It’s simple, really. The success of your fundraising rests on four essential criteria. Your organization must have:

1. A STRONG BOARD  Is your board highly committed to giving the time and resources needed to lead your organization to the next level of accomplishment?  Can all of your board members articulate, in their own voices, why they are motivated to act on behalf of your shared vision and strategy, and what specific actions they are taking on what timeline to do so?

2. A CLEAR AND COMPELLING CASE FOR SUPPORT   Do you have a clearly articulated, compelling and well-defined case for support that answers these important questions: What is it we have to do? Why now? Why us? What does the world look like if we’re successful?  A case for support is not a sales or marketing document.  It is a vehicle for you to articulate why people should act through your organization and how they can do so (both collectively and individually).

3.  AN EXCEPTIONAL TEAM Does your team love calling on people?  Are they successful in communicating their own passion for their work and motivating others to do the same?  Are they true partners with your donors or are they simply “staffing” them?

4. A PARTNERSHIP PIPELINE  Are you focused transactionally on one-time gifts or on building a community of partners with whom you have long-term relationships?  Are your current partners  passionately committed to bringing others into the community, and is your community growing?  What opportunities are you giving your partners to commit to and take responsibility for your shared vision, strategy and action?

Board, case for support, staff and pipeline. If any one of these areas is weak, you will be leaving a lot of resources  on the table.  Take a look at your own organization and think about where you need to invest.  Without all four, you will simply not be as successful as you could be.