Building Your Resource Development Plan With Your Board

Craft Your Resource Development Roadmap

A well-crafted resource development plan is the cornerstone of financial sustainability for your nonprofit. In Step 2, you identified your ideal funders—individuals, businesses, and foundations who benefit from or align with your mission. Now, in Step 3, you’ll create a strategic roadmap to bring in funding and resources from these audiences. This guide will walk you through understanding what a resource development plan is, why it’s more comprehensive than a fundraising plan, and how to build it collaboratively with your board. You’ll also learn how to fund the plan’s execution through board giving and relationship-based fundraising, ensuring your nonprofit has the resources to achieve its mission.

 

Understanding the Resource Development Plan: What Is a Resource Development Plan?

A resource development plan is a strategic document that outlines how your nonprofit will secure the financial and non-financial resources needed to fulfill its mission. It encompasses all aspects of resource acquisition, including fundraising (like donations, grants, and sponsorships), in-kind contributions (like volunteer time and donated goods), and strategic partnerships. The plan aligns your organization’s funding needs with its mission, ensuring every resource acquired supports your long-term vision.

Why a Resource Development Plan, Not Just a Fundraising Plan?

Let's be clear about this, because the language matters. A "fundraising plan" sounds like it's only about asking for money. It can feel transactional and limiting. A Resource Development Plan, on the other hand, is about building a holistic system to bring in all the resources your organization needs to thrive. This includes financial donations, yes, but it also includes non-financial resources like volunteer time, in-kind donations, and partnerships that enhance your capacity.

A fundraising plan is just one piece of the puzzle. By taking a holistic approach, a resource development plan ensures your nonprofit has the full range of resources needed to thrive, not just survive. Using this broader term positions you and your board as strategic leaders who are building a sustainable organization, not just chasing the next check.

A resource development plan:

• Provides Clarity: It acts as your GPS, guiding your fundraising and resource acquisition efforts with clear goals and strategies.
• Engages Your Board: It involves board members in a collaborative process, leveraging their networks and expertise.
• Maximizes Efficiency: It targets the right funders and resources, reducing wasted time on misaligned opportunities.
• Ensures Sustainability: It diversifies your funding streams, making your nonprofit resilient to economic or donor shifts.

Components of a Resource Development Plan

A comprehensive resource development plan includes the following components, each designed to create a clear, actionable strategy:

• Resource Development Goals: Define specific, measurable goals for financial and non-financial resources. For example: Raise $100,000 in individual donations by year-end; Secure 500 volunteer hours for program delivery.
• Funding and Resource Sources: List the types of sources you’ll target, based on your ideal funders from Step 2. This includes individuals, businesses, foundations, and other sources like earned income or government grants.
• Engagement Strategies: Develop tailored “plans of care” for each source type, outlining how you’ll engage them. For individuals, this could be personalized emails and donor events. For businesses, it could be sponsorship proposals and partnership meetings.
• Tools and Materials: Identify the resources needed to execute your strategies, such as fundraising scripts for board members, marketing materials like case statements, and technology like a CRM system.
• Timeline: Create a schedule for executing your strategies, with clear milestones and deadlines for each quarter.
• Budget: Estimate the costs of executing the plan itself, including marketing materials, technology subscriptions, and event expenses.
• Roles and Responsibilities: Assign specific tasks to board members, staff, or volunteers. For example: Board member Jane makes introductions to 3 business prospects; the Founder drafts grant applications.
• Metrics and Evaluation: Define how you’ll measure success for each goal, like the number of new donors acquired or the total funds raised per segment. Schedule quarterly reviews to assess progress.

 

Building the Resource Development Plan with Your Board

Creating a resource development plan is a collaborative effort. Your role as the founder is not to write this plan alone in a dark room and then present it to your board for a rubber stamp. That is a recipe for a plan that no one will execute. Remember our core principle: people who plan together, execute together. You must build this plan with your board.

 

Phase 1: The Pre-Planning Phase
Objective: Gather input from board members to inform the plan and prepare for a collaborative planning session.

Why It Matters: This engages your board members early, making them feel valued and invested. It collects diverse ideas and streamlines the planning session by having a consolidated list of ideas ready for discussion.

Steps: 

• First, you will draft an email to your board members. In this personalized email, you will explain the purpose of the resource development plan and their role in ensuring the organization’s financial sustainability. You will ask them to brainstorm ideas for funding and resource sources (e.g., individuals, businesses, grants, in-kind contributions) based on the ideal funders identified in Step 2. You should provide a simple template for them to submit ideas and set a clear deadline of about one week, emphasizing the importance of their input.
• Next, you will aggregate the ideas. As you collect responses, compile them into a single document, grouping similar ideas (e.g., all business prospects, all grant opportunities). Cross-reference this with your Step 2 prospect list to identify overlaps or gaps and highlight any high-potential ideas, like a board member’s connection to a major donor.
• Finally, you will invite the board to the planning session. Schedule a 2-3 hour session, either in-person or virtual. Share the aggregated ideas document in advance, along with a draft agenda. Emphasize that their role as board members includes ensuring the organization is funded, and this session is a key part of that responsibility.

Your Action Step: Draft and send the email to your board within the next 3 days. Provide the template and set a deadline for responses. Compile the ideas into a document within one week of receiving all responses.

Phase 2: The Planning Session
Objective: Collaboratively develop the resource development plan with your board, setting clear goals, strategies, and responsibilities.

Why It Matters: This ensures board buy-in by involving them in decision-making. It leverages diverse perspectives to create a robust plan and aligns the board around a shared vision for financial sustainability.

Steps for the Planning Session:

• Set the Stage (15 minutes): Open the session by reiterating the purpose: to create a roadmap for securing the resources to achieve your mission. Review the aggregated ideas document from the pre-planning phase and emphasize the board’s fiduciary responsibility to ensure the organization is funded.
• Agree on Resource Development Goals (30 minutes): Start by presenting the organization's budget and the total amount of funding and resources needed for the year. Get the board to formally agree on this as the target. Then, facilitate a discussion to set 3-5 specific, measurable goals for the next 12 months using SMART criteria (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound).
• Identify and Expand Funding Sources (30 minutes): Review the document of collated ideas and your Step 2 prospect list. Go through each category (individual donors, grants, corporate, events) and ask, "What other ideas can we add to this list?" Brainstorm additional sources, focusing on diversifying across individuals, businesses, foundations, and non-financial resources. Group sources into segments like major donors, small donors, and corporate sponsors.
• Strategize Engagement for Each Segment (45 minutes): For each segment, discuss tailored strategies to engage prospects and raise money. This is where you ask key questions and assign board members to lead or support strategies based on their networks or skills.
  Ask: "For individual donors, what is our 'plan of care'? How will we find them, build relationships with them, and ask for their support?"
  Ask: "For grants, what are the top 5 foundations we should be targeting, and who is going to lead that research?"
  Ask: "For corporate sponsors, what kind of value can we offer them in return for their partnership?"
• Identify Tools, Materials, and People Needed (30 minutes): For each strategy, ask, "What do we need to execute this? Do we need a volunteer grant writer? A new proposal?" List the required resources (e.g., CRM software, fundraising scripts, event budgets) and identify who will be responsible for creating or securing them. Discuss any training needs, like grant writing workshops.
• Create a Timeline and Budget (30 minutes): Map out a high-level 12-month calendar with milestones for each strategy. Based on the needs you've identified, create a budget for the resource development plan itself, estimating the costs for execution.
• Wrap-Up and Next Steps (15 minutes): Summarize key decisions and assign responsibilities. Set a deadline for the founder or a designated board member to draft the formal resource development plan and schedule a follow-up meeting to review and adopt it.

Your Action Step: Schedule the planning session within two weeks of receiving board responses. Prepare an agenda and share the aggregated ideas document in advance. Facilitate the session to ensure all components are covered.

Phase 3: The Post-Planning Phase
Objective: Finalize, adopt, and fund the resource development plan, ensuring board commitment and actionable next steps.

Why It Matters: This turns your ideas into a concrete, actionable plan. It secures formal board approval, reinforcing their ownership, and addresses the critical question of how to fund the plan's execution.

Steps:

• Draft the Resource Development Plan: Your role, or the role of the fundraiser on your board, is to take all the ideas, decisions, and strategies from the meeting and formalize them into a single, clean document using the Customizable Resource Development Plan Template in your toolkit. Ensure the plan includes all components: goals, sources, strategies, tools, timeline, budget, roles, and metrics.
• Share the Draft Plan: Send the draft plan to all board members within one week of the planning session. Include a cover email summarizing the session and inviting feedback by a specific deadline.
• Adopt the Plan: Schedule a board meeting to review feedback and adopt the plan. Present the draft, highlight key strategies, address any concerns, and finalize the plan with a formal board vote. Document the adopted plan as an official board resolution to reinforce commitment.

 

Funding the Plan: The First Investment

You now have a powerful, board-driven plan. But you're likely facing the classic founder's dilemma: "We need money to raise money. How do we fund the execution of this plan?" This is a pivotal leadership moment, and the answer starts in the boardroom. For nonprofits with limited resources, securing seed funding for the plan’s execution is critical. Here are the two primary strategies to kickstart this:

1. Board Giving: Leading by Example

Why It Matters: Board giving demonstrates leadership and commitment, signaling to external funders that your organization is serious about its mission. It’s a powerful way to fund initial plan expenses and inspire others to give.

How to Introduce It: This is not a demand; it is an invitation to lead. Frame board giving as a privilege and a strategic investment, not an obligation. Emphasize that 100% board giving is a standard expectation in nonprofit governance, as it shows unity and credibility to donors and grantmakers. During the meeting where you adopt the plan, you can say:

"This is a powerful plan, and I am so excited to execute it with all of you. For this plan to succeed, it needs to be powered by our collective belief. That starts right here, with us. The single most powerful statement we can make to our community and to future funders is that 100% of our board is financially invested in this mission. This is a show of leadership. It's our first investment in our own success." You must go first. You can continue by saying: "To kick this off, I am making my own personal gift of [Amount] today. To make it easy for everyone to participate, I'll be sending around a confidential pledge form. The goal is full participation, not a specific dollar amount. It's a symbol of our unified leadership." 

Your Action Step: After the meeting, send out the Board Giving Pledge Form from your toolkit to each board member.

2. Raising Money from Mapped Relationships

Why It Matters: The relationships your board mapped in Step 2 are a low-cost way to raise initial funds to execute the plan. Board members can leverage these warm connections to secure quick wins.

How to Introduce It: You frame this not as a chore, but as an easy way for them to help fund the plan they just created. You can say:
"The gifts we've all made are a fantastic start to funding this plan. The fastest way to build on that momentum is for each of us to reach out to a few people in our own networks who believe in us and our mission. To make this as easy as possible, I've created some simple, plug-and-play fundraising scripts that you can use in an email or a phone call." 

Your Action Step: Send out the Board Fundraising Scripts from your toolkit to each board member, asking them to select 2-5 prospects from their Relationship Mapping Matrix and commit to outreach by a specific deadline.

By securing these first funds from your board and their immediate networks, you will have the seed capital you need to invest in the tools and materials to execute your full Resource Development Plan.

Conclusion: From Vision to Action

Crafting a resource development plan transforms your nonprofit’s fundraising from reactive to strategic. By involving your board in a collaborative process, you ensure buy-in and leverage their networks to secure resources. The pre-planning phase gathers diverse ideas, the planning session creates a clear roadmap, and the post-planning phase finalizes the plan and secures initial funding through board giving and relationship-based outreach. With the tools provided (resource development plan template, fundraising scripts, and pledge form), you have everything you need to execute this step.

Your Next Steps:

• Pre-Planning: Send the email to board members with the brainstorming template within 3 days.
• Planning Session: Schedule and facilitate the session within 2 weeks, covering all plan components.
• Post-Planning: Draft the plan, share it for feedback, and adopt it within 3 weeks. Distribute the Board Giving Pledge Form and fundraising scripts.
• Take Action: Commit to one outreach action (e.g., board member contacting a prospect) within 30 days.

This process empowers you to build a sustainable financial future for your nonprofit, one strategic step at a time.