relationships
 Connections to organization or cause
 Familiarity and trust among donors and leaders
 Identification with beneficiaries of gifts
Your goal is to strengthen and sustain relationships
to the organization—not with its individuals

7. 8 Elements of Success
5. Persistence and Consistency
 Relationships take time to build
 Strong relationships emerge from consistent
engagement
 Change interrupts momentum
 Remember the “flywheel”
metaphor

9. 8 Elements of Success
6. Stewardship (a.k.a. “Donor Relations”)
 Act of giving doesn’t end with receipt of gift
 Future support is contingent on a good experience
(The best candidates for future support are your
current donors)
 Additional support follows when a gift’s impact is
demonstrated effectively
 It’s not difficulty, but it does require intentionality

10. 8 Elements of Success
7. Leadership
 After mission, the top reason for giving to charity
is confidence in an organization’s leadership
 Fundraising success follows when an
organization’s leaders….
Understand the fundraising process
Have realistic expectations
Provide encouragement and adequate resources
Exercise both accountability and patience

11. 8 Elements of Success
7. Leadership (cont’d.)
 It is also critically important that an organization’s
leaders lead by example
In giving
In cultivating/soliciting giving from other
In facilitating culture change

12. 8 Elements of Success
8. Volunteer Engagement
 Volunteers can extend and leverage staff efforts:
More coverage and reach
Stronger personal connections
Peer empathy and greater credibility
Generating ideas and opportunities
 Volunteer participation strengthens their own
commitment

13. 8 Elements of Success
8. Volunteer Engagement (cont’d.)
 But choosing to increase volunteer engagement
will entail making trade-offs:
Reallocation of staff time (for support and training)
Reshuffling board/volunteer agendas
Adjusting the expectations of board members

14. 8 Elements of Success
Exercise
• Take a blank sheet of paper and spend a few moments
reconsidering each of these eight elements as they apply
to the your organization.
• On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being “poor” and 5 being
“excellent,” how would you rate your organization’s
current readiness and effectiveness on each of them
(whole numbers only). Jot down a couple notes on why
you gave that grade.
• Finally, add up all eight grades for a grand-total score.

15. 8 Elements of Success
Group Discussion Questions
• Share the overall ratings. Who got a total higher than
30? Lower than 16?
• Did anyone rate the organization as a “5” on any
element? Which one(s)? Why?
• Did anyone rate the organization as a”1” on any
element? Which one(s)? Why?

16. 8 Elements of Success
Further Group Discussion
• Numbers and ratings aside, how do you assess the
Foundation’s readiness and commitment to engage
in more effective and productive fundraising?
• Where do you have agreement on strengths,
weaknesses and needs for improvement?
• What are the 2-3 most important changes/actions
the Foundation might take to position itself for
greater fundraising success? How ready is it?

17. Thank You!
Mark W. Jones
Flywheel Strategies
148 Daylesford Boulevard
Berwyn, PA 19312
mwj150@hotmail.
(920) 265-0851
Follow my articles and blog posts at:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markwjones15
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