“Let’s just double it!”: How to stop picking fundraising goals out of thin air
Written by Caitlin McBride, Senior Consultant
When I started a new fundraising job a few years ago, I was told in week one that the board had already decided on our fundraising goal: double revenue in two years.
That was it. That was the whole strategy.
No plan. No systems. No sense of what had worked before. No input from the professional fundraiser they had just hired. Just a bold declaration in a board meeting: we will double revenue by X date.
Cool. Cool cool cool.
I said no to that goal. Not because I lack ambition, but because the goal had no grounding in reality. It didn’t reflect capacity, donor data, or any kind of strategy. It was just a number. And building a plan for service delivery around that number wasn’t just unrealistic, it was a disservice our community.
Let’s talk about setting goals that are actually achievable.
What growth actually looks like
According to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project and M+R Benchmarks, most small nonprofits see annual growth of 4–10%, even in stable economic conditions. That’s the average baseline. Growth beyond 15% typically only happens alongside major programmatic or staffing changes. Growth beyond 15% usually requires increased investment in fundraising staff, advertising and printing costs, digital marketing, and software.
So, if your nonprofit raised $100,000 last year, here’s what real growth could look like:
Conservative (5–10%): $105,000–$110,000
Great if your operations are steady.
Moderate (10–15%): $110,000–$115,000
Doable with increased donor engagement or new outreach.
Ambitious (15–20%): $115,000–$120,000
Needs a big move, like a new strategy with implementation support.
Aggressive (25%+): $125,000+
Only makes sense with hugely increased capacity, budgeting for fundraising expenses, and strategic focus.
If leadership suggests 30% growth with no new investments, that’s not a plan: it’s a setup.
What to ask before you set a goal
Before you pick a number, ask:
What did we raise last year, and how? Were there one-time windfalls or lapsed grants?
What’s changing this year? New staff? New programs? If nothing’s different, big growth is unlikely.
What’s happening externally? Sector-wide, donor counts are down, especially small-dollar donors. If you're seeing that, you’re not alone.
Do we have the capacity to support this goal? Do we have the right systems, staffing, and time to follow through?
Would I expect my own personal budget to increase by 40% year over year without a massive all-encompassing change?
Ambition is great. But it must be supported by data and grounded in reality.
Don’t fall for these pitfalls!
These common patterns lead to unrealistic goals and exhausted teams:
The budget leads the strategy: New staff are hired, expenses go up, and fundraising is expected to catch up after the fact. Fundraisers are expected to “raise their salary” without the time, systems, or tools needed to do so.
Outlier years get baked in: A surprise $50K gift gets treated like a guarantee in every future projection. Revenue is not broken up by portfolios, so the bigger picture is obscured.
Goals are set in a vacuum: The board picks a number without consulting staff or having a step-by-step plan to reach it. Worse, the board is not involved in fundraising at all, so goals are set exclusively through a “programmatic needs” lens, completely ignoring economic realities.
Fundraisers are brought in too late: By the time the goal is communicated, the budget is already finalized. The organization is struggling to meet pay roll and expect the fundraiser to diagnose, identify, and fill long-standing structural deficit, budgeting, donor relations, and revenue issues.
This usually isn’t malicious. Most boards and EDs just haven’t been taught how to set realistic revenue goals. But even well-meaning decisions can lead to burnout, low morale, and missed targets. We know most fundraisers will leave their job by around 18 months. By setting smarter revenue goals, not only do you ensure the sustainability of the organization (and it’s programming), but you also exponentially increase your odds of retaining your fundraiser, and all the donor relationships they have built for your organization.
What you track matters: Lagging vs. Leading metrics
Most organizations only focus on the dollars raised. That’s a lagging metric. It tells you what happened after the fact.
To grow sustainably, you need to watch leading indicators: the things that create future revenue. Are you making thank-you calls? Re-engaging lapsed donors? Sending impact updates? Scheduling meetings with funders? Doing regular grant research?
These actions build momentum. They offer early feedback and help you make real-time adjustments instead of waiting for year-end surprises.
Make a list of all of your leading indicators, as well as KPI rates for them. Once your leading indicators are in KPI range, you know more donations and more donors are on their way.
The Bottom Line
Fundraising goals shouldn’t be guesses. They need to be backed by data, guided by strategy, and shaped by the people doing the work.
Settling on a number because it “sounds good”, or because it obscures the deficit, or because it will appease your board.... it’s risky. Risky for your programming and your service users. One ridiculous budget could sink a whole organization – we have seen it happen.
Fundraisers must speak up when goals are unrealistic. Not because we’re against growth, but because we know what it takes to achieve it: capacity, time, money, relationship-building, strategy, and expertise. Without these, a number on a spreadsheet is meaningless.
If your organization is ready to stop guessing and start planning, Further Together is here to help. We support small but mighty teams in setting goals that grow both revenue and capacity.
Let’s make next year your most grounded (and successful) yet.