Fundraising Isn’t a Mystery—It’s a House. Here’s How to Build One.

Be honest: is your fundraising house in order?

Because if your donor strategy feels like a never-ending game of catch-up... if you’re always reacting instead of building... if the idea of a surprise audit makes you break into a cold sweat—then it might be time to check your foundation.

Let me explain.

Fundraising isn’t magic. It’s construction.

Over time, I’ve come to see fundraising like a house. Not a fancy one with a wine fridge and a meditation room. A solid, livable one—built to withstand storms.

Here’s how I break it down:

🔨 Foundation: Infrastructure & Systems Your database. Your staff roles. Your processes. Your campaign calendar. These are the parts people don’t see—but if they’re cracked or missing, the whole house shifts.

🧱 Walls: Campaigns & Stewardship This is your day-to-day fundraising—your appeals, acknowledgments, events, and donor journeys. The stuff that holds the house upright.

🏠 Roof: Major Gifts & Planned Giving This is your protection from the elements. Big, transformational gifts that keep your work secure and sustainable.

Some orgs get lucky and start with the roof—a big gift from a founder, a surprise check from MacKenzie Scott. And while that’s amazing, it’s not a long-term plan. Because if you don’t have a solid foundation? Even a million-dollar roof can collapse.

Let’s talk about that foundation.

My own house (the one I live in) is more than 100 years old—and it always needs something. There’s always a loose board, a creaky hinge, a window that sticks. Some things you wait to fix until they break. But some things? You tackle them before they become a problem—because you’ve built it into your calendar. Fundraising works the same way.

I see a lot of small-to-mid-sized orgs trying to build walls and roofs on a shaky base. Things like:

• No department calendar for annual campaigns.

• A donor database full of duplicate records, outdated contacts, and bad data. (Ask me how I feel about duplicate records. Actually... maybe don’t.)

• Gift acknowledgments that don’t go out—or don’t actually acknowledge anything.

• No systems for segmenting, stewarding, or thanking donors beyond a form letter.

And then we wonder why nothing sticks.

You can’t raise long-term, sustainable revenue on a shaky structure. The foundation has to come first—even if no one but your development team sees it.

So... what kind of house are you building?

Is it solid? Is it scalable? Is it even yours—or did you inherit it from someone who left without a blueprint?

Whether you’re patching holes or starting from scratch, the good news is: you’re not alone.

Let’s fix—or build—your fundraising house together. Book a free discovery call and let’s lay the groundwork for something strong.