HOW TO ARTICLES

Do you need grant funding for your nonprofit organization? If you do
you are most certainly not alone in your needs. This combined with the
fact that because of regular government budget cuts there’s not as
many federal dollars available as there once was. And because of our
current economic recession foundation dollars are down as well. What
you now have are some serious concerns facing your nonprofit
organization.

On the other hand there is still a vast source of funding out there
for your organization. But, even more so today than ever, in order for
you to get your share of the treasure that’s out for you. You must
approach the matter of grant getting in an organized and systematic
manner.

And you must make the process of obtaining grants a regular and
ongoing activity for your organization. Here are some guidelines to
help you get the grant funds you seek:

* Carefully assess your funding needs by asking yourself a number of
very important questions, such as: How much funding do you need? How
will this funding be used? Who will benefit from this funding? And,
how will this funding be used? Having clear answers to these kinds of
questions are a key part of any request for funding, and will help you
determine the kinds of grantors you should be approaching.

* Make a list of your target grantors specific to your needs. You can
do this by going to the main branch of your public library. Where you
should find some kind of grant research center with a wealth of grant
funding directories you can use.

* If you live in a very small community and your library doesn’t have
a grant research center. You should contact The Foundation Center, 79
Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10003, (212)620-4230 where you’ll find a
wealth of grant directories too, that you can purchase directly from
them. Be sure to request a copy of their current catalog when you
contact them.

* Contact each grantor on your list for a copy of their current
funding guidelines, and proposal requirements. While all grant
directories do list grantors basic funding requirements and rules. You
should still always contact them before you apply. Since what’s listed
could be actually much different from what they currently do, and your
time is too valuable to waste it.

* Prepare a clear concise attractive development proposal of between 8
to 12 pages. While many large nonprofit organization tailor make a
proposal for each program or project they’re marketing to get specific
grantor, this can be a very time consuming process if your
organization is small or mid-sized, without the staff and support that
many large agencies have. Thus it’s better to prepare a standard
proposal covering your capital, program, and operating needs. Then
target it with a well-prepared submission cover letter.

* Even in those cases where a grantor does have specific proposal
requirements. You’ll find still that most of what you’ve already
prepared can be incorporated into your custom proposal quite easily.
Allowing you to prepare custom proposals in those situations where
it’s needed. This is especially true when seeking federal funding,
where your proposal must be targeted to the requirements of the
federal grantor.

* Keep in mind the fact that the easiest kinds of grant to obtain are
grants for capital needs items. And grants for unique, exciting, and
innovative programs and projects. Whereas the hardest items to get
grant for are operating cost items. So you should use grantors
primarily for capital and program funding objectives. And secure
private gifts from individuals to raise most of your operating cost
funds.

* Set aside a block of time each week, even if it’s only three or four
hours. During which time you or a designated staff member will devote
to the three key areas of effective grant solicitation. Namely,
researching funding sources, preparing, and submitting proposals.
Doing this will keep you up to date on who’s doing what, improve
proposal preparation skills, and keep those grants coming in
regularly.

Yes, you can get the grant funds you need to effectively operate your
nonprofit organization. And help all those people who need the help
that you provide them. But you must go about getting the grants you
need in an organized systematic fashion. And refuse to take "no" for
an answer, because the cost of doing otherwise is much too great for
so very many.

Berwyn J. Kemp is a fundraising consultant who helps nonprofit
organizations obtain funding. For full details on his funding
products, or to read more of his re-printable articles you can visit:
http://www.berwynkemp55.tripod.com

A good annual direct mail solicitation program can produce
unrestrictive operating funds for your nonprofit organization year
after year. And such an annual direct mail program, if done right,
should produce more funding for your organization each year.

There are very few nonprofit organizations that couldn’t benefit from
an effective, and ongoing direct mail solicitation program. If you’re
currently using annual direct mail solicitations and would like to use
it more effectively, or if you’re not using this form of fundraising
but would like to set up such a program. Then here are some steps to
help you do this much more successfully:

1. Expand your mailing list or build one if you’re just starting your
direct mail program. To do this ask yourself: Who are the most likely
people to support your organizations financially? If you are already
using direct mail the answer to this questions should be obvious to
you, in which case you need to find more of these kinds of people.

Some of the many ways to do this are using compiled lists, rented or
leased lists of people who support similar causes and etc. If you
aren’t using direct mail now then start with users of your services
and/or friends and family members of users of your services, then
explore complied, and rented or leased lists next.

2. Prepare a powerful direct mail package to solicit your list, which
will include an appeal letter, and response form, a reply envelop, and
of course an outer envelop to mail your package in that has the full
legal name of your organization on it. Too in preparing your appeal
letter by sure to make them emotional, interesting, and personal, and
keep the focus of this letter on how those you serve will benefits
from the gift as well as how the donor will benefit also. And always
ask for their gift.

3. Make a test mailing of your direct mail package to your donor
prospect list, and keep in mind that in direct mail solicitations all
new mailings are a test. So don’t invest large sums of money into this
endeavor until you’re relatively sure that you can get a good return
on your investment. Whether you are currently using direct mail or
not, all your new mailings are for finding what’s called "new
acquisitions" which are needed by you to obtain more funds from your
direct mail program each year.

4. Evaluate very carefully the results of each of your test mailings
for new donor acquisitions, and if your mailing earns a slight profit,
simply breaks even, or perhaps even loses a little money you may be
able to still call your test a success. In fact, if you spend $1.25 or
a little more for every dollar you raise consider your test a success,
because when you renew these donors, that is mail to them again, you
can easily get 80-90% of them to make another gift. This is where
you’ll really earn your profits from direct mail solicitations.

5. Build upon your direct mail successes by "renewing" your donors
each year, that is getting them to make another gift. And continue to
seek new donors to keep your direct mail list growing and more
profitable each year, because if you don’t continue to build your list
it will grow smaller each year since donors move and stop giving for a
variety of reasons.

Yes a good annual direct mail program can produce a regular and
growing source of revenue for your organization year after when this
fundraising methods is effectively used. Now use these steps to help
you set up, or expand your annual direct mail solicitation program to
raise more of the funds you need to better serve those who need you.

Special events are one of the most effective ways to raise funds for
your organization, increase your donor bases, and get valuable
publicity for the work of your nonprofit organization. If done right,
if done wrong, your special events won’t provide the funds you seek,
and will in fact hurt your organization because of the negative
word-of-mouth advertising your organization will receive.

Therefore, in doing your special events failure is a luxury your
organization quite simply can’t afford. Here are some steps you can
take to help insure that your special events are done right, so that
your organization gets all the benefits that good special events
offer.

1. Select a special event chairman for your event. This position
should not be held by your board chairman, board members, or your
executive director. Because, first these people already have other
responsibilities, and second because in selecting your event chairman
what you should want to do is to supplement your existing people
resources not saddle them with more responsibilities. So don’t
hesitate to go outside of your organization to find this person, if
needed.

2. Carefully plan your special event, and one of your key planning
tools will be your Event Master Plan, which will cover the kind of
event you’ll have, when it will be held, and where it will be held.
Other important plans you will need are: A Budget Plan; A Funding
Plan; A Publicity Plan; A Donor Recognition Plan; A Site Logistics
Plan; and a Disaster Plan.

3. Develop an event’s timeline to keep your special event on course.
For smaller special events you need between 3 to 6 months lead-time.
And for larger special events you will need between 6 to 9 months lead
time, to do your special event right. So be sure you give yourself
plenty of time.

4. Set up a special event’s committee, as well as all the needed
subcommittees. Such committees will include ticket sales committees, a
gift solicitation committee, a publicity committee, and others.
Because, all fundraising is a people intensive activity and this is
nowhere more so than in doing special events, and you will need lots
of people to help make your special event a success.

5. Prepare as many of the documents you will need to do your special
event successfully even before you need them, in the form of template
documents so that keep your special event on track. Some of the many
kinds of document you’ll need are an event case statement; gift
solicitation letters, publicity releases, volunteer’s worker kits,
event signs, and numerous other documents.

6. Hold a full dress rehearsal of your special event with all your key
player involved, and walk through each step of your event. So that all
directly involved know exactly what their respective role is, and just
where they fit into the overall process. Moreover, if your event
involves some kind of talk presentations be sure to provide scripts to
everyone who talks, and be sure to set a time limit on those who will
be speaking so that you start and finish on time.

7. Do your special event being sure that if you accomplish nothing
else that at least everyone has a good time. If they don’t they won’t
speak well of your organization nor attend future special events. Too
try to earn a reasonable profit of at least 50% or better on your
event after all cost are subtracted. On key to earning a reasonable
profit is to get as many of the materials you need donated, and to
obtain cash gifts from local businesses and others, which will be
added to the overall revenue produced by your event.

Now to successfully do special events will require time and effort on
your part, but the value of your special event and the benefits your
organization will receive will far out weight the time and effort
involved. Because your event will allow you to raise funding, increase
your donor bases, and provide valuable publicity for the work that you
do. Thus special events should be regular part of your organizations
fundraising efforts and revenue sources.

Many nonprofit organizations focus their attention on annual giving
programs, such as, direct mail and special events. Yet neglect setting
up an effective major gift program, or if they have a major gift
solicitation program they fail to effectively implement it to it’s
full potential. If you are currently focusing on annual giving, then
you are not getting all the funding you could get from an effective
major gift program, and you are making a big mistake.

Because an ongoing and effective major gift solicitation program can,
and will produce a very large block of capital for your nonprofit
organization on a regular basis. And such a program can give your
organization these funds with a relatively small investment of time
and money being needed, as compared to the return you will get.

Here are some guidelines to help you set up your major gift program,
or obtain more funds from the program you are already using:

1. Set up a major gift committee, which should include your board
chairman, two or three other board members, and your executive
director. This committee could also include two or three community
leaders or movers and shakers in your community. With the main idea
here being that those who solicit major gifts for your organizations
should be at or near the same social-economic level as those they will
be soliciting for major gifts.

2. Survey your universe of major donors and donor prospects by
carefully reviewing your own donor data bases for moderate donors with
a regular history of making larger than usual gifts, and of course
those who have already made major gifts to your organization.

3. Develop a questionnaire for your board members, key staff members,
and volunteers leaders to list their banker, insurance rep, doctor,
dentist, lawyer, accountant, as well as their spouse, and their
family, friends, and associates who are capable of making a major
gifts, and might be solicited to do so. This list should also be
supplemented with names from printed sources of information such as
published information on major gifts made in your area, local society
columns for people of note and etc.

4. Make sure that your major gift committee knows the basics of major
gift solicitation techniques. If not, you’ll need to conduct a
training program of some kind for them. This could be a short four
hour seminar or workshop that’s held on a weekday evening or weekend
afternoon, and it should cover the three main areas of gifts
solicitation which is the approach, the presentations, and the ask
(close).

5. Draft as many of the documents you’ll need for your major gift
program as possible before you need them in the form of templates.
Which will include such items as development proposals, case
statements, network solicitation letters where you have a network
connection to the prospective donor, cold solicitation letters when
you have no network contact, follow up letters for both those who made
gifts and who declined at this time, and etc.

7. Develop a major gift solicitation funding plan which will include a
timeline, and how many gifts will be solicited each week, month,
quarter, and for the year, as well as who will make what solicitations
to whom. And be sure that each member of your major gift committee has
already been solicited for their gifts before they attempt to solicit
others.

8. Implement your funding plan and keep your plan on track by holding
regular major gift solicitation committee meetings with task action
minutes as to who is supposed to do what and by when. And be sure to
keep good prospect solicitation records on each contact made,
including the results, and any needed follow up and when.

A well planned and well ran major gift solicitation can produce an
extremely large amount of funding for your nonprofit organization year
after year. And the results you can obtain with such a program can be
astronomical when you compare the small amount of time and funds you
must invest to get these results. That makes setting up a major gift
program, or more effectively implementing your current program a very
wise investment for your nonprofit organization.

Effectively raising funding for your nonprofit organization require
lots of committed, dedicated people working together in a spirit of
cooperation and teamwork. Without this your organization can not
achieve the full fundraising success you desire.

Because without enough people your board, staff, and the few handful
of volunteers you have will be asked to do far more than they are
really capable of doing. Which will cause them frustration,
resentment, resignations, and of course not enough funds being raised
for the needs of your nonprofit organization. Here are some steps you
can take to help you avoid these many problems and obtain the funds
you seek:

1. Build a good board of directors of 12 to 20 people that represents
a good cross section of your community’s business, professional,
civic, and religious organizations. Your board of directors must have
resources to contribute financially to your organization and lead the
way by their example of giving. They must also have the business and
professional connections to induce others to support your
organizations as well.

2. Set up a Central Coordinating Committee because you can not succeed
to your fullest financial success without one. The role of this
committee will be to make recommendations on the various fundraising
methods to be used, prepare the documents needed for each method, and
oversee the progress of all fundraising activities. As well as report
regularly to your board on the progress of each fundraising activity
being used.

3. Establish the other committees you’ll need which, of course, will
depend on the make up of your organization. If your organization
provides a critically needed service to a broad spectrum of your
community, then you’ll have far more committees that a more private
kind of nonprofit organization such as a church or advocacy group with
a more select kind of agenda.

4. Set clear realistic goals for your capital, project, and operating
needs. Once your capital objectives are set, then set your program
objectives by carefully reviewing each one of your programs with your
program coordinators or project leaders. These evaluation should cover
the relevance of each program, the cost of each program, and whether
or not the program will be continued, merged with other programs, or
eliminated all together. Any objectives that can’t be classified as
capital or program are operating objectives.

5. Prepare good development documents for the fundraising methods
you’ll use. Some of the many kinds of documents you will need are
development proposals, case statements, fundraising letters,
solicitation training manuals, and numerous others. These document
should be clear, concise, and persuasive, and not only detail the
importance of your cause to those you serve, but also the benefits
those who support your organization will receive either directly or
indirectly.

6. Effectively manage and implement your fundraising efforts through
your central committee, by holding regular meetings. And taking task
action minutes of these meetings so that everyone knows who should be
doing what, and by when it needs to be done. These task action minutes
should be filed in a Project In Progress Log for each fundraising
activity you’re using so that you have a clear record in once place to
monitor your progress, as well as take any needed actions when goals
and objective aren’t being met.

Yes, to effectively raise the funding you need for your nonprofit
organization will require the efforts of lots of people. From an
effective board of directors who not only take the lead in fundraising
matters through their own example of giving, but who also take the
lead in getting others to give too. To capable staff members and
scores of well trained highly motivated volunteers.

And when people work together in a spirit of cooperation and teamwork
to achieve worthwhile and noble goals there are many great things that
can be achieved. For the good of those you serve, for the good of
those that support you, and for the good of your community as a whole.

A major capital campaign can be one of the most cost-effective ways to
raise a large block of capital for the needs of your nonprofit
organization. In fact, today many large nonprofit organizations use a
continuous capital campaign to supply the funding needs of their
organizations. While this course of action isn’t advisable for most
organization, an occasional major capital campaign can still be an
effective way to raise the funds you seek.

But in doing any major capital campaign there are many things that can
go very wrong. That’s why it is essential that you plan your campaign
carefully and proceed with caution. Here are some steps to help you do
your major capital campaign successfully:

1. Do, or have done, feasibility study that will answer such questions
as: Are you really ready for a capital campaign? Do you have the donor
bases you need? Does your staff and people have the expertise to do
such a campaign? Do you have the positive public image to conduct your
campaign? Is any competitor organization doing a capital campaign when
you plan on doing yours? And, have you exhausted all other fundraising
methods to obtain the funds you need?

2. Select a campaign chairman for your capital drive to provide the
volunteer leadership that you will need. The role of being your
capital campaign chairman should be this person’s main volunteer
responsibility because a great deal of time and effort will be
required of them. Also, if possible, avoid making your board chairman
your capital campaign chairman, since what you need to do is to
supplement your current leadership with your campaign chairman
selection. Rather than saddling your existing leadership with a
heavier workload.

3. Set up a capital campaign Coordinating Committee to set fundraising
goals and objectives, and oversee the progress of your capital
campaign. And also set up your other capital campaign fundraising
committees which may include, depending on the make up of your
organization, a Board Committee, a Past Board Committee, a Friends
Committee, a User’s Committee, an Employee Committee, a Top Donor
Committee, and other kinds of committees.

4. Prepare good documents that are clear, crisp, and compelling, which
sets forth the goals and objectives of your campaign, as well as the
benefits that will be derived from it. Some of the many kinds of
documents you’ll need are: A capital campaign chart, development
proposals, campaign case statement, campaign newsletter, donor
recognition materials, pledge cards, and three or four campaign
solicitation letters for each year of your campaign to name just a few
of the many kinds of document you’ll need.

5. Have your campaign Coordinating Committee do a final assessment of
your campaign goals about two or three months before your campaign
kickoff. This assessment is to decide if your campaign goals are
realistic or not. As a rule, before you go public with your campaign
announcement you should have 25% of your goal in hand or pledged. If
not, you may need to reduce your goal or postpone your campaign for
now. This is far better than to face the public embarrassment of doing
an unsuccessful capital drive.

6. Implement your campaign plans, if you decide you’re ready, by
soliciting your lead gifts, advanced gifts, and employee gifts first.
Then publicly kickoff your campaign, which can be as short as 9 months
for say a church, or a multi-year effort as most campaigns are
covering two or three years. During each year of your campaign you’ll
be sending out three or four solicitation letters, as well as regular
progress reports on just where you stand in relationship to your
campaign goals.

If done right, and done very carefully a major capital campaign can be
an excellent way for you to raise major funds for the work of your
nonprofit organization. Moreover, a successful major capital campaign
will also enhance the public image of your organization in your
community or the geographic area that you serve. Which will make it
much easier to do your regular annual fundraising once your successful
major capital campaign has ended.