I’m getting started on the MHF strategic plan as and when I can find the time. I’ve found helpful Margo Wolanin’s four-point development overview, which I’ve placed on the MHF web site:
1. Identification and introduction – Who are the potential benefactors, and what are their interests; i.e., the programs they might wish to support?
2. Involvement – Many benefactors want to be involved in the programs they support. They may want to meet the students or faculty who benefit from those programs or they may simply want to be kept up to date about how the programs are faring and how their donated funds are being used.
3. Investment, as in return on investment – Nearly all benefactors want to be appreciated, to receive a sense of satisfaction that their donation has made a difference.
4. Impact – With regard to the program they support — or are being invited to support — what is that program doing, in specific terms, to change the lives of students, the community, the world around us, and so on.
