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How To Raise Funds for Today and the Future
- Charity Auction Newsletter
- Free Fundraising Information in Virginia
- Grant-writing Tips and Tools
- Virginia Federal Employees Donate $2.8 million to Local Virginia Charities via the CFC
- A Powerful Tool for Finding Grants and Grantmakers
- Advice about Online Donation
- Fundraise with Groundspring/Network for Good
- Nonprofit Fundraising Genie
- Maximize Direct Mail Response
- Annual Giving: Many Ways of Making the “Ask”
- What Do Funders Want to Know About Your Board?
- Free Fundraising E-Newsletters
Charity Auction Newsletter
Take a look at the “Charity Auction Newsletter”, a free monthly email newsletter on charity auctions. The newsletter features monthly articles of interest to anyone conducting a charity auction. Recent issues covered:
- IRS rules for invoices and donations
- How to solicit without cold calls
- What sells best at a silent auction
- New ideas for a live auction
Written by Maureen and John Winter of Target Funding Group, this publication reflects over 10 years of experience assisting clients in raising more than $20,000,000. Many of their clients have doubled their proceeds and eliminated all long lines at checkout. To view recent issues of the newsletter and sign up, visit www.charityauctionhelp.com/
Free Fundraising Information in Virginia
Participants in the Foundation Center's Cooperating Collections network are libraries or nonprofit information centers that provide fundraising information and other funding-related technical assistance in their communities. Cooperating Collections agree to provide free public access to a basic collection of Foundation Center publications during a regular schedule of hours, offering free funding research guidance to all visitors. Many also provide a variety of services for local nonprofit organizations, using staff or volunteers to prepare special materials, organize workshops, or conduct orientations.
The following libraries in Virginia currently serve as Cooperating Collections in partnership with the Foundation Center:
- Washington County Public Library, 205 Oak Hill St., Abingdon, 276-676-6222
- Fairfax County Public Library, 12000 Government Center Pkwy., Fairfax, 703-324-3100
- Hampton Public Library, 4207 Victoria Blvd., Hampton, 757-727-1314
- Richmond Public Library, 101 East Franklin St., Richmond,804-646-7223
- Roanoke City Public Library – Main Library, 706 S. Jefferson St, Roanoke, 540-853-2471
Grant-Writing Tips and Tools
Need to polish your grant-writing skills? If you can’t attend a workshop or course, here are some excellent places to find the basics:
- EPA Grant-Writing Tutorial, (www.purdue.edu/dp/envirosoft/grants/src/msieopen.htm)
Software program produced by Purdue University under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. - Grant Proposal Writing Tips, (www.cpb.org/grants/grantwriting.html)
Resource published by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that provides guideposts for the grant-writing process. - Grantwriting Basics, (www.gse.harvard.edu/~hgseosr/toolbox.html)
Ten tips for writing a successful proposal, along with additional resources for grant writers. - Grant Writing Tips, (www.seanet.com/~sylvie/grants.htm)
Grant-planning questions, basic elements of good proposals, and links to grant resources from an experienced grant writer. - Grant Writing Tip Sheets, (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/grant_tips.htm)
General grant-writing tutorials as well as specific information about applying for National Institutes of Health grants. - Non-profit Guides, (www.npguides.org)
Grant-writing tools for nonprofits, including tips, sample proposals, and links. - Successful Grant Writing, (www.generalcode.com/grants/grant_writing_get_started.html)
A grant-writing consultant's outline of the basic steps necessary for planning the grant-writing process. - Writing a Successful Grant Proposal, (www.mcf.org/mcf/grant/writing.htm)
The Minnesota Council on Foundations' detailed outline of a grant proposal, which is particularly oriented to project proposals.
(Source: Suzanne E. Coffman and Lauren Nicole Klapper-Lehman, March 2006 GuideStar newsletter)
Virginia Federal Employees Donate $2.8 million to Local Virginia Charities via the CFC
If you ask almost any nonprofit leader what are their top three priorities the response will almost always include “fundraising” as one of the replies, and for some the response will be “fundraising, fundraising, and fundraising” echoing the familiar real estate answer to what’s most important - “location, location, and location.” The world’s largest workplace giving program is the Federal government’s Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), and through it Federal employees worldwide have donated more than $1 billion to thousands of local, national and international charities since 2001. CFC monies are unrestricted, reliable, and predictable.
Download Report (768kb, PDF)
(by Bill Huddleston, MPA in Nonprofit Management, published with permission)
A Powerful Tool for Finding Grants and Grantmakers
The Foundation Center recently introduced a new and significantly advanced version of its database, the Foundation Directory Online Professional. This powerful new resource adds to a database of 80,000 grantmakers and 500,000 grants such features as colorful grant distribution charts, news articles, foundation publications, and 990PF text-searching.
You can use it free of charge at the Foundation Center, 1627 K Street, NW, Washington, or at a wide variety of sites around Virginia with the new Foundation Center Cooperating Collection. Visit the Fairfax County Public Library (12000 Government Center Parkway in Fairfax) or Washington County Public Library in Abingdon; Hampton Public Library in Hampton; Richmond Public Library in Richmond; and Roanoke City Main Library.
Learn more about the online database.
Advice About Online Donation
Here's a new source of information to help you decide which online credit card software product to use. Idealware is a new site dedicated to helping nonprofits with technology products. They have reviewed 27 lower-priced online software tools for accepting donations on your website, providing a very helpful comparison.
Fundraise with Groundspring / Network for Good
In addition to providing affordable, easy to use online fundraising and
emailing services, Groundspring/Network for Good also provides free
educational resources to nonprofits. The online Learning Center is a
collection of materials designed to help nonprofits get the most out of their
presence on the Internet, including a variety of case studies showing how
nonprofits have effectively used the internet to fulfill their missions.
Access the Online Fundraising Handbook free of charge.
Nonprofit Genie
A free, excellent series of Frequently Asked Questions and answers about fundraising, written by the legendary fundraiser Kim Klein, is now available online! Just go to the Genie.org website, click on "FAQs" and then "Fundraising."
Maximize Direct Mail Response
Direct mail fundraising remains vital to nonprofits, and a successful campaign not only increases existing donor dollars but also unlocks doors to new dollars.
Brian J. Renda, president and CEO of Brickmill Marketing Services, offers five tips that will improve direct mail fundraising and increase the bottom line.
- Integrate existing channels. Often the investment has already been made, and you can use it for a campaign. See what already exists on your Web site; direct a mail incentive around a planned offering; include positive newspaper clippings in your direct mail.
- Empower your donors by giving them options relating to your premiums. "Young senior" or "young baby boomer" audiences are very interested in mission as well as how you spend their contributions.
- Utilize the power of referral marketing. Provide donors with an easy, convenient way to pass along their feelings about your organization to others.
- Know how much to mail. Mailing with a select strategy rather than mailing blind can pay big dividends. One ingredient for this is understanding statistical information and knowing how to leverage previous select data.
- Spend the extra effort on package design and branding. You have only seconds to stand out among the clutter of mail that donors receive each day. Provide a reason for them to pause.
(Source: The NPT Weekly e-newsletter)
Annual Giving - Many Ways of Making the "Ask"
Although the concept of an annual giving program is familiar to most nonprofit managers, it is possible to lose sight of just what is involved. At a recent conference on fundraising, the elements of an annual giving program were aired, including a basic understanding of what it is and what the component parts of an annual fund are.
An annual giving program is any planned activity that seeks to generate revenue from donors or prospects on a recurring basis.
An annual giving program should be started first, followed by a major gifts program and then by a planned gift program. The annual fund is the building block for all fundraising. It serves to establish a base of donors that can serve as an effective device to involve, inform and bond a consituency to an organization.
With these ideas in mind, consider the various possible components of an annual giving program. They can be divided by the "Hard Asks" and the "Soft Asks."
Under the Hard Ask:
- A year-end appeal
- Year-end follow-ups
- Special appeals, such as programmatic or hot issues and seasonal giving
- Telemarketing
- Event invitation (annual)
- Acquisition appeals
Under the Soft Ask:
- Newsletters
- The annual report
- Holiday cards
- Donor surveys
- Planned giving information
- Event invitations (other than annual)
- Major donor society invitations
(Source: NPT Instant Fundraising [newsletter@nptimes.com], August 18, 2005)
What Do Funders Want to Know about Your Board?
More funders are paying special attention to the governance of the organizations they consider funding. In the eyes of funders, a good board adds value to the organization by improving its accountability, demonstrating leadership, and ensuring proper oversight of the use of funds. In addition to providing a list of your board members, you might want to do the following:
- Emphasize the diversity and inclusiveness of your board.
- Indicate that your board has a good sense of the mission and direction for the organization.
- Show how board members are personally involved in promoting your organization.
- Demonstrate that the board has chosen a strong chief executive to manage the organization.
- Show how the board and the chief executive form a solid partnership.
- Point out that your board financially supports the organization (e.g., 100 percent of the board's members contribute).
- Have a board member sign a thank-you letter to a major funder.
(Source: BoardSource August E-Newsletter [e-news@boardsource.org], August 4, 2005)
Free Fundraising E-Newsletters
Five different email newsletters are offered free of charge by on Philanthropy.com, a Web site published by the fundraising and philanthropic services company Changing our World. E-newsletter topics include fundraising, trends and current issues, corporate giving, technology, and nonprofit jobs. The articles are written by professionals in the nonprofit sector.
Sign up for any or all of the e-newsletters, or to read articles available online.
Resources
Office of Consumer Affairs - Virginia If your nonprofit plans to fundraise in Virginia you must register with this office of state government::
Office of Consumer Affairs
VA Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services
102 Governor St.
Richmond, VA 23219
804-225-3924
The Foundation Center's (www.foundationcenter.org) mission is to strengthen the nonprofit sector by advancing knowledge about U.S. philanthropy. The center:
- Collects organizes and communicates information on U.S. philanthropy
- Conducts and facilitates research on trends in the field
- Provides education and training on the grantseeking process
- Ensures public access to information and services through its web site, print and electronic publications, five library/learning centers, and a national network of Cooperating Collections.
The Grantsmanship Center (www.tgci.com/grants/Virginia/foundations.asp) provides lists of grantwriting workshops in Virginia; the top 40 Virginia foundations that give grants; Virginia Community foundations; and Virginia-based Corporate Giving Programs.
The Grants Connection (www.grantsconnection.com/) sells The Directory of Virginia Foundations which includes nearly 2,000 private, corporate, and community foundations incorporated in Virginia. An online subscription is available for $350 or you can choose a loose-leaf binder of material for $300 plus shipping.
Association of Fundraising Professionals (www.nsfre.org/) works to advance philanthropy through advocacy, research, education, and certification programs. There are seven local chapters in Virginia.
Grants.gov (www.grants.gov) – a single website where you can find and apply for over 1000 different grant programs from 26 federal government agencies.
United States Raffle Laws are explained at (http://stepbystepfundraising.com/raffle-laws-us-by-state/). Raffles are popular fundraising activities. Do you know the laws related to raffles in Virginia? A link to Virginia raffle laws is provided on this site.