Category: Financing & Loans

Whether by mail, by phone, by a combination of both or face-to-face, there is language that will make your “asks” more productive.

But, first, to address what distinguishes a “smaller gift” from a “larger gift.”

If the gift makes a significant impact on your bottom line, it’s a larger gift. If it takes some time/planning to get the donor to make it, it’s probably a larger gift. If you get it as a result of a mass solicitation method, it’s probably a smaller gift. If it’s not a Major Gift, it’s a “smaller” gift.

A mass solicitation should never ask a (potential) donor to “give what you can,” to “give what’s comfortable, or to say that “any amount will help.” That’s not fundraising, that’s begging/whining/crying. Fundraising is about raising funds, about reaching fundraising goals, about raising enough to fund your programs.

Fundraising is about asking for a specific dollar amount, and there are a number of ways to do that:

By giving choices: 1) … indicating that $XXX will feed a hungry child for a month; 2) … that $YYY will pay the rent for a homeless family for a month; 3) … that $ZZZ will provide vaccinations for every child in a village….

By asking for $XXX and giving the choice of: 1) $YY per month; 2) $ZZ per quarter; or, $YZ twice during the year.

By asking for $XXX and giving the donor the option to send in the full amount right away, or spread out payments over the next twelve months.

By giving the donor the option to charge his/her gift to a credit card — at $YY/month.

By giving the donor the option to make their (first) payment later – “Would next month be good for you, or would the month after that be better?”

Whether you’re asking by mail, by phone or in person, you should know enough about your prospects to know what amount to ask for and what choices to offer.

Knowing that, you need to segment your prospect base so that the “asks” are appropriate for each constituency you’re addressing – different $Xs, $Ys and $Zs.

To support/strengthen your ASK, your gift return slip (for a mailing) should only give the choices you discuss in your letter.

For a conversation (by phone or in person), you never ask if your prospect would like to give, would like to support “the cause,” or would “like to think about it.” The choices you provide do not include “No” as a potential answer. The only options relate to how the donor will be most comfortable making the gift for which s/he was asked.

Now don’t get all worked up about how that’s not a “nice” way to treat a (prospective) donor !! Nice is attitude. Nice is a warm voice. Nice is sounding like you’re glad to be “talking” with the prospect. Nice is how you treat someone. “Nice” does not preclude doing your fundraising in an effective manner.

What do you think ??
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Have a comment or a question about starting, evaluating or expanding your fundraising program? With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, I’ll be pleased to answer your questions. Contact me at AskHank@Major-Capital-Giving.com
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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.

Having just finished the enjoying the spectacle that is the Summer Olympics, it’s now time to turn our attention to the CFC solicitation period, which began on September 1 and runs to December 15^th.

The CFC is a Mandatory, Voluntary Program — That’s Not A Contradiction
The government requires that CFC campaigns be conducted in every Federal agency/office/location world-wide, but all participation and giving is voluntary.

We’re now in the CFC Solicitation Period. If your nonprofit is in the CFC, and you’ve taken the steps outlined in previous posts, this will be the busiest time of the year for your CFC Action Team.

What Matters – Communication and Teamwork
By now, you should have named your CFC Team Leader, a staff person who is responsible for organizing and getting the word out about your nonprofit’s participation in the CFC.

The biggest mistake made by CFC charities is that some go through the application process to enroll, and then they run a stealth campaign!

7 Tips To Help Ensure A Successful CFC Campaign

:
1.  Website: Homepage: Make sure your homepage has the CFC logo with your charity’s
      five-digit code number under the logo. This will answer 95% of the questions that
      potential Federal donors will have when they come to your website. The logo itself
      is a million dollar benefit made available to charities in the CFC, and just like the
      Coca-Cola and Nike logos, it is recognized by millions of potential CFC donors.

      Website: Workplace Giving Section– In addition to the homepage, in your donor
      section, include info about workplace giving, thank people in advance, and ask them
      for a payroll deduction pledge. It is also helpful to have examples of how a periodic
      pledge will be used by your nonprofit, e.g. “Twenty dollars per pay period will pay for
      food for a rescued puppy for a month,” etc.

2.  Teamwork Leadership Exercise #1: Make sure every board member, staff member
      and volunteer know that you’re in the CFC and what your code number is.

      Note: To see how well this has been learned, have someone unknown to the staff call
      your organization, and ask, “Are you in the CFC?” The answer from whomever they
      reach should be “Yes we are, and this is our CFC code number. May I provide any
      other information?”

      This is a good test of how well your staff members are acting as part of your CFC team.

3.  E-mail signature: Add to your e-mail signature that you participate in the CFC, and
      thank any CFC donor in advance for their payroll deduction gift. This should be part
      of every staff person’s e-mail signature block, and ask
      your board members if they can include it on their e-mails as well.

4.  CFC Special Events – Kickoffs and Charity Fairs: Register with your local
      CFC office to let them know that you’re interested and able to participate in either
      kickoffs or charity fairs. If you have a leader or board member who is a compelling
      speaker, let them know that you’re able to provide a keynote speaker as well.

5.  Location, Location, Location – If you have one, use it! If your charity is in a
      location where there is drive-by or pedestrian traffic, put a sign up in your window,
      or along the roadway with your name, the CFC logo, and your CFC 5 digit code. The
      American Red Cross hangs a banner off the roof of its headquarters building, proving
      that 18^th century tools still work.

6.  Teamwork Exercise # 2: Ask your constituents (e.g., donors, volunteers, staff, board
      members, friends, etc.) if they have any “Federal Connections;” and, if so, ask them
      to let those “connections” know that you’re in the CFC, and that their support in the
      current CFC campaign would help a lot of people/kids/animals. They could even carry
      a couple of your brochures to give to their “connections.”

7.  Say Thank You Early & Often! With a CFC campaign you won’t get the names of your
      donors released to you until next spring, so at any contact you have, let your potential
      Federal donors know that you appreciate their gifts. If you are invited to charity fairs,
      make sure to thank the charity fair organizer and the CFC Campaign manager. If you’re
      invited to be a keynote speaker, thank the agency head in addition to the CFC volunteers
      just mentioned.

These tips, however, can only help if you’re in the CFC campaign. If you’re not, yet, now is the time to begin thinking about applying for next year’s campaign. For a special free guide to help you make that decision, send me (Bill Huddleston) an email with “Guide” in the subject line, and I’ll be glad to send it to you.

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During his 25-year career in the Federal sector, Bill Huddleston, The CFC Coach, served in many CFC roles. If you want to participate in the Combined Federal Campaign, maximize your nonprofit’s CFC revenues, or just ask a few questions, contact … Bill Huddleston
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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.

Shopping once again on L.L.Bean’s website, my attention was taken by the company’s customer service credo, proudly posted there for as long as I can remember.

During the time I spent in a for-profit business, before beginning my non-profit career, I became aware of the extent to which the for-profit sector was (had to be) steeped in customer service. From that perspective, L.L.Bean’s corporate customer service philosophy and practices are easy to recognize as having an extremely close parallel to what we do in our non-profit world.

Simply, the for-profit world’s “customer relations” is the equivalent of the non-profit world’s donor relations.

L.L.Bean’s customer service philosophy has served them well … over their (almost) 100 year existence, and is an example that we in the non-profit sector must emulate.

The following definition of a customer was a favorite of Mr. Bean’s, and I take license to show how it could/should apply to the non-profit world:

What is a Customer? (Who is a donor?)

(1) “A customer is the most important person ever in this office in person or by mail.”
 • What if we were to make that read: A donor is the most important person ever in contact
   with this organization.

(2) “A customer is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him.”
 • How about: Donors do not need us. We need them.

(3) “A customer is not an interruption of our work. He is the purpose of it.”
 • How about: Contact with donors is not an interruption of our work.
   Our relationships with donors make our work possible.

(4) “A customer is not someone to argue or match wits with. Nobody ever won an argument with a customer.”
 • How about: Donors are not people from whom we can demand support.
   No organization is entitled to its donors’ money … we must earn it.

(5) “A customer is a person who brings us his wants. It is our job to handle them profitably to him and ourselves.”
 • How about: Donors bring us their resources and philanthropic desires.
   It is our job to use those resources and meet those philanthropic desires
   efficiently, effectively, and as we have promised.

L.L.Bean’s five customer imperatives, after a little adapting to the non-profit setting (and to Bean’s outdoors’ focus), make fine “trail markers” for a truly donor-centric path. But it is to often a path where many people would rather hide behind the trees, ignore donor cultivation and leave all fund-raising responsibility to the development department.

The donor-centric path is blazed by the development director, executive director, and board chair. They are/should be followed by department heads and board members until, finally, it becomes a wide road to organizational success … well traveled by all staff and volunteers.

Our job as development professionals is to show our organizations where the path can take them.

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If you have a question or comment for Tony, he can be reached at Tony@raise-funds.com. There is also a lot of good fundraising information on his website: Raise-Funds.com
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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.

What is a sticky idea?
One of the most stimulating books I have read in recent years in one by Chip Heath and Dan Heath called Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die (2007). By sticky, the Heath brothers mean that “your ideas are understood and remembered, and have a lasting impact – they change your audience’s opinions or behavior.”

Sticky ideas are important in proposals. If you cannot get reviewers to understand and remember your major themes, your grant proposals are not likely to be successful. Too many grant proposals are LMO (Like Many Others). You need to find ways to stand out in a crowded pack. Sticky ideas will help you do this.

According to the Heaths, there are six basic principles at work in all sticky ideas:

Simplicity
Sticky ideas are stripped down to their essential core. Here is an example from a grant proposal: “Over the past five years, we have received “Excellent” ratings on all of our government grants.”

Unexpectedness
To get people to pay attention to your ideas, you need to challenge people’s expectations. The most basic way to get someone’s attention is to break a pattern by surprise or interest. Curiosity occurs when we feel a gap in our knowledge, and knowledge gaps create interest.

Concreteness
Being concrete helps make ideas clear and memorable. Concrete language helps people understand new concepts – especially novices and those in a hurry, like reviewers. For experts, concreteness helps construct higher, more abstract insights. Here is an example from a grant proposal: “Each year, more than a million children in developing countries die from dehydration. This problem can be prevented at a very low cost. Oral Rehydration Therapy saves children’s lives.”

Credibility
People need to test your ideas to see if they are true. A credible idea makes people believe. Here is an example from a grant proposal: “In the past year, we have successfully catered two State Department dinners at the White House.”

Emotions
People will care about ideas if they can feel something. An emotional idea makes people care. Use associations, appeals to self-interest, and appeals to identity to create empathy.

Stories
People are more likely to act on your ideas if you can tell a great story. Stories are powerful because they provide simulation (knowledge about how to act) and inspiration (motivation to act). A good story makes people act.
The Heaths’ advice has obvious applicability to the content of your grant proposals. By using sticky ideas, you can help overcome problems that commonly plague proposals. You can:
• Get reviewers to pay attention to your message.
• Get reviewers to understand and remember.
• Get reviewers to believe you or agree.
• Get reviewers to care.
• Get reviewers to act.

How Sticky Ideas help Reviewers
Most grant reviewers use fast and frugal mental processes to make decisions about your proposals. Their cognitive resources are limited and they do not have a great deal of time. Consequently, your grant proposals should be designed so that reviewers can evaluate them with as little mental effort as possible. Sticky ideas will help reviewers remember, understand, and believe your proposal, quickly and easily.

You can make your proposals stickier if you simplify your messages, make them concrete, emphasize the most telling details, use interesting and inspiring stories, and stimulate curiosity. The challenge in any proposal is to make your proposal understandable, memorable, and effective.

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die will help you accomplish this task. I strongly recommend this book to all proposal professionals.
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Dr. Jayme Sokolow, founder and president of The Development Source, Inc.,
helps nonprofit organizations develop successful proposals to government agencies.
Contact Jayme Sokolow.
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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 (May 12, 2011) post, “Grantsmanship: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” I quoted from a 2010 WealthEngine white paper stating that the average cost-per-dollar-raised for grants is 20 cents … an ROI of 500%. With such an impressive return on investment, starting a grants program at your NPO might seem like a great idea…

But, as Hank Lewis wrote in his (May 14, 2010) post, “Grants: Free Money – Not Quite !! ,“ “Grants come with a variety of obligations. Corporations, foundations and government agencies don’t just give it away. It takes more than mailing applications and waiting for the checks to arrive.”

So, what do you need to consider before starting a grants program?

I advise (potential) clients to consider the following four points before launching a grants program at their NPO:

Financial Readiness
Hank wrote in his post, “The vast majority of grantors want to see your audited financial reports and your budgets. They want to know where the rest of your funding is from, and you will need to prove that you are fiscally responsible, can be trusted and that you operate in a business-like manner.”

In my experience, all of this is true. You will need to provide detailed financial information with most of your foundation grant applications. The exceptions may be with family foundations that don’t always require this level of detail.

A good example of what will be required can be found in the Missouri Common Grant Application, downloadable here.

The application requires the following financial attachments:

    Internally prepared income statement for current fiscal year

    AND A complete copy of organization’s audited/reviewed/compiled financial
    statements for the last fiscal year which includes two (2) years of financial
    information

    OR An organization’s most recently filed Form 990 plus internally prepared financial
    statements for the past two (2) years.

Along with these organizational financial records, you will also need to provide a project budget, your long-term funding plan for the project, and often a budget justification. The Missouri Common Grant Application and Budget Templates provide good information on what will be required.

Stay tuned for Part 2, in my September 20^th post, where I will outline three additional points for you to consider before launching a grants program at your NPO.

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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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There’s a phenomenon in our communities public or local education foundations (PEFs or LEFs) that have been created/designed with political agendas the politics of education, and the politics of inclusion.

People in communities all over the country, espousing one educational philosophy or another, are working to influence their school boards and local political structures to improve/change their public education systems; but, because of a narrow focus, they are missing out on a major opportunity.

Many of these EFs, have been highly effective in sensitizing Boards of Educations and Public School Administrators to the different components and needs of the various segments of their constituencies — ethnic, religious, national origin and linguistic. And, of course, the way change is encouraged is through vocal exhortations directed at local and state political figures.

This method of social activism has resulted in modifying courses of study, adding new subjects and subject material, and increasing mutual awareness and respect among diverse segments of our communities.

It is, however, not my intention to comment upon or evaluate the performance of these organizations, but to suggest a way that they could have a greater impact on the quality of education in their communities.

Many of these EFs, no matter what they are called, are non-profit corporations that are eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions, but are not raising anywhere near the dollars that can be raised.

As examples of what can be done, there are a number of public high schools in New York City whose alumni bodies have created foundations that raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for everything from textbook replacement to construction of robotics laboratories and computerized language learning centers.

To be successful in the fundraising process, and the above examples didn’t happen with book sales, cakes sales, dinners or other special events, takes a different focus than for the social activism — not that they are mutually exclusive.

To get corporations to fund reading programs, to get foundations to fund college preparation courses, to get wealthy individuals to support equipment purchase, to get senior citizens to bequeath their homes to those EFs — to get anyone to give major bucks to supplement public education, you need Board Members who are networked into those (potential) constituencies.

You need leaders who are committed to the fundraising process, and who are willing to take the time to plan for and execute (individual, corporate and foundation) major gift solicitations — who are willing to give of their own resources and get others to do the same.

Only through such a program, with such committed people, can major gifts be secured for public schools. Only through networking, through personal connections, can this happen.

Don’t assume that just anyone can successfully ask for the big gifts. As with all skills/talents, not everyone is good at everything.

For your organization to be effective, it must have a cadre of volunteers who can help advance the fundraising agenda. They must be trained in the workings of a non-profit corporation and its fundraising procedures. They must understand their roles and responsibilities. And, they must passionately believe in the mission of the corporation.
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Have a comment or a question about starting, evaluating or expanding your fundraising program? With over 30 years of counseling in major gifts, capital campaigns, bequest programs and the planning studies to precede these three, I’ll be pleased to answer your questions. Contact me at AskHank@Major-Capital-Giving.com

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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.

I have found it necessary, far too many times during my years in the non-profit world, to face/deal with the nearly impossible challenge of helping an organization to maximize efficiency and effectiveness when a single person is required to be the executive director, the fund-raising development professional and the marketing/communications/PR professional … all at the same time.

This is the classic, and often deadly,

“One Person Shop.”

Coming exclusively from a fund-raising background, I felt that was where I could only place my total focus because of my scores of dealings with those two other types of professions.

I am acutely aware of the many organizations that have an Executive Director who is not only responsible for, but must function in all other operational activities.

From extensive personal contact with such heroes and heroines, I have nothing but the fullest admiration and regard for them — regard that is always accompanied by deep concern … because many of their Boards often insist that they apportion their duties to focus mainly on fundraising.

Good Executive Directors work hard to see that the organization fulfills its mission effectively and efficiently. It becomes all the more impossible for them to succeed when they need to represent each of the different parts of the organization at different times in different ways.

To consider that one person is driven by the Board to meet programming and operational needs, be responsible for raising the money to keep the books in balance, and to market and publicize its programs and services, has me taking off my own hat to such people — while, at the same time, heaping deserved scorn/criticism on a Board of Trustees that would create/allow such a deplorable situation.

Organizations would be far better off if leadership would recognize the unreasonable and counter-productive demands they are placing on the one individual who is responsible for management, marketing and fundraising.

To employ a “One-For-Three” fix for those needs is penny-wise and pound-foolish. If an organization is cash-strapped, unable to pay for three professionals’ salaries, they must accelerate their fundraising activity and make provision in the operating budget for three professionals performing their respective duties 100% of the time.

You cannot get 300% from anyone, and you risk burn-out if you try.

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If you have a question or comment for Tony, he can be reached at Tony@raise-funds.com. There is also a lot of good fundraising information on his website: Raise-Funds.com
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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.

CFC Charity Results
In my last post (June 28), I reviewed some of the general CFC statistics, and the results for the 2011 campaign. But, while overall campaign totals may be interesting, what every CFC charity wants to know is, “What are our results?”

CFC charities receive this information in the April/May timeframe, first with their overall totals/results, and then the individual information from donors who have chosen to release their contact information.

Keep in mind that a CFC donor has the option of remaining anonymous, and I mean truly anonymous. No one in the CFC charity will receive any information at all about the anonymous donors. This is a very popular choice by CFC donors, and as many as 60% of your donors may be anonymous … and those are some of your best supporters!

CFC Donor Communication – Say Thank You Early & Often
For those donors who have released their contact information, it will include name, address, and e-mail, and the donor has the option of releasing the specific amount they have pledged to your non-profit, or they can choose to “Not Release” the amount which shows up on the CFC donor sheets as “$NR.”
The information will look like this:
    CFC of the Regional Name
    Jane M. Doe
    1220 Main Street
    Town, ST Zip
    JaneDoe@mail.com
    NR or $650 (which represents this donor giving $25 per pay period for 26 pay periods)

Now that you have that information, obviously the first thing you need to do is send your identified donors a “Thank You.”

It’s your choice as to whether you want to send the thank you via a postal service letter, or via e-mail. You should thank your CFC donor the same way that you thank your other donors, however you do that.

And, whatever donor tracking software you’re using, use it, and make sure to have a separate code for your CFC donors.

Thanking Your Anonymous Donors
Now that you thanked your known donors, it’s also time to update the workplace giving section of your website, and any/all of your publications — newsletters, etc. — to thank your anonymous donors.

Depending upon your level of satisfaction and/or comfort you can tell your supporters your specific results or you can keep it general and just say you were pleased with how well your non-profit did in the fall campaign. Share any highlights you have from your current year, and share any exciting news you have about upcoming events.

In both the “Thank You” letters and reports, it’s also time to plant the seeds about how you would like your donors to support you in this fall’s campaign, and let them know of whatever opportunities there might be for them to become more involved with your organization.

Since a donor will contribute more through payroll deduction than they will with a one-time gift, it’s always worth highlighting the value/desirability of giving through payroll deduction. And, while you cannot solicit a CFC donor directly, you can invite them to other non-fundraising events/activities your non-profit is having, i.e., an open house.

Within your organization, it’s time to start thinking about who on your staff is going to be involved in this fall’s campaign, and what their roles will be. We’ll take a look at that, in depth, in upcoming posts.

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During his 25-year career in the Federal sector, Bill Huddleston, The CFC Coach, served in many CFC roles. If you want to participate in the Combined Federal Campaign, maximize your nonprofit’s CFC revenues, or just ask a few questions, contact … Bill Huddleston

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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.

I Recommend The Guide
One of the many pleasures in attending the recent national conference of the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) in Dallas was visiting the Shipley Associates booth. Over the past few decades, Steve Shipley and Shipley Associates have probably done more to advance the proposal profession than any other company. The new Shipley Proposal Guide 4.0 (2011) by Larry Newman exemplifies this contribution.

There are many excellent proposal guides available today, but I believe that the Shipley Proposal Guide is the best. I have kept earlier editions close to my desk. This one will be no exception.

Although this book is designed for companies, I strongly recommend that it be used by nonprofit organizations too. Most of Newman’s advice equally applies to grant proposals to government agencies.

Guide Contents
According to Larry Newman, the new guide has three aims:
(1) Help win competitive business more effectively, efficiently, and consistently;
(2) Offer clear and practical advice to business professionals about proposal development; and,
(3) Provide best-practice guidelines.

The Guide will help you and your nonprofit organization to:
• Align your proposals with the government agency’s evaluation criteria.
• Use a disciplined development process that emphasizes up-front planning.
• Schedule proposal development steps and maintain fidelity to the schedule.
• Orient your strategy to the government agency’s perspective.
• Focus your effort by writing an early executive summary.
• Apply proven process and management processes to proposal development.
• Write to the government agency.
• Use color reviews to control your development process and improve your proposals.

The Guide accomplishes these goals clearly by dividing the proposal development process into six topics: document design, proposal management, pricing and costing, process design, proposal writing, and sales and capture management. Within these six topics are over fifty subtopics that are each presented in a few pages. Two of these topics are described below.

Example 1: Executive Summaries
Under the topic “proposal management” there are six pages devoted to the all-important topic of “executive summaries.” The section begins with a strong, forthright statement: “Executive Summaries are the most important pages in a proposal. They set the tone for individual evaluators and are often the only pages read by the decision makers.”

The rest of the section breaks the development of good executive summaries into eight steps: (1) always include an executive summary; (2) maintain a customer focus; (3) build on your existing process and strategy; (4) organize the content to be clear and persuasive; (5) expand the four-box model template into a single- or multiple-page draft; (6) develop based on best-in-class practices; (7) follow sound writing guidelines; and (8) follow a defined process when preparing on short notice.

Each of these eight steps in clearly explained and illustrated with examples, pictures, charts, and tables. At the back of the Guide, there are three model executive summaries that will help anyone envision their own executive summaries for particular proposals.

Example 2: Gobbledygook
Under the topic “proposal writing,” there are about two pages devoted to “gobbledygook.” First, the word is defined and illustrated. Then Newman recommends two antidotes to proposal gobbledygook: (1) use specific words; and (2) avoid long, complex, and convoluted phrases.

Both antidotes are presented with all-too-familiar examples. There is even a table of common gobbledygook with its antidotes. “Activate” should be replaced by “start” while “heterogeneous” should be replaced by “different.”

The entries on executive summaries and gobbledygook are typical of the Guide. Everything is presented very logically and briefly with plenty of bad and good examples. These entries are a pleasure to read and easy to follow.

I strongly recommend the Shipley Proposal Guide 4.0. It can be ordered online at ShipleyWins.com. This book is indispensable. For NPOs, it will improve your government grant proposals, and for proposal professionals, it will advance your career.
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Dr. Jayme Sokolow, founder and president of The Development Source, Inc.,
helps nonprofit organizations develop successful proposals to government agencies.
Contact Jayme Sokolow.
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As your NPO looks to increase its revenue from corporations, it is important to distinguish between grants from corporate foundations and corporate sponsorships.

Both are important sources of revenue, and both come from corporations – many even from the same corporation… But, since they differ in many significant ways, it will impact how you prospect, cultivate, solicit, and steward the corporate donor.

First let’s take a look at some facts about corporate giving published in the GivingUSA Foundation, “Spotlight” Issue 2, 2008. Corporations give a mixture of cash donations, in-kind gifts, and cash from corporate foundations. Approximately 44% of total corporate giving is cash gifts, 20% is in-kind gifts, and 36% is from corporate foundations. Corporate matching gifts, event sponsorships, and cause-related marketing all fall under the category of cash gifts.

Also according to this GivingUSA report, corporations tend to give for philanthropic, strategic, commercial, and political reasons. Where “in small companies, giving is often an extension of the owner’s generosity … giving by large, publicly owned companies is almost always influenced by enlightened self-interest.” The business benefits of philanthropic giving can include: increased employee loyalty, public goodwill, increased sales, and community or public infrastructure support.

The following table looks at how prospecting, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding of corporate foundation grants differ from the same activities in securing corporate sponsorships:

Corporate Foundation Grants	Corporate Sponsorships
Funded through the corporate foundation	Generally funded through the corporation’s marketing budget
Generally from larger corporations	From small and large corporations
Prospect using online resources such as Foundation Center or Guidestar, annual reports from NPOs with similar missions, and foundation 990s	Prospect using annual reports from NPOs with similar missions, and local media advertising of fundraising events
Usually publish grant submission and reporting guidelines, and deadlines	Usually have minimal or no guidelines and deadlines
Solicit the foundation manager, and submit grant request following corporate guidelines	Solicit the marketing department with a sponsor packet that outlines the value proposition
Typically want recognition for the corporation	Definitely want recognition and advertising value for the corporation, and naming opportunities depending on sponsorship level
Typically want employee volunteer opportunities at the NPO	Definitely want tickets to the event, and may want employee volunteer opportunities at the NPO
Important to follow-up with outcomes for the program that was included in the grant request	Important to follow-up with event outcomes (how many attendees, dollars raised, etc.) and corporate recognition outcomes (media mentions, website hits, e-mail open rates, etc.)

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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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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.