Evaluating Your Efforts
The obvious measurement of your success will be whether you raised the funds you originally hoped to raise. This is easy to evaluate because it's a finite number. However, there is more to your success or failure than a dollar figure.
Evaluating Funds
First and foremost, assess whether you spent the funds on the fundraiser or your intended mission. Major fundraising organizations always track the money they receive and make sure it goes to the right place.
While organizations try hard to filter their money to the appropriate channels, expenses do add up, and unexpected ones often deplete the raised funds. Many small nonprofits find the costs of staying afloat eat into their profits on a regular basis.
Post-event evaluations are a worthwhile planning and learning tool. To maximize the process, take a sheet of paper and create two columns. Title one column “What Worked” and list each of the major components whose practices you'd like to reinforce and continue. Title the other “What Needs Improvement.” Use this format to stay focused on the goal of improving the event.
Your evaluation must go hand in hand with the various components mentioned throughout the book. Pose the following questions:
Was the original budget a fair assessment of our projected income and ultimately our expenses?
Did everyone involved in the fundraising campaign act responsibly? Is all the money we raised accounted for?
Were there surprise expenses? Were they completely unpredictable or did we overlook something in our calculations?
By answering these questions, you will be better able to determine whether you raised sufficient money and fulfilled the goal of your organization's fundraising plan.
Committees, Board Members, and Volunteers
Along with evaluating your overall fundraising effort, look at the various committees and board members involved. Assess efforts of each committee and review final reports, which should be submitted in a timely fashion after the fundraising campaign is over. Make sure all evaluations are conducted in the same manner and are available for others to read. Fairness and consistency are very important when evaluating the work of individuals. You will also want to review how the board responded to the needs of the fundraising committee and the manner in which it helped raise funds through contacts and resources.
In addition, you should review how the volunteers performed their various tasks. This is in many ways the most difficult evaluation because volunteering itself is already a positive. It's tough to say the volunteers should have conducted additional tasks. Nonetheless, you can determine which plans of action worked, who really excelled at their particular tasks, and who would be better suited for a different task next year.
Personal Evaluation
You might also take time to look at the results of your fundraising efforts on a personal level. After all, no one is forcing you into fundraising. Was the work worthwhile? Do you feel you accomplished the goals you set out to achieve from an organizational and personal standpoint? Did you learn anything new? Perhaps you made new connections or built stronger bonds with people you've known in the organization but never worked with before.
If you led the fundraiser, you might want to ask yourself several questions:
Did I work well with the volunteers?
How well did I communicate my ideas?
Did I keep board members and key parties abreast of the progress of the fundraiser?
Did we stay on schedule?
Did we reach our goals?
Was I able to manage conflicts?
Would I do it again?
Take your time and think it through. Fundraising can be rewarding, tiring, and enlightening. You can learn about both the process and yourself.
