21778 Chap.1 Why Organisations Fundraise: Mission and the Plan
Why Organisations Fundraise: Mission and the Plan
Money as a means, not the mission
This chapter opens the subject where the Week 1 lecture does: a not-for-profit, and many Australian sports and events organisations, exist for a purpose that is not income. Fundraising is the means that lets them deliver it.
You will compare three published definitions of fundraising, follow the purpose to strategy to revenue to impact loop from the Week 2 cricket club case, and see why the lecture calls a fundraising plan a living document.
What to carry into the assessments
Every later chapter reuses this one.
The Revenue Stream Evaluation Report asks whether current streams meet an organisation’s needs and objectives, which is a purpose question before it is a money question. The final Fundraising Plan opens with an overview of purpose and the need for fundraising. Students who can state a case organisation’s purpose crisply, and explain why its revenue serves that purpose, start both reports on firm ground.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Purpose versus income in not-for-profits
- 02
Sport and events as not-for-profit activity
- 03
Three definitions of fundraising
- 04
The purpose, strategy, revenue and impact loop
- 05
Why a fundraising plan matters
- 06
Testing an option against the purpose
Worked example · free
Run the purpose test on a festival's new revenue idea
- 1Name the purpose: a stage for local artists, which depends on local audiences attending.
- 1Trace the loop: higher prices may raise revenue per ticket but cut the audience that the programs and the artists depend on.
- 1Judge: the idea starts from revenue, not purpose, so look for streams such as sponsors or grants that fund the stage without shrinking the audience.
Key terms
- Not-for-Profit Organisation
- An organisation whose core purpose is to benefit a community or cause, with any surplus used for that purpose rather than distributed to owners.
- Fundraising Plan
- A living document that joins an organisation’s objectives to a map of how it will raise the resources to reach them.
- Mission
- The statement of what an organisation exists to achieve, used as the test every revenue activity must pass.
- Community Impact
- The change an organisation’s programs make for the people it serves, the end that revenue is meant to enable.
- Purpose-Driven Mindset
- A way of planning that asks what impact the organisation seeks and what resources that impact needs before asking how to raise more money.
Why Organisations Fundraise: Mission and the Plan FAQ
Why is fundraising called a means to an end?
Because a not-for-profit exists to deliver a purpose, such as community sport or animal welfare, and money is only one resource it needs. The Week 1 lecture quotes Temple (2016) describing fundraising as resting on organisational mission, so every activity is judged by whether it advances that purpose.
Why does the subject cover sport and events alongside charities?
Many Australian sports and events organisations are themselves not-for-profit entities whose purpose is to benefit communities. Events are also central to many charity fundraising campaigns. The subject therefore treats the three together and draws on interdisciplinary knowledge from each field.
What makes a fundraising plan a living document?
The lecture describes it as drawing together objectives and a map of how to reach them, updated as conditions change. Scarce resources, unusual accountability demands and the need to coordinate across functions mean the plan is revisited throughout the year rather than written once and filed.
Can a fundraising activity make money and still fail?
Yes. The Week 2 case asks exactly this: an activity can be financially successful yet strategically unsuccessful if it overloads volunteers, drives away participants or damages trust. The case lists mission measures such as participant numbers, volunteer engagement, member retention and inclusiveness beside dollar measures, so a full evaluation reports both.
Assessment move
Write a one-sentence purpose for each case organisation you meet and keep it at the top of your notes. For every revenue idea that follows, ask which program it funds and what the community would lose without it. Learn the three definitions by what each emphasises, so you can say which lens your report applies.
In tutorials, practise saying the purpose of your group’s case organisation in under twenty words, then name the program that depends most on fundraising.
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