From Network for Good:
Thanks to the cloud, laptops, and mobile devices, people are working, socializing, and attending experiences online. This trend started years before the pandemic, but it was catapulted forward by the need to socially distance. Now, people want to choose whether to engage either remotely or in-person. We’re seeing an increased demand for hybrid corporate events, and nonprofit event planners are wise to take note.
Fundraising & Grantwriting
Four common grant proposal documents (free samples included)
There are four major documents that you may need to create if your nonprofit is looking for funding. Each has a different purpose and elements you’ll need to make your case to funders. In the Candid’s blog, they share the major types of grant proposal documents, their components, and free sample resources to show you what a successful version of each one looks like.
Six tips on fundraising
1. Holt Gift Planning on Matching an (In-kind) Asset to The Right Gift Type
Interesting chart matching the type of organization you have with the type of donation a donor wishes to bestow on you. Really a starting point if someone offers you a tractor. Download this Gift Grid: It’s a quick reference guide for matching non-cash assets with appropriate gift techniques.
2. Nonprofit Finance Fund created a 12-part webinar curriculum on Nonprofit Financial Management Webinars The series is on You Tube. Download slides and companion workbooks for each webinar from the NFF Website
3. Want to Know More About Peer-to-Peer Fundraising?
- https://www.qgiv.com/blog/peer-to-peer-fundraising-tips/
- 10 Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Tips To Help You Raise More
4. Network for Good Best LinkedIn Best Practices for Nonprofits
5. The great people at Propel Nonprofits have lots of good programs. But key for many organizations at this time of year are their lending programs, including a line of credit for late paying committed grants.
6.If you’re looking for child care related lending, our good friends at First Children’s Finance are a GREAT source.
Grant Writing Tips
Last updated on December 29th, 2024
A Social Psychologist On Five Elements Of Good Writing
grantmakers become more isolated from most grantseekers, and most grantseekers become less visible to grantmakers, the art of writing becomes more and more critical to relationship-building success. There are a thousand good articles on good grant writing. Joachim Kreuger, a social psychologist from Brown University, offers these universal writing good elements:
- Relevance: A good text conveys the information that matters, although a few exceptions can spice things up without much distraction.
- Economy: Wordiness debases writing by diluting it. I began this post with the sentence “Good writing is hard,” when I could have written, “It has long been recognized that writers must overcome many difficult challenges before they can deliver an appealing and comprehensible body of text.” Look out for boilerplate and run-on sentences! Even if a sentence is sound, most adverbs and adjectives can be stricken without loss of information. Strong action verbs communicate better than noun-heavy phrases.
- Vividness: Good writing evokes images in the reader’s mind. It is perceptual and hallucinatory. A poor text allows readers to hear the words in their minds without evoking images. Again, action verbs help.
- Coherence: The text must hang together, tell a story, and follow a narrative arc. Lists don’t do this, and this post is playing with fire. Each part of the text has its own mission. Section headers can help, but an elegant text won’t always need them. When the writing is good, readers know where they are in the story.
- Humor: A good text is entertaining, and humor is a spice that keeps boredom at bay. Good humor is subtle and not thigh-slapping. Good humor lets the reader in on a joke without being condescending or obscure.
What’s in Font?
The Washington Post has a couple of tests you can take to determine which font is right for you, your organization and your prospective donors. It’s probably not what you think.
Grant Writing 101: Know Your Impact
Grants consultant, Barbara Stratton, recently did a piece for the Chronicle of Philanthropy that critiques “faulty” grant requests to illustrate “How to Write Grant Proposals That Get Results“
Fundraisers aren’t afraid to ask, it’s because*:
- They know success is dependent on putting the donor in charge of the pace and the donor is in no rush.
- There’s no real urgency they can point to.
- They don’t feel like they have the right project to put in front of the donor.
- They don’t want to blow a bigger opportunity
- The donor has asked for something that the organization hasn’t provided.
- Something about the project doesn’t seem quite right (e.g. they don’t feel the organization can deliver on the promises being made.)
- The donor is asking for more that the organization can deliver on.
- The donor’s cognitive or physical health is questionable.
- They sense the donor needs more time, information, or interaction with project leaders.
- They know the donor is distracted by some other life event.
- They just can’t tell where the donor is, but the vibe isn’t one of great interest.
- The donor has brought a new person into the equation (a spouse, child, financial advisor, etc.)
- Some pre-existing issue the donor had with the organization hasn’t been worked out.
- The donor has expressed dissatisfaction with the leadership of the organization.
- (*First published on Linkedin by Langley Innovations, commented on by Council for Advancement and Support of Education : https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7073992379359252480?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios)
12 Ways to Attract New Donors
From Network for Good
Here’s the list. Read More online for details on each
1. Relationship mapping
2. Research, research, research
3. Be where they are
4. Leverage your volunteers
5. Turn your board into advocates
6. Launch a peer-to-peer campaign
7. Host an event
8. Build partnerships
9. Get out in the community
10. Host cultivation parties
11. Cultivate the next generation
12. Maximize corporate partnerships
Best tool ever for fundraising for children and youth orgs
From Anne E Casey Foundation
Theses are Foundation’s signature resources tracking the well-being of children over time and across states in order to provide high-quality, unbiased information and encourage action on behalf of kids and families.
From the Website:
The KIDS COUNT Data Center is an online resource that provides data on child well-being over time from the most trusted national sources and from more than 53 state- and territory-based organizations. The KIDS COUNT Data Center houses hundreds of key child and family well-being indicators and more than four million data points at the national and local levels.
The KIDS COUNT Data Book provides a detailed picture of how children are faring in the United States, ranking states on overall child well-being and domains. The Data Book also contains key indicators covering economic well-being, education, health and family and community. Each year, the release of the Data Book generates significant media attention and a unique opportunity to discuss ways of improving the lives of children and families.
Who Reviews Your Grant Proposals?
From The NonProfit Times
… Who reads, votes, rejects or rewards your effort?
First, consider the size of the staff at the funder you’re approaching. If it’s the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the person-power is close to 1,800. If it’s a community foundation in a major metro area, it might be 50-75 people. For a small private grantmaking foundation, there might be a staff of 10 or even fewer.
- If it’s a very large staff, there are probably program assistants or associates who take a first crack at proposals.
- If it’s a very small foundation, with very few staffers — your proposal might only get one chance.
…there is a body of information that all reviewers probably subscribe to, however informally. Some years ago, a coalition of funders created the “Due Diligence Tool” — a 65-page handbook for assessing an applicant and its proposal for funding. The publication, by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, is a useful blueprint for nonprofits wanting to understand what reviewers are thinking about as they examine requests for support.