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Oh, Go Fund Yourself!

Raising Resources for

Your Work

An RCC Workshop

Rev. Bud Heckman

Executive Director

International Shinto Foundation

+What Do You Want to Learn?

Introductions & Let’s Discuss…

How to write a grant to get some support to pay for your

communications/media work? To support staff? To enhance

professional development?

How to approach or talk to a person at a foundation?

What is most important? Where do you start?

How to work with the development/fundraising staff in your

shop? What do you do when it is just you?

How to look for money for yourself?

What??

+Where I am coming from…

Have worked for several national and international nonprofits raising funds

Have asked for gifts ranging from $5 to $2.5M dollars from

Recently worked for three foundations in a row – Coexist Foundation, The El-Hibri Foundation, and the International Shinto Foundation overseeing gifts that range from $500 to $6M

Led a capital campaign at Hartford Seminary and grew major gift giving and HNWI giving at Religions for Peace from $600K to $1.3M annually in three years

Consult on fundraising in the field of interfaith cooperation

Learned at the Foundation Center, the Support Center for Nonprofit Management, Baruch College and on the job

+Funding Resources –

Where Do The $ Come From?

Foundations

Corporations (brand match is key, e.g., Avis: We Try Harder)

Other Nonprofits (often overlooked, but…)

Government Funders (the arduous path…)

HNWIs and special cultivations

Individual Donors (Direct Mail, Online, Crowdsourcing, Board

Members, Annual Appeals, etc.)

Special Events (Gala, Telethon, Run/Walk, etc.)

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And individuals give the

majority of all nonprofit

funding… foundations

and corporations are a

sliver

Source: 2015 Giving USA Report

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Religion is a

huge sector

Source: 2015 Giving USA Report

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Giving overall is at a 60-year high and

religion, in particular, is a big high.

Average yearly increase is normally

only 3%. Past few years abnormally

high and unabated after 207-8 crash.

+Fundraising 101 – A Top Ten

1. If you don’t ask – you don’t get. Ask. You will be rejected. A lot. Get over it.

2. More specifically, the more you ask – the more you get.

3. But ask smartly – do your homework so that asks are nearer to “yes,” than “no.” Ask well into a relationship.

4. 20% of your donors will give you 80% of your funding. Feed them!

5. Fundraising is: building and sustaining relationships, donor-centered, & mission-guided. It follows strong ethical principles.

6. Start with articulating a case for support that is concise, believable, and shows urgency. Write it. Refine it. Rewrite it. Get advice from “strangers.”

7. Use your board and contacts to get noticed and a conversation.

8. Ask open-ended questions and let your donor talk. God gave you two ears, one mouth… follow that formula.

9. Say thank you promptly, formally and informally. Say it again. And again.

10. Data is king / queen. Record, track, and focus. Donors have long memories.

+The Key - Who Do You Know?

Board (not givers? Add a fundraising leadership group)

Staff

Friends

“Competitors” (don’t count it out! – use open source approach)

Dumb Luck

Pass around a list of contacts (program officers and directors) of your target list of foundations. Look for connections. Get past the “only pre-selected applicants” barrier.

+ Planning and Priority

Setting

Write Proposal

and Budget

Compile List of

Potential Sources

Initial Contact

a) appointment

b) permission

Submission of Proposal

Appointment

a) establish rapport

b) increase likelihood of

funding

c) discuss funding priorities

Cultivation

a) Board networking

b) updates, progress reports

c) continual phone contact

Result

a) Grant

b) Wait

c) Rejection

85% will

take a call

from you

Only 10%

want a LOI

first now60% will meet

with you as a

good effort or

due diligence

90% do not

have a

website!

+Where to find grant opportunities?

Requests for Proposals (quite rare)

Prospect Research (always necessary)

Word of Mouth / Referral (quite promising)

Previous Relationship (the best)

Following e-news and social media feeds from consolidators

like the Foundation Center, Chronicle of Philanthropy, and key

foundations (promising)

Dumb Luck (hey, “grace” happens)

+Letter of Inquiry, Common Grant

Application, or Full Proposal

Introduction

Brief Organization Description

Statement of Need / Problem

Unique Qualifying Character and Contributions

Methodology and Key People Involved

Current and Expected Funding, Request, and *Budget!*

Measurable Outcomes

Final Summary

+A Cover Letter

Request your dollar amount and introduce your project in the

first sentence.

Describe how your project and/or organization will further the

foundation's mission.

Reference your most recent contact with the foundation – you

should have called, visited, been referred, or been invited.

Give full contact details in case the funder wants additional

information.

Signed by your organization's Executive Director

+The Foundation Directory Online

+Power Searching on Foundation

Directory Online

+An Alternative:

The Foundation Search America

+Organized Research and Tracking

Shareable tracking of contacts and grants in Word, Excel,

SalesForce, or the like

File set of 990s and 990PFs

File set of Foundation Directory (or equivalent) profiles

File set of foundation’s own data – annual report, guidelines,

website stories or information, notes from meetings, public

research data…. Go through the drawers at your local FC

library and ask the librarian for help with your A list folks

Google and other prospect research finds, e.g., bio of

funder/founder, impact stories, transitions in staff/focus… learn

Google’s advanced search features...

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+When you are looking… use

narrowing criteria to make a hit list

Who Funds in My Geographic Region?

Who Funds in My Area of Interest?

Who Provides the Type of Support I Need?

Who Has Funded Organizations Like Mine?

Who Has Given Amounts in the Range I Need?

Make an A, B, and C List and keep simple notes on due dates,

policies, contacts with them, observations about their patterns,

and key connections under each funder. Share your list with staff

and board.

+Where to get help… The Foundation Center (www.foundationcenter.org)

Association of Fundraising Professionals (www.afpnet.org)

Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement (www.aprahome.org)

Council on Foundations (www.cof.org)

Exponent Philanthropy (www.exponentphilanthropy.org)

The Grantsmanship Center (www.tgci.com)

New York Regional Association of Grantmakers (www.nyrag.com) or it’s local equivalent

Guidestar (www.guidestar.org)

Giving USA Annual Report (www.givingusareports.org)

The Chronicle of Philanthropy (www.philanthropy.com)

Advanced search tools in Google