The fundraising goal wizard asks for your target, your largest expected gift and your fundraising period, then splits the target into ask amounts with a suggested number of donors for each. Your dashboard then tracks how many donors you have at each level.
Open the wizard
On your dashboard, select the Set your Donation Goal card. It’s visible only until you have saved a goal. The wizard greets you with "Let’s set your donation goal!" and notes that you can adjust your goal later.
Step 1: your goal
Answer three questions. Next becomes active when all three are filled in.
- How much would you like to raise? Enter the Fundraising Goal in dollars.
- What is the largest single donation you expect to get? Enter the Max Contribution in dollars.
- What’s your fundraising cycle? Choose a start and end date for the Fundraising Cycle.
The side panel shows budget tips for your campaign. FundHero notes that the figures are general guidance and estimates only.
Step 2: your donor distribution
FundHero suggests how many donors you need at each ask amount to reach your goal. You can:
- Edit the Fundraising Goal and Max Contribution under Key Assumptions.
- Change any Ask Amount or Donors value. The Fundraising Projection updates as you type.
- Select the bin icon to delete a row.
- Select Add ask amount line to add a row.
- Select Restore default distribution to go back to FundHero’s suggestion.
Below that, Contacts Needed shows how many prospects you need to contact for each ask amount. FundHero’s note says about 50% of prospects won’t close, so you need to contact roughly twice as many potential donors as you need donors.
Select Save and Close. You see "Fundraising goal saved" and return to the dashboard.
What the ask amounts mean
Each row is a fundraising tier, also called an ask amount. Grouping donors by how much you plan to ask them for is often drawn as a donor triangle. In the wizard, the largest tier is your Max Contribution, and lower tiers have smaller ask amounts and more donors. The wizard’s explanation mentions the 80/20 rule, the idea that most donations come from a small share of donors.
Track progress on the dashboard
After you save, the dashboard shows a Fundraising Goal card. Each row is one ask amount and shows:
- Two progress bars: Amount Raised (progress toward the donors needed at that level) and Amount Prospected (contacts you have assigned that ask amount).
- The percentage reached, and the donor count against the number needed, for example
3/10.
Select the card to reopen the wizard and change your goal.
Assign ask amounts to contacts
Next to the goal card, the Add Prospects card says "Assign contacts in your donor CRM to your donor triangle to track progress." Select Add Prospects & Ask Amount to open your contacts. Each contact has an Ask Amount field that places them in a tier.