Fundraising strategy example for a large homeless services nonprofit

What this fundraising strategy template includes

• ContextThe situation, the challenges to solve, and what is deliberately left out.
• Case for supportWhy the organization deserves funding, in terms a donor would repeat.
• Income streamsEach source of income with its current level and target.
• Gift tableThe number of gifts needed at each level to reach the goal.
• Donor stewardshipHow donors are thanked, informed and asked again.
• Campaign calendarThe appeals and events planned across the year.
• Priorities and measuresThree to five priorities, each with an owner, outcomes with a baseline and target, and the initiatives behind them.

Worked example

A complete fundraising strategy for a fictional organization: homeless services nonprofit running shelters, supportive housing and job training across a metropolitan area.

Worked exampleFundraising strategy

Organization	Homeless services nonprofit running shelters, supportive housing and job training across a metropolitan area (500 staff)
Ambition	Raise $13M a year in private support by fiscal 2029, half of it unrestricted, so that public contracts no longer drain the operating reserve.
Horizon	3 years

Context

Where we are and what we are choosing

We raised $9.2M in private support in fiscal 2026 toward a $53.5M budget. Government contracts brought $40.5M but cover only 89% of what the shelters, housing and job programs they fund cost to run, leaving a $5.1M gap. Only $3.6M of private income was unrestricted, so $1.5M came from reserves, now down to 2.1 months of spending. Of 14,200 donors, 44% gave again. The 610 donors giving $1,000 to $9,999 have no staff contact, and three gift officers each hold 160 names, 40% of whom heard nothing personal last year.

Challenges

• Most new money arrives restricted to a program, while the shortfall is in building costs, training and frontline wages that contracts do not pay for.
• Gift officers hold portfolios too large to work, and the mid-level donors most likely to become major donors get the same mail as someone who gave $25.
• 1,900 donors have given for ten years or more and none has been asked about a gift in their will.

We will focus on

• Unrestricted income first. Every stream is judged by the unrestricted dollars it nets.
• Individuals giving $1,000 and above, through a new mid-level program and five gift officers with 75 donors each.
• Full cost recovery on foundation grants, and a legacy program for long-standing donors.

We will not

• A capital campaign to replace the family shelter, which several board members want. The feasibility study waits until fiscal 2029, when the contract gap is covered.
• Donor acquisition from rented mailing lists. It would add donors at a loss for three years while existing donors go unthanked.
• Restricted grants under $50,000, or any grant that caps indirect costs below 10%, even when the program fits.

Case for support

The need	On any night about 1,450 people sleep in our shelters and supportive apartments. Public contracts pay for the bed and the caseworker but not the full cost of the building, the training or a wage that keeps staff, and 31% of our frontline staff left last year.
Our response	We run six shelters, 780 supportive apartments and a job training center. Last year 1,120 people moved from shelter into a home of their own, and 86% were still housed twelve months later.
What a gift achieves	$10 covers the gap between what a night of shelter and support costs and what public contracts pay. $300 a month closes that gap for one person for a year. $100,000 keeps a full shelter team trained and paid a living wage for a year.

Income streams

Stream	Income today	Target	Cost to raise $1
Foundation grants	$3.3M	$3.6M, with indirect costs paid at 15%	$0.10
Major gifts, $10,000 and above	$1.9M	$3.6M	$0.14
Mid-level giving, $1,000 to $9,999	$1.2M	$2.0M	$0.18
Annual fund and monthly giving, under $1,000	$1.0M	$1.6M	$0.52
Corporate partnerships	$0.8M	$1.1M	$0.22
Events	$0.8M	$0.7M	$0.48 today, $0.35 target
Bequests and other planned gifts	$0.2M	$0.4M	$0.08

Gift table

Gift level	Gifts needed	Prospects needed	Subtotal
$500,000	1	4	$500,000
$250,000	2	8	$500,000
$100,000	7	28	$700,000
$50,000	12	48	$600,000
$25,000	24	72	$600,000
$10,000	70	210	$700,000

Donor stewardship

Thank-you standard	Receipts go out within two business days. Gifts of $1,000 or more get a phone call from a staff member within a week, and gifts of $10,000 or more a call from the chief executive or a board member within 48 hours.
Reporting	Every donor gets two reports a year showing how many people moved into housing and what unrestricted gifts paid for. Mid-level donors also get a quarterly letter from a program director. Major donors receive a personal report and one site visit a year, arranged around residents' privacy.
Upgrade path	A second gift is asked for within 90 days, followed by a monthly giving invitation. Donors reaching $1,000 in a year move to the mid-level officer. Those at $5,000, or flagged by wealth screening, are qualified by a gift officer. Donors with ten or more years of giving, at any level, are invited to a legacy conversation.

Campaign calendar

When	Campaign	Audience	Goal
September	Fall appeal with a board challenge match	Annual and lapsed donors	$220,000
November to December	Year-end appeal by mail, email and phone	All individual donors	$1.1M
January	Winter shelter appeal	Donors under $1,000	$180,000 and 250 new monthly donors
February to March	Briefings with program directors	Donors giving $1,000 to $9,999	150 upgraded gifts
April	Benefit dinner	Corporate partners and major donors	$700,000
May to June	Site visits and fiscal year-end asks	Gift officer portfolios	$1.2M
June	Legacy mailing and will-planning seminar	Donors with 10 or more years of giving	40 new bequest intentions

Priorities and measures

Priority 1Owner: Director of Major Gifts

Double major gifts with portfolios small enough to work

Three officers cannot know 160 donors each, and four in ten portfolio donors had no personal contact last year. Smaller portfolios and an unrestricted first ask turn existing relationships into the income the budget lacks.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
Annual income from gifts of $10,000 and aboveMilestones: $2.2M by FY27 · $2.8M by FY28	$1.9M	$3.6M	FY29
Portfolio donors with a personal meeting or call in the yearMilestones: 78% by FY27	60%	90%	FY28
Major gift income given without restrictionMilestones: 22% by FY27 · 31% by FY28	16%	40%	FY29

Initiatives

• Hire two gift officers and cut each portfolio from 160 names to 75 qualified donors
• Screen the 14,200-donor file for capacity and move the top 400 into qualification
• Ask every major donor for an unrestricted core gift before any program gift
• Form a 12-member major gifts committee of board members and donors to open introductions

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Priority 2Owner: Director of Annual and Mid-Level Giving

Grow unrestricted giving from mid-level and monthly donors

Mid-level and annual donors give almost entirely without restriction. They are the fastest way to close the contract gap and the source of the next major donors.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
Unrestricted private incomeMilestones: $4.2M by FY27 · $5.3M by FY28	$3.6M	$6.5M	FY29
Supporters giving $1,000 to $9,999 in a yearMilestones: 700 donors by FY27 · 820 donors by FY28	610 donors	950 donors	FY29
Donors who give again the following yearMilestones: 47% by FY27 · 51% by FY28	44%	54%	FY29

Initiatives

• Appoint a mid-level giving officer with a caseload of 600, managed by phone, letter and briefings
• Grow monthly giving from 380 to 1,500 donors with a winter shelter offer
• Replace two of eight annual mailings with thank-you and impact reports
• End the golf tournament and move its staff time to mid-level briefings

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Priority 3Owner: Director of Institutional Giving

Recover the full cost of programs from institutional funders

Foundation grants pay an average 8% toward indirect costs against a true rate of 17%. Each grant accepted on those terms widens the gap that unrestricted gifts must fill.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
Average indirect cost rate paid on foundation grantsMilestones: 10% by FY27 · 13% by FY28	8%	15%	FY29
Foundation income committed for two years or moreMilestones: 30% by FY27 · 40% by FY28	22%	50%	FY29
Annual income from corporate partnershipsMilestones: $850K by FY27 · $970K by FY28	$800K	$1.1M	FY29

Initiatives

• Publish a full-cost budget for each program and use it in every application
• Ask the ten largest foundation funders to convert to multi-year general operating grants
• Decline grants under $50,000 that require separate reporting
• Offer companies a three-year partnership built on the job training center and hiring of graduates

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Priority 4Owner: Planned Giving Officer

Start a legacy giving program

Bequests bring about $200,000 a year by chance. With 1,900 donors of ten years or more, a small program started now builds the unrestricted income of the next decade.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
Supporters who have told us of a gift in their willMilestones: 45 donors by FY27 · 80 donors by FY28	14 donors	120 donors	FY29
Estimated value of documented planned giftsMilestones: $3.5M by FY27 · $6M by FY28	$1.1M	$9M	FY29

Initiatives

• Hire a planned giving officer, shared half-time with major gifts in the first year
• Add a bequest question to every reply form and to the annual donor survey
• Create a legacy society with an annual lunch hosted by staff and former residents

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Copy example as text

Blank fundraising strategy template

The same structure with a prompt in every field. Copy it, or download it as a Word or Excel file.

Your planFundraising strategy

Organization	[Describe your organization in a few words, with its size]
Ambition	[One sentence on where you want to be at the end of the plan]
Horizon	[How long the plan runs, for example 12 months]

Context

Where we are and what we are choosing

[Where things stand today: the facts that make this strategy necessary]

Challenges

• [A problem the strategy has to solve]
• [A problem the strategy has to solve]

We will focus on

• [Something you are choosing to concentrate on]
• [Something you are choosing to concentrate on]

We will not

• [Something you are deliberately leaving out]
• [Something you are deliberately leaving out]

Case for support

The need	[Your the need]
Our response	[Your our response]
What a gift achieves	[Your what a gift achieves]

Income streams

Stream	Income today	Target	Cost to raise $1
[Stream]	[Income today]	[Target]	[Cost to raise $1]
[Stream]	[Income today]	[Target]	[Cost to raise $1]
[Stream]	[Income today]	[Target]	[Cost to raise $1]

Gift table

Gift level	Gifts needed	Prospects needed	Subtotal
[Gift level]	[Gifts needed]	[Prospects needed]	[Subtotal]
[Gift level]	[Gifts needed]	[Prospects needed]	[Subtotal]
[Gift level]	[Gifts needed]	[Prospects needed]	[Subtotal]

Donor stewardship

Thank-you standard	[Your thank-you standard]
Reporting	[Your reporting]
Upgrade path	[Your upgrade path]

Campaign calendar

When	Campaign	Audience	Goal
[When]	[Campaign]	[Audience]	[Goal]
[When]	[Campaign]	[Audience]	[Goal]
[When]	[Campaign]	[Audience]	[Goal]

Priorities and measures

Priority 1Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

• [A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
• [A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
• [A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
• [A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

Priority 2Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

• [A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
• [A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
• [A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
• [A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

Priority 3Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

• [A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
• [A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
• [A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
• [A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

Priority 4Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

• [A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
• [A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
• [A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

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How to adapt it

1. 01

   Work out with finance what your public contracts and restricted grants leave unpaid. That figure, not total income, is the first fundraising target, and it has to be met with unrestricted money.

2. 02

   Split every income stream into restricted and unrestricted dollars and rank the streams by unrestricted net income, after the cost to raise it.

3. 03

   Count your donors between the mass appeal and the gift officer. If several hundred give four figures with no named contact, a mid-level program will usually pay back faster than more acquisition.

4. 04

   Size gift officer portfolios by the number of donors an officer can meet in a year, then set the gift table against named prospects in those portfolios.

5. 05

   Calculate your true indirect cost rate and decide the lowest rate you will accept on a grant. Write down which grants you will stop applying for.

6. 06

   Start legacy giving with donors who have given for many years, whatever the size of their gifts, and track intentions, since realized income arrives long after the plan ends.

How to run it

A plan only works if it is reviewed on a rhythm. This is the cadence the example assumes.

Check-in	Outcome owners update progress and confidence weekly.
Review	Priority owners review outcomes and unblock initiatives monthly.
Reset	Leadership revisits priorities and targets quarterly.

Tability keeps this cadence for you. Each priority becomes an objective, each outcome a key result with its baseline and target, and each initiative a tracked task. Owners get a check-in reminder and the plan shows what is on track.

Track this plan in Tability

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Common mistakes

• Celebrating a record total when most of the growth is restricted and the operating deficit is unchanged.
• Accepting grants that pay a fraction of overhead, then using scarce unrestricted gifts to subsidize them.
• Handing gift officers hundreds of names so that nobody is neglected on paper and most are neglected in practice.
• Launching a capital campaign to solve an operating shortfall. It draws the same donors toward a building while the gap stays open.