CompuCanada is dedicated to helping schools, charitable and non-profitable organizations to meet their financial needs.

CompuCanada Fundraising Program
The success of a fundraiser is in direct proportion to the quality of the product being sold to raise those needed funds. With this in mind, CompuCanada provides you with our fundraising resources to assist you raise funds for your organization.

Whether it’s a classroom trip, team uniforms or playground equipment, CompuCanada Fundraising Program is a profitable, easy and fun way to raise the money you need for projects, activities or any other worthy cause. CompuCanada Fundraising Program is designed to help schools and non-profit organizations reach their fundraising goals.

Developing an Effective Fundraising Plan

You’ve heard the old adage before: If you fail to plan, You plan to fail.
Too many voluntary organizations, jump from one fundraiser to the next, without a clearly developed, carefully planned fundraising program. Effective fundraising involves much more than a series of isolated special events, which lack direction and cohesion.

Before you undertake any fundraising efforts, you need to create a well-thought-out fundraising plan. This document highlights all the programs intended to generate revenue for your organization.

Planning helps give your fundraising efforts direction, creates a clear process to follow and clarifies resources and costs. It enables you to map out your community or voluntary organizations' fundraising program for the next year in a way that incorporates research, action and evaluation.
It serves as a resource and guide for board, staff and volunteers. And it helps you tie your fundraising programs to your voluntary organization aims and objectives.

When should you start planning?
Start planning as early as possible - perhaps four to six months prior to the end of your group or organization fiscal year.
Remember, you'll need enough "lead time" to get the necessary commitment and input from others and to conduct the appropriate research in the early stage of planning.
You'll also need to allow enough time for the management committee to review, question, dismiss and approve your fundraising plan.

Whom should you involve in your planning efforts?
Invite key people to provide input into developing your fundraising plan.
Depending on your group or organization, you might want to include a mix of key people in the Planning process, including management committee members, staff, committee members, fundraising volunteers, service recipients, client, and donors.
Tip: People are more likely to support your fundraising plan if they feel a sense of ownership in it. Instill this sense of ownership by seeking their input through all four stages of your fundraising plan.
Make others a part of your plan by asking their opinions, insights and feedback. Let them know you truly value their role in developing the plan.

Stage One: Research

To help you create an effective fundraising plan, you first need to conduct research to look inside and outside your voluntary organization.
Research gives you the perspective and insights you need to forge ahead in creating a custom-tailored fundraising plan. Use the following questions to help you jump-start your research.
What local fundraising trends can you spot in your community?
What's working and not working for other community or voluntary groups or organizations?

What is your fundraising history?
Describe the types of programs, duration, amounts raised, resources used, time of year conducted, etc.
What are your community or voluntary group or organizations fundraising strengths and weaknesses?
How can you make the most of technology in your fundraising program (i.e., computers, Internet, fax, telephone, etc.)?
Who are your potential donors and what are their interests?
What return can you expect on the time you invest?
Do you have fundraising commitment from both staff and volunteers?
How do your fundraising goals tie into your community or voluntary groups or organization’s long-range plan?
What are the latest fundraising techniques, and how can you effectively incorporate them into your fundraising program?
What currently limits your fundraising effort?

Stage Two: Plan

After you've got a clear picture of where you stand in terms of resources, needs constraints and capabilities, you can now begin to create your fundraising plan. At a minimum, your plan should include the following components:

Goals. Why do you want to raise the money? What do you want the funds to accomplish in your voluntary organization? You must identify, the need(s) of your fundraising plan hopes to satisfy. And, to ensure support, you must tie your fundraising goals to your groups aims and objectives. If not, you’ll waste time and resources - and damage your credibility. To pave the way for fundraising success, you must keep your fundraising goals consistent with your organizations aims and objectives.

Objectives. What type of funding will you seek? What amounts? From whom will you solicit these funds? What type of programs will you conduct? How many fundraising programs will you conduct in the next 12 months? You must make your fundraising objectives as specific and measurable as possible. (For example, determine the cost effectiveness of a program by estimating the ratio between the money spent and the funds received.)
This will make the evaluation stage easier. You should also select a "point person" to take charge of each fundraising program. This helps co- ordinate the fundraising team's efforts, and it holds someone accountable for each program.

Strategies. Specifically, how will you accomplish your fundraising objectives? What resources do you need to accomplish these objectives (i.e. funds, person power, supplies, space, transportation, etc.)? Who will be responsible for each strategy? This "meaty" section of your fundraising plan includes all the nitty-gritty details that specifically explains what needs to be done and who will do it.

Timeline. How long will each fundraising program last? When will you conduct each element of your various fundraising programs? How long will it take to complete each strategy? Include deadlines for all the key elements of each fundraising objective and strategy. Regular monitoring of your deadlines will give you a quick update to see if you're on schedule.

Stage Three: Conduct

Now that you've outlined the 'who-what-when-where-why of your fundraising plan, it’s time to put it to the test.
Mobilize your fundraising team and arm them with the training, resources and support they need to conduct the plan.
Make sure your team is well prepared before they embark on any fundraising effort.

Conducting the plan involves implementing strategies, delegating tasks, allocating resources, motivating fundraising team members and following up as needed.
Important You need to periodically check the progress of your fundraising plan and individual programs to ensure your efforts are on target. Situations might change, dictating that your fundraising plan might need to change, too. Remember, your fundraising plan serves as a guideline, but its contents are not etched in stone. Keep your plan flexible to adapt to change.

Stage Four: Evaluate

To wrap up your fundraising plan, you need to incorporate evaluation as the final stage. You need both periodic and year-end evaluations. How did you do this year? What worked? What didn't? What would you do again next year? What would you change, add or delete from next year's plan? What strengths did you capitalize on? What weaknesses could you improve upon?

Provide a detailed explanation of when and how you plan to monitor and evaluate your fundraising efforts. Check to see if you achieved your objectives. As stated earlier, the more specific you make your objectives, the easier it will be to evaluate them. (For example, did you raise a specific amount from your special event? Did you achieve a certain percentage response from your direct mail campaign? Did you reach the target market you intended to? Did you reap any non-financial benefits from a program, such as public relations or goodwill?)

With careful planning and attention to detail, your community or voluntary group or organization stands a much greater chance of success in your fundraising efforts.