A fundraising strategy sets clear fundraising goals (e.g. the amounts of money intended to be raised, or pooled from existing income of alliance partners, for what aspects of the campaign, from what types of organizations) and defines how these goals will be pursued. Any campaign that needs external funding should include a fundraising strategy in its overall strategic plan. Substantial time and skills are needed for successful fundraising and management of donor funds. Without any strategy or plan, campaigners may end up spending most of their time chasing money – at the expense of campaign implementation. Communication and fundraising strategies are interlinked, as quality communication enhances the visibility and credibility of a campaign, making it therefore more appealing to potential donors
External donor support
Large campaigns, or those that may have insufficient existing resources pooled from alliance partners, may have to look to external funders for support. These commonly fit into four categories: institutional, individual, community or corporate donors.
The term “institutional donors” generally refers to funding organizations that give grants to other organizations and sometimes individuals, within a policy framework that reflects the mandate of the organization. Corporate donors (also often referred to as sponsors), who are typically businesses who wish to make a financial or in-kind donation towards the campaign or sponsor specific activities, can be approached in similar ways as institutional donors. However, they are not considered institutional donors, since their philanthropic activities usually do not reflect the core mandate of the broader organization.
Different types of people can be approached for individual donor support to a campaign: the campaigners themselves and members of their social networks; participants in campaign events; community members (in campaigns with a community mobilization component); visitors to the campaign website and other members of the target audience; and segments of the “general public” that may have an interest in the campaign theme.
In campaigns that include community mobilization, raising financial and in-kind contributions from the communities involved can give a boost to the campaign – both in terms of available resources and credibility. Community donor support can come from organizations such as small businesses, associations, clubs, and faith-based groups.