A Closer Look

1. Make Sure You’re Asking for the Right Amount -When submitting a grant proposal, it’s really important to learn the grant making organizations average gift size so that your request is on target. You can learn this by looking at their 990′s, which are public documents available through the Foundation Center, the Guidestar directory, or even a public records office. Most foundations and corporate charitable giving arms list their grantees names and award amount on their website, but if you want to dig a little deeper, The Foundation Center directory will allow you to pull up a page that shows you the average gift size, the largest gift and smallest gift each foundation has made in the last couple of years. Their grants are usually larger than people think and many nonprofits err on the side of asking for too little. Don’t get caught in the cycle of asking for $20,000 every year just because you always have. You may find out another organization with a similar mission and operational budget is getting $30,000 or $50,000 and you haven’t gotten more just because you didn’t ask for it.
2. Do the Math, Track Your Success Rate -If you want to increase your grant dollars, it’s very important to know what your success rate is in order to raise the amount you need. In other words, you have to calculate how many proposals you submitted last year, for what amount, and how many were funded. If you only got 30% of what you asked for, and you need to raise $100,000 in grant funding this year, you need submit requests totaling $300,000. Then you will find that doing step 1, making sure you’re asking for the right amount will help you plan the total number of proposals and dollar amount per proposals to submit to meet your goal in one fiscal year. This is also assuming that you’re asking for funding from places that you already know are a good match, are interested in your cause and have either funded your nonprofit in the past or support other groups like yours.
3. Know the Rules to Break Them – You can compare to the next point to writing; it’s like learning good grammar and punctuation, it’s really important to learn these things to become a good writer, but once you become one you can intentionally break the rules to establish your own style. This is something I saw frequently in the past two years when the economy hit nonprofits particularly hard. I saw several organizations in Washington, DC that were at risk of closing their doors from a deficit go to foundations for the funding they needed to carry through. It’s so important to remember that these grant making organizations are not banks, but made up of real people who care about your missions, probably for some very personal reasons. If you need emergency funding or have a time sensitive project, go to your grantors outside of their grants cycle, explain your situation and ask to submit a special request. This won’t work with government grants or corporate giving arms, but it is likely to work with small family foundations where you have good personal relationships with people that care about your work.
4. Keep in Touch With Your Grantors Even When You Aren’t Asking for Money -Make a habit of sending a monthly update to your grantors and donors so that they stay current on what’s going on with your organization. There are several things you can do to keep communication open, such as sending a newspaper clip if your nonprofit gets mentioned in the paper, send out photos of special events, and if your major donors are accessible set a date to have lunch once in a while. It’s very important to make sure they know when you reach certain milestones and when you’re really struggling, and find out what they’re interested in funding. You may not always want to grow or operate in exactly the way your donors think you should, but keeping communications open and giving them plenty of opportunities to feel good about supporting you will help you strengthen your partnerships and make it a lot easier for you to go to them for extra funding when you need it.
5. Volunteer on Review Committees and Learn How Proposals Are Scored – Grants from government agencies, places like the United Way and many private foundations use volunteer review committees to score proposals and distribute funds in various categories. A great way to learn about this scoring and distribution process is to volunteer on one of these committees. Some divide the proposals into sections, score each section individually, and then fund the ones with the overall highest score. Participating in one of these scoring committees is a great way to learn the process firsthand. Plus, you’re just being a good citizen and getting involved in your community by doing this. It’s best to avoid any conflict of interest, so if for example you have an arts organization, you might want to volunteer to be on a grants review committee for something around education because the process is the same and it will help you understand how people outside of your world who might be evaluating your proposals view your work.
6. If You Get Declined, Find Out Why -You may have to ask more than once to get a real answer, but if your proposals are declined, do not accept the standard response form that says thank you for submitting your request but we have limited funding. Make sure you have a real conversation with the foundation’s program officer about why you were turned down, and if there was a review committee, ask to see how the proposal scored, read the reviewer’s comments and share that information with your colleagues. It’s impossible to improve your overall success rate as described in tip 2 if you don’t have a full understanding of why the proposal was turned down Sometimes the answer is truly that there was not enough funding, but if you keep the conversation going with each decline, you will eventually improve your process and get more grants.

If you’re doing all these things: strategically planning out your funding requests, building good relationships, and getting solid feedback on your declines, you’re going to get a lot more funding than you would if you’re just waiting to see what funding opportunity pops up and giving it a shot and you’ll find your success rate will improve within one year.

Listen to a free podcast on this topic at: http://www.amandajohnstonconsulting.com

About Amanda: Amanda Johnston understands the frustrations and challenges dedicated nonprofit leaders face and shares your passion for social change and innovation. In 2009, she raised $7 million for more than 12 medical, social and educational programs at a time when many nonprofits were closing their doors. She has helped many organizations move to the next level including a federally qualified health center, an international women’s rights organization, a refugee social service agency, and organizations promoting quality of life for people with disabilities. Amanda can help you raise more funds, develop a strategic plan and create a stronger board.

Breakthrough Strategies for Growth for Tireless Nonprofit Leaders
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Let’s Raise Money!

“Let’s Raise Money” is for the veteran and the novice alike. You will no longer be “on your own”. This book has the answers you need to assure your fundraising success.
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1. How much money do you need? – You need to decide this from the start. Then you’ll be better able to sculpt out a fundraiser that will get you where you want to go. Everyone should be working toward the goal of achieving the amount that is set. If your goal is vague it’s much easier to fall short of it. Decide how many people you’ll need in order to raise the amount you set, both for management and attendance. Some amounts you may be able to handle by yourself, while others may require enlisting some help.

2. How long will it last? – Choose a time frame ahead of your launching of your fundraiser. When they are open-ended they create confusion among the donors. People just aren’t as motivated as they will be when they know it is ending. You need that ‘urgency’ factor for good success. You don’t want it to be under a week or much longer than a couple of weeks.

3. What about product selection? – Choosing the right product and what type of fundraiser to have is very important. Lots of times your local businesses will throw fundraisers that will invite the local community to participate, and they willingly support these local causes. So if you happen to be giving a fundraiser that is product based, then by choosing products people are already using is a good idea. This is because you have a product they are going to buy sometime anyway, so they figure helping a worthy cause at the same time is very worthwhile.

Once you’ve planned it out you’re ready to spring into action. A good policy to have is collecting the money at the time of the sale. This helps to avoid many problems. There can be no mind changing or sudden emergencies that keep you from collecting the money for your products. Get the money, then hand over the product, in that order. Be sure all your helpers understand your operating policies.

Announce to your community just what the purpose is for your fundraiser. This gives them the reason for supporting you and they can assist in raising the awareness that your event will be taking place. You can even do thing like having a press release, or passing out flyers, or any other way of generating a buzz and getting the word out about your fundraiser. Everyone in the community should be aware of the ‘when’ and ‘where’ and ‘what for’ of your fundraiser. Make everyone aware of your goals and the amount you are trying to raise.

Once it has ended, be sure to thank all involved in the success. Be polite and let the community feel your deep appreciation for their participation and contribution. This will go a long way toward future fundraisers as well.

There are endless possibilities and methods for organizations to start fundraisers. Get more fundraising ideas for non profit organizations.

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—————————————

Let’s Raise Money!

“Let’s Raise Money” is for the veteran and the novice alike. You will no longer be “on your own”. This book has the answers you need to assure your fundraising success.
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He had a terrific product, a compelling offer, and a sound business model. He had just one problem. He wanted to make all website visitors register before they could browse his product catalog. Big mistake.

So I, along with his business partner, managed to talk him out of the idea. And he was glad that we did.

That’s because one of the fundamental requirements of direct mail is that you make it easy for your prospects, customers and donors to respond. The word to remember is “convenience.” You must make responding as convenient as possible. Here are some ways to do that with your donors.

REPLY DEVICE

• Print your donor’s name and address on it so the donor doesn’t have to.
• If your donors must complete part of the card, give them enough space (most direct mail donors are over 60 and can’t read or write without glasses).

REPLY ENVELOPE

• Pay for return postage so your donors don’t have to hunt for a stamp.
• Print your return address on the return envelope.

TEAR-OUT COUPONS

• Place coupons at the outside corners of the page (not in the gutter or the middle of the page), where they are easy to tear out.
• Perforate the edges of tear-out coupons with a fine perf, not a coarse one, so they are easy to tear out.

PAYMENT

• Offer as many payment options as possible without paralyzing your reader.
• Accept all the major credit cards.
• Accept cheques.
• Accept recurring monthly donations.
• Accept donations by telephone (toll-free, of course).
• Accept donations by mail.
• Accept donations on your website.

One of the beautiful things about donating by mail is the convenience. But that is only true if the direct mail donating experience is convenient. Use some of these methods to improve your convenience quotient and your donors will thank you for it-with their gifts.

About the author
Alan Sharpe, CFRE, is a fundraising practitioner, author, trainer and speaker. Through his weekly newsletter, books, handbooks and workshops, Alan helps not-for-profit organizations worldwide to acquire more donors, raise more funds and build stronger relationships. As the Director of Direct Development with The Gideons International In Canada, Alan manages their direct mail, major gifts and planned giving programs. Sign up for “Alan Sharpe’s Fundraising Pointers,” Alan’s free, weekly, email newsletter, at www.raisersharpe.com.

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For more tips on writing a successful fundraising letter, visit the website Fundraising Success!.

Delegation of Authority
Think carefully about what person you choose for each specific task. This is key to being good at delegating your authority. Pick people who understand what is expected of them and in whom you have confidence in their ability to deliver. Enlighten them in the areas of accountability and responsibility.

The Key is in The Promotion
You need to get the buzz going concerning your fundraiser. Promotion is a crucial part of being successful. Put out press releases in local media outlets. Take advantage of your school web page. Many of the promotional methods you employ will depend on what type of fundraiser you choose to run. Some may be good for putting out flyers and going from business to business asking them to put them in their store windows. The main thing is to be creative and get input from all who are involved. Make them feel like they’re contributing to your team effort.

Create More Than One Income Stream
I’m sure you’ve heard the cliché about eggs and one basket, or don’t put all your donuts in one box. Whatever way it’s put, the sentiment applies here as well. If you want to have a recipe for good success, then having multiple streams of income is the way you should go. Run fundraisers just like you would a business–plan on using multiple events for your fundraisers. Small town schools can really get blown away by other schools who happen to kick off their own event that is just like yours. But if you have other options ready, then life goes on, and so do your fundraising efforts. It takes away much of the risks.

Analyze Your Event Afterwards
This is not a part of your event planning, but it will help you in the future. By performing a careful analysis of how your fundraiser went, you can see areas that can be tweaked and improved upon for the next time you hold one. Look for things that worked the best, and the worst, and write them down for future reference. This will help you to improve with each passing event and to become better and better at being a really good fundraiser.

There are endless possibilities and methods for organizations to start fundraisers. Get more fundraiser ideas for non profits, churches, schools, and organizations.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jenny_Berk

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If your fundraising results have been something less than dramatic, and the thought of the next fundraiser is driving you up the wall, then this could be the most eye-opening letter you will ever read.

It’s because of the aggressive nature of donation solicitation. Many feel it’s just too pushy. It also takes a lot of time and lots of effort. Whereas the fundraising event is just one-time. It happens quickly and is over. Soliciting campaigns can run on and on continuously. And just how many donations are going to be enough?

There is a mutual benefit to fundraising. It’s distinct advantage is that monetary support is given in exchange for products put up in the events. The donors aren’t just giving away their money for nothing, they are expecting to receive something back. What they get back, will depend on what kind of fundraiser you are holding.

One of the most popular type of fundraiser is the car wash fundraiser. People give money and get their car washed in return. Dinners are a big draw for fundraisers. People love to eat, and will donate money for a plate of good food. You can have auctions and bake sales, or even hold sporting events. The point is that fundraisers provide a product, and the donors give the money. Televised fundraisers are extremely effective, and so are the online fundraisers. We’ve all seen the ones on TV, where they ask for pledges over the phone.

One great thing about fundraisers is that there’s plenty of room for using your imagination. These events are excellent ways of raising awareness for good causes and funds for supporting them. They spark people’s interest. The pre-order type of fundraising is considered by many not to even be a fundraising event, because it’s mostly just a collection of funds and not a real event. The actual events are far more exciting and dynamic, and you can get much more support and a lot more donors with these. The door-to-door stuff is pretty bland and lifeless. You just can’t beat a good fundraising event that is held properly, and gives your charity an infusion of life.

There are endless possibilities and methods for organizations to start fundraisers. Get more fundraiser ideas for non profits, churches, schools, and organizations.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jenny_Berk

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