How campaigns plan for funding gaps
Launch library · evergreen read
A funding gap, a period where expected income has not yet arrived or has fallen short, is common enough in campaign work that planning for it in advance is far wiser than hoping it simply never happens. Hope is rarely a workable financial strategy on its own.
Some campaigns build a modest financial reserve for exactly this purpose, while others plan a scaled down version of their activity that could be sustained if funding temporarily fell short, giving the campaign a workable fallback rather than an abrupt halt. Having that fallback already planned removes a great deal of panic later.
Being honest with the team and with supporters about the possibility of a funding gap, and about the plan for handling it, tends to reduce panic if a gap actually occurs, since everyone already understands roughly what will happen and why. That shared understanding, built in advance, steadies a team considerably when pressure actually arrives.