Early in my career I heard “But what is the strategy?” from my colleagues and supervisors on a regular basis. Frustrated, I would try again, each time thinking that my detailed tactical plan was much better than some “air fairy” strategy. I was wrong. Now, I hear myself ask my team the same question, and see the struggle from the other side of this conversation.

As fundraising has evolved from passing the plate and bake sales, to complex multi-channel approaches, so too has the language of fundraising. The landscape of fundraising has merged unabashedly with the marketing and branding world in an effort to keep up ,and stay in the zeitgeist. While this has netted an unbelievable amount of dollars for amazing causes, we have also adopted the language of industry, which some folks might be unfamiliar with, like I was.

Over the years, I have come to use the five “W’s” to explain how this all works together:

WHO – This is your prospect/donor. They are the subject of your strategy and the target of your execution.
WHY – This is one part of the cornerstone of building a strategy. It’s the fundraising problem you are trying to get the donor to solve.
WHAT -This is the solution to your problem—what the donor can do to take action and achieve the goal.
HOW – Rolling up your who, why and what is your strategy, or the how. How will you encourage the donor to do what you want them to?
WHERE – With the who, why, what and how sorted, you turn your attention to where you will apply this strategy—the execution.

While it’s not a perfect explanation it’s one that helps me to pause as I am creating a strategy or explaining one. Let’s put it this example into action for a neighbourhood garage sale.

1. WHO – People who are looking for a bargain, those who are into upcycling and those who are looking for an early-morning weekend activity.
2. WHY – I have things that I no longer need and would like to get rid of while ensuring they find a new good home. A bonus, secondary problem I’m solving is that I could use a little extra money.
3. WHAT- Holding a garage sale to show the lovely items I no longer need, and making them available at a good but flexible price.
4. HOW – Make posters with bright colours and key words to grab attention.
5. WHERE – On local telephone poles, in local papers, pin boards in stores and community gathering centers and word of mouth.

With these five questions answered you have set yourself up for a successful garage sale. It takes time to have an intrinsic understanding of the difference between strategy and execution, and I am still working through it on a regular basis, so know you are not alone!

Do you have tips and tricks for differentiating between the two? What terms are you struggling with? Let’s talk about it!

Laura Champion is the Senior Director, Fund Development at Lumenus Foundation. She is the Founder of the AFP Speaker Discovery Series, was Chair of AFP GTA Congress in 2020, and has spoken all over the globe. She has a deep love for fundraising, learning and her one-eyed wiener dog, Mortadella.