Setting Fundraising Goals For Events

In the non-profit world, we often focus on raising the next pound, running the next campaign, or writing the next grant. But underneath the day-to-day activity, what really 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 great fundraising? 🎯 Whether you're a small charity taking your first steps or a more established organisation looking to grow, having a solid foundation matters. That’s where the 𝟴 𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 come in. These aren’t quick tips or clever tricks—they're the core building blocks that create a fundraising programme that lasts. So, what are they? 🔍 1️⃣ 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 A clear, compelling reason for people to give. Your "why" should inspire action and show the difference a donor can make. 2️⃣ 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 Fundraising thrives when it’s championed from the top. Boards and senior leaders must back fundraising with words, actions—and sometimes introductions! 3️⃣ 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 A roadmap to guide your efforts. It helps you focus your energy, balance different income streams, and plan for long-term sustainability. 4️⃣ 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 People don’t give to causes they don’t understand. Clear, consistent, human-centred messaging builds trust and connection. 5️⃣ 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 Behind every smooth donation is a strong system. From CRMs to compliance, your processes should support—not slow down—your fundraising. 6️⃣ 𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 Fundraising isn’t just about asking; it’s about 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, and building real relationships. Stewardship turns one-time givers into lifelong supporters. 7️⃣ 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 When everyone in the organisation—from front-line staff to trustees—sees themselves as part of fundraising, powerful things happen. 8️⃣ 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 You can’t raise funds on goodwill alone. Adequate staffing, budget, and time are essential for real results. ⚠️*** 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗜'𝗺 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗼𝗻-𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗞 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱 - 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲. 𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻. 𝗜 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻. 𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿**  ⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️ #NonprofitLeadership #CharitySector   #FundraisingStrategy #ThirdSector #LinkedInForGood

September to December is a *hot* period for nonprofit fundraising. Many foundations and donors are back to their desks after the summer and looking to make their closing funding rounds before the end of the year. If I were an advisor in your nonprofit organization, this is what I would suggest prioritizing in your fundraising plan from this month through the end of the year: 🫂 Curate Relationships Curating relationships with existing donors or key stakeholders is one of the most overlooked practices in fundraising. Only chasing new donors or funding opportunities goes at the expense of trust-nourishing and enthusiasm of those donors and stakeholders who are already "warmed up" about your work and mission. Don't make this mistake, and create space to strengthen the bonds with those who are already there. Think about personalized engagement and regular touchpoints to make them feel part of your mission and deepen their commitment to your cause. ⭐ Impact Storytelling Creating visibility around all the things your organization and your team have achieved throughout the year is a powerful avenue to leverage your commitment and attract the attention of donors and stakeholders ready to fund. Don’t be generic or conservative when it comes to showing the outputs, activities, results, community feedback, and transformations your work generated. Donors want to feel like they can make a tangible contribution to the end goal of your impact mission. Showing this to them in a compelling, story-based approach will help them understand what and why they are funding. 💰 Do Your Budget Know your number and make your financial plan clear. Prepare a budget that outlines your organization’s funding needs for the next 2 to 5 years. Identify the core areas that require sustained resources and ensure your strategy is aligned with long-term objectives. Create a strong narrative around why these areas need funding, how they will serve your impact goals, and why mobilizing resources into these areas will be foundational in securing sustainability and scalability to your work. 💥 Optimize Your Strategy You must have learned a lot in the past 9 months and got a lot of feedback, observations and lessons learned around your work. This is the perfect time to integrate the learnings into your overarching organizational strategic plan and fundraising strategy and adjust it according to the things you have now gained more clarity on, such as your new targets and goals. -------- Hey! I am Margherita, senior nonprofit consultant and advisor. I am open to working with nonprofit organizations in social justice and accelerating their development goals through fundraising, financial planning, organizational development, and operations. My fee model is equity-informed and open to accommodating all budgets. Contact me to learn more!

So you want to raise funds. Here is the playbook that we share with our portfolio founders: 1️⃣ Develop a comprehensive fundraising strategy It should address the following: - Capital runway. How much time do you have before you run out of cash? Understanding your timeline will help you set realistic fundraising goals. - Desired raise amount. How much funding do you need, and how does it align with your growth objectives? Be clear on the rationale behind the amount. - Fund allocation. How do you plan to use the capital? As investors, we want to see a detailed plan on how funding will drive growth. - Target valuation. Do you have a realistic price in mind? It’s important to align your expectations with current market norms and investor appetite. 2️⃣ Target the right investors Not all investors are the same. Every VC will have their own investment thesis and value proposition. To optimize your efforts, be strategic and selective. - Research extensively. Start with a broad list of potential investors and narrow it down based on their historical investments and current interests. - Refine your list. Focus on investors who are not only aligned with your sector but also have a record of backing startups at your stage of growth. Aim to cull your list to no more than 50 high-quality targets. - Understand their process: Learn about their decision-making processes. This will help you tailor your pitch and anticipate their questions and concerns. 3️⃣ Run a tight process Understanding VC dynamics is crucial when you’re fundraising. One key aspect to be aware of is the 'herd mentality'—many VCs may delay commitments to see how your startup progresses. VCs are always buying time. Combat this by: - Condensing your fundraising timeline. Aim to complete your initial meetings with potential investors within a tight window. For example, having 20 meetings in 2 weeks is far more effective than spreading out a few meetings over several months. - Creating a sense of urgency. Let them know that other investors are also showing keen interest—but always be honest. Never exaggerate or fabricate interest; VCs will find out, and it will damage your credibility. --- Fundraising is an all-consuming job. But recognize that it's not just about securing capital. It’s also about buying time to rapidly experiment, find product-market fit, and scale up. --- Here at Antler, we maximize your success for the entire life cycle of your company. From being your earliest backer to a long-term capital partner who provides follow-on funding and access to other institutional investors. If you're a founder of an early-stage startup, get funded by reaching out to us at antler.co/apply

You've sent 200 cold emails and gotten 3 VC meetings. You've had 30 first meetings and zero second meetings. You can still raise, but you first need to get strategic about what you fix. Fundraising has a funnel, just like sales. First-time founders should think of that funnel in three stages: 1. Top of funnel - getting the meeting 2. Middle of funnel - going from first meeting → due diligence 3. Bottom of funnel - close (i.e., getting a check) When I raised for Chezie, I had challenges at each stage. Here's how to debug your fundraising process: TOP OF FUNNEL: Getting the meeting Common challenges: - You send hundreds of cold emails but can’t get investor meetings What's probably happening: → You aren’t prioritizing warm intros → You aren’t describing your company in a way that shows market size or urgency → You're targeting the wrong investors (wrong stage/sector) What to do instead: → Stop cold emailing; always try for a warm intro first. If you don’t have a direct contact, ask a friend of a friend. → Only contact investors that invest in AT LEAST two of the following: your geography, your industry, or your stage MIDDLE OF FUNNEL: Progressing to Due Diligence Common challenge: - Lots of first meetings, no second meetings What's probably happening: → You're not getting investors excited enough What to do instead: - Focus on the big vision; tell the investor what the world looks like if you’re successful. - Find ways to demonstrate that you’re building what COULD be a billion-dollar business - Ask directly: "Do you want to learn more, or are you passing?” Bonus pro tip: Never send more than two follow-ups to VCs. If they don’t respond after the second, it’s a pass. Keep it pushing. BOTTOM OF FUNNEL: Close Common challenges: - Investors seem interested but won't commit (e.g., "We like it but want to see more traction") - The process drags on for weeks without a firm ‘yes’ or ‘no’ What's probably happening: → There’s no lead investor to create momentum → You haven't built urgency around the round What to do instead: - If possible, get at least one check before you formally start raising (even if it’s from friends and family or an accelerator). This builds urgency. - Give investors a reasonable deadline for a decision Bonus protip 2: If the investor passes, ask for reasons. Usually, at this stage in the funnel, they will share feedback that you can use to improve your pitch for future investors. - - - Each stage of your fundraising funnel tells you exactly what to fix, but 95% of founders try to brute force it by simply sending more emails. Your fundraising challenges aren't random. They're predictable (and fixable). Which stage is giving you the most trouble? Drop it in the comments and I'll help you debug it 🤝🏾

You don't need to build a massive data room to start fundraising. It's a huge waste of your time and needlessly delays you getting started. Investors don't need to see your articles of incorporation on the first date. Giving them everything at once is overwhelming and needlessly leaks your info early. Here’s the systematic approach I teach: The Progressive Data Room. You drip-feed information based on investor engagement. These aren't set in stone below and will vary if the investor asks for some things earlier. The key is to protect your most important information until they have shown real signs of interest such as multiple meetings or a term sheet. → Stage 1 (Initial Interest): The Teaser Your teaser deck or executive summary. That's it. Think of it like a 30-second TV commercial. Your goal here is to get the first meeting. → Stage 2 (Post-First Meeting): The Validation They're interested and want more. Now you share core materials. • Financial model (3–5 year forecast) • Strategic roadmap • Product demo video • Team bios and roles • Detailed market analysis • User research or insight backing the problem • Competitor analysis • Testimonials, pilots, or case studies • LOIs, MOUs, pilot agreements • Anonymised customer list (only if requested) • Press coverage or PR (nice to have) • Risks and mitigations (nice to have) → Stage 3 (Deep Due Diligence): The Full Works They're serious and talking terms. Now, you open up or complete the full data room: • Cap table modelling spreadsheet (current and future rounds) • Term sheet (if applicable) • Corporate and legal documents: – Articles of Association – Shareholder Agreement – Share register – Previous investment documents such as SAFEs or convertibles • Historical profit and loss statements (management accounts) • Annual accounts • Key contracts and IP assignments • Registered patents (if any) • Customer lists Treat your data room like a conversation, not a document dump. It protects your company information and gives you more time  to pull together documents as momentum builds. 👋 I’m Sutin Yang, SeedLegals Angel Investor of the Year 2025, 5 years experience leading accelerators, former entrepreneur, and ex-JPMorgan investor with 12 years’ experience. 📌 Follow me for more useful fundraising tips and stories.

One year ago, my team set out with a simple but ambitious idea: could a Virtual Engagement Officer engage donors independently and deliver meaningful results? Today, with more than 70,000 donors managed, the answer is yes. The scale of Autonomous Fundraising is remarkable—and among the most compelling reasons is the quantifiable data. With a wide spectrum of use cases and organizations across nonprofit verticals, sizes, geographies, and donor demographics, we can now confidently answer a common question: which donors respond best to Autonomous Fundraising? What strikes me is how the data confirms certain assumptions and challenges others. When the goal is dollars in the door, recency matters more than giving capacity: •Over 88% of the top-dollar donors engaged by a VEO had lapsed no more than one year. •Only 9% had lapsed more than three years. •A current $500 donor is often a better bet than a $1,000 donor last seen five years ago. As a fundraiser, this isn’t surprising at all. While we all have stories of long-lapsed or first-time donors suddenly surfacing with major gifts, they’re far less statistically likely in both traditional and autonomous fundraising. The best performing portfolios consider both today’s revenue and tomorrow’s prospects, balanced with: •75% current donors with upgrade potential.  •25% recently lapsed donors with strong giving history. That mix consistently surfaces donors ready to graduate into a gift officer’s portfolio. Demographically, donors between ages 50–72 show the highest engagement and strongest giving. Donors who reply, click, and open messages—even modestly—become some of the most loyal over time. Of those who readily engage with the VEO, nearly 50% have given at least once, and more than 25% have made multiple gifts since being assigned to a VEO portfolio. The VEO’s purpose is to strengthen connections that lead to giving, and this data shows it is delivering on that promise. These patterns hold across very different contexts—from organizations with hundreds of thousands of active donors to smaller nonprofits with only a few thousand. More importantly, they provide a framework for designing portfolios aligned to specific goals: immediate revenue, building tomorrow’s pipeline, or re-engaging donors during the window when they’re statistically most likely to return. One year in, the lesson is clear: many donors thrive in Autonomous Fundraising portfolios, and now we know who they are. The bigger opportunity is what comes next. With 97.5% of donors traditionally unmanaged, this framework gives us a way to reach them with the attention they deserve—and a foundation for exploring how strategies evolve, how donor perception shifts, and how growth carries forward into year two.

If you're an entrepreneur seeking capital, you'll know the fundraising process is stressful and time consuming. I raised a small pre-seed back in 2021 within a couple of months but decided not to raise again last year. I've found that the fundraising process is usually always the same though, so I've laid out my step-by-step guide to help you in your investment journey: 1. Build relationships with investors years before you start raising. ➡️ I built my network from scratch by engaging without an ask. 2. Decide to build and launch a venture. Engage with investors that you may be approaching soon. ➡️ Gauge enthusiasm for the space and understand investability. 3. Build prototypes from your own funds. ➡️ Entrepreneurs are risk takers. If you don't like risk, don't be an entrepreneur. 4. Get interest from potential customers to validate your venture need. ➡️ The more the better; but one is better than none. 5. Build your deck and model - iterate, refine and design. ➡️ They are the intro to your business and first impressions matter. Don't waste them. You are in control. 6. Reach out to investors with a deck. ➡️ Give context and explain what you've done and are going to do in depth. But remember investors are time poor and have other businesses chasing their attention. 7. Speak to those that want to speak and thank those that don't. ➡️ Be courteous always. You don't know what's going on in the background. A 'no' today might be a 'yes' tomorrow. 8. Follow up with deep answers to any questions they have. ➡️ Show you have given consideration to their questions and are internalising what they have to say. 9. Thank them, whether they choose to invest or not. Ask if they think there's any other way they could support you. ➡️ Some investors may say no, and others may say not now. But they could add value elsewhere, so make them advocates. 10. Have sub agreement, articles and resolutions ready to go. ➡️ Keeping records and getting your paperwork sorted early is essential. It will save time and money in the future. 11. Take money, issue shares and keep building. ➡️ This is a process, not an event. Keep momentum up and tackle the most important things first. 12. Provide regular updates with asks when needed. ➡️ Investors have an interest in your success. Info is key here: the good, bad and ugly. 13. Treat their money as if it were your own and focus on the goal. ➡️ Be conscious that this is other people's money. Spend wisely, look for returns and measure. 14. You may need to raise again, so burning bridges is self defeating. ➡️ Don't think transactionally. Relationships matter. 15. Fundraising is a means, not an end. ➡️ The goal is not a TechCrunch editorial, it's to have the fuel to build something great. What do you think is the most important step in the fundraising process? Would you add anything else? 💭 #tech #startups #finance #venturecapital #fundraising

Here’s how I raised 1.3 Million in Grants in six months 🌿 I can’t even count the number of chats I’ve had about how hard fundraising is. Recently I had to raise funding myself, and for many reasons decided to raise grants. Luckily, we raised 1.3M USD in grants within just 6 months. My entrepreneur friends have been pushing me to share WHY we’ve been so successful in raising. Here go my top 4 learnings: ⛰️ 1. Know what you want: Our Vision and Targets for 2025-27 This is the basis for everything. Your vision has to be crystal clear. You have to know how to get there. Your track record has to show you can. Otherwise, why should a funder trust you? Take time for this. Sit down, project, and outline: achievements, vision, impact and business strategy, and precise targets for the next three years. Build it into a Master Deck from which you mix and match key slides for each meeting. 📌 2. Who wants the same thing as you? ONLY look for funders that REALLY align In my opinion, it’s only worth spending time with funders that align with you in: 1. Your mission: that means your impact is exactly what they want to achieve (not just somehow similar) 2. Their way of funding: they give the type of funding that’s ideal for you. In our case, restricted grants are counter-productive, so I don’t seek them out. Ever. We only go for trust-based funding.  🌱 3. Connect with your funders If you get funding from someone who isn’t really aligned, it usually becomes a burden. Avoid it at all cost! When I talk to a funder, I first get to know them: What are they passionate about? What impact do they want to achieve? What solutions do they love? Why are they doing this? If their goals and ours don’t fit, I’m transparent about it. If we DO fit, I pitch them stepping into our shared passion. That way, we connect from the start. 📊 4. Managing the pipeline: Weekly meetings with myself Remember that funder you wanted to send a proposal to but didn’t get around to it? The funder that didn’t get back to you? It’s easy to lose opportunities. To avoid that, I do 2 things: 1. I manage a detailed pipeline in Google Sheets.  2. I hold weekly meetings with myself: to go through every funder I’ve touched before, review what items are pending, DO them right away, and send thoughtful check-ins. 🔥 What have your experiences been? #startup #ai #fundraising #grants

Before it was about getting donors to write checks. Now it’s about involving them in your ecosystem. Here’s 5 steps to get started today: You’re not just fundraising anymore. You’re onboarding stakeholders. If you want repeatable, compounding revenue from donors, partners, and decision-makers, you need to stop treating them like check-writers… …and start treating them like collaborators in a living system. Here’s how. 1. Diagnose your “center of gravity” Most orgs center fundraising around the mission. But the real gravitational pull for donors is their identity. → Ask yourself: What is the identity we help our funders step into? Examples: Systems Disruptor. Local Hero. Climate Investor. Opportunity Builder. Build messaging, experiences, and invites around that identity, not just impact stats. 2. Turn every program into a flywheel for new capital Stop separating “program delivery” from “fundraising.” Your programs are your best sales engine → Examples: • Invite donors to shadow frontline staff for one hour • Allow funders to sponsor a real-time decision and see the outcome • Let supporters “unlock” bonus services for beneficiaries through engagement, not just cash People fund what they help shape. 3. Use feedback as a funding mechanism Most orgs treat surveys as box-checking. But used right, feedback is fundraising foreplay. → Ask donors and partners to co-define what “success” looks like before you report back. Then build dashboards, stories, and events around their metrics. You didn’t just show impact. You made them part of the operating model. 4. Make your “thank you” do heavy lifting Thanking donors isn’t the end of a transaction. It’s the first trust test for future collaboration. → Instead of a generic “thank you,” send: • A 1-minute voice memo with a specific insight you gained from their gift • A sneak peek at a challenge you’re tackling and ask for their perspective • A micro-invite: “Can I get your eyes on something next week?” You’re not closing a loop. You’re opening a door. 5. Build a “Donor OS” (Operating System) Every funder should have a journey, not just a transaction history. → Track things like: • What insight made them first say “I’m in”? • Who do they influence (and who influences them)? • What kind of risk are they comfortable taking? • What internal narrative did your mission fulfill for them? Then tailor comms, invitations, and roles accordingly. Not everyone needs another newsletter but someone does want a seat at the strategy table. With purpose and impact, Mario

The Trouble With Annual Fundraising Goals They lack context. And they're getting in deeper trouble. All annual goals should be in the context of 3, 5 or 10 year goals. That way, you can evaluate if the annual achievement is taking you closer to greater, far more important long term goals. Annual fundraising goals are just about money and are usually the sole criteria for success, not only for advancement but often the leadership of the organization. That's why, for decades, most organizations have experienced "dollars up, donors down." The sole criteria for success was dollar amounts not donor counts. Now more and more organizations are trying to squeeze more dollars from fewer donors, most of whom are getting on in years. It's unsustainable. You can't build a "donor pipeline" by focusing solely on annual fundraising results. You have to be able to draw new donors from community of shared purpose. Dollar goals must be put in that context. The sooner the better. That context will require you to measure more important goals such as donors retained, level of donor satisfaction, volunteer engagement, volunteer satisfaction, and sustained constituent growth (the ability to engage and involve more people year over year). If you don't establish this context and continue to crow about annual fundraising successes you will be taking more from the past than you are giving to the future. If we truly believe in the institutions we represent, we will establish broader, longer, multidimensional goals and put our annual fundraising goals in a much more important context.