The Fundraiser’s Guide to Goal Setting in 2023

By now, your nonprofit should have a solid annual plan in place for 2023. But have you established your own goals for the coming year or set aside the time to write them?

Most fundraisers assume that organizational goals drive their personal performance goals.  That’s a good starting point. But without intentionally aligning your goals to your nonprofit’s goals, you and your team could go through the entire year without making real progress in areas that matter the most to your nonprofit’s impact.

In this article, I share five different goals fundraisers should set in 2023. I’ll also break down specific action steps and systems for these goals so that you can put them into action! Each of the five goals include a related blog post or book so that you can dive deeper into the subject.

How to Set Goals You'll Reach

When it comes to goal setting there’s a sweet spot that’s right between “outside of your comfort zone” and “relevant.” It’s a hard thing to get right; but when you do, the chances of you following through and achieving your goal increase dramatically!

To hit this sweet spot I use the SMARTER Goals method. SMARTER stands for: Specific, measurable, action-oriented, risky, time-bound, exciting and relevant.

• Specific. This guideline takes the vagueness out of your goal. For example you could make the resolution “raise more money” more specific by rewriting it like “increase our focus on major gift fundraising.”

• Measurable. This takes the specific guideline one step further. For example, you could make your specific resolution “increase major gifts” measurable by saying “secure 20 new 5-figure gifts.” 

• Attainable. This step improves your specific and measurable resolution by making sure you’re not shooting for the moon before you have a rocket built. “Securing 50 new 5-figure gifts” could be too many, but “securing 20 new 5-figure gifts” could be very attainable. 

• Risky. Now that you have a specific, measurable, and attainable goal, you want to make sure your goal stretches you enough that it’s invigorating and requires commitment. If “securing 10 new major gifts” feels attainable, make it “securing 20 new 5-figure gifts.” A risky goal should feel just on the edge of possible. 

• Time-bound. Your specific, measurable, attainable, and risky goals need deadlines along the way to ensure you achieve your goal at the end. Continuing with our example, your SMARTER goal would be “secure 5 new major gifts per quarter in 2023.”

• Exciting. An exciting goal connects to what deeply matters to you and the impact your nonprofit wantOn days you don’t want to work towards your goal, the part of your goal that relates to what’s important to you will keep you moving. If major gifts don't matter most to you and your organization, you should make a different SMARTER goal.  

• Relevant. Finally, have you taken into account matching your donors’ need to give with your organization’s goals? If your organization’s need to receive doesn’t align with your donors’ need to give, your gift invitation may be irrelevant to your donor.  

Creating a SMARTER goal and steps to reach it will significantly increase your chances of achievement.

Start With Focus

Do you ever feel like you’re going through the motions at work and in life? If so, it might be time for you to prioritize focus in your daily rhythm.

My marketing coordinator does CrossFit. Her coaches regularly remind her to pick something to focus on during her workout. Some days she focuses on lifting heavy, other days she focuses on moving fast or perfecting a skill. Choosing a focus for her workouts makes sure she is progressing toward her fitness goals instead of going through the motions.

Early this year I realized my goals had been the same for the last few years — I hadn’t made any satisfying progress toward them. I decided it was time for me to stop going through the motions and committed to using Michael Hyatt’s Full Focus Planner to actively reach for my goals. My “start with focus” routine is a simple four-step process, but it’s dear to my heart and has reaped extraordinary results.

Start With Focus Step #1: I start every day listening for God’s voice. Then I let that time speak to the choices I make for the day!

Start With Focus Step #2: After my morning devotions I open to the first page of my planner where I read my purpose statement and eulogy. In other words, I begin with the end in mind. This is a precious rhythm to me because it makes sure the choices I make for the day are informed first by prayer and second by the planner. 

Start With Focus Step #3: Next, I review my three goals for the specific quarter I’m in. These are THE THREE absolute most important priorities that have my focus for the quarter. My coach, Nicole Wipp, and others like Benjamin Hardy say these are the three I will invest in to see “10X returns.”

Start With Focus Step #4: Finally, based on those three goals I pick my Big Three for the day. The Big Three are things that will move me closer to achieving my three quarterly goals. They are also the three things I COMMIT to accomplishing. If I get the Big Three done and nothing else done on that day’s to-do list, I will consider the day a win.

Learn more about my “starting with focus” system HERE.

Integrate Legacy Giving Invitations Throughout Your Organization

Are you interested in starting a legacy giving program for your organization, but overwhelmed by the idea of adding one more thing to your plate?

I’ve worked with many organizations that have a fundraising staff, but are unable to assign someone specifically to legacy giving and they have still created thriving legacy giving programs. How? Teamwork. The best strategy for implementing legacy giving into your year-round giving plan regardless of your organization's size is team work. 

Begin by looking for every opportunity to integrate legacy giving into just every facet of your program. Here is how a previous client of mine, Minnehaha Academy, has incorporated legacy giving invitations into their annual plans and goals across the organization: 

• Their renewed commitment to Legacy Giving began at the Board table with a new strategic plan that included institutional priorities for endowment growth
• The marketing team began integrating Legacy Giving donor stories and messages into their year-round communications plan
• The alumni director included a Legacy Giving introduction as a part of her 50-year reunion giving program
• The prospect researcher started identifying the most likely planned giving prospects as part of her overall prospect identification plan
• The annual fund director to integrated a soft ask for planned gifts in several appeal segments
• The president, vice president and director of development to began integrating legacy giving invitations into their donor visits

 Creating up a separate silo for legacy giving work is not necessary or even wise. A strong legacy giving program happens when you and your team habitually extend legacy giving invitations during any and all of your giving conversations. 

Learn about more ways your organization can integrate legacy giving into their year-round fundraising plans and goals HERE. 

Blocking Time for Donors

From the very beginning God set aside time for rest. First, with His example in Genesis one and two and again in the Ten Commandments. 

God knew that some things, like rest, we would never do unless we specifically blocked time for them. 

In the fundraising world, one of the things many people don’t do without a time block is schedule and make donor visits. Requesting and conducting donor visits is, hands down, THE most crucial step in building the relationship and trust that leads to legacy gifts. 

According to development expert Jerry Panas, “85% of getting the gift is getting the appointment.” In other words, if you’re not getting the appointment you’re not getting the gift! So, if you only implement one system from this entire article, let it be this one.

In my full-time gift planning days, my habit was to start each day by initiating three appointments — by email, phone, or a combination of both. Now you can add text messages to that formula! If I initiated three appointments a day, I could keep my calendar filled with at least five meetings a week.  

A time block system for requesting visits could look like this: Block the first hour of your work day to initiate three appointments for every one appointment you would like to have in the coming weeks. In my 30+ years of experience, it takes about three attempts to schedule one donor visit, so planning ahead and making regular invitations is important.

If you hope to visit an average of two people a week, block the first hours of your week for initiating six appointments. Eventually, the system will result in regularly seeing your people.  

Learn more about blocking time for donor visits HERE. 

Commit to Personal Growth

“One way to significantly change your life is to develop the habit of reading,” says self-development expert Brendon Burchard.

If you love reading like me, it’s easy to put reading into an enjoyment category. While reading is fun for many of us, reading is also one of the simplest and most effective ways to invest in yourself and the value you offer as a professional. 

Kristin Herrera, Director of Development for Nebraska Lutheran Outdoor Ministries, is a serial reader and expert in her field. Every chance she gets she’s absorbing information like a sponge. This also means she has a wealth of information to share with her colleagues and donors. 

I am in love with current education pieces that keep me in-the-know and relevant. Today’s donors are savvy givers who want us to be knowledgeable and caring. Podcasts, webinars, blogs, books and articles…anything I can get my hands on! And getting copies for my team is important, too. Sharing knowledge to keep everyone updated is so important!

As a development professional your schedule is jam-packed, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait until you’re knocking out your continuing education credits to make yourself more valuable. 

Four ways you could add professional-development to your busy schedule include:

Watching a webinar: All I Want for Christmas is HELP!! 

Reading a book: Gospel Patrons

Joining a networking group: ALDE

Attending a live event: Faith & Fundraising Conference 2023

By being prepared with a book on your desk and a list of your favorite podcasts you can invest in yourself and your career while you’re driving, waiting in lines, or unexpected down-time. 

Discover more ways you can invest in your professional development in THIS ARTICLE.

Steward Your Genius

One of the first things my coach, Nicole Wipp, had me do was take a Kolbe test. It’s like an elevated personality test that shows how each person naturally and effectively shows up to work and the world. Nicole’s philosophy is: the more you work in your zone of genius the better your work will be, the more satisfied you will be, and the more efficient your team will be. 

Through the Kolbe test I learned that I love big ideas, getting things done, and interacting with people. But sometimes I get distracted by the overwhelming amount of details and don’t take action. 

Understanding these personal tendencies allowed me to hire team members who are great at what I am not great at. For example, my administrative assistant thrives on details — she doesn’t get hung up on them like I do — and can transform a tangled wad of details into clear action plans and spreadsheets. 

I can say, from personal experience, that working in your zone of genius and allowing your team members to work in their zone of genius can allow you to serve more people and experience more joy in your work. A good place to start this working-genius journey is reading The 6 Types of Working Genius. It’s by one of my favorite authors and speakers, Patrick Lencioni. The book is so good I bought a case of them to give away as gifts! 

One of my favorite sentences in the whole book is this: “God gives people gifts so they can use them to do good.” When we can identify our gifts we can use them more effectively for Kingdom work. 

Whether you hire a coach who can help you understand your natural working style or order and read this book, I highly recommend having a 2023 goal of discovering your unique gifts!

A Prayer for the New Year 

The New Year can stir up a lot of mixed feelings — anticipation, discouragement, relief. A verse I keep close during these times is Isaiah 43:19, “Look! I’m doing a new thing; now it sprouts up; don’t you recognize it? I’m making a way in the desert, paths in the wilderness.” 

God is always in the process of making things new. How wonderful is that?! Setting goals is one of the ways we can participate in the things God is making new and invite Him to make us new, too. My prayer for you is that you will be able to step into 2023 with intention to use your God-given gifts well and anticipation to see what God will do in your life and the organization you serve.

If you would like company in deciding which goals might serve your career and organization best in 2023 schedule a call HERE. We would love to talk with you!

Co-authored by Brenda Moore, CFRE and Sisi Roose.