Strategic Fundraising Planning Using a ‘Balcony and Front Row’ Framework

Every organization has aspirations for the future, yet translating long-term strategic plans into specific, donor-ready fundraising priorities is where many organizations stall. Without defined priorities, donor portfolios can become unfocused, fundraising efforts remain siloed, and cases for support risk reading like budgets rather than stories. Strategic roadmaps may outline dozens of initiatives, but without clear focus, fundraising can lose momentum and impact.

Organizations often struggle in two ways. First, ambition without translation: vision statements may inspire internal stakeholders, but don’t always resonate with donors. Second, effort without alignment: even clear priorities can falter when competing interests, unclear readiness, or operational-focused cases create confusion.

By aligning on the long-term destination then defining the fundable path forward, organizations can turn strategy into momentum. A structured, collaborative process helps leaders choose what matters most and engages key stakeholders across the organization. It also evaluates priorities using criteria like impact, alignment, readiness, and donor appeal, while building a shared language that unites leadership around fundraising. The outcome is a clear, compelling foundation that equips teams to prepare for case development with confidence and clarity.

The “Balcony and Front Row Framework” supports and streamlines this process.

What Is the Balcony and Front Row Framework?

Strategic plans often list all the fundable projects that matter to the organization, but successful strategic fundraising requires identifying fundraising priorities that are feasible, compelling, and timely.

The Balcony and Front Row Framework offers a practical way to bridge that gap between long-term strategic vision and execution. Adapted from Ronald Heifetz’s leadership concept of “getting on the balcony” to navigate complex organizational challenges, this framework provides leaders with a structured approach to translate long-term strategic ideas into concrete, donor-ready initiatives.

From the balcony, leaders take the long view by looking across mission statements, strategic plans, and roadmaps to answer: “What kind of organization are we becoming?”

From the front row, the focus shifts to the near term: identifying donor-ready priorities such as projects, programs, and talent investments that answer: “What, specifically, can philanthropy fund now to accelerate that goal?”

The outputs of this process are tangible. Organizations emerge with a small set of organizing campaign pillars or themes, a curated portfolio of flagship projects nested under each pillar, a draft working goal and timeline ready for testing readiness, and a simple evaluation rubric to pressure-test priorities and confidently say “not yet” or “not campaign” when appropriate.

Donors respond to clarity and consequence; what changes if they give, and what won’t change if they don’t? Internally, the framework shortens meetings, sharpens messaging, and prevents “case sprawl,” ensuring fundraising efforts feel focused rather than overwhelming.

How to Apply the Balcony and Front Row Framework

 A practical, step-by-step approach over 6-12 weeks helps organizations define and evaluate fundraising priorities in a structured and collaborative way.

Step 1: Build a Cross-Functional Working Group

Start by bringing together the right mix of voices from across the organization—development or foundation leaders, strategy and operations, finance, facilities or IT, program heads, and communications. This cross-functional team ensures that both the big-picture strategy and on-the-ground realities are represented from the start.

Over the course of three 60–90- minute sessions, supported by short pre-reads and structured meeting agendas, the group moves from vision to action.

• Session 1—The Balcony: Reaffirm the institutional vision and define priority themes.
• Session 2—Front Row (Projects): Map specific projects under each theme, clarifying scope, timing, and key champions.
• Session 3—Front Row (Funding Needs & Goal): Translate project briefs into philanthropic packages; propose a working campaign goal and timeframe for testing readiness.

Step 2: Turn Strategic Themes into Fundable Projects

With the vision and meeting structure in place, the next step is to apply a clear methodology for moving from the “balcony” to the “front row.” In other words, this step will move you from high-level priorities to concrete, fundable initiatives that resonate with donors.

• Balcony Theme: Start with the strategic theme identified from the balcony perspective.
• Donor-Ready Projects: Specify concrete projects under that theme, such as seed capital, equipment, talent recruitment, or infrastructure investments.
• Evidence of Need: Describe the consequences of not funding each project.
• Timing: Indicate the anticipated horizon for each initiative—near term (1–3 years), medium term (3–5 years), or long term (10+ years).

Step 3: Apply a Six-Factor Evaluation Rubric

For each of the projects under each of the themes, give a score based on the following criteria (1–5 scale):

• Strategic Alignment
• Impact
• Readiness
• Donor Appeal
• Financial Need
• Role of Philanthropy

Making the Framework Work: Lessons from a Regional Health System

When a multi-site health system serving rural communities set out to plan its first comprehensive campaign, leadership faced a common challenge: how to unify diverse priorities across different markets and geographic locations under one compelling story. The organization’s strategic plan aimed to modernize care delivery, close access gaps, and stabilize workforce pipelines—but translating that vision into donor-ready initiatives required discipline and structure.

Balcony View: Leaders articulated a promise of “care close to home” as the north star, supported by commitments to access, equity, safety, and digital enablement.

Front Row View: A cross-functional Working Group met three times over eight weeks.

Each session produced concrete outputs:

• Strategic themes mapped to the system’s vision
• Project briefs detailing scope and timing
• A curated portfolio of projects organized into thematic pillars, paired with a draft working goal of $40M over five years for testing readiness

Why This Framework Works Across Sectors

The strength of the Balcony and Front Row Framework lies in its versatility. No matter the sector, organizations face a common major challenge: transforming broad strategic ambitions into donor-ready priorities that inspire both confidence and action. For example in:

• Higher Education, move from “student success” to “first-generation scholarship fund.”
• Human Services, narrow down from “community resilience” to “housing navigation program.”
• Arts & Culture, transition from “cultural access” to “mobile exhibit initiative.”

Across all examples, the benefits are consistent. The framework brings clarity, with fewer, stronger pillars that make the case intuitive for donors and staff. It fosters coherence: ensuring every project fits seamlessly into a unified story. And it builds confidence, empowering leaders to say “not now” to worthy but non-campaign initiatives without hesitation.

Building Internal Champions

The framework also creates alignment and confidence across the organization around fundraising. When leaders from finance, operations, marketing, and program areas are part of the process, they gain a shared understanding of how philanthropy drives mission-critical work. The process creates an opportunity to build a culture where fundraising feels strategic rather than transactional.

Here’s what this looks like in practice:

• Shared Language: The framework gives everyone a common vocabulary for talking about priorities, impact, and donor appeal. This makes conversations with donors consistent and compelling.
• Clarity for Case Development: By pressure-testing priorities against clear criteria, teams can confidently explain why each initiative matters and how philanthropy accelerates progress. This clarity translates into stronger cases for support and more persuasive donor conversations.
• Faster Decisions: Structured outputs—like project briefs and evaluation rubrics—reduce ambiguity and help leadership approve direction in one session instead of multiple rounds.
• Authentic Advocacy: When program leaders help shape the case, they become visible champions for fundraising within the organization. Their involvement unlocks authentic stories and donor connections that development teams might not access alone.

The result is strategic fundraising efforts that feel less like an exercise and more like an organization-wide strategy conversation; one that builds internal champions who can confidently carry the message forward to donors.

Turning Strategic Fundraising Goals into Momentum

Fundraising success begins with a single powerful story—one that donors can believe in and rally behind. The Balcony and Front Row Framework gives organizations the discipline to make bold choices: to elevate what matters most, unite leadership around a shared mission, and turn ambition into action.

Applied effectively, the framework becomes a roadmap for impact. It gives donors clarity on where their support will create change, empowers leaders with conviction, and builds the momentum that transforms vision into reality. In short, it helps organizations stop talking about the future and start funding it.