Could Your Organization Get a Grant?
Firstly, where do grants come from? There are several
sources; foundations and federal government, state
government, local government and private grants. With the
federal government paying out 300 billion dollars each year
in grants - not including foundations, there is a distinct
possibility that you may be able to get a share.
To do this you will need to be able to demonstrate that
your organization is fulfilling a desperate need in the
community - and doing it in a way that works and is really
innovative and professional. In other words, you need to be
good at what you do.
To apply for a grant you need to prepare your application
in a way that demonstrates that your organization is
fulfilling this need in a way that is innovative and unlike
others. Set out your organization's aims, goals and what
you hope to accomplish in the future, as well as your past
accomplishments.
The application will go before a grants committee who may
not be able to relate naturally to your project, therefore
it is essential that you include such things as a case
study of the help given in the past, and demonstrate the
need for your project by including pertinent and specific
facts.
Your plan should reach into the future by at least twelve
months, with projections aimed at both financial needs and
accomplishments. Pay particular attention to your budgets,
both past, present and future. The slightest hint of
dishonesty or inaccuracy will put your hopes of a grant
beyond the pale.
Information about foundation grants is not that easy to
find, but if you go to The Foundation Center's website
you'll be able to access foundation summaries and contact
information. Details of the latest grants are available via
electronic newsletters. You could even take their course on
grant seeker training to learn the proper basics of grant
writing and budgeting. Using The Community Foundation
Locator you can access grants information in your
geographical area by the use of an online map.
You may be able to access even more information from your
local library, as many subscribe to national databases like
the Foundation Directory Online.
For information about government grants, go to
http://www.usa.gov/Business/Nonprofit.shtml, or Grants.gov
If you are fundraising as an individual rather than an
organization, or if your organization is a private or a
for-profit one, then you will not be eligible for a grant.
A not-for-profit organization is one in which the members
do not benefit from any part - surplus or otherwise - of
the monies made. When and if the organization closes, then
surplus finances must be distributed to a similar
not-for-profit organization.
How to Accept Fundraising Donations Online
Once you have your fundraiser website set up, the next step
is to monetize it. This can be done in a number of
different ways. There are organizations that specialize in
selling a number of goodies such as cookies, candles, light
bulbs and many other types of things for fundraising and
they offer lots of help.
These days most people accept that shopping online is a
safe and secure way to go. It saves them the hassle of
negotiating traffic, finding a parking space and finding
time to go in the first place. In fact shopping online is
cheaper and easier all round.
So how does this selling online thing work? You don't have
to have a room full of goods at your home to sell and you
don't have to pack and post. You can simply deal with
people called drop shippers who take the order and post it
off to the correct address with no hassles for you to worry
about. How good is that? In fact, it's far better than you
buying a quantity of goods and having the risk of not
selling them all.
All you need is an online catalogue for your customers and
you can change the goods around to reflect the seasons if
you want to. Or if you see that something is not selling
very well, you can change it for something else. Paypal is
a secure way to accept donations or for people to pay for
their goods online. It is quite simple to install a Paypal
button or shopping cart on your website. Firstly you need
to get your Paypal account which is free, and then read the
easy instructions on their website for installing their
button.
When you are setting up your website, there are things
called Meta tags that you need to make your website visible
to the search engines and so to people who might be
searching online for your products. Don't panic! A Meta tag
box will usually be provided automatically. You just need
to fill it in with certain words. These words should
reflect what you are selling, such as candy bars, candles
or whatever it is. Meta tags are invisible to all but
search engines, but they are certainly necessary.
If you do your fundraising with the help of a fundraising
organization, you may be able to get lots of help such as
customizable donations pages with downloadable or printable
receipt options, automated tax receipts and thank you
message, tell-a friend and email features and even survey
questions and donation tracking facilities. Low processing
costs apply, but it's worth it for all the features.
How to Create a Gift Campaign to Raise Funds for Your
Organization
Fundraising depends on a number of strategies to acquire
the needed funds. There can be product fundraising, which
relies on the sale of a product such as cookies, chocolate
or a non-consumable product. There can also be event
fund-raising which, as its name suggests, is when the
fundraisers organize an event and sell tickets to it. A
variation of this is the 'a-thon' in which participants
often solicit their own funding, e.g. parents or
grandparents sponsor a certain number of kilometers for the
participant to walk.
Then there is the gift campaign, where people are
challenged to pledge an amount of money for no return
except perhaps a good reputation and to see good come from
their gift. In this case the cause needs to be presented
primarily as an investment to the giver, rather than a
need. For instance, better educational facilities will
eventually translate into better-trained employees for a
company in the district that recruits and trains staff from
the surrounding area. They may even save a considerable
amount on future training of their staff.
So rather than selling tickets for a raffle or function or
thinking of some other way to raise money such as an
'a-thon', it might be feasible for your organization to
create a gift campaign to raise money. A gift campaign will
encourage donors to pledge gifts over a period of time, so
that the increase grows with a minimum of work, even if it
takes a lot to put it into place the first time.
However, you must ask yourself if your organization is
ready for this major step. While a gift campaign if done
properly, is sure to raise a great deal of money, you do
need to have plenty of staff and the resources to put into
the effort. There must be adequate preparation before the
campaign actually begins. It will be necessary to have a
strong base support of giving from the Board of Trustee
members, while guidance from a Development Committee will
be invaluable.
Companies and individuals should be identified as
prospective donors and rated on the amount they could be
expected to give. The report presented to them must be
compelling and show how they are likely to benefit from
their gift. They like to be able to write it off their tax
as well as see some other benefits.
They can be presented with the option of a challenge to
match another gift, but the most important part is that
they should be made to feel a valuable part of the whole
process and to this end, kept informed of all the past,
present and future data as it becomes available.
More to come in Part 6...
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