Set (and hit) data-driven fundraising goals this year with Forecasting
Gabby Weiss –
Making plans and setting goals for the year ahead can be particularly difficult for nonprofits, where fundraising revenue may be variable throughout the year. Even if your organization runs all of the same campaigns again, donor churn, gift upgrades, and other changes can be expected. If you are planning increased investment in specific fundraising programs, even more unknowns are introduced to the equation.
This is where AI-powered revenue forecasting comes in handy, allowing you to predict the results of maintaining the status quo, as well as possible future outcomes based on your plans for the year.
Learn more about Forecasting in Dataro in the video below:
Fundraising Revenue Forecasting: How It Works
Dataro’s Forecasting tool is built to help you understand the likely outcomes of your fundraising efforts, whether you are planning mostly business-as-usual campaigns, or considering increasing your investment in specific programs, such as major or monthly giving.
In each of the main tabs: Overall, Single Giving, Monthly Giving, and Major Giving, you’ll see a graph depicting both your actual revenue history, and the projected future. Scroll down to the customizable section to forecast the impacts of changes to your program. If you’ve set a goal of increasing monthly giving, for instance, you can predict the additional revenue that you can expect to raise. Or, if you’re starting with a goal of raising a certain amount of additional funding this year, you can use this tool to determine how to get there.
How to use Forecasting in your work
Make data-informed budget decisions
As you’re allocating resources for the year ahead, having an idea of how much revenue you can expect to earn, and when you can expect to receive it will help you make safe, achievable plans.
Set (and hit) your fundraising goals
Your goals should be SMART, that is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound, in order to effectively motivate your team. Use the forecasting tool to help understand the level of effort needed to certain fundraising targets, to make sure that your goals are high, but realistic.
Predict the impact of new fundraising efforts
If you’ve brought on new staff or made plans to grow certain fundraising programs, you can likely expect to generate additional revenue, but how much? Forecasting can help you predict the impact of investing more effort into programs like monthly and major giving.
