Streamlining the Fundraising Process - Practical Tid Bits

Posted by Aaron Jeschke on November 18, 2009

A method that is used frequently in various business settings that is very effective in simplifying and understanding processes is process mapping. What does this have to do with Christian Fundraising? Keep on reading.  What we are going to do is use a similar idea to process mapping and simply map out the steps involved in putting together a successful Christian Fundraiser. This idea can easily be used to evaluate the complexity of any Christian Fundraiser that you are considering. Lets take a typical cookie dough fundraiser and draw up a brief process map (of sorts) just as an example.

1. Order Cookie Dough forms from Supplier -> 2. Receive Order forms and distribute to fundraising team -> 3. Team approaches potential donors and has them fill out order forms -> 4. Team returns order forms and orders are processed -> 5. Cookie Dough is shipped to donors.

As you can see in the above example it gives you a good idea as to the complexity of organizing your church fundraiser. Obviously most of you guys are not going to take the time to map out each fundraiser that you consider but a brief mental outline could go a long way in deciding on which type of Christian Fundraiser to use. The above example literally took me one minute to write up. Each step in the process does take a significant amount of time. For example, it may take a week for the cookie dough to be shipped to donors. It is important to consider just how much time you expect each step to take. To give you an idea of how this process will help you we will compare the cookie dough map to a map of the Samaritan Card. The Samaritan Card is simply a shopping discount card that provides donors with up to 50% off at over 100,000 merchants nationwide. The following is the map of the Samaritan Card.

1. Order Cards from Samaritan Fundraising -> 2. Receive Cards and distribute to Fundraising team ->3. Approach and sell cards directly to donors

As you can see in the above example cutting out one or two steps can make a big difference as far as time spent putting together a fundraiser. In this comparison you save time for the donors because they don’t have to wait for the cookie dough in the mail and you save time for your team because they don’t have to return and compile order forms. A simple mapping exercise can reveal a lot about the complexity of a Christian Fundraising product.