Copyright (C) 1990-2012 Development Systems International FUNDRAISING TASK MAP - Pg. 1 Unauthorized Reproduction is Prohibited

What is an Advancement Calendar? Advancement, effort by a nonprofit that progresses and oversees the total of all donations received by an organization during the year including operations, special projects, capital campaign, and endowment. Calendar, a system of determining the beginning, length, and divisions of a year and for arranging the year into days, weeks, and months.

Please purchase four dry-erase 90-day calendars with sharpie sized dry-erase colored markers. Four 90-day calendars provide one year's worth of advancement overview. (It is very important that four 90-day calendars be purchased and not a single one year calendar. You will need the larger per-day spaces on the 90-day calendar in order to do the job correctly). When 90-day calendars are purchased they should be completely blank. There are no days or months pre-printed on the calendars.

Please fill in the days and months for an entire year beginning with next full month post first month client service. In other words, use a black marker to fill in the days and months beginning with next full month (eg. If it’s February 16th please start your calendar dates beginning March 1st. In order to successfully achieve MAJOR GIFTS RAMP-UP goals an annual calendar of tasks/events must be established to identify existing points of contact (cultivation touches) or to establish new points of contact. Please post on calendar the following elements, dates, and deadlines:

FUNDRAISING TASK MAP You can make better “workflow” decisions if

You can see the entire “workload” at once

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TASK MAP CHECK LIST:

Existing Program Events-DATES:

What major annual events (not related to fund-raising) should be scheduled that would be considered staff intensive and involve delivery of service? These would be events that are part of your normal programming that support your primary mission. If you were running a summer camp; What weeks of the year require “all hands on deck” and how could you rearrange workflow to better meet the strenuous demand?

Training Conferences- DATES:

Is there a special week of the year where all the different nonprofits in your particular field gather for a national conference? If so, do you lose one-third of your staff resources during that time? Are the annual training conferences that your team attends to meet certain licensing standards?

Organizational Development Events - DATES:

What annual moments do you host that involve internal team development? Organizational Development (OD)? Dates that need to be put on the advancement calendar include Board Training, Board Retreats, Staff Retreats, Volunteer Training, or Strategic Planning Weekends?

Board Meetings – DATES:

Most Nonprofit Executives miss the opportunity to grow and cultivate their board by turning each official gathering into its own special event. What level of appropriate attention can be given to these moments to value members and their volunteerism? Monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, or annual board meetings need to be recorded on your advancement calendar.

Onsite Counsel – DATES:

Many organizations use outside third-party consultants for program expansion, organizational development, fundraising counsel, etc. When suitable, make sure you plot your consultant’s onsite visits to coincide with key moments that would be used to build excitement and relationship with key prospects. Also mark the calendar with weekly teleconference counseling calls for entire year.

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TASK MAP CHECK LIST (cont.):

Strategic Projects – DATES:

What key initiatives need to be planned in advance so your project can be time intensive. For example, case for support creation will require staff collaboration, potential ad hoc board committee meetings, full board of director’s review for approval, copy due dates, art work due dates, print dates etc. Make sure plenty of time is given to these projects to ensure they succeed.

Existing Special Events - DATES:

These moments could include any public ceremony designed to raise money or to attract community prospects to your mission that aid in prospect cultivation. Some of these events could include:

Private Receptions Research Forums Graduations Open House Homecoming Events Auctions Dedication Ceremony Golf Tournaments Banquets Retirement Party Sporting Events A-Thons Anniversaries Benefit Concerts Dance/Balls

Media Events Dessert Receptions Ground Breaking Giving Clubs Denominational Gatherings

Any special event requires collateral document development including event programs, invitations, case documents etc. Make sure your advancement calendar accounts for copy due dates, artwork deadlines, invitation drop dates, etc.

Awareness Events – DATES: An awareness event is a uniquely creative breakfast or lunch moment that highlights your nonprofit’s mission and delivers a compelling case for support. The purpose of an awareness event is two-fold. First, it creatively invites the “RIGHT PROSPECTS” to learn about your mission. Second, it encourages your “EXISTING SUPPORTERS” to participate at a higher level. Please correctly plot on your advancement

calendar all aspects of your awareness event including but not limited to, venue selection, host committee formation, collateral document development, invitation packages, etc.

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TASK MAP CHECK LIST (cont.):

Signature Event – DATES:

A signature event is a full blown production that carries the "genetics" of the nonprofit’s mission into the donor prospect market place. "Signature event" is a term encountered, most frequently, in the nonprofit sector to describe an organization's major annual solicitation fundraising event.

Campaign Interviews – DATES:

In our current development culture, the campaign interview functions not only as the process by which we gather information to determine project viability but as a vital component of the actual solicitation process as well. When campaign interviews are performed following MAJOR GIFTS RAMP-UP the combined process contributes to both the identification of new gifts and their solicitation. Due dates that must be considered include case development, questionnaire development, campaign interviews, interview reports, etc.

Direct Mail Program – DATES:

It’s important to establish on your advancement calendar the direct mail solicitation schedule for the entire year the existing to ensure that MAJOR GIFTS RAMP-UP doesn’t interfere with existing solicitation communications. In some cases the existing mail schedule will be used as a promotional tool in MAJOR GIFTS RAMP-UP. Direct mail is defined as mass mail sent by a nonprofit organization directly to prospects for the purpose of solicitation. For the purpose of workflow please include due dates for mail copy, mail art, mail print, and mail drop deadlines.

Newsletter Communications Program – DATES:

Again, for the same reasons, direct mail must be considered for tactical reasons. All dates for newsletter communications must be recorded on the advancement calendar. MAJOR GIFTS RAMP-UP can benefit from this infrastructure if it’s already in place. For the purpose of workflow, please include due dates for article copy, newsletter art, newsletter print, and newsletter drop deadlines.

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TASK MAP CHECK LIST (cont.):

Monthly Turn-Around Receipt Solution- DATES:

Promoting MAJOR GIFTS RAMP-UP to your existing donors via the receipting process is a cost-effective and easy way to raise the profile of your offering and case for support. The proper promotional piece can raise the level of visibility of events, planned giving, living memorials, referrals, and more. Generally promotional pieces are scheduled on a thirty day cycle. e.g. If

you’re about to have a non-fundraising awareness event include a SAVE-THE-DATE card to donors who have sent a one-time gift of $500 or more. If you’re about to launch an endowment campaign include a reply piece, that if returned by the donor, entitles them to a WILL PLANNING KIT compliments of your nonprofit.

Weekly Prospect Cultivation – DATES:

Cultivation is defined as, the act of contacting donors via mail, phone, personal contact, etc. specifically intended to increase interest in and enthusiasm for the work of an organization. It is recommended that at least one full day be set aside exclusively for field work and should include contacts, visits, and solicitations with prospects in the Development Director’s Portfolio, President/Executive’s Portfolio, and different Board Member’s Portfolio.

CONCLUSION: The public has entrusted the care of a nonprofit organization to a board of directors who is responsible on an annual basis to advance the mission of the agency. It is not sufficient to simply maintain the status quo but to expand a nonprofit’s offering to the population entrusted to their care. This commitment is only realized when your organization takes the time to diligently write and record your workflow “Task Map”. This critical process ensures that your team has charted a course for mission expansion.

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AUTHOR – FUNDRAISING TASK MAP

James P. LaRose, CFRE, CNC - Founder - James P. LaRose Companies Phone: (803)808-5084 Email: jimmy@development.net James P. LaRose, CFRE, CNC known around the world as “Jimmy LaRose the Fundraiser's Fundraiser," continues to transform nonprofit executives tasked with the raising of money in a tumultuous 21st Century economy. His passion for the nonprofit sector is without bounds and his love for the leaders who serve is unparalleled. His heroes are those men and women of the

charitable world who lay down their lives daily for the hurting and the hopeless. He’s spent the last twenty years supporting executives, volunteers, staff and board members across six continents who spend themselves in service to others. Jimmy is fond of sharing with professionals that, "Money chases after ideas, and there will always be generous people who will amply support a great dream backed by a sound plan." Jimmy is the founder of the National Development Institute, Development Systems International and ProPlatforms.com. He is the author of the internationally recognized fundraising series MAJOR GIFTS RAMP-UP and is the designer of the MAJOR GIFTS RAMP-UP CLOUD, a

complete back-office for nonprofit executives. Jimmy led the design team that established Certified Nonprofit Consultant (CNC), a credentialing process that supports nonprofit executives committed to sharing their management experience with their peers. He is the co-founder of the CauseCause.com platform, an online social media community network that supports citizens of the world committed to advancing the common good. He is the co-founder of DonorScope.com, a web-based research portal that identifies philanthropists, altruists, and leaders and their capacity to give to causes for which they personally care. Jimmy has been credentialed by the National Development Institute as a Certified Nonprofit Consultant (CNC) and holds the Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) certification. He is the founding President of the Western Maryland Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and is a

graduate of AFP's Faculty Training Academy (FTA) and has been named by the AFP as a “Subject Matter Expert” on the raising of money. Jimmy has also served as a specialist with the U.S. State Department's Speakers Bureau and has traveled the world working with embassies, foreign governments, and leaders to promote philanthropy and civil society in developing countries. He is a graduate of Indiana University's Executive Leadership Program, Indianapolis, IN, the National Planned Giving Institute, Memphis, TN, Tennessee Temple University, Chattanooga, TN and the Word of Life Bible Institute, Schroon Lake, NY. Rev. LaRose was ordained as minister of the gospel by the Ecumenical Church of Christ in 2010 to further support his service to the hurting and the hopeless around the world. Jimmy and his wife Dianne make their home in Columbia, SC and are blessed with three children and three grandchildren.

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Development Systems International P.O Box 2675 - Columbia, SC 29202

Voice: 803-808-5084 Fax: 803-808-0537

jimmy@development.net www.Development.net

ADDITIONAL ONLINE FUNDRAISING RESOURCES:

www.JimmyLaRose.com www.MajorGiftsRampUp.com www.ConsultingCertification.org www.NonprofitConferences.org www.DonorScope.com www.Development.net www.PAXglobal.com www.eMediaFundraising.com www.FundraisingFarmer.com www.twitter.com/jimmylarose www.facebook.com/nonprofitdevelopment