Author: Lynn deLearie

‘Grants management’ encompasses a breadth of activities within a wide range of organizations and agencies, from small NPOs to federal agencies such as the NIH.

In the context of this post, I am defining grants management to encompass those activities conducted by NPO staff for the purpose of ensuring grant compliance, from the time the grant is accepted until it has been closed out. An important distinction is that the above definition excludes grants from government agencies, as the management of which is very complex.

However, management of grants from private and corporate foundations is still important, since it ensures compliance with the programmatic and financial elements of grants. It is important to remember that grants are NOT a no-strings-attached gift – they are a contract between the grantor, who provides the funds, and the grantee, who performs the tasks and delivers the outcomes described in the proposal.

As I’ve written previously in this blog, grantsmanship is a team effort, and your team is essential for effective grants management. Hopefully, you have worked with your organization’s program and financial staff people when preparing grant proposals, so they will be aware of the program goals, outcomes and metrics, evaluation methodology, and program budgets (see the chapters: “If You Evaluate It (Well) – They Will Come,” and “Developing Financials for Grants” in my ebook on Grants and Grantsmanship ).

Upon acceptance of a grant, a good practice is to meet with the program and financial staff people who will be involved in implementing the funded program. At that meeting, the grant management activities (listed below) should be discussed and assigned to the appropriate staff member(s), along with a schedule for when the tasks should be completed.

Depending on the size and culture of your NPO, you (as grant manager) may be involved in many of those activities, or you may function more as a project manager.

I strongly recommend against a hands off project management approach, as you are ultimately responsible for completing and submitting grant reports, and this is impossible to do well when trying to gather all the program and financial data from others at the eleventh hour! You may choose to meet (or communicate via e-mail) periodically, throughout the grant period, with those staff members … to ensure things are running smoothly.

Grant Management Activities:
•  Conduct program activities as outlined in the grant proposal
•  Evaluate program effectiveness as outlined in the grant proposal
•  Communicate with grantor (if needed) to request change(s) to
program design and/or grant expenditures
•  Maintain financial records for program expenses and revenues
•  Complete and submit grant reports throughout the grant period
as requested by the grantor, including financial reports
•  Complete and submit final grant report by grantor’s deadline,
including financial reports

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Lynn deLearie Consulting, LLC, helps nonprofit organizations develop,
enhance and expand grants programs, and helps them
secure funding from foundations and corporations.
Contact Lynn deLearie.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Look for Lynn’s ebook on Grants & Grantsmanship.
It’s part of
The Fundraising Series of ebooks
They’re easy to read, to the point, and cheap ($1.99 – $4.99) ☺
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If you’re reading this on-line and you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.

In a previous post, I introduced “A Four-Step Process for Effective Grantsmanship,” including:

(1) prospecting for foundation funding,
(2) cultivation,
(3) grant proposal development, and
(4) grant management and stewardship.
(See Chapter Five in my ebook: Grants & Grantsmanship)

So far, I’ve provided a lot of information on steps one through three, as well as on grant reporting (part of stewardship), but I neglected to introduce step four with a post on stewardship.

This post is that introduction:

The Association of Fundraising Professionals defines stewardship as, “a process whereby an organization seeks to be worthy of continued philanthropic support, including the acknowledgement of gifts, donor recognition, the honoring of donor intent, prudent investment of gifts, and the effective and efficient use of funds to further the mission of the organization.”

Although the term is most often associated with individual donors, it is also an important element in your grant program. As I have said in previous postings, “relationships are at the heart of all fundraising activities, and grants are no exception.” Stewardship encompasses the activities you undertake to maintain and build relationships with your foundation grant makers.

As with individual donors, stewardship of foundations encompasses three elements: gift acknowledgement, donor recognition, and reporting.

Gift acknowledgement is straightforward: send written acknowledgement of the grant within one to two days of receipt of the grant, typically a letter signed by your executive director. It is also a good idea to have your ED call the foundation manager or trustee to thank them personally.

Donor recognition is more involved and can include any or all of the following:
•  Listing the foundation grant in your annual report, on your website, in e-mail and social media communications
•  Writing a press release about the foundation grant and what it means to your NPO’s clients
•  Including the foundation name on a donor wall or other named space signage
•  Honoring the foundation at an event hosted by your NPO

An important consideration for ALL donor recognition is to involve the foundation’s leadership – either the manager or trustee – before you publically recognize the grant. They may want to remain anonymous, or they may want as much publicity as they can garner and will want to help craft the messaging. Either way, the recognition you provide should be what the foundation leadership wants to receive.

Reporting encompasses formal grant reports as well as informal communications on your NPO’s accomplishments. I covered formal grant reporting in my March 1, 2012 post, “The Dog Ate My Foundation Report,” and included a number of ideas for informal communications in my June 14, 2012 post, “Who Moved My Funder.”

I’ll conclude this post with WHY stewardship is an important element in your grant program. For the simple reason that it’s much easier to retain a donor (in this case a foundation grant) than to recruit new donors, and stewardship is critical to donor retention.

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Lynn deLearie Consulting, LLC, helps nonprofit organizations develop,
enhance and expand grants programs, and helps them
secure funding from foundations and corporations.
Contact Lynn deLearie.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Look for Lynn’s ebook on Grants & Grantsmanship.
It’s part of
The Fundraising Series of ebooks
They’re easy to read, to the point, and cheap ($1.99 – $4.99) ☺
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If you’re reading this on-line and you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.

My two previous postings included the nuts and bolts of preparing financials for grant proposals to private and corporate foundations.

This post will focus solely on a significant issue facing NPO’s seeking grant funding: namely that many foundations don’t provide general operating support. Instead, they prefer to fund specific programs or projects, and often something new or innovative.

Some specific examples from Missouri based foundations:

• “Repetitive requests for operating support are discouraged,” Dana Brown Charitable Trust;
• Grants requesting, “Unspecified general funds will probably not be approved. Innovative developmental and educational programs for children are preferred,” Allen P. and Josephine B. Green Foundation; and,
• “Non-profit organizations with budgets of $1 million dollars or more may not apply for general operating support grants. Such organizations may only apply for project or capital grants.” William R. Orthwein, Jr. and Laura Rand Orthwein Foundation.

This issue has been discussed and debated in the nonprofit sector, and there are good arguments on both sides. Being on the grant-seeking side of the issue, I appreciate the perspective offered by Kevin Starr in the August 2011 article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, “unrestricted money makes an organization work smoothly, enables innovation, and provides fuel for growth.”

Nevertheless, most foundations don’t provide general operating support, so we grant seekers need strategies for how to procure funds to support our NPO’s general operations from these foundation grant makers.

A strategy that I have used successfully involves rethinking how to describe what your NPO does, and breaking down your services into individually fundable “programs.”

For example, if you are a school with a mission to provide a holistic education to underserved children, think about all that this entails. Do you serve breakfast and lunch to your students? Do you provide counseling services for your students? Do you provide after-school athletic or enrichment programs? If any answers are yes, then you can submit each of these programs as stand-alone proposals to foundation that only provide program support.

This strategy is not a quick fix. It entails all the work you will need to do, with the help of others at your NPO, in fleshing out these programs. You will need to develop all of the following for these individual programs (described in detail in my previous post on Proposal Development – Part 2): Needs Statement; Target Population; Program Goals & Objectives; Program Activities & Timeline; Program Evaluation (what are the specific metrics your NPO will use to determine the effectives of this specific program); Personnel; Collaboration; and Program Budget and Budget Narrative. Your NPO will also need to commit the program resources to collecting the evaluation data – if your grant proposal is funded, you will need to provide report(s) to the foundation, including data on program effectiveness.

This sounds like a lot of work, because it is, but I encourage you and your NPO to consider the statistics on fundraising that I quoted in my first post on this blog from a 2010 WealthEngine white paper, “Measuring Fundraising Return On Investment and the Impact of Prospect Research:” The average cost-per-dollar-raised for grants is 20 cents; this compares to over a dollar for direct mail donor acquisition, and fifty-cents-per-dollar-raised for special events.

So, a lot of work, yes, but still a good return on your investment!

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Lynn deLearie Consulting, LLC, helps nonprofit organizations develop,
enhance and expand grants programs, and helps them
secure funding from foundations and corporations.
Contact Lynn deLearie.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Look for Lynn’s ebook on Grants & Grantsmanship.
It’s part of
The Fundraising Series of ebooks
They’re easy to read, to the point, and cheap 🙂
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If you’re reading this on-line and you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.

In my June 6th post, I discussed the preparation of financials for grant proposals and introduced the team members integral to this effort.

This month’s post will continue with a review of budget templates, and details on what to include in budget narratives and budget justifications:

Budget Templates:
The Missouri Common Grant Application budget templates are available for download on the Gateway Center for Giving’s website.

These line item program and operating budgets include both expenses and revenues, and are identical except that depreciation is included as an operational expense and not as a program expense.

Expenses: Salary and Benefits; Contract Services (consulting, professional, fundraising); Occupancy (rent, utilities, maintenance); Training & Professional Development; Insurance; Travel; Equipment; Supplies; Printing, Copying & Postage; Evaluation; Marketing; Conferences, meetings, etc.; Administration; Depreciation (operating budget only); and Other.

Revenues: Local Government; State Government; Federal Government; Individuals; Foundation; Corporation; Federation (such as United Way or the Combined Federal Campaign); Membership Income; Program Service Fees; Products; Fundraising Events (net); Investment Income; In-Kind Support; and Other.

These templates are very detailed, and I have found that many foundations request both program and operating budgets in simpler formats. These simpler line item budgets include the following categories:

Expenses: General and Administration; Program; Fundraising; Property, Plant & Equipment; and Other.

Revenues: Individual Gifts; Foundation; Corporation; Government; Events; Program Service Fees; Interest Income; In-Kind Gifts; and Other.

I recommend working with your team prior to the start of your next fiscal year to develop budgets in these formats for your organization’s annual operating budget and for programs that you plan to include in grant proposals. Determine which budget format to submit in your proposals based on the level of specificity the grant maker requests, and if they don’t specify, then stick with the simpler format.

Budget Narratives:
Many foundations require a budget narrative in addition to your line item program budget. These narratives should include a description of the long-term viability for your program, how the program will be supported after funding from the foundation ends, and your organization’s fundraising strategies. In addition, this section usually includes a list of other foundations and corporations to which you have requested funding for this program, the amount, and status of each request, and future grant opportunities for this program.

Budget Justifications:
Some larger foundations (and certainly most, if not all, government grant applications) also require a justification for each item included in your line item program budget. If required, you will need to include a description of each line item expense listed in your program budget and why it is needed. Indicate whether the expense is new for your program or if funding is being requested to cover a current/existing expense. If possible, also explain why the expense is cost-effective.

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Lynn deLearie Consulting, LLC, helps nonprofit organizations develop, enhance and expand grants programs, and helps them secure funding from foundations and corporations. Contact Lynn deLearie.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Look for Lynn’s ebook on Grants & Grantsmanship.
It’s part of The Fundraising Series of ebooks
They’re easy to read, to the point, and cheap 🙂
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

If you’re reading this on-line and you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.

I admit it: program budgets, operating budgets, budget narratives, budget justifications, and audited financial statements are not some of my favorite things. Fortunately for me, and possibly many grant managers, developing program budgets and other financial information needed for grant proposals is a team effort.

Previously, I outlined the financial information to include in your grant proposals: your line-item program budget; sometimes a budget narrative and a budget justification; and always a statement of program sustainability; and, as attachments: your operating budget for the current fiscal year; your audited financial statement for the most recently completed fiscal year; your IRS Form 990; and, a list of your foundation and corporate grantors, including grant award amounts.

This posting focuses on how you – and the other members of your team – can prepare this information for grant proposals.

• Program staff: your NPO’s program staffers are the experts on the programs you are describing in grant proposals. They know the staff, volunteers and other resources necessary to carry out their programs, and you must work closely with them to develop the program budgets you include in grant proposals.
• Finance manager/staff accountant: The individual responsible for financials at your NPO may or may not be a CPA; they may be a paid staff member, a contract position, or a consultant. When it comes to developing financials for grant proposals, it doesn’t matter. They are on your team and critical to developing accurate financials you will need when submitting grant proposals and reports.
• Database manager: This staff member has their finger on the button, OK buttons. They can provide a list of foundation, corporate, government, and individual donors (and donation amounts) that you will need to submit with some grant proposals.
• Audit firm: You will need to submit your audited financial statement for the most recently completed fiscal year, and these folks can provide you with this document, along with your NPO’s IRS Form 990 (if your organization asked them to prepare this along with your audit).
• Development director: Depending on the culture at your NPO – and the personality of your DD – they may want to be integrally involved in the preparation of financials needed for grant proposals, or they may delegate this responsibility. Better to ask permission than beg forgiveness ☺

As I wrote in my December 6th post, a growing trend among grantmakers is the adoption of a common grant application. I have used the Missouri Common Grant Application and the budget templates they provide – these are available for download on the website of the Gateway Center for Giving.

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Lynn deLearie Consulting, LLC, helps nonprofit organizations develop, enhance and expand grants programs, and helps them secure funding from foundations and corporations. Contact Lynn deLearie.

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Look for Lynn’s ebook on Grants & Grantsmanship. It’s part of The Fundraising Series of ebooks

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If you’re reading this on-line and you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.

This posting by: Lynn deLearie.

Since Andrew Grant wrote in his post, Impress Funders with Your Grant Proposal: Target Your Outcomes, “funders have become consumed with the notion of outcomes assessment.” (The link to Andrew’s piece is at the bottom of this post.)

I agree, and have found the evaluation section of proposals to be the most critical in winning grants. Potential funders want, and need to know how you will determine if your programs are successful and, by extension, if their money will be well spent.

Here’s how to write an effective evaluation section of your grant proposal:

1. Work with your program staff! As I wrote in last month’s post, “Using Credible Research To Write Compelling Needs Statements,” your program staff members are the experts on what your organization does, and they’ll have the most relevant and up-to-date research related to their programs. Work with them to define the goals, outcomes and metrics for their programs, and then include this information in grant proposals.

2. Include quantitative metrics. Quantitative metrics are measurable, and grant reviewers are increasingly asking for more meaningful data. For example, one foundation requests that, “for an academic measurable outcome we strongly suggest using a standardized test as the instrument to gauge improvement.” Remember that your programs are intended to change behaviors and/or attitudes. Measuring how many people showed up is no longer good enough. However, measuring knowledge before and after a particular program activity (pre- and post-testing) would be a viable quantitative metric.

3. Define whether you will conduct an internal evaluation or hire an outside evaluator. Who will collect the program outcome data, and what records will you keep? Will this be the responsibility of your program staff, your administrative staff, your grant manager, or an outside evaluator? Who will interpret the data and report on the findings? Include this information in the evaluation section of your grant proposals.

4. Use your evaluation findings to modify program design. Your evaluation findings should be used to assess your program’s effectiveness, AND to inform your future work. If your evaluation findings show that a particular program outcome was not achieved, discuss this with your program staff. Why do they think the outcome was not achieved, and what would they change going forward? Include this information in the evaluation section of your grant proposals. This will demonstrate that your organization takes program evaluation seriously. You are evaluating your programs to improve their effectiveness, not just because your grant applications require that you do so.

Impress Funders With Your Grant Proposal: Target Your Outcomes
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Lynn deLearie Consulting, LLC, helps nonprofit organizations develop, enhance and expand grants programs, and helps them secure funding from foundations and corporations. Contact Lynn deLearie.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Look for Lynn’s ebook on Grants & Grantsmanship. It’s part of The Fundraising Series of ebooks
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
If you’re reading this on-line and you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.

This posting is by Lynn deLearie.

I initially want to refer all readers to an excellent post about Needs Statements written previously on this blog by Andrew Grant (see the link at the bottom of this post).

In that piece, “Impress Funders With Your Grant Proposal (Writing a “WOW” Needs Statement),” Andrew said that, “the Need Statement must be well structured and supported by research to make the case.” He went on to say, “depending on the subject, citations and data can be used as long as they don’t disrupt the narrative flow.”

I agree wholeheartedly, and almost always cite relevant research in the Needs Statements that I write.

I have done most of my recent grant writing for a private middle school that serves impoverished, African American students and families living in North St. Louis. The other accessible educational option for these students is the unaccredited St. Louis public school district, which had an average 2012 graduation rate of 64%. The need to provide a low-cost, quality education to the students that this middle school serves is obvious and compelling…

So, why did I cite research in these Needs Statements? Because, as Andrew states, it helps to build the case for support, and “captures and holds the attention of the funder reading your proposal.”

In addition, citing credible research adds to the credibility of your organization. It shows that you clearly understand the needs of your target population within the broader context of your community.

Citing credible research can also demonstrate that your program staff has done its homework, and use evidence based methods when implementing the programs that meet the needs of your clients.

Now that you know why to cite credible research in your Needs Statements, where do you find the research to cite?

Start with your program staff. They are the experts on what your organization does and will have the most relevant and up-to-date research related to their programs. You can ask them for data and statistics to use to make a strong case for supporting what they do.

Also look at what your competition is saying… on their websites, in their newsletters, in their annual reports. It’s a good bet that they have also applied to the same foundations you are writing to, and you need to be aware of the research they are citing, as well as the results their programs are delivering.

A Google-Search will also turn up other sources of citable research; but not every source that such a search turns up will be credible – double check. The last thing you want to do in your Needs Statement is to cite an unverifiable source.

Impress Funders With Your Grant Proposal
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Lynn deLearie Consulting, LLC, helps nonprofit organizations develop, enhance and expand grants programs, and helps them secure funding from foundations and corporations. Contact Lynn deLearie.
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Look for Lynn’s ebook on Grants & Grantsmanship. It’s part of The Fundraising Series of ebooks
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If you’re reading this on-line and you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.

In my last post (on Dec. 6) I outlined the first four sections to be included in a grant proposal to a private or corporate foundation: the Cover Letter, Executive Summary, Contact Information, and General Organization Overview.

This month’s post will continue with the three additional sections to include in these grant proposals:

Program Description – this is the heart of your proposal – and it includes a number of subsections:
•  Needs Statement – describe the community needs or problems to be addressed by your program and why this issue is important. Check back for more about needs statements in an upcoming blog post.
•  Target Population – describe who will be served by this grant, how many will be served, and what are the demographics of this population (gender, age, income, etc.)
•  Program Goals & Objectives – what will your organization do to address the community needs or problems described above? Your goals will be broader in scope than your objectives and can also be described in terms of the long-term outcomes your organization hopes to achieve through this program. Objectives are narrower and more specific, and often shorter in duration.
•  Program Activities & Timeline – your Goals and Objectives are the “What” and your Activities & Timeline are the “How” and the “When.” What activities and/or services do you intend to engage in or provide? Include specifics such as how much, how often, and how long these will be provided.
•  Evaluation – program evaluation is becoming increasingly critical in winning grants. Potential funders want – and need – to know how you will determine if your programs are successful, and by extension, if their money will be well spent. Some tips that I will include in an upcoming blog post on program evaluation are: work with your program staff to define the goals, outcomes and metrics for their programs; use quantitative metrics to evaluate program effectiveness; define whether you will conduct an internal evaluation or hire an outside evaluator; and use your evaluation findings to modify program design.
•  Personnel – list the staff responsible for your program, and include a brief summary of their professional qualifications. Also include any volunteer needs that will ensure the success of your program, and if there are specific staff and/or volunteer training needs for your program.
•  Collaboration – will your organization collaborate with any other service providers on this program? What is your past experience collaborating with this/these organization(s), what is/are their roles in this program, and what is/are their expertise? Some foundations will also require letters of support or MOUs (Memoranda of Understanding) from these collaborators.

Financial Information – this is another critical section of grant proposals that is receiving increasing scrutiny from grant reviewers. This section should include – or reference – your line-item program budget, sometimes a budget narrative, and always a statement of program sustainability (ie: how will you sustain the program after funding from this foundation ends). Check back for more about program budgets and financial information in an upcoming blog post.

Attachments – another boilerplate section. Most foundations will require your IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter, a list of your Board of Directors and their professional affiliations, your organization’s operating budget for the current fiscal year, your program budget for the grant period (if not detailed in the proposal), and your most recent annual report. Many foundations will also require your audited financial statement for the most recently completed fiscal year, your IRS Form 990, and a list of your foundation and corporate grantors, including grant award amounts.
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Lynn deLearie Consulting, LLC, helps nonprofit organizations develop, enhance and expand grants programs, and helps them secure funding from foundations and corporations. Contact Lynn deLearie.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Look for Lynn’s ebook on Grants & Grantsmanship. It’s part of The Fundraising Series of ebooks
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
If you’re reading this on-line and you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.

This post was supposed to be Part 2 of Proposal Development for grants. I’m moving that post to February 7th, however, so I may share a couple of personal insights on year-end giving.

The holiday – and year-end giving – season is over. We’ve all packed away our lights and decorations, year-end donor lists, and holiday cards, safely storing them ‘til next year.

Before we move on and start working our 2013 fund development plans, I want to share some personal experiences and two insights that relate directly to year-end giving. Specifically, why children and non-board volunteers are important groups to consider in your year-end solicitations.

Like many families, my husband and I make year-end gifts to non-profit organizations; and, when my daughter was six, we started to include her in the process of selecting to which organizations we would give.

She has had a love affair with penguins since about age two, so she always selected wildlife organizations, and we would make a sizeable gift to the organization she selected.

This year, it hit me: if my daughter has a significant impact on my year-end giving, then this might be happening in other families, and it could be a good strategy to use in a year-end giving campaign. My fundraising expertise is in grantsmanship, but relationships are at the heart of all fundraising, and as with grants, the gift is much more related to what the donor wants to give than what the NPO wants to receive…

Insight #1: When developing your organization’s year-end giving campaign next year, consider appealing to all members of your donors’ families, even those too young to have a bank account.

This year my family also started volunteering for a wonderful animal welfare organization, Stray Rescue of St. Louis (strayrescue.org). We became direct service volunteers by fostering four puppies and helping them find their “forever homes.” Lots of work, lots of puppy kisses, lots of fun.

When I asked my daughter (now age nine) to select the organization she wanted to donate to, I expected the usual penguin/wildlife organization. Without hesitation, she selected Stray Rescue…

Insight #2: OK, this is incredibly obvious, and I should have thought about donating to Stray Rescue before my daughter suggested it, but consider soliciting your direct-service volunteers at year-end. They already know and love your organization, and will probably want to support you financially in addition to their gift of time. Lots out there on this topic, just search, “converting volunteers to donors.”

Bonus Insight: Ask your volunteers to share their (positive) experiences with your organization on their social media accounts. I started volunteering for Stray Rescue because a friend of mine kept posting pictures of her foster puppies on Facebook!
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Lynn deLearie Consulting, LLC, helps nonprofit organizations develop, enhance and expand grants programs, and helps them secure funding from foundations and corporations. Contact Lynn deLearie.
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Have you seen The Fundraising Series of ebooks ??
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If you’re reading this on-line and you would like to comment/expand on the above, or would just like to offer your thoughts on the subject of this posting, we encourage you to “Leave a Reply” at the bottom of this page, click on the feedback link at the top of the page, or send an email to the author of this posting. If you’ve received this posting as an email, click on the email link (above) to communicate with the author.