Lauren Steiner, president of Grants Plus, presented a Foundation Center Brown Bag Lunch program (Jan. 21, 2010) where she outlined her best ideas for jumpstarting your organization's 2010 fundraising efforts. Here's a summary of her top 10 list:
1. Spend a half day immersed in your organization’s programming: go to a class, visit the clinic, attend a performance, etc. You will learn something new that your funders should know. Spend some time considering how you will communicate this to them, and then do so, without asking for a donation!
2. Get your board members' holiday card lists and do a mini “friends and family” campaign.
3. Start a weekly “Did you know?” e-mail campaign to share compelling information about your organization with close constituents aimed at expanding your organization's pool of ambassadors.
4. Spend a half day at the library of the Foundation Center-Cleveland exploring Foundation Directory Online Professional, Corporate Giving Online, or the new Celebrity Foundation Directory. Search grants made to organizations with a similar mission. Ask a staff person for help with your search. You are guaranteed to find at least one new prospective funder.
5. Read Crain’s Cleveland Business, Inside Business, the business section of the local paper, or other publications to research companies in your area that are on the rise. Get to know them. Or, look around your organization’s neighborhood to find a business with more than 10 employees and create a volunteer or donation program just for them.
6. Start an e-mail fundraising program, and start small if you have to. This works well for an event or a discreet project (i.e. new van, etc.). If you are not set up for online donations either get set up yourself through Paypal, ask your web developer, or use an online portal like Network for Good.
7. Search your database for individuals who have been giving to your organization the longest and who you have not met with in the last 12 months. Arrange a meeting or go out to lunch. Spend your time together learning more about them, sharing information, and gathering their thoughts and ideas about your organization, without making an ask.
8. Make an appointment with one of your “lesser active” board members at their office for 30 minutes. Together with them create a plan for their involvement in fundraising in 2010 that works within their schedule/interests.
9. Rate your skills (on a scale of 1 lowest to 10 highest) in all of the key fundraising responsibility areas of your job. Research professional development opportunities and sign up for classes in the areas where you scored the lowest. CFRE.org has a great survey for doing this!
10. Collaborate on a project with another organization and get their permission to write a joint proposal to fund it.
We hope these suggestions get you going! If you have activities on your top 10 list that you don't see here, please share them by leaving a comment.
Comments