The Annual Fund, Explained
Appeals, segments, and the giving calendar: how recurring annual revenue gets built, one season at a time.
Through the Higher Ed lens
Renewal here rides the reunion cycle, and acquisition is mostly the job of turning recent graduates into first-time donors before they drift. The three-segment discipline matters because the connected non-donor pile in a university file is enormous: alumni who show up to homecoming and open every email but have never once made a gift, which is a different letter than the one a lapsed donor gets.
Continuing education
1.25 points
Securing the Gift · Current and Prospective Donor Research
Learning objectives
- Explain the three jobs of an annual fund, renewal, acquisition, and upgrade, and name which one a given appeal serves.
- Sort a donor file into current, lapsed, and connected non-donor piles and describe how the letter changes for each.
- Draft an appeal letter that opens with one person's story, turns to the reader, makes a specific ask, and restates it in the postscript.
- Build a twelve-month appeals calendar that alternates asking with reporting and runs renewals on each donor's gift anniversary.
- Identify where the growth came from in a small annual fund that doubled and compare its renewal rate and thank-you speed to your own.
Designed for CFRE continuing education. Not yet accepted; no CFRE points can be claimed.
Lessons
- 19 min
Video lesson
The annual giving engine
II See · Current and Prospective Donor Research
- 22 min
Field guide· PDF
Writing an appeal that gets opened and read
IV Invite · Securing the Gift
- 20 min
Template· XLSX
Your first appeals calendar
VI Accompany · Securing the Gift
- 14 min
Case study· PDF
Case study: a $40K annual fund doubles
VI Accompany · Securing the Gift
This is members-only material.
Members get every lesson, template, and worksheet in all eight tracks, plus the support to put them to work in your shop.
More in this stage
Fundamentals & Ethics
How Fundraising Works
The map you weren't given: where the money comes from, why people give, and what a development program is made of.
Major & Principal Gifts
Your First Donor Conversations
Scripts, practice, and nerve for the conversations that fund your mission: discovery visits, thank-you calls, and your first ask.
Donor Communications & Stewardship
Thank-Yous That Keep Donors
Retention is the cheapest money you raise. Build a gratitude system that runs even when you are slammed.