Category: Financing & Loans

Why are Executive Summaries so Important?

Some federal grant guidelines require an Executive Summary or Project Summary. Some Project Summaries have page limitations and strict rules about their content.

However, if the Executive Summary is open-ended you have an opportunity to introduce your narrative and provide a roadmap for reviewers. If your Executive Summary is not compelling and persuasive, reviewers may not pay much attention to the rest of your proposal.

A great Executive Summary should:
• Connect your project to the federal agency’s mission or goals.
• Identify the federal agency’s need.
• Connect your project directly to the federal agency’s need.
• Explain why you are superbly qualified to carry out your proposed project.
• Preview how your proposal narrative is organized.

Despite the importance of the Executive or Project Summary, they often are weak introductions to the proposal narrative.

Avoid these four common mistakes to produce a great Executive Summary.

Mistake #1: Not paying enough attention to your Executive Summary
Too many Executive Summaries invariably begin with the sentence “We are pleased to submit this proposal to xxx and look forward to your review.” They often are very general and they focus on your organization, not the federal agency. These kinds of Executive Summaries are guaranteed to put reviewers to sleep and convince them that they should not read your proposal carefully.

Pay careful attention to your Executive Summary because reviewers will pay careful attention to it too.

Mistake #2: Doing your Executive Summary at the last minute
If you write your Executive Summary at the last minute, you will not have enough time to create a good one. I do not recommend that you do your Executive Summary at the beginning of the proposal cycle, but you need time to think, polish, and refine. This cannot be done at 2 A.M. the morning the proposal is due.

Begin working on your Executive Summary once you have an almost complete first draft of the proposal narrative.

Mistake #3: Not addressing your federal agency’s needs
Too many Executive Summaries focus on your organization to the exclusion of almost everything else.

Answer two important questions in your Executive Summary: Why am I applying? What am I offering the federal agency?

Mistake #4: Not being focused and structured.
Bad Executive Summaries are not only dry and boring, but often they are unfocused and unstructured. Unfortunately, this may be a prelude to the rest of the narrative.

Your Executive Summary is a short sales pitch. Your challenge is to demonstrate in just a page or two that you have something special to offer a government agency.

Structure your Executive Summary by following the order of the evaluation criteria in the grant guidelines and be very clear and straightforward. This is a good place for bulleted and numbered lists, call-out boxes, and great visuals. Tell the reviewers what your organization has to offer and explain why you have the best solution to the need that has been identified in the grant guidelines.

The Executive Summary is too important a part of your proposal narrative to treat lightly. Use it to hook your readers and engage them in the rest of your grant proposal with a compelling story.

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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 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.

This posting is a continuation of the email exchange begun last Tuesday.

“I am happy to step down and then go through the hiring process, I just don’t understand how it works. When, specifically, do I step down from the board? Is it when we have enough money to pay staff or as soon as we start providing services? We plan to put money into programs first, staff salaries second as we have the means to do so. So, there is a good chance we will already be entrenched in service provision before we even have the money to pay anyone.”

The best advice I can give is that you should do what you’re doing. Continue the birthing process and help the baby learn to walk. Don’t worry about formalities yet. You’ll have your initial board … a board that’s doing all the work … and you won’t need staff ’til there’s more than a couple of board members can do themselves.

When the time comes, and there is sufficient income for staff salaries, then you can (in this order) assume the E.D. mantle and resign from the board. (I know that contradicts what I said earlier, but at that stage in the life of an NPO, it doesn’t make a lot of difference.) Don’t worry about a hiring process.

Once you’re the E.D., you can hire the D.D., assuming the board has authorized a budget that includes staff salaries. Do that before resigning from the board !!

As a former D.O.D., I’m sure you know that you can’t budget an expense line until you know where the money is coming from.

“You mention we should recruit board members “later.” When is later?”

“Later” is when you have something of substance to show prospective board members, when you have something that they’d want to be part of. Recruiting board members must address their needs as well as the needs of the NPO.

“What I’m looking for is a timeline of steps: when we should add more board members above and beyond the three founders, when we should create true staff/board designations and when my role should change.”

There is no textbook timeline. Birthing and growth of each NPO is different. You must use your judgment in deciding when “it’s time.” You could also engage a consultant in organizational development to provide periodic observation/counsel.

“I would like to be the Executive Director.”

If that’s what you want, and you have the vision, there’s no reason not to go for it.

“That is my intention. Knowing I have that goal in mind, do you have any thoughts as to how I can ensure that I am keeping the best interests of the organization front and center and not letting my own interests and desires get in the way? Should I NOT look to become ED and just remain on the board (with a term limit)? Provided I do pursue that goal, and I do become staff, I don’t expect to receive any special treatment just because I founded the organization, and I understand the dangers of that situation.”

If you keep in mind and give priority to the needs of the people the NPO was created to serve, it shouldn’t be hard keeping the needs of the NPO in mind. There should not be a conflict.

In any case, since it was your vision, and the E.D. is the board’s major resource, you can keep the board focused on why they and the NPO exists.

As above (and in my “Mature Organization” piece), from birth up to puberty what is important is whether it’s a well adjusted child doing what it should. If it gets to that point without formal staff, fine. It’ll be up to you (and the other existing board members) when it’s time to “hire” staff and formalize the structure.

Until then, just do good stuff.

“So, do we just write the hiring procedures for ED into our bylaws, and then let the board handle it? Can you point me in the right direction in terms of places to look for guidance in writing up those procedures? Are there are reading materials or articles you can direct me to so I can learn more about this process? I am having trouble finding information about this specific issue in the creation of a new NPO.”

I suggest you take a look at “Starting Organizations.”

There’s a lot of stuff that will probably be of help.

“I ask all of these questions because we are going to be able to start providing services fairly quickly, so while it may be irrelevant now, it will be relevant soon and I’d rather be prepared than wait until the last minute to make decisions regarding how we will handle the process.”

You already have a pretty good idea of what’s required and what to avoid, so don’t be too concerned about a specific timeline.

Enjoy the satisfaction with the creative process and with providing service to people who need it.

BTW, Carter McNamara, the owner of the Free Management Library website, that host this blog, is a management consultant … and you couldn’t do better if you need counsel.

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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 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.

By now, CFC charities know the numbers and total dollar amount of the gifts pledged to them during the CFC Fall campaign.

So, if you’re in the CFC, have you asked yourself if you’re satisfied with the results of your last CFC campaign? If yes, great, if no, let me share a few tips that may help you achieve better results in this year’s campaign.

CFC Fundraising Tip:

Think Donors Not Dollars!

Relationships are key; you have supporters for whom the CFC is the most donor friendly way for them to give. Growth comes a lot easier when you think of your supporters as people, not ATMs.

Because so many Federal CFC donors choose to remain anonymous, this is somewhat challenging but you’ll find it changes your mindset when you set goals along the lines of, “What do we need to do to get 100 additional CFC donors” (or 1000, whatever’s appropriate for your non-profit) instead of how do we raise more dollars?

CFC Fundraising Tip:

Make it easy for Federal donors to support you.

In the process of making it easy for Federal donors to support you, one question that you could ask is, “How many Federal employees visit your website? While this might be an interesting question, it’s one that’s impossible to answer. So don’t worry about it !!

A much better question is this: When a Federal employee comes to our website do they see that we are in the CFC, and what our CFC code is?
If that answer is not yes, you’re leaving money on the table.

CFC Fundraising Tip:

Use the Million Dollar Free Bonus for CFC Charities

When you think of these billion dollar brands, Coca-Cola, Nike, General Electric, Apple, etc. what comes to mind? It’s their logo, because they all have an instantly recognizable logo, and for some companies it’s regardless of language. If you’ve ever watched one of the Japanese Little League World Series on television, it’s instantly apparent which sign is advertising Coca-Cola. The red and white logo is unmistakable even when the language is Japanese.

Among the more than 3.5 million Federal employees and members of the military, the CFC logo has that same type of recognition. They all know what it means, and it’s available free for any CFC charity to use as part of their communication and marketing effort.

The use of the logo is restricted to non-profits that are in the CFC, and for a logo with a 50-year history that’s instantly recognized by millions of people, including potential donors, I’ll put that as a million dollar tool available to all CFC charities.

The link for the CFC logo, which is available in both color and black and white versions, is: CFC Logo

CFC Fundraising Tip:

Educate Your CFC Charity Team

Ninety percent of the questions you will get from potential CFC donors can be answered by having your entire organization (paid staff, volunteer staff, board members, etc.) knowing the answers to these two simple questions:
     Are you in the CFC?
     What’s your CFC code number?

For questions other than those, who is the person in your non-profit designated to handle more complex CFC questions, and does everyone on the staff know who that is?

This is an abbreviated version of the CFC communications audit I perform with my nonprofit clients:
• Are the CFC logo and your ID # on your homepage?
• Does your e-mail signature include your CFC ID number?
• If someone calls the front desk, will that person know about the CFC (that you’re in it, and
   what your code # is, and if it’s more involved, who the contact person is).
• In addition to having the CFC logo and your ID# number on the home page, it is valuable
   to have more information about workplace giving and how your gifts are used at pages
   other than the home page, but having the logo and ID on the home page is key.

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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 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.

The following is the first part of an email exchange with a reader:

“My partner and I are creating a non-profit organization, and we will serve as Executive Director (me) and Deputy Director (my partner) as well as, of course, founders.”

Executive Director and Deputy Director are titles of functioning roles. Founder is a description of a person, not a functioning role.

At this point, during the birth and first faltering steps of the new baby, titles are kind of irrelevant. It’s when you really get organized and are close to providing services that there needs to be a distinction/separation between board members and employees/staff.

“We are also founding board members, because we need three directors to incorporate (we have a third) and because we are doing all the work, obviously.”

That’s a given, and only needs to change as noted above.

“We want to build our board and have a list of potential prospects.”

•   Make sure you have a job description for board members.
•   Make sure all potential board members clearly understand what’s expected of them.
•   Make sure that all board members will give ($$$) to the best of their ability — if they
    won’t, why should anyone else?
•   Make sure they aren’t just chair warmers, that they can contribute to advancing the
    mission.

“My partner and I plan to take salaries once we have the money to do so, as we will continue to have day-to-day roles. My questions are:

“1. Should we remain board members once we take salaries or step off the board? Is there a timeline for when we should plan to make this transition? How should we do this?”

•   It would be a conflict of interest for paid staff to be board members.
•   You would, first, have to resign from the board, then be hired by the board to be
    Executive Director.
•   The Executive Director hires all other staff members.

“2. When should we start recruiting other board members?”

Start evaluating potential board members now, for recruitment later. “Later” is when board members would actually have a function. You should not recruit people just to warm chairs.

“3. How will governance of us as founders work? Will we basically be choosing board members who will immediately have authority over us as staff? I know the board normally supervises the ED, and I wholeheartedly agree with the checks and balances this puts into place. But how does this strange little transition happen? When do we stop acting as board members and start acting as ED and DD? How do we balance both while we get things going?”

Again, once you are staff, the fact that you were the founders becomes irrelevant … as relates to the governance/functioning of the organization. Once you’re staff, you are subject to the dictates of the board … no qualification/exception because you were the founders. The board “owns” the organization … period. They make the decisions as to mission (which they can change as they will) and finances, and they evaluate and (if they think it necessary) replace the Executive Director.

As to how it all happens … it’s gradual. See my posting on “What Is A Mature Organization.”

Watch for Part Two of this email exchange in next Tuesday’s post.

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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 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.

Neither of these questions is easy to answer, so I did a little research before writing this post. When I Googled “grant win rate,” I came up with a lot of grant writing consultants that advertized win rates of 75 – 95%. I also came up with a post by Jayme Sokolow, contributor on this blog, entitled, “Be Careful about Grant Win Rates”

Jayme cautions that, “win rates are rarely audited and impossible to verify,” and that “they should be treated with great skepticism. ” He goes on to say, “I think that the best kind of win rate is the one that calculates the total amount of revenue gained through proposal bids. From my perspective, it does not really matter how many proposals you submit but how much new revenue you gain for your organization. ”

I agree with all of Jayme’s points, and also think that as a grant consultant or grant professional employed by a non-profit, we should honestly calculate our grant win rates and share them with our employers. I endorse Jayme’s calculation method: win rate = total grant revenue / total grant ask amount in submitted proposals. After all, it’s about how much grant income is realized and less about how many grants are funded. I also think our grant win rates can be used to judge our performance… but with caveats.

These caveats include:

1. Are you maintaining the status quo with existing grantors?
2. Are you starting up a grant program at your non-profit?
3. Are you expanding your existing grant program by submitting proposals to foundations and corporations that you have not gone to before?
4. Are your board members well connected in the community?

All of these caveats will have a big impact on your grant win rate:

1. Maintaining Status Quo With Existing Grantors:
If you’re not planning to add any new foundation, corporate, or government grant income to your annual operating budget, then you should expect a very high grant win rate, but still not 100%. As I wrote in my previous post, “Your Best Foundation Funder is not your Best Funder Forever,” (Hank pls add edited tile and link), many foundations won’t fund your organization in consecutive years and many won’t continue to fund ongoing operating support.

2. Starting a Grant Program:
If you’re starting a grant program, then a 30 – 40% grant win rate is laudable. All of your proposals will be submitted to grantors that don’t have a previous relationship with your NPO, so even if you have a great program that serves a well-known need in the community, the relationships that your board members have with the foundation trustees and managers are very important… see caveat #4.

3. Expanding Your Existing Grant Program:
If you’re expanding your grant program, then you can count on a good win rate from returning funders (maybe 80%). But, you shouldn’t expect a high win rate from new funders (30 – 40% would be great). So, if you’re adding one new funder for every existing funder, a great win rate would be 58%.

4. How Well Connected Are Your Board Members:
As I’ve written in other posts, relationships are integral to grant success, and well-connected board members can make grant wins happen, even when you don’t submit a formal proposal! The connections that your board members have in the community are vitally important when you are starting or expanding your grant program. This is an important consideration as you plan your annual grant calendar; add new foundations and corporations where you have a board connection before you add those with no connection to your NPO.

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

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If 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.

Well… actually you can, if you’re asking your friends and relatives; but, if you ask foundations, corporations, major donors or the general public, you’d likely be wasting your time and resources.

Sometimes, especially with new nonprofits, people don’t realize that the mere existence of an organization is not sufficient justification to ask others for money. And, just because you think that your organization is worthy of support doesn’t mean that prospective donors will agree.

There are two prerequisites for the fundraising process – actually there are more than two, but these are bottom-line basic:
1.  A description/discussion of the services you are/will be providing,
why those services are needed, and by whom.
2.  An annotated budget, or some form of financial narrative that
describes/discusses your funding needs

There must be a clearly defined need before an organization can/should do any fundraising. The first step is to state/write your case for support in such a way that there is no doubt in the minds of any member of the Board or staff what it is that you intend to accomplish — all must agree, and speak with one voice.

You must discuss who you’re going to serve, what need(s) will be satisfied, why no other organization has addressed those needs or why you can do it better than any other organization.

Once you’ve agreed on what you want to accomplish, you must (specifically) define the resources you will need to pursue your mission – equipment, personnel, cash !!

A detailed budget can also help to focus potential donors on some aspect of your program/activities that has meaning for them.

You have to be able to show/tell a prospective donor where you’re going, how you’re going to get there, how s/he can help … and how s/he will benefit from helping your organization. (And that last element may well be the most important.)

There are too many nonprofits out there competing for the donated dollar. You have to give potential donors a reason to want to support you.

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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 Hank@Major-Capital-Giving.com

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If 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.

My previous posting discussed the planning and organizing processes. This time, we will address steps three and four – writing, reviewing and rewriting.

Write the first draft quickly
• Work from your notes and worksheet.
• Write heading and subheadings first and use them as a guide.
• Begin with the easiest parts of your sections. No proposal is ever written linearly, from first page to last!
• Write quickly, without concern for formatting, grammar, syntax and spelling.

Use your outline
• Focus on the funder’s hot buttons that you have identified.
• Focus on your organization’s solution.
• Validate, validate, validate! Do not make claims you cannot prove.

Use paragraphs effectively
• Limit your paragraphs to one main idea.
• Begin each paragraph with a thesis statement.
• Put the most important point first.
• Use plenty of bulleted and numbered lists.
• Put details at the middle and end of your paragraphs.
• Make sure that your paragraphs flow logically.
• Use transition sentences as your glue.

Following these steps, you should be able to produce a serviceable first draft of your grant proposal.

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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 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.

Some time ago, I got a note from a reader asking, pretty much, that question:

My question to you is — I have donated to a small organization, for a year, in my town to help poor children. I have never received an explanation on how the money is used. Should I expect that and if so how do I gracefully ask for that information?

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I responded:

There are no legal requirements for a nonprofit to provide that information to its donors; but not to do so is just dumb.

It’s bad donor relations, and it’s not the way to keep people interested in the organization, its mission and in ongoing giving !!

The ethics of fundraising (yes, Virginia, there is such a thing!) emphasize the right of donors to know how their contributions are used, and require that donors be kept informed….

You should contact the nonprofit and ask for a copy of their latest annual report. If they don’t do annual reports, you’d be right to wonder whether they are operated in a business-like manner and are worthy of your support.

I don’t know how/if “gracefully” relates to asking for information that should, in any case, be provided to you. If the nonprofit can’t or won’t provide that kind of information to its donors, maybe a local newspaper would be interested in “investigating” what that organization does with its donations.

Obviously, you touched on a sensitive subject. I’d be interested in what you do and in the results of your inquiries.

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To continue … thoughts off the top of my head:

There are lots of ways a nonprofit can keep their donors informed….

By Mail:
o The note thanking the donor for the gift can/should include some discussion about how
       the gift will make a difference
o A note from a second person saying thanks and giving more specific information about
       how the gift is being used
o A note from a person being served by the NPO discussion how they had been helped
o A “keep in touch” note; more about how the gift is being used
o A (one-page/quarterly) newsletter addressing one or two issues

By Email:
o A note thanking the donor for the gift that can/should include some discussion about
       how the gift will make a difference
o A note, “just to let you know how things are going”
o A note, with specific data about the number of people being helped
o A note, referring the donor to your website to get the latest info

By Phone:
o A call just to say thanks, and mention how the gift will help, or that it has made a
       difference – and be specific

On Your Website:
o A page (that is regularly updated) discussing current programs, the number of people
       being helped, and how those folks are being helped

All of that writing/communication should be in narrative/conversational format. None of it should be lists of facts/numbers. Make it easy to read, and people will read it. Make it too long, include too many statistics, make it preachy, and folks won’t want to read it.

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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 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.

It’s now spring, which is an interesting time for charities in the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), because this is when the overlap of getting the results from the fall campaign and preparing for this fall’s solicitation period occurs. Even though the CFC solicitation periods occur each fall, the books on one year’s campaign don’t close until March 31st of the following year; and, since the CFC takes place everywhere in the world where there is a Federal installation (including all military installations and embassies), it takes a while to compile all the information.

Anonymous Donors Are Strong Supporters

The non-profits in the CFC first get the overall results of the amount of gifts that have been pledged to them, and then they will receive the names of the individual donors that have chosen to release their contact information.

One attitude change that many CFC charities need to undergo is to be thankful, not irritated, that they have a large pool of anonymous donors. What they don’t realize is that CFC anonymous donors are some of a nonprofit’s best supporters, and that a majority of CFC donors choose to be anonymous.

These donors care enough about your organization and its mission that they chose to donate to it. You’ll never know exactly why they chose to remain anonymous; and, even though they’re anonymous, they do deserve to be thanked in public forums – including your website, newsletters, and at recognition events.

Now is a good time to consider what messages will resonate the best with your Federal supporters, including, but not limited to your donors. Obviously, one of the messages should simply be, “Thank you for your gift.” Include what their gift means to your organization and what their gift can help you accomplish.

What comes next will vary depending upon what type of charity yours is (local, national or international) and the strategies you’ve chosen that best match the strengths of your non-profit.

If, for example, yours is a local non-profit that’s well known in your community, and you’ve chosen to pursue participating in charity fairs as one of your tactics, you should include mention of that practice in the thank you letters to your CFC donors … and ask them to let you know about charity fair opportunities. It also wouldn’t hurt to ask who will be the CFC campaign manager in their agency.

CFC Donors are Multi-Year Donors

One fact that is easily overlooked is that with the Combined Federal Campaign, your non-profit can-and-does develop multi-year donors.

The reality is that most CFC donors are multiple year donors, and once they start donating to their favorite CFC charities they become loyal supporters who support their favorite charities every year.

I have seen thousands of CFC pledge cards during my Federal career, and I’ve seen that most of donors make minimal changes from year to year – CFC donors are “loyal” to the charities they care about and support.

What are Your 7 Messages between now and the Fall?
Marketing experts will tell you that before anyone makes a decision about a purchase or a gift, they need to be reached at least 7 times before they will decide to buy or, for non-profits, give.

What are your messages and how are you going to deliver them to your Federal supporters by the time the fall solicitation period begins? Now is the time to start planting these seeds, don’t wait to do it all in September and October.

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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 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.

I once was not even remotely considered as a candidate for a fundraising development job with a hospital. I came from another non-profit background, and no matter my credentials, I did not even get an interview.

The hospital’s “call for resumes” had an explicit condition that anyone applying for the job, “Must have at least five years experience in the medical sector.” Subsequently, when I was hired by The Cleveland Orchestra as its Development Director, I did not know one note of music from another. I had only been in the concert hall twice in my life. Twenty years later — when I left to go into consulting — as I was completing my last day at The Orchestra, I still did not know one note of music from another. Nothing to brag about, to be sure, but you get the idea.

I loved the art, but I did not need to be steeped in an artistic environment to appreciate it. I did not need a background in arts & culture to understand and believe in the Orchestra’s mission. More to the point of this little essay, the Orchestra management was far more enlightened than the hospital’s. It made no difference at all where I came from when it came to carrying out my duties and knowing the fundraising process, a process which is basically the same in any field.

Anyone having non-profit fundraising experience knows well that the only real difference affecting fundraising practices for social service, arts & culture, educational, religious, and health-related organizations is their financial support constituencies. We know that the concepts of fundraising can, and do, apply across the board for all of them. What is mostly different is where the money comes from.

Just look at listings of the thousands of books on fundraising, or note the countless presentations of fundraising workshops and seminars, and you will see they overwhelmingly appeal to the broad spectrum of non-profit organizations. And, where non-profit fundraising issues are addressed every day in Blogs and Internet discussion groups, far more often than not, the participants have no knowledge whatever regarding the types of organizations being discussed. They just want to know how to fund-raise.

Most any successful fundraising campaign for any type of organization is a straightforward, concise process of executing well-defined components arranged in a step-by-step progression. I know this to be so because I have seen it done over-and-over again. After twenty years in the arts, my first few consulting engagements were — in this order — a Vietnam Veterans memorial, a community hospital, a therapeutic riding center, a retirement/nursing home, etc.

Those examples are not meant as my ego-building bio, but more to demonstrate and prove that the fundraising process is basically the same for any cause, as I have seen that process work time and again.

Anyone seeking to work in development for an organization which has its leadership insisting the candidate must come from that same field to get the job, should politely work to point out that most all of the dollars raised for some non-profits come from people who directly avail themselves of its services, such as arts & culture patrons, grateful hospital patients, alumni, etc.

Where the clients/users of some non-profit’s service cannot give money, such as those who are homeless, hungry, etc., those having money in the community respond directly to support those organizations.

This is usually a much larger grouping of people who, while they do not avail themselves of a non-profit’s services, nevertheless indirectly benefit because of what the organization does for the community in which they live and do business, and have concerns and cares about.

While there are indeed unique elements to be found in the various types of organizations — even in similar organizations from one to another — the fundraising process is basically the same. Fundraising challenges and issues are in very close parallel to the process when seeking to raise money for a ballet company, for academic scholarships, for a hospital’s new MRI, for new church pews, etc.

No matter our particular cause across the entire spectrum of types of non-profits, we raise money from people who:

• Have it
• Can afford to give
• Are sold on the benefit of what we are doing
• Wouldn’t have given it to us unless we had asked
• Receive appreciation and respect for their gifts

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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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