The Secret to Successful Fundraising

The success of your ministry relies on fundraisers who perform well. But for them to produce at their highest level they need proper training.   

Many fundraisers have a degree or background in an area other than fundraising, such as communications, PR, or business. Fundraisers with these degrees achieve great results. One of the main reasons for their success is that they had and continue to have excellent training. 

How well your fundraisers perform has a direct impact on your ministry. Your ministry can have excellent programs. You can hire team members who have a great passion for your mission, but to maintain positive results you need trained fundraising professionals who will connect donors with your ministry. 

The Benefits of Fundraising Training

Beyond improved performance, why do ministries need to offer fundraising training? 

Fundraising training helps your team know how to plan, implement, facilitate, and complete a donor engagement campaign as well as donor asks. It not only makes them better at their job, it improves retention and satisfaction. 

With training, your team receives the tools, resources, and community they need to enhance donor relationships, improve fundraising strategies, and increase fundraising success. A well-trained fundraising team will:

• Enhance Donor Relationships: As they learn how to build relationships with donors, understand what they want and how to approach them, team members gain an understanding of the importance of donor relations.
• Improve Fundraising Strategies: It isn’t enough to pick up the phone and call a donor. Training will teach them how to research and write a robust annual fundraising plan directly tied to the organization’s strategic plan.
• Increase Fundraising Success: As fundraisers develop relationships with donors, they will gain practical advice and tips on how to ask for money and when to ask for more.
• Improve Infrastructure and Administrative systems that are necessary to track, document, and record information concerning donors.

Identify Training Needs and Objectives  

Before jumping into any training program, you must define your needs and objectives. Needs and objectives provide direction for training and ensure your team receives the education you intend. 

To decide your training needs, first conduct a needs assessment. Go through a formal or informal process to:

• Identify your program needs
• Determine benefits
• Perform a gap analysis
• Evaluate training options
• Report and recommend a training program

During this process set clear objectives along with areas for improvement. Write objectives that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). 

Develop a Comprehensive Fundraising Training Program

With defined objectives in place, it’s time to create a comprehensive fundraising training program. Each ministry may choose to organize their program differently based on their needs. 

You should cover: 

• How to develop an integrated fundraising program
• Ethics in fundraising
• Marketing
• Building and sustaining relationships with all donors 
• Securing the gift
• Digital fundraising strategies
• Planned giving

Throughout the program highlight donor cultivation, solicitation techniques, stewardship, and relationship-building. Only equipped with this knowledge will fundraisers feel confident in their role to raise money.

Select the Right Training Methods

Once you have your fundraising training program, you should decide how to present the content. You have different training method options available. Choose from one or a combination of the following methods: workshops, webinars, online courses, and/or coaching. Consider using both in-person and virtual training. 

In-person training allows for group discussions, which is difficult sometimes with online training. You also get to know the participants and instructor a little better. Online training is great for learning new skills, such as fundraising. It allows your team to learn at a time that is convenient for them.

Each person learns differently, so think about that as you choose a method. Some people are auditory learners, some visual, and some kinesthetic. You should select the training method based on your ministry’s needs and resources. And for the best value, use a variety of training methods.

Engage Experienced Fundraising Professionals

To get the most out of your training program you need to use experienced fundraising professionals. These individuals understand the challenges of fundraising and their experience provides real-world understanding and practical advice. They can answer questions, share case studies, and provide tips.

Engage fundraising professionals as a:

• Mentor: They are a great source of knowledge and can help fundraisers set goals. Mentors provide encouragement, accountability, and constructive feedback.
• Guest speaker: They are comfortable in front of an audience and know how to motivate and engage. Guest speakers are knowledgeable about very specific topics.
• Networking opportunity: Allows team members to gain more knowledge and build confidence. They provide new perspectives and give your team members fresh ideas.

Implement Training for Fundraising Success

Now you have the tools and are ready to implement a fundraising training program, but how do you get started? Consider these first steps:

• Create a training schedule
• Communicate with your team members and instructors
• Provide resources and materials
• Utilize tracking tools to manage progress
• Provide final documentation for team members and your file

There’s always work to be done, and it’s hard to break away from the daily grind to learn. Yet, if you want your ministry and your fundraisers to succeed you must set aside time and build a culture of learning. 

Learning needs to be a top priority in your ministry, and it starts with buy-in from leadership. Leaders who understand how training improves performance will encourage team members to receive continuous training.

Monitor and Evaluate Training Outcomes

You don’t want to spend time and money on a training program and not have fundraisers gain a better understanding of their jobs and how to interact with donors. This is why it is important to monitor progress and evaluate the outcomes.   

Great training programs will have ways to monitor, track, and assess knowledge retention during the program. While that is a good start, you will want to look at other methods to measure impact.

Start with conducting a post-training assessment to gauge what they’ve learned. As part of the assessment, get feedback from trainees. Finally, track fundraising results to see if they can apply what they learned to their jobs. 

Overcome Challenges in Fundraising Training

You will face challenges as you plan and implement a fundraising program. Here are a few questions and challenges you will encounter, plus strategies to help you overcome them:

• What are my training needs? Understand what you want your fundraisers to know and which skill sets they lack.
• What’s the right training program? Take time to research and evaluate different training methods. Talk to your team members to learn what’s best for them.  
• How do I allocate resources? Prioritize goals and assess different methods to deliver the training. In some cases, it is more cost-effective to outsource aspects of training.
• How do I manage time constraints? Know how you want to spend your time and set priorities. Use a planning tool and schedule training sessions in increments, over days, weeks, or months. 
• How do I address resistance? Identify the cause of resistance within each employee. Communicate the reasons for the training and the benefits team members will receive. 
• How do I ensure team members apply their training and use it for long-term engagement? Check-in and track employee performance with both in-formal and formal evaluations. Talk to your team members and ask them how they are doing. Continue to offer training throughout their time at your ministry.   

Invest in Ongoing Training and Development

One training experience is not enough for fundraisers. You will want to provide continuous learning opportunities each year to develop their skills.

You can offer formal training once you hire them. After that, add refresher training, courses, webinars, and conferences. Supplement these training sessions with a coach, either once a year or throughout the year.   

It is difficult to learn and retain all information from one training session. That’s why it is important to review the training often. Fundraisers and your ministry will benefit by staying up to date with the latest trends and best practices. 

Showcase Success Stories

A great way to teach is through case studies and success stories of your ministry and others. These examples will help your team see fundraising in action and understand the type of results to expect. They also provide a solid benchmark as your fundraisers begin to plan their strategies. 

Case studies and success stories will also produce tangible outcomes such as:

• Comprehensive plans with goals and objectives
• Better donor acquisition
• Increased donor retention
• Larger gift sizes 
• Improved fundraising efficiency

Fundraising Success Begins with Training 

Every successful ministry and fundraiser has been well trained. While starting a fundraising training program is a lot of work at the beginning, it is well worth the time and effort.  Effective fundraising training can unlock your team’s full potential to achieve fundraising success.

Once you have it in place, all you need to do is update and revise it. Don’t forget to offer training every year so your fundraisers can continue to improve. Your ministry will be better because of it. 

Training empowers fundraisers with the knowledge, skills, and strategies necessary to build strong donor relationships, optimize fundraising efforts, and make a lasting impact. Invest in comprehensive training programs to maximize fundraising potential and achieve long-term sustainability. You won’t regret it.