6 Steps to structure a fundraising program for a sports organization

Hiring a strong fundraising team (through sound human resource practices and strategies) goes hand-in-hand with the structuring of a fundraising program. The structural design of the fundraising program (like other athletic organization departments) is dependent upon numerous variables. Some of the variables can encompass the following:

• Personnel size of the fundraising program;

• Resources available to the fundraising program;

• Strategic importance the fundraising program has in relation to other athletic organization departments/functions;

• Number of specific committees, volunteers, and board of directors’ members along with their incorporation and authority;

• Philosophical position of the fundraising program’s administration toward delegation, empowerment, and accountability;

• Organizational policies associated with fundraising program structuring (or re-structuring).

With this being said, no two fundraising programs are going to be alike. Each situation and program will have its own distinctive structure. For example, two comparable university athletic departments with similar fundraising goals can have two totally different fundraising department structures. One university might emphasize committees and volunteers while the other might rely heavily on an administrative driven departmental structure. These two diverse structures might be equally successful at reaching their fundraising program objectives.

While fundraising program configuration cannot be standardized, there is a logical step-by-step process to structuring one’s fundraising program. It is crucial that the process be followed and a fundraising program structure established (or re-established if re-organizing an already existing fundraising program). Without a sound organizational structure, a fundraising program will most likely never realize its potential and achieve success.

The step-by-step process is as follows:

Step 1: Lay out and re-visit all of the fundraising program’s goals created in the fundraising program plan. The principal rationale for this is to concentrate the structure on the objectives that are directly related to the fundraising program’s achievement.

Step 2: From the goals (both long-term and short-term actions), assemble a detailed inventory of all the major fundraising jobs and action-oriented tasks/assignments to accomplish each specific goal.

Step 3: This is the extracting and grouping of fundraising tasks stage. Individually or in a collective session with fundraising program team members, craft job positions (job designing) from items grouped. First and foremost in constructing these fundraising positions should be effectiveness and the ability of these positions to achieve fundraising goals.

Step 4: The fourth step in the progression is taking each fundraising position and building hierarchical departments. Additionally, this stage should have profound emphasis on resource allocation, span of control for each fundraising department and job position, and accountability.

Step 5: This stage encompasses the formulation of the structure. A well-defined hierarchical chart as well as complete position/job descriptions should be composed. The fundraising administrator and team will need to meet with all fundraising program personnel (both in-house and board of directors and volunteers) to illuminate positional responsibilities and to define the fundraising program’s reporting chain of command. It is imperative that every individual in the fundraising program completely understand his/her status and duties, along with the resources available and supervisory authority in the fundraising program.

Step 6: The final step in the process is monitoring and adjusting the fundraising program structure for goal realization. In most cases, if the first five steps in the process are followed, this stage will have some positional ‘tweaking’ of obligations and assignments. However, a substantial environmental change (or changes) will need scrutinizing as to the current and future effects on the fundraising program’s structure and the projected goals. If in these cases the external circumstance has a profound influence on the fundraising program, the re-structuring process (steps one through five) will need to be addressed.

For more information on this and other fundraising topics, please go to: