Understanding General Initiatives

When developing a strategic plan for Contributor Relations, an institution must identify the initiatives that are the basis from which the plan is carried out. An initiative is any organized effort with an expressed purpose. It can be a campaign, a membership initiative, an organized volunteer effort, an event initiative, or any other type of initiative defined by the institution. Initiatives can consist of multiple parts with other initiatives related to them, enabling the institution to track individual parts or the initiative as a whole.

To create an initiative, regardless of its type, you:

• Define a time frame.

• Define participation and financial goals.

• Assign responsible resources.

• Define the target audiences.

• Determine how this function relates to others at the institution.

• Develop a communications or public relations plan to reach the target audiences.

The four main initiative types are:

• Campaign

  An organized institutional effort targeted to a specific constituency that occurs over a specified period of time, with specific purposes and goals.

• Membership initiative

  A campaign focused primarily on membership.

• Volunteer effort

  After you create an initiative or define a membership organization, you can create the volunteer structure necessary for the effort to succeed. You then assign volunteers to the positions within the volunteer structure and assign additional volunteers to perform specific tasks.

• Event

  Any occurrence that you set up to achieve a particular result.

  Events are one of the most effective ways for the institution to reach both existing and new constituents.