Building Fundraising Capacity

March 2015

In This Issue

The Last Word

Let's Put On A Grant

Intentional Fundraising

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.

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I fear that I begin to repeat myself. Let's face it, fundraising as we always note, is not rocket science. How much can you write about?

A lot, apparently.

I've been doing this newsletter for over seven years. And I've been blogging for longer than that. Before blogging and newslettering, I wrote articles on fundraising for magazines. And that is just me.

Daily, my inbox gets bombarded with other people's writings about fundraising. And what I mostly notice is that we are pretty much saying the same things, albeit in different ways and using different voices.

And still, simple as it apparently is, consistent as the messages are, fundraising remains something that most nonprofit organizations

aren't very good at.

There are exceptions, of course. And what I have noted after eons in this field, is that exceptions are typically larger organizations whose board members know that fundraising is important to the health of the organization. They ensure that there is enough fundraising staff and enough support staff so the fundraising staff can focus on-yep, you got it! Fundraising. (READ MORE)

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This month we'll be talking about starting from the end, grantwriting, and being intentional. Keep reading. I hope you find it all helpful

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Need help in increasing your fundraising capacity or getting your Board to participate? Help is here.

Email me

or call 310-990-9151

Together we can make it happen!

THE LAST WORD

The novelist John Irving says he cannot begin writing until he knows the final sentence of his novel. When I first heard this, I scoffed. I am a woman who prefers beginnings. I love the clean page, the new job, the promises of a new relationship.

But during the time of my consulting, I have become a convert to John Irving's way.

It is about the vision thing. You really can get where you want to go better if you know where it is you are headed.

I once worked for a man who often proclaimed that we "didn't do the vision thing" at our institution. We were what we were and that was what we had always been. Unfortunately, at a point in time, what we were was anachronistic. The lack of a vision had turned what had been a vital, vibrant place into something that delivered our students less than they deserved and hampered our staff and faculty. Fortunately, a solid foundation and new leadership was able to turn that around. But it might not have been the case. (READ MORE)

LET'S PUT ON A GRANT!

When I was 8 or 9, I would often watch old Mickey Rooney movies (and if you are asking Mickey WHO, you know just how old those movies are). In them, a group of kids would face a problem where they needed some money. "I know," Mickey would inevitably say, "let's put on a show." And in quick order, a very professional production would premiere and all problems solved.

A lot of people who work in the nonprofit or educational sectors seem to think that they are Mickey Rooney. Instead of putting on a show, however, the think that the answer is to have an event or-better still-- write a grant! (READ MORE)

INTENTIONAL FUNDRAISING

As fundraisers, we too often spend all our time setting up appointments or going to networking events without spending the time to plan for how we want these activities to turn out. We go to a mixer and know that we want to get people excited about our organization, but we have not clarity about what we will do next. Or we go out with a prospect and know that our eventual goal is to get a gift but we haven't gotten clarity about what we want to happen for this meeting.

In other words-we aren't intentional about our fundraising. Which means that too often our lack of calculation brings forward unintended consequences.

Have I shared with you the story of going out to meet with a major donor prospect and having my eye so far out in the future that I didn't consider what should be happening at this first meeting? And to keep embarrassment to a minimum, let me just say that he wanted information that I didn't have at hand. That in itself wasn't so bad, but I felt so dumb for not having anticipated what he might want to know, I pretty much blew the rest of the meeting.

So what do we mean by intentional fundraising? (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.

TO SCHEDULE A FREE 30-MINUTE CONSULTATION,

email or give me a call at 310-990-9151

I look forward to meeting with you.

Sincerely, JHL3

Janet

Janet Levine

Janet Levine Consulting