Funding your Mission A beginner’s guide to raising the money that you need
Outcomes for today • The ability to face the elephant in the room • A way for you to identify your needs • Tools to help you meet your needs • Basic information about how to create and implement a plan • Provide resources for more information • Enthusiasm for moving ahead with your fundraising plans
Fundraising is the gentle art of teaching the joy of giving. -Hank Rosso THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
Why is it the elephant in the room? • People don’t like to talk about money • People don’t like to ask for money • People have a hard time separating asking for a cause versus for themselves BUT.. • We need money. • We don’t have it. • We need to ask for it.
Conquering the elephant It is …. It is not… • necessary • a necessary evil • asking for your organization • asking for yourself • people giving to • people supporting you organizations that support • your job to determine how their causes much they will be willing to • your job to ask give • their decision • your job to fear the ask
In good times and bad, we know that people give because you meet needs, not because you have needs. -Kay Sprinkel Grace IDENTIFYING YOUR NEEDS
Where am I going? The first step in planning a trip is knowing where you want to go. From there you can plan your route. Same goes with fundraising. • What do you need money for? • What is the value of the thing that you are asking money for? • How much money do you need? • How will getting what you want help your organization?
Creating your map • Establish the need and desire for the project use assessments, testimonials • Define the desired outcomes use specific measurable goals • Describe the methods you will use to achieve the objectives go step by step • What credibility does your organization have? only, largest, oldest, newest
• How will you evaluate the success of the project? Be as specific as you can. Offer assessments, timelines • What is your budget? Provide as much detail as you can. Consider everything. • What is the future of the project? Of your organization? Is this an ongoing project? How will you sustain funding? What is next?
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. -Wayne Gretzky TOOLS
Fundraisers v Fundraising Fundraisers Fundraising • Selling something • Annual giving • Raffles • Major gift solicitations • Events • Grantwriting • Sponsorship • Runs/Walkathons/Dance- athons/Rock-athons
Selling Pros Cons • Very successful on college • You have to have something campuses to sell • Low cost items • Doesn’t raise a lot of money • Can be great advertisement • Can be time-intensive for your cause • Not going to fund your • People can support you organization for big things with just a few dollars
Things to consider with selling • Make it unique • Make it coordinate with your mission • Don’t shoot yourself in the foot • Meet a need or make it cool • Are there partnerships you can make? • Use it as an opportunity to inform and advertise your mission
Raffles/Events Pros Cons • Can raise a lot of money • TONS OF WORK • People are willing to take a • Often very expensive to run financial risk to win • Need an understanding of something IRS rules for receipting • They feel that they walk away with something for their money • Brings people together • Disguises fundraising because it is fun
Direct Solicitation Cons Pros • Builds relationships • Mailing costs • Communicates your needs • Needs some experience without a carnival • Need to maintain a atmosphere database of donors • Has the ability to cultivate • Need to ask people directly long-term donors • Has the potential to fund your organization for the long-term • Renewable and sustainable
Grantwriting Pros Cons • Allows you to spend the • Takes some experience time to carefully craft your • Lots of competition for message for your audience funds • Can raise significant money • Takes time: to create the • Targeted audience already proposal and to hear results committed to your or • Requires research similar causes • Allows you to research their giving extensively
Elements of a grant proposal • Executive summary Brief, 1 page, asking amount • Organization information history, mission • Problem/Need/Situation Description • Work plan/Specific activities what are you doing? • Outcomes/Impact of Activities measurable • Other Funding no one wants to be the ONLY • Future Funding how will it be sustained? • Evaluation how do you measure success? • Budget • Supplementary materials see what they request
Answering the questions • Who are you? History, mission • How do you qualify? Non-profit • What do you want? Amount, project • What problem will you address and how? • How will measure your results? Be specific • How does your funding request comply with the grantmaker’s purpose, goals and objectives?
To keep a lamp burning we have to keep putting oil in it. -Mother Theresa IMPLEMENTING A PLAN
How do you find people to support you? • Start with yourself and those within your organization • Go to people closest to home (other students, professors, families, etc.) and then work out to include those further in geographic scope • Look at who is supporting similar organizations as yours • Look at corporations who support your mission • Use the Internet • Use fundraising sources such as Foundation Center or Guidestar • Make new friends
Then what? • Case statement DO • Create a calendar • Prepare any written IT! materials • Know thy donor • Communications
Then?
R.E.A.L. • Research • Engage • Ask • Love
Go to Slide 1.
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. – Winston Churchill RESOURCES
Web resources • www.guidestar.org • www.foundationcenter.com • www.philanthropy.org • www.afpnet.org
Literary resources • Larissa Golden Brown and Martin John Brown, Demystifying Grant Seeking: What You REALLY Need to Do to Get Grants (San Francisco, 2001). • Susan L. Golden, Secrets of Successful Grantsmanship: A Guerrilla Guide to Raising Money (New York, 1997). • Grantsmanship Center, Program Planning and Proposal Writing (Los Angeles, 1981). • Cheryl Carter New and James Aaron Quick, Grantseeker's Toolkit: A Comprehensive Guide to Finding Funding (New York, 1998). • Deborah Porter, Successful School Grants: Fulfilling the Promise of School Improvement (Pittsburg, Tex., 2003). • Joan Flanagan, The Grassroots Fundraising Book: How to Raise Money in your Community (Chicago, 1995). • Jay Levinson and Chris Forbes, Guerilla Marketing for Nonprofits: 250 Tactics to Promote, Motivate, and Raise More Money (Canada, 2010).
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