Building Fundraising Capacity

December 2013

In This Issue

Is Your Project Grant Fundable?

New Focus for Corporate Giving Research

A Lament For Football

Build Your Fundraising Capacity!

Working closely with staff and boards, Janet Levine Consulting will help you increase fundraising capacity and build sustainability. Our philosophy is one of collaboration, where together we develop and implement comprehensive programs that fit the needs and resources of your organization. Call or email today for your FREE 30-minute consultation

Quick Links...

Our Website

Classes & Workshops

Partners

Too Busy To Fundraise

Two Ways to Get Grants

Getting Grants is available only as an ebook from Amazon or for your Nook

Get Ready, Get Set, Get Grants is available both as an ebook from iTunes or for your Nook, or as a print book.

My friends and family all know that I am a bah humbug type. I don't like holidays; I particularly don't like holidays that involve gifts I do not like having stuff, and therefore have a hard time figuring what stuff anyone else would actually want.

For a while I tried giving donations to a charity in lieu of a gift, but ultimately that was pretty unsatisfying for everyone. Making a charitable gift is very personal and while the money is always welcomed, the gift itself tends not to be sustainable.

Of course, I'm a person who firmly believes that nonprofits should focus on donors not dollars-but I fear it's an uphill (and lonely) battle.

Most fundraising is measured by how much money was raised. Too many organizations would be thrilled to have only one donor---if that donor gave a big enough gift. They don't think about what will happen when that one donor goes away.

And yet, for many organizations, that is exactly what has happened over the past few years with the shrinking of government and foundation grants. Too many of these nonprofits have no or only a very small individual giving program, and too often the one they do have is focused on an annual event and/or an annual mail appeal.

Just as savvy investors will advise a balanced portfolio, smart fundraisers know that ongoing success is more likely when you are raising funds from a variety of sources using a variety of techniques. While most funds are raised from individuals, the ways you can raise those funds are varied. Giving donors more opportunities rather than less to support your organization is the way to go. Nonprofits worry that they cause donor fatigue that way-but most donors are not offended by many asks as they are by the fact that they are only asked, and never courted in other ways.

For this end of the year issue, we will be talking about three main ways to raise funds: grants, corporate giving, and-of course-individual fundraising.

And, despite my dislike of the holidays, I plan on having a great time-hope you do, too.

**************

Need help in increasing your fundraising capacity or getting your Board to participate? Help is here. Email me or call 310-990-9151.

Is Your Project Grant Fundable?

Bo Morton and I have been teaching grantwriting-face to face and (mostly online at Ed2Go) for more than a decade. Bo still writes grants, mostly for educational and international organizations. You can learn more about her and at Linked2Grow.com. I rarely write grants as my focus is working with nonprofits to help them increase their ability to raise funds from individuals, corporations, and foundations. The following is from our newest book, Getting Grants. This is available as an ebook only at Amazon (http://amzn.to/1f1o7EB) or for your Nook (http://bit.ly/1jMSPVV)

Before you even start working on a grant proposal, you need to take a good look at your potential project to determine if this project lends itself to grant funding and if writing a proposal for a grant is a good investment of your time and energy. If you have written grant proposals before, you know how labor intensive this process can be, especially if you are applying for a large grant from a government source or from a complex multi-layered organization, be it a multinational development bank or a sophisticated private foundation. If you have never written a grant proposal before, the amount of work that goes into it may surprise you, but let it not discourage you. The more proposals you write, the more materials you accumulate, the easier (and faster) the process gets. Going back to the issue at hand, the first and most important question to ask is: IS YOUR PROJECT GRANT-FUNDABLE?

Some people may argue that almost all projects are grant fundable if you find the right funder. While it may be true, chances of finding the right funder for certain projects maybe similar to the chances of winning a lottery. We want your chances to be significantly better than that so we will examine the qualities that make a project fundable in the eyes of most funders. (READ MORE)

New Focus For Corporate Giving Research

Sherri Morr is a nonprofit consultant. Contact her at smorric@gmail.com

A few weeks ago, there was an article in the New York Times about Goldman Sachs donating money to non profits. A lot of money. Their giving seems to have to do with being liked. Giving in exce

ss of $1.6 billion can buy a lot of love (aka likes). The stated reason of 'buying redemption', having the general public like them, is a compelling reason to wonder who else might like to buy acceptance. Just a few weeks late billionaire David Tepper announced $67 million to his alma mater Carnegie Mellon. Mr. Tepper founder of Appaloosa Management and a graduate of the university's business school said,"My earlier gifts were a payback to the university, and this is a continuation of that."

More likes.

So of course I wonder if nonprofits are considering research in this newer (or at least more openly stated) aspect of finding corporate and business donors who want to purchase admiration.

Organizations should be especially mindful of adding this form of research. We all know the percentage of corporate giving is small compared to individual giving. But corporate giving should not be ignored. Take a moment and look at a few suppositions. Netflix needs to be liked. They have had their ups and downs with public opinion and it's hard to imagine they would not like to build some public affection. Especially with their increased entertainment services. Imagine Netflix making a donation to a major medical center...say an institution who is a hospital and who carries out research, and then asking customers to 'like' them on Facebook. Again a lot of likes for Netflix, free publicity for the medical center. A win win.

If social media is to be used for advertising purposes, why can't nonprofits have a piece of that action? Pope Francis recently emphasized the Catholic Church paying more attention to healing the poor and disenfranchised. What better endorsement do homeless centers, food banks, and shelters need? (READ MORE)

A Lament For Football

I started in fundraising at USC, where I had tons of support, great name recognition, a lot of colleagues-and football. During the season, I spent most Saturdays hosting prospects and donors at various pre-game parties, post-game parties, and, of course, the game itself. I hated it, but my donors and prospects loved it and show their love in many generous ways.

In time, I moved to the University of Oregon. My job there was in central development, which meant that I mainly identified and qualified donors-then handed them off to the development staff at the appropriate school. I hated that more than I hated football, and I really hated that most of my prospects and donors were watching the Ducks with someone other than me.

In between USC and UO, I worked at a think tank that also published a magazine. I was the first development director and once I convinced my boss that grants by themselves wouldn't close that infamous gap between revenues in and those that went out, we began an individual fundraising program. With only a few offices to show off and research papers, cultivation over time became difficult. Football wasn't an option. We had to come up with other things.

This is a problem that most fundraisers come up against. Absent football (or performances, exhibitions and the like), how can you keep in front of your donors and prospects-especially those who require numerous touches and consistent cultivation? (READ MORE)

Are your fundraising results down?
Board members bored?
Are you thinking about a campaign?
Or perhaps you need individual fundraising coaching!

Whatever your capacity building needs, Janet Levine Consulting can help.

Send me an email or give me a call at 310-990-9151 to schedule a free 30-minute consultation.

I look forward to meeting with you.

Sincerely, JHL3

Janet

Janet Levine

Janet Levine Consulting