Will next year's fiscal plan and budget let you be wildly successful? Boards, fundraisers and donors prize stability in an organization’s fundraising. Which means predictability. Which usually means “safety.” After all, our job is to raise money, not lose it. As a result, fundraising plans and budgets from direct mail to special events rely on the tried-and-true “play it safe” game. Yet we want to, and are expected to, try new things and occasionally discover a breakthrough idea or technique. So, all smart fundraising budgets need to include some testing money – a new mail test, online idea, event or whatever. It’s a balancing act for fundraisers who know that the newer or more radical the idea, the more likely it is to fail miserably – or succeed wildly. Yet, rapidly changing technology and a new generation of donors suggest the need to try new strategies. The usual thinking is that if something bad happens “we’ll just cut the budget,” possibly crippling your ability to recover from a setback. And if a new idea proves popular, conventional thinking is that “we’ll find the money” to follow up. But to seize an opportunity, it takes preparation. Three questions to ask yourself 1) Are there potential partners who might raise money for you? One of our clients is considering having a local retailer sell memberships for his public television station. If the idea takes off, he’ll surely get more money to expand. But how should he prepare for inevitable inquiries from other competing retailers? How will long-term cost-benefit be measured? Should he be prepared to shift his expense budget or his own attention? 2) Can you develop an entirely source of income, and what would it take? Many of our clients are looking for new ways to diversify their revenue streams and are taking on innovative projects to do so. Clearly, this requires planning AND also preparation – for future investors, product development, financial management, consumer reactions and messaging. You can PLAN for the costs and benefits, but also need to PREPARE for an increase in public awareness and dramatic increase in donor prospect interest. 3) Do you have an adequate contingency line in next year’s expense budget? A budget with a small or nonexistent contingency line is a fundraising program that is not prepared to encounter either problems OR successes. No matter how carefully you have planned for the coming year, you need flexibility in your budget AND in your thinking in order to be prepared for what could be a vey unpredictable year.