Flexible or Fragile?
In fundraising, planning is essential — but the type of plan you build determines whether your strategy can withstand real‑world conditions.
A flexible plan recognizes that even the best plan is ultimately a suggestion. It assumes change will happen: new opportunities will emerge, external pressures will shift, and some of your original assumptions won’t hold. Flexible plans build in regular evaluation points like quarterly check‑ins or midpoint reviews to ask not only "How are we doing?" but "are the assumptions still true?"
Flexible plans also rely on the best data you have at the time. This matters especially in fundraising budgets, where last year’s gifts aren’t always reliable predictors of next year’s revenue. Honest conversations with your finance team and a clear-eyed look at your numbers create plans that can adapt rather than collapse.
(Anyone who has ever built a budget without accounting for a one-time gifts knows what I am talking about.)
Finally, flexible plans give you a way to evaluate new opportunities. When something unexpected comes your way, you can ask: Does this move us closer to the vision and goals we set? That only works if the plan itself is broad enough to allow for thoughtful decision-making.
A fragile plan is the opposite. It assumes nothing will change. It locks in deadlines and expectations that leave no room for reality. It’s built on shaky assumptions — like expecting every donor to give again, or assuming every donor will increase their gift by a set percentage.
When even one of those assumptions fails, the entire plan can fall apart.
Are your fundraising plans built with flexibility? What sort of donor behavior are you paying attention to?
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