Four Keys For Successful Foundation and Corporate Fundraising
Earlier in my career, I worked for a training and technical assistance service provider with significant revenue from foundations and corporations. What was the key to success? It was targeted fundraising based on the needs of the donors. Unfortunately, many organizations take another approach. They send a shower of requests hoping one might land in the right spot. As a board member of a grantmaking organization with no paid staff, I review requests that are based on this "shower" approach. They have little chance of being funded. Why? In most cases, the requests either do not relate to our grantmaking initiatives or the amount of money requested is well above our capabilities. In the current fundraising environment of fewer dollars and more nonprofits, you can't afford to waste your time and resources. There are four keys to more successful fundraising. Be clear about who you are You must be clear about: The community need you are addressing How your mission addresses that need The precise activities or services for which you are seeking support Who will benefit from these activities or services Your expected outcomes Your measures of success The type and amount of resources you need to achieve your desired results Invest in prospect research Once you are clear about your needs, shift your focus to the needs of your potential donors. Learn their history and their unique interests. Learn their guidelines, policies and grantmaking procedures. Learn their funding patterns, including the specific types of grants and the dollar amounts. The more information you gather the more likely it is that you will be able to find a realistic match. Create value All nonprofits exist to make a difference. But in order to attract funding, you must be able to answer two key questions:
Will your request help the donor meet their philanthropic goals?
In what specific ways will the donor benefit from contributing to your organization? If you can develop a compelling statement describing "what's in it for them", you have probably found a good match. In addition, you must demonstrate that you are a mission-focused, results-oriented organization by: Presenting a well-developed plan for implementing and evaluating your activities
Providing evidence of your competence and capacity to deliver
Documenting that you will be able to sustain your proposed activities. Build community partnerships Foundation and corporate funders receive many more requests than they are able to fund. They are keenly aware of the duplication that is prevalent in the nonprofit sector and the large number of nonprofits requesting funds to address related issues. Corporations and foundations are more likely to fund requests (and to give higher amounts) if the work plan demonstrates a true partnership among several organizations. Working through turf and other issues is difficult, but it is worth the effort. All of us spend a great deal of time raising money from corporations and foundations. Investing time and resources in researching the most likely prospects increases your chances for success. Focusing on the benefits prospects will gain from supporting you will increase your chances even more. Judith Rothbaum helps talented nonprofit professionals and volunteers grown their business and think more boldly about who they are and the changes they create in their communities. Visit http://www.datafordecisionmaking.com to learn more. She has worked with, and in, nonprofits for over 20 years. She is a foundation trustee and is a resource development instructor for the APHA Maternal and Child Health Institute. She publishes a monthly e-newsletter which is available at no cost.
Related News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
There?s More to Marketing ROI (return on investment) Than Meets the Eye
All too often people look at marketing ROI in terms of response rate: in other words, "I sent out 10,000 pieces of direct mail and only got 39 responses which is terrible." This is wrong think.
FREE Means MORE Business
Why give freebies?
Calling All Carbon-Based Lifeforms
Many businesses want to market to all carbon-based life forms. They won't take the time to really understand their audiences from geographic, demographic and psychographic perspectives.
Five Tips to Make Your Marketing More Creative
Same old same old just doesn't sell anymore. To make your marketing stand out, you need to get creative. Below are five tips designed to get your creative juices flowing. Some are brainteasers or are what Michael Michalko in "Thinkertoys" calls Linear Thinkertoys. Others fall under intuition or Intuitive Thinkertoys.
Some tips may appeal to you more than others. My suggestion is to try them all. Even the ones you're not drawn to may still open some doors that wouldn't have opened any other way.
These tips will work whether you sell a product, a service or both.
1. Find the "second right answer." Roger von Oech talks about this in A Whack on the Side of the Head. Don't be content with the first good idea you come up with. Take the time to think of a second, or third or 50th idea. Quantity counts ? the more ideas you have to choose from, the more likely you'll discover an excellent or even a brilliant one. Remember, Thomas Edison discovered thousands of ways a light bulb didn't work.
2. Change the question. If you change the question, you're probably going to get a different answer. You say you want to sell more products? What if you changed the question to how can you make more money? Well, there are other ways to make more money than to sell more products ? maybe you lower the cost of making the product or you raise the price of the product. Now you suddenly have new avenues to explore rather than just going down the same tired path.
3. Ask your product or service how it wants to be sold. Now we move into more intuitive techniques. Start by getting yourself into a relaxed state. Take a few deep breaths or practice some relaxation techniques. Imagine your product or service in front of you. Now ask it questions. Who do you want to be sold to? How do you want to be sold? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Who do you think you can help? Why do you want to help them? You can also do this technique as a journal exercise. Write down the question and answer. See what bubbles up onto the paper.
4. Paint a public relations campaign. What would a press release look like if you painted it? Or sculpted it? How about a dance number? A collage? Take any part of your marketing that troubles you and turn it into a piece of art. By combining two dissimilar acts, you may discover your answer. Or you may not come up with anything at all, but just the act of "playing" and "creating" could jolt something loose. Hours or days later your idea may suddenly end up in your lap.
5. Walk away from it. If nothing is working, then stop. You can literally walk away by taking a walk, or just quit thinking about it. This is especially important if you find yourself getting frustrated or discouraged. Give your subconscious time to mull things over. The idea may just suddenly appear to you. Or, after a few days, try another exercise or two. That may be the catalyst you need.
The most important tip of all? Make sure you have a blast. Being creative should be fun. Keep it light and fun, don't struggle too hard with it, and see how many ideas you're rewarded with.
Universal Principals That Guide Business Growth
Universal principals are those "self-evident" truths that have guided brilliant minds and withstood the test of time.
Service Marketing - A Relationship Building Approach
Can we imagine a place in the world today without a marketing activity. It looks remote. When we all move from one place to the other, we need an interactive or a Communicative Response System (CRS) to facilitate a marketing activity and enable the market to respond. When this Communicative Response System (CRS) eventually reaches a market, there are buyers and sellers waiting to respond.
Budget Your Branding
It is very important to regularly monitor your advertising activities in the process of brand building, to realize how much they are contributing to the bottom line. Expediting marketing expenses wouldn't generally lead to a stronger brand name. Neither is it necessary that they will give you voluminous sales nor a good market name. Though, when the communication is hay wired it might get ruined!
Simplicity In Marketing
In a world that is spinning out of control; with consumers being bombarded with hundreds of advertising messages per day in a variety of mediums, it is imperative to develop an understanding of the consumer's thinking to develop an edge in advertising.
The Most Powerful Marketing Strategy Available To Small Businesses
Most small business owners want to generate huge profits, with little effort and in the least amount of time. If you fall into this category then joint venture marketing is the fastest, easiest and most profitable way to do that.
Guerilla Marketing Lesson 2: Why Do People Call Me?
Before we begin, I want you to think about how many times you actually sought out an advertisement. How did you know where to look for it? Why did you choose that one? Whether you know it or not, the number of times you were exposed to the message has a huge impact on you. Also, the message and how it made you feel had a large influence on your response.
A Guide to Brochure Printing
Brochure printing can be easy if you first identify your needs and have a clear sense of your budget. Whether it is for is a real estate listing, a trade show handout, a data sheet, or another application, brochures are a great promotional tool.
So You Want To Cut The Crap And Get Into The Money?
So, youve been around for a while, and maybe even made a few bucks, but you still need something... well here arefour magic tips:
Top Four Marketing Secrets of Building a Professional Practice
Building a coaching or consulting practice can be rewarding and lucrative. Sadly, many who get started on this path simply can't make it. Almost daily I talk to people who give up on their dream of "solopreneurship" and, resentfully, join the ranks of job seekers.
Five Steps to Partnering with Companies to Build Your Client Base
Wouldn't you love a simple formula for easily growing your small business? Here is something that could be just what you are looking for:
How To Use Humor Successfully In Your Business Communications
For generations people have been saying that laughter is good medicine. And now the scientists have taken an interest it turns out great-grandma was right. The boffins have discovered that laughter releases helpful goodies in the body which boost your immune system. In fact the therapeutic benefits of laughter are now being harnessed by academia and the business community into laughter workshops and other formalized chuckle sessions. Get the workers laughing and you raise productivity, so it seems.
The M-Word (Marketing) Phase 2
Last month we looked at what you need to do before you spend money on marketing brochures, a website, advertising or even go out to network. During Phase 1, it's all about crafting your message. Key steps include getting clear about your market niche, developing a clear message about how you solve your target clients' problems, articulating what makes you their best choice, packaging your services so clients will buy, and demonstrating why they should trust you.
Two kinds of Advertising for a Marketing Strategy
Advertising is the lifeblood of any business. If you do not
learn how to advertise your products and services both
efficiently and effectively, you won't be in business long.
While the Internet has lessened or eliminated many of the
costs normally associated with starting and running a small
business, and it's now easier than ever, you'll never
realize significant profits if you don't grow your business
through effective marketing.
Youre Halfway There!...Or Not Part 1
The year is almost over and the last half of
this year will fly by just as fast as the first half.
Are you on target for meeting your
business goals for this year?
The Marketing Secret Every Child Knows
Little Kids Ask Until They Get What They Want.
How to Successfully Promote your Business to an International Audience
Breaking into the international marketplace can catapult a company into increased profitability and growth more rapidly than when selling to a domestic market.
|
