Fundraising goals for new year - "What's your goal?" Written on piece of paper stuck to cork board.

Setting Fundraising Goals for the New Year

It’s the start of a brand-new year which means it’s time to think about what we want to accomplish in the next 12 months. Setting goals is important, especially if you are running a fundraiser. Goals give you a long-term vision and short-term motivation. They help you organize your time and resources, so you can make the most out of your fundraiser. We here at the Butter Braid® brand know how important goals are to fundraising. We want to give you some strategies that will help you set great goals for your fundraisers in the coming year.

1. Use the SMART method

There’s a good chance that you’ve heard of the SMART model of goal setting before. It stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based. But how do you use this method to set the best goals for your fundraiser?

Start by making the goal specific. When setting your fundraising goals, make it clear what you are hoping to achieve. Have answers to questions like who will benefit from this fundraiser? How many units do you need to sell? And how many people do you need to participate? Answering these questions will help you know exactly what needs to be done to meet your goals.

Make sure your goal can be measured. Tracking your progress helps to motivate your sellers and paints a clearer picture of where you are in relation to your overall goal. It is a great way to keep everyone on the same page.

You want to motivate your group by giving them a goal that will challenge them but setting a challenging goal does not mean setting an unrealistic one. Goals that are too easy to achieve aren’t motivating. However, goals that are impossible to meet will discourage your group. Make your goal attainable by taking into consideration the resources you have, the number of sellers in your group, and the time you have to meet your overall goal.

Check if your goals are relevant to your group or mission. Why will this goal be beneficial to your group? Will it make a positive impact on the intended recipients? Resolving these issues will also help you establish your “why” and having a “why” helps everything flow more smoothly.

Finally, your goal must be time-based. If it isn’t, you can put it off forever. This will also help with tracking your progress. If you can see how close you are to your goal in relation to the time you have left to complete it, you can adjust your plans accordingly.

2. Breakdown big goals into smaller parts

If you want to set a very challenging goal for your group, you’ll see better results if you split the goal into smaller, easier to manage ones. Otherwise, your group may end up feeling discouraged. One of the best ways to do this is to run multiple fundraisers. If time allows for it, running one fundraiser in the spring and one in the fall will let you to reach your big goal without overwhelming your sellers.

3. Set non-monetary goals

We know that fundraisers are about raising money, but to reach your monetary goal you’ll need the support of your community. When you set non-monetary goals, you can engage a wider audience and get more people to participate. An example of a non-monetary goal would be aiming to have a higher number of participants than last year.

Hopefully, using these strategies will help you set plenty of SMART goals for your future fundraisers. But, no matter what your fundraising goals are, be sure to write them down and make them known to everyone who is participating. Committing goals to paper and reviewing them gives you a much higher chance of achieving the desired outcome. Lastly, remember to make it fun! Reaching your goals is a lot easier when everyone is having a good time doing it.

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