M&GSQ Securing Funding workshop Brisbane 2009

1. “Fundraising − What it Brings to Us”
A Presentation to the Museum & Gallery Services Queensland
Workshop -
by Dr Linda Griffith of Linda Griffith Consultancy Pty Ltd (www.lgriffith-
consultancy.com.au)
on 6 May 2009 in Brisbane
Giving has increased significantly in Australia in recent years and is estimated
at $11 billion annually. See the 2005 “Giving Australia” report on the website
of the Prime Minister’s Community Business Partnership
http://www.partnerships.gov.au/philanthropy/philanthropy_research.shtml
Components of a Comprehensive Fundraising Program
Mission
Successful fundraising programs are those that take the organisation far
beyond being a receiver of gifts, made up of fundraising staff who secure and
receipt gifts. A strong fundraising program helps shape an organisation
as one that takes its communications with its key audiences seriously,
focuses on its mission, examines its goals and evaluates the relevance of
its strategies and programs on a regular basis.
Implicit in this examination of the organisation is the understanding that fund
raising does not determine the organisation’s strategic directions but
rather provides the resources for it to pursue strategies that provide the best
responses to the fulfilment of its mission. Fund raising follows the
organisation’s strategic plan rather than dictating it. Fund raising
prompts the organisation to consider if its plan provides the best decisions on
how the organisation can serve the community. Most, if not all, nonprofits
exist to serve the community. Fund raising can flourish only if the
community is bettered in some way. Fund raising can be a measure of the
extent to which the organisation is serving the community and thus a measure
of how well the organisation is fulfilling its mission.
A strong organisation will not be tempted to change its directions under the
pressures of securing gifts. It will know that to take on a different direction or
project, only because money was available for the different direction, is to
invite disappointment and difficulties both for the organisation and the donor.
The organisation must raise funds only for projects, programs and
positions that it really needs. Competent fundraising staff know how to
explain this to donors and how to present alternatives to donors so that their
gifts are used for the most achievable outcomes.
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2. In earlier times in fund raising in Australia, maybe when there were fewer
experienced staff than there are now, organisations accepted gifts that
became burdens for them. Consequently, it was hard for them to articulate
any outcomes of the gifts to donors. Donors became frustrated and
disillusioned that their gifts had not accomplished the hoped-for outcomes.
Organisations regretted allowing fund raising to determine their strategic
directions.
Comprehensive Fundraising Programs
So, since fund raising helps an organisation implement its strategic plan by
providing necessary resources, and since the needs of an organisation are
varied and complex, it follows that an organisation’s fundraising programs and
the opportunities presented therein must also be varied. A comprehensive
fundraising program includes vehicles for donors to make gifts at all
levels, frequencies and purposes, depending on donors’ preferences.
Budget Fundraising
Most nonprofits engaged in fund raising will have vehicles such as budget and
annual appeals designed to help balance the annual operations budget.
Many nonprofits depend almost exclusively on fundraising income to exist and
the regularity of its budget and annual fund raising gives some reassurance.
These types of fund raising are best suited to untied gifts, with income used
to maintain the good work of the organisation. It is often effective to
highlight certain emotive and pressing needs but of course organisations need
to ensure that annual and budget fund raising income can be spent on
existing programs and thus is a form of budget relief.
These appeals can be labour-intensive and reasonably expensive in the early
years. However, they raise necessary funds and in addition they raise
awareness that the organisation needs funds. Furthermore, they generate a
donor base which is invaluable as a research source for information on major
gifts prospects, bequest prospects, capital campaigns, volunteers and Board
membership.
Most importantly they create a framework which often determines the
scope of all other fundraising programs. They also generate confidence
by external supporters that the organisation is well organised and is taking the
initiative to develop sustainable sources of income.
Budget fund raising may include direct mail and possibly also special events
which serve the dual purpose of raising funds as well as awareness.
Organisations may also include sponsorships and cause-related marketing
as vehicles to secure operational funding.
Bequests
Most nonprofits seem to be aware of the value of people leaving bequests in
their wills for the benefit of their organisation. These can be the result of a
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3. sensitive bequests program that actively seeks bequests and keeps lawyers,
accountants and service groups well-informed. Such programs may have
bequest societies and committees in order to have as many different ways
as possible of drawing attention to the need for and value of bequests.
Bequests allow people who have assets but not necessarily a large income to
make substantial gifts to organisations that they feel strongly about.
Capital Campaigns
Some nonprofits have already engaged in capital campaigns. Mostly in
Australia we have seen building campaigns which seem to have inspired
donors’ imaginations and convinced them that it was important to have
tangible, bricks and mortar type results from fund raising. Some organisations
have succeeded in explaining the need for human capital, that is for funding
for the positions of people who achieve the outcomes that benefit the
community. Capital campaigns often suit organisations well in that they raise
large sums of money when an organisation needs it. They do not always suit
donors who cannot always fit their gift payments within a campaign cycle, or
who may not be attracted to the topic of the campaign, even when it is multi-
faceted and has a whole menu of funding options.
All those types of fundraising programs have an important place in an
organisation’s strategic planning. Donors need to see that organisations
are making every effort to maintain a well-balanced fundraising program and
that they are not relying unduly on a small number of funding sources.
Major Gifts
Major Gifts programs play an important role in providing people with a
personalised way of making significant gifts for organisational needs that they
feel strongly about.
Importantly, major gifts help stimulate changes in the philanthropic
landscape so that donors see that making major gifts is the right and proper
thing to do, that the organisation can really use the gift and produce good
outcomes from it, that their gift can leverage other large gifts, and that their
gift is acknowledged in a sensitive, personal way. It is most encouraging for
all nonprofits and for all fund raisers to see donors making large gifts and
working their way up the ladder of giving. While we may all like the large gifts
to be ones for our own organisations, every large gift made is an
encouragement to other donors to give. Every large gift made has the
potential to leverage other large gifts, provided the donor gives you
permission to do so.
Government Funding
Many organisations receive a good percentage of their income from
government grants. In addition, or sometimes instead of, organisations also
receive fees from governments since they perform work that governments
used to do. The organisation needs to explain to its varied audiences
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4. exactly what its situation is in relation to government support. The
explanation can support or go against the organisation’s need for funding.
In Australia we tend to take the view that governments should be responsible
for funding the bulk of organisations that serve the community. We often see
health, education, welfare, crisis care and the arts as the responsibility of
government. In this way, motivations for giving are substantially different to
what they are in North America. We need very careful explanations of how
much government is giving to a project and why, or why not. Generally,
large projects are expected to receive a substantial amount of both state and
federal government funding. Government matching donors’ money is also
motivational. Donors also feel reassured about their giving if governments are
contributing towards a project since it shows that governments have vetted
and approved of the project.
On the other hand, some donors, including trusts and foundations, resist
giving to organisations with substantial government funding since they feel
that the organisations can manage without their gifts. Other donors see a
high level of government funding as proof of the organisation’s financial
sustainability and thus a motivational factor in giving, since it means that their
gifts can fund exciting projects outside the scope of day-to-day needs. It
comes down a lot to the quality of the relationship that staff in the
organisation have developed with donors and whether or not donors feel
that gifts to the organisation are good investments in its future.
Major Gifts Programs – Roles and Ramifications
Definition of a Major Gift
It depends on how YOU see a major gift and on the levels of gifts that your
organisation is used to receiving. A major gift will generally be for a specific
purpose, although often the best money for an organisation is untied money
that allows operational costs to be met.
The essential feature of a major gift is the manner in which you secure and
steward that gift. A major gift should be solicited in a highly personalised
fashion, involving possibly several meetings, and once made, should be
stewarded in a highly personalised fashion.
Projects in a Major Gifts Program
We are finding that as donors become more experienced and are developing
far greater astuteness in giving, and knowledge of how to give, they are
extremely focused on the credibility of the organisation to which they are
giving and the purpose and anticipated outcomes of the project they are
giving for. Like most donors, they give to make a difference.
Donors need to know that they are giving for genuine strategic priorities, for
projects that the organisation supports totally and sees as key elements of its
strategic plan. This is essential for donors as they need to know that a project
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5. to which they give will be likely to receive strong funding for infrastructure from
the organisation, that it will be at or near the top of the list when the
organisation publicises its key strengths and that if the organisation happens
to have surplus funding at any stage, then that particular project will be the
one likely to benefit from supplementary funding. It makes good sense for an
organisation to support its key strengths and these are the sorts of priorities
that donors also like to support. Sophisticated donors are undertaking
increasing levels of research to assure themselves that the projects that they
are requested to fund are true strategic priorities.
At the same time, donors are undertaking due diligence on the organisations
to which they give, to ensure they are financially sound, well-run,
extremely careful about their administrative costs and truly serving the
community. They are very interested in the calibre of the staff in the
organisation since, no matter what donors give to, they are relying on the
people in the organisation to produce sustained and sustainable outcomes.
They are interested in working with highly ethical, highly competent people
who have passion for the cause and drive, since donors know that these
are the kind of people who will produce results.
Major donors often like to give for a new project that has spun off from a high
profile or core activity of the organisation. In this way, donors feel that their
money is being invested in an exciting benefit for the community and that
their entire gifts are going towards a prestigious result with none of the gifts
being spent on administration or infrastructure that the organisation has
previously invested in.
Hence, when an organisation starts organising a major gifts program, it needs
to identify projects and needs that can fulfil these criteria. Many organisations
have a process to do so and I strongly support the integration of an
inclusive process into the organisation. Usually, an organisation includes
fundraising information sessions for staff of its various divisions, explains how
it is seeking information on projects that are suitable for fund raising and that
require reasonable to substantial levels of funding, and explains how the
fundraising office needs to gather such information on a pro forma for each
project.
This is a very important process that often determines the success of a major
gifts program since it is essential to come up with exciting, relevant projects
that donors feel constitute a good potential use of their funds. It is also
important for motivating staff and for engaging them at the earliest stages
in fund raising. It is essential for appropriately trained staff to be involved in
all aspects of the fundraising process since they are the people who will be
doing the hands-on implementation of the project, whereas the CEO will have
an overseeing role only, and donors like to interact with the people who are
closest to the project.
A vetting of all projects, signing off by the CEO and the addition of explanatory
information by fundraising staff take the collection of pro forma to a stage
where fundraising staff can write up a strong case for support for each
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6. project. These documents need to be convincing, succinct, heavy on
specific details and light on rhetoric. They need to give potential donors all
the information they need to make wise decisions on investing in the
organisation. They need to contain proof that the project is well researched,
responds to community need, that the organisation is well-placed to
implement the project, and that the outcomes of the project will be maintained
long after funding is finished.
Donors to a Major Gifts Program
Generally, the best donors for major gifts projects are existing donors. After
all, by already giving to the organisation they have demonstrated their interest
in the cause. This is where the organisation’s budget giving programs
become so important to the success of major gifts programs. They provide
donor lists which will inevitably include likely prospective major donors. Fund
raisers need to scan these lists to find such prospects.
There are a number of ways to do this, such as identifying patterns of giving,
using ABS data and public research drawn from ATO statistics to identify
residential areas of high income/high donor levels. Such strategies are of
course fundamental to direct mail during budget giving cycles. You may also
choose to invite Board members and other volunteers to scan lists and
identify people whom they know and whom they believe are capable of giving
at certain levels. The sophistication of your database comes into play here
since you need to be able to pull prospect lists according to a range of criteria
such as cumulative giving, giving frequency, largest gifts made, purposes,
geographic areas and so on.
You will also need to research prospective donors using a range of internet
resources. The State Library of Queensland contains a wealth of
information, some of which can be accessed from your local Council library.
Of course, public sources can be limited but you can pull up a good deal of
information on corporations, people on their Boards and on individuals, all
based on newspaper and magazine searches.
The best information remains anecdotal as it is often very difficult to find out if
someone has a particular interest from published sources. Some interests
like yachting and the arts are often written up in publications. Personal
interviews by fundraising staff with Board members and other supporters,
presenting them with the list of projects to be initiated, are often the best way
to gain suggestions of people who might like to give.
Above all, it is important to have good and credible reasons for approaching
someone for a major gift. They need to have identified links with, or an
interest in, the project or the organisation, or an interest in the type of work
undertaken by the organisation, or possibly an interest in the geographic area
of operation of the organisation, for an approach to them to be justified.
It is important to remember that it is difficult to give money away and be
sure that it represents a sound investment. Hence, this puts pressure on
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7. nonprofits to ensure that they have thoroughly researched the projects that
they are seeking funds for, and that they are totally confident in their ability to
implement them successfully. In addition, it shows that fund raisers need to
be particularly sensitive to people’s needs to give and to give wisely, and to
appreciate that there are many people who want to give but who do not know
how to make all the necessary decisions and assessments and to ask the
right questions. Fund raisers always need to be good listeners and to be
ready to help prospective donors.
Leadership of Major Gifts Programs
There is no doubt that one of the key issues in securing major gifts is getting
access to the prospective donors. Of course, this is made easier if the
prospects are existing donors as then the fund raiser has a good reason to
make direct personal contact with the prospects.
Whether or not the organisation has some level of existing contact with the
prospect, it is best for the initial approach to the prospect to be made by a
peer of the prospect. This gives the organisation greater credibility and
helps ensure that the prospect will give the organisation a better hearing.
Whereas in a capital campaign it is necessary to secure one or more
campaign committees made up of persons who make significant gifts for the
campaign and its components, I feel that a major gifts program can adopt a
far more flexible volunteer structure. Often an organisation will have a
development committee, which assists with fund raising. If not, then the
implementation of a major gifts program can be a good time to set one up.
The committee as a whole can consider all the components of the major gifts
program and either allocate projects to members or allocate prospects who
may be interested in one or more components of the major gifts program.
Alternatively, the fund raiser may work with individual committee members in
different ways for each member, and in a manner that suits the personality
and availability of each member. I am not of the view that members need to
give for the major gifts program. The fact that they are existing supporters of
the organisation is sufficient. Of greater importance are their networks and
their ability to gain access to existing and new prospective donors, who
may have had no prior contact with the organisation.
Media Relations
Fundraising wisdom teaches that people give for many reasons and that
many factors prompt giving. Media and public relations do not necessarily
prompt giving. However, people feel more comfortable giving to a well-
respected organisation which receives favourable publicity than they do to a
little-known organisation, and they will almost certainly refuse to give to a
poorly run organisation;
Public relations does not raise money. It is up to the fund raisers to seek gifts,
sponsorships and funds by other means. However, good public relations can
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8. help create a public relations climate where people feel that the organisation
is highly innovative, well-run, careful in its use of money and above all a
fighter for the cause, and that therefore it is legitimate, right and proper to give
them money. For these gifts to be large gifts, people need to see giving to the
organisation as prestigious.
Engagement of Prospective Donors
If the prospective donors have had little or no prior contact with the
organisation, then it becomes important to ensure that they are fully briefed on
the scope of the organisation. It is important to avoid pre-emptive gifts and
thus the focus of the engagement needs to be squarely on the organisation
itself and on its progress in assisting the community. It first needs to develop
good credibility in the eyes of prospective donors. Engagement of
prospective donors in the project that they will be asked to support should
come much later, so that they want first to develop an understanding of the
project before having an automatic reaction to write a cheque.
Engagement should be highly personalised to suit the prospective donors’
life-style and intellectual demands. Some will want to attend seminars, some
will want social events, some will want to receive the facts in as concise a
fashion as possible. I think that the best engagement is that which highlights
the intellectual, and shows prospective donors something new about the
organisation, maybe leading them on from what they know to something new.
Engagement should aim at providing prospective donors with networking
opportunities so that they can assess the calibre of others supporting the
organisation. Prospective donors often like to be reassured that they are
members of a group with common philosophies and concerns. This produces
a unifying effect and creates a sense of comfort and reassurance during the
giving process.
Again, we see the need for fund raisers to be highly sensitive to donors’
and prospective donors’ needs, personalities, time pressures and
concerns. Good fund raisers always know when it is important to involve the
organisation’s CEO and senior staff and when prospective donors want to
interact with the people at the coal face.
If an organisation has a good, established donor relations program, it is
important for those staff and volunteers, who are already assigned to
engaging certain prospects and donors, continue progressing the
relationships with them. A large organisation needs a prospect assignment
program with each staff person taking on, say, five prospective donors whom
they need to engage and steward for as long as they are employed at the
organsiation. A small organisation may require fewer staff to steward most
prospective donors.
Donors need to trust the people they are working with totally. When they
invest money in a nonprofit organisation, they are investing in the people who
will be responsible for the careful spending of that money, and so they need to
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9. assure themselves of the competency and ethics of staff. As with any
business activities, it is important for each party to get to know each other
before they can do business with each other.
The Lengthy Asking Process
I believe that the longer the relationship that can be developed between
members of the organisation and the prospective donor, the better the
understanding of the role and needs of the organisation and consequently the
better the basis for making decisions on giving.
Fund raisers need to convince internal audiences that people take similar
time frames and use similar research strategies to decide on their giving
as they do with personal investments. Hence, it is wise to understand the
very long time that it can take prospective donors to decide on major gifts, and
hence the patience and stamina that staff in the organisation need to
possess.
Every meeting with a prospective donor should progress their
understanding and appreciation of the organisation and their knowledge
of the obstacles that staff face, as well as their likelihood of achieving the
long-term cultural change or the long-term outcomes that they seek to
achieve.
While prospective donors are meeting with a range of staff within the
organisation at different times, I believe that it is the fund raiser who needs
to be the constant point of contact. Often, the fund raiser needs to be in
the background, but they should always be present, ensuring that people
come together, that prospective donors meet the people whom they need to
meet, that prospective donors receive communication that is just right for their
circumstances and personal preferences, and that donors are genuinely
listened to.
There will be occasions when meetings will be between the CEO and the
prospective donor only. In those cases, the quality of the relationship
between the CEO and the fund raiser will determine the way in which the fund
raiser is briefed on all follow-up activities that must take place. That
relationship needs to be sound for the entire fundraising process to be
effective and professional.
Asking for a gift will be just one step in the whole engagement process, and it
will be a most logical step. A high quality ask will come at the point in the
relationship when the prospective donor asks how they can help best to
achieve the outcomes needed. Some donors will want to fund the highest
profile components of a major gifts program; some, especially corporations,
will want to ensure that they fund what is close to their core business; and
some sophisticated donors will fund infrastructural and administrative
components of major giving opportunities because they know that most
donors will not want to fund these most necessary components. It is up to the
skills of the fund raiser to know how to negotiate such gifts and to ensure that
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10. donors are giving at a level which is commensurate with their capacity
and for a purpose that gives them great satisfaction.
Life-Time Friends
People who make major gifts are true friends of the organisation and need
to be stewarded as such: this is basic common sense and basic courtesy.
These donors have made major investments in the organisation and need to
know how their investments are performing. Fund raisers need to establish
stewardship schedules that include both a “safety net” form of communication
by the fund raiser, as well as highly personalised and intelligent interaction by
those staff and CEO in the organisation who have been assigned to the
prospective donor all along.
The first gifts that people make to an organisation are usually small and as
donors gain faith in the organisation, they are likely to consider larger and
larger gifts. It makes sense of course to protect earlier investment in the
organisation by making on-going investments and many donors will do this,
provided that the integrity of their relationships with staff and peers has been
maintained. Furthermore, as part of protecting their original investments, and
expanding the multiplier effect of these investments, donors will often
encourage their friends and colleagues to become donors.
Hence, an organisation needs to ensure that it has adequate resources to
manage and sustain a growing donor relations program.
Fund raising brings so many strengths to an organisation apart from the
obvious financial resources. Donors can become forceful advocates for the
organisation, working behind the scenes or adopting Board and other
positions.
Conclusion
Major gifts are evidence that donors believe in an organisation and in its
ability to deliver outcomes.
Given the high levels of competition between nonprofits and the many
approaches that prospective donors receive, nonprofits need to articulate their
relevance to society very clearly in order to attract the attention and time of
prospective donors. At the same time, every large gift made is an
encouragement to donors to give to their areas of interest and as fund raisers
we need to ensure that they have the opportunities to do so.
To sum up, I believe that the key qualities for fund raisers to have, and
especially those working in the major gifts area are: sensitivity, good listening
skills, patience, respect for others, imagination, empathy with others, humility,
ethics and a most robust approach to hard work.
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11. APPENDICES
Appendix 1 (a)
Case for Support for a Single Project
* will be the basis of all future documents about the Campaign and contribute
to the Campaign case statement which will be a single overview of all project
case statements
* must describe the exciting, compelling nature of the project and show how
the project/program can offer the promise of a better world
* embodies an achieveable project/program, describing objectives
* shows the project/program has been thoroughly researched
* is used to educate, motivate and recruit leaders, to arouse interest
* is a convincing document for those making leadership gifts and provides
motivation for giving
* is rational enough to satisfy doubts and emotional enough to strike a
sympathetic response
* demonstrates an urgency
* is written by one person with support
* explains the benefits of the project/program to the section, etc, to the
Organisation and to the community
* shows why and when support is needed, describes the current financial
status
* carefully costs the project fully
* will be prepared before the Campaign case statement is written and will
contribute to it
* headings might include: Project Description; Reason to Implement Project;
Need for Project; Aims of project; Strategies; Anticipated Outcomes;
Evaluation; Collaboration with Other Agencies to Implement Project;
Similarity/Differences to Comparable Projects; Time Line; Budget; Staff
Responsible;
11

12. Appendix 1 (b)
Case for Support (for an entire Campaign):
* will be the basis of all future documents about the Campaign
* must describe the compelling, exciting nature of the projects
* must show how the projects/programs in the Campaign can offer the
promise of a better world
* embodies achievable projects and programs, describes campaign objectives
* shows the campaign plan has been thoroughly researched
* is used to educate, motivate and recruit leaders, to arouse interest
* is a convincing document for those making leadership gifts and provides
motivation for giving
* is rational enough to satisfy doubts and emotional enough to strike a
sympathetic response
* demonstrates an urgency
* is written by one person with support
* describes the benefits of the project/program items in the Campaign to the
Organisation and to the community
* is bigger than the institution itself
* describes the mission of the Organisation and who it serves
* explains the Organisation's short and long term goals and how the
Campaign goals support the former (i.e. how the Campaign underlines the
Organisation's mission)
* shows why the Organisation needs support and when it is needed,
describes the current financial status
* carefully and fully details all project/program costs in the Campaign and
provides information on on-going costs
* will be prepared before the fundraising feasibility study is conducted and will
then be used for the study
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13. Appendix2
Feasibility Study:
* most important task in a capital campaign
* should involve all senators, Organisation leaders and key prospective
donors and will assess their reaction to the case statement
* must include motivation for people to give
* will determine - prospective donors' perceptions and knowledge of
Organisation
- appeal of projects for which funds are sought
- calibre of possible leadership
- will tell if people will give, (not can they give)
- how much money could be raised
- proper timing and strategy for a campaign
* will determine the plan of action
* will be accurate for a short period only and so if a campaign is delayed after
the study, then a new one will probably have to be done
* should be done by an external consultant working with fundraising staff
* accuracy of the study will depend on fundraisers' ability to interpret and
balance the information that comes out of the study
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14. Appendix3
Working with Charitable Trusts and Foundations -
Scope
What is the extent of giving by charitable trusts and foundations in
•
Australia?
Around $1 billion but what do top 23 private foundations give out annually? -
in Qld, Gambling Community Benefit Fund gives $32 M annually
• Extent of philanthropy in Australia - $11 billion
• Giving by individuals ($7.7 b), business ($3.3 b), trusts & foundations –
10% of all giving??
See publications by Centre of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (QUT)
http://cpns.bus.qut.edu.au; Philanthropy Australia web site
www.philanthropy.org.au; “Generosity of Australian Business” by the
Australian Bureau of Statistics June 2002; Association of Charitable
Foundations www.acf.org.uk; Independent Sector: The New Nonprofit
Almanac in USA, Giving USA.
Types of Charitable Trusts and Foundations
Trustee Companies – highly sophisticated grantmaking, investment,
•
advisory boards, boards of decision makers, some discretionary trusts,
some designated – ANZ Trustees, Perpetual
• Corporate Foundations – specified areas of interest usually far
removed from core business of corporation, often formed with staff
support, often sponsorships division as well - Telstra
• Foundations set up by government –Foundation for Young Australians,
FRRR, Australia Business Arts Foundation, –can give to non DGRs like
Australian Sports Foundation can – (most can give only to DGRs – see
ATO)
• Foundations funded by government levies (Gaming Community Benefit
Fund, Jupiters – around one-third of revenue or $1.5 billion is
earmarked for community issues, some being giving and others being
gambling related issues
• Community Foundations (Qld Community Foundation) – around 25 in
Australia
• Family Foundations (Myer, Fairfax)
• Private Foundations (Thomas)
• Donor-advised Funds and Foundations (Give2Asia, Charities Aid
Foundation) – useful for expats
• Overseas foundations
And possible future scenarios – more PPFs, more giving through trustee
companies that invest and distribute, more giving to community foundations
14

15. Before Lodging Applications for Funding
Researching trusts & foundations (types of grants such as capital
•
expenditure, size, areas for support, frequency of applications, length
of support and creating or not creating a dependency, policies on
multiple gifts, policies on collaboration, policies and preferences on
partnerships, whether or not the trust likes to get involved in the work of
the nonprofit itself or at least get involved in similar work)
1. passive or active fndtn? – do you have to seek it out?
2. broad funding priorities or narrow e.g., Thomas, Sherman?
3. collaborative with other funders?
4. does it fund attacks on root causes or bandaid?
5. does fndtn get actively involved in NP?
6. geographic limits
7. fndtn likes to develop partnerships?
8. general support or restricted and specific?
9. endowments?
10. seed funding and pilot projects?
11. capital or operating or special projects?
12. matching funds, challenges?
13. long-term funding or one-off?
14. small grants?
• Visions – yours and theirs and seeking possible partnerships
• Identifying likely needs within your organisation
• Negotiating which priorities will be put up to foundations (internal –
needs to be priorities and then what will secure the best grant)
Making Applications
Personal discussions, negotiations and managing the relationships
•
Does trust call for applications or are they passive?
•
Sticking to specifications (e.g., define outcomes, send only what is
•
requested, no contradiction in info provided such as in budget, quantify
as much as possible – e.g., numbers of people helped directly
Follow ups during the research and due diligence period (be prompt
•
and thorough in giving info and facts sought
Delivering, Reporting and Accountability
Progress reports
•
Board membership
•
Involving the foundation or trust in the nonprofit’s activities (inviting to
•
talk with bright students, see and mix with people benefiting,
On-going Partnerships
Working together on achieving outcomes
15

16. Appendix4
IN ADVANCE OF THE WORKSHOP
Using information in the document “Case for Support”, identify a project in
your organisation that is suitable for fundraising and write up ideas for a case
for support. Then choose a trust or foundation from the lengthy lists below
and write up some ideas for a proposal.
http://www.philanthropy.org.au/membership/list.htm - an electronic
subscription to Philanthropy Australia costs about $75 annually and is useful
as it is then possible to search on key words such as “rural”, “education”,
“arts” etc.
http://www.anz.com.au/aus/fin/Trustees/guNamed.asp
http://www.perpetual.com.au/philanthropy/applying_for_funding/default.htm
http://www.frrr.org.au/
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