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  • From: Keith Johnson <keithdj@mindspring.com>
  • To: BPG <bloomingtonpermacultureguild@lists.riseup.net>, Rhonda Baird <river_bird_1@yahoo.com>, Shodo Spring <shodo.spring@gmail.com>
  • Cc: Permaculture ibiblio <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>, openpermaculture <permaculture@openpermaculture.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] 'Fun'draising Toolkit - A template [which is somehow strangely obvious]
  • Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2006 13:49:58 -0400

Gee, I wish someone had handed me a set of tools like this to work with when I was younger. Feel free to bend and shape your own requirements.
Keith


Introduction

Fundraising can be daunting for those who are not used to it.
However, it is crucial to the development of any non-profit
organization, including Post Carbon Institute and the Local Groups
within the Relocalization Network. For this reason,
we want to make sure that all Local Post Carbon Groups are set up
for success!

The Fundraising Toolkit for Local Post Carbon Groups contains
advice, templates and examples based on successful
fundraising techniques. This package is designed to help your Group
set up fundraising systems which will allow you to
tap into the resources required to make your vision a reality.

*The Basics: If You Need Money [or just an Income] , You Have To Ask For It*

*The number one impetus for people who have contributed to
non-profit organizations
[or to your personal well-being] is that they are asked!*

Create a fundraising plan

The more proactive, organized and prepared you are, the more
opportunity you will have to successfully
engage potential donors. Every plan is different but you may
want to start by:

. Defining what you want to achieve and by when. Work
backwards from these goals
. Establishing how much money you need to achieve your goals
. Developing Wish Lists of items that your Group needs
. Creating a basic fundraising proposal that you can tailor
for different potential funders

Do Not Fear Rejection

We have been raised to be anxious about money, so it is natural
that many of us get anxious about fundraising. The fact of
the matter is that some people will say no when you approach
them for money. You can assume that for every three to ten
people you ask, only one person will actually donate...and that
is a generous estimate. There is no way of getting around
rejection in the fundraising arena. The only way to deal with
rejection is to:

. Have high hopes and low expectations
. Maintain an unwavering belief in your cause. Keep the faith!
. Stay close to your purpose. Do not switch gears as a last
ditch effort to keep the potential donor interested.
. Gracefully accept rejection when you encounter it.

Build Relationships With Donors

This is the essence of fundraising: it is an exchange between
people who care about a cause and want to address it. Your
group is doing work that other people could not do alone and
donors are, in a sense, compensating you to do that work.
Foster those relationships and turn donors into lifetime friends
of your Local Post Carbon Group. This important aspect of
fundraising is touched upon in more detail later in this package.

Funding sources

There are several ways for an organization to generate funding.
This includes securing money through:

. An Earned Income
. The Public Sector
. The Private Sector

Earned Income

Some organizations secure some of their funding through earned
income, such as the sale of books, buttons, t-shirts or other
related items. This can help organizations increase their
financial stability and reduce their reliance on grants and
individual
donations.

However, please be aware that for non-profit organizations,
earned income can only constitute a small percentage of total
income. Please consult your federal tax laws for more detailed
information.

Accounting for your current sources of earned income will help
you to understand what type of funding you will need to
pursue in order to close the gap between what you have and what
you need. This is an important step in preparing a
funding proposal to present to potential donors in the public
and private sectors.

Public Sector

Funding under this category comes from the government. You will
most likely be asking for funding from local and, possibly,
national government entities through grant applications. Only
apply to grants that are in line with your Local Group's vision.
*The last thing you want is to receive a grant that requires you
do work in an area that takes your focus away from your
identified goals.* Applying to grants is addressed in more
detail later in this information package.

Private Sector

This category includes individuals, businesses, foundations and
other grantmaking organizations. The majority of funding
for most Local Post Carbon Groups will come from the private
sector. Individual donations are particularly important, as
approximately 85% of all contributions to charitable
organizations in the U.S. come from individuals. For this reason
it is
worth developing a good system for attracting and maintaining
individual donors. The rest of this information package
focuses on private sector donations.


Building your donor base

Current Donors

Current donors have already expressed an interest in helping
your Group (and Post Carbon Institute as a whole) achieve
its goals. Statistics show that if someone has donated to an
organization before, they will most likely donate to that
organization again. This is an important piece of information to
cultivate in the fundraising process because lifetime donors
to an organization make up a huge chunk of individual donations
to non-profit organizations.
The key to encouraging people to become lifetime donors is
creating relationships with existing donors that tie them further
to your Group and its overall purpose. Customize a highly
personalized approach to engage in a give-and-take dialogue with
your donors by:

. Inviting them to Group events
. Giving them a call on a regular basis or when you come
across something that might be of interest to them
. Meeting them for coffee and a chat about what is going on
with the Group
. Sending them newsletters or regular updates
. Thanking them for their contributions in a timely fashion
[See the Thank You Template included in this package]
. Holding free feel-good cultivation events to show them
your appreciation (and to meet their friends -- potential
firsttime
donors!)
. Getting creative with how you engage in dialogue with them

You can get as creative as you want in regards to how you engage
in dialogue with your current donors. Just ensure the
dialogue allows you to:

. Keep track of their preferences and actions
. Ask for feedback
. Incorporate what you have learned into your next
conversation with them
. Keep donors up-to-date on everything about your Local
Group and the Relocalization Network including, but not
limited to, what type of funding is needed to attain your
specific goals

New Donors

The first step in getting potential first-time donors is to
educate them about your organization. This education should
include:

. A brief history of your Local Post Carbon Group, the
Relocalizaton Network and Post Carbon Institute
. A basic statement of programs and services offered
. A breakdown of numbers (ex. people served, budget size)
. A Group and organization vision for the future and an
outline of what is required to achieve that vision. Identify
the gap.
. An emotional hoo

Initial contact with potential first-time donors can take place
in a number of ways including, but not limited to:

. Public screenings of the End of Suburbia (see
www.endofsuburbia.com for more information)
. Presentations aimed at raising awareness
. Lunch meetings with member(s) of your group
. One-on-one meetings
. Following up thoroughly on a request for information
. Guiding them through the website

Always ensure you have a system of capturing names, addresses
and e-mails (with permission, of course).
Follow up with potential first-time donors within a week of
their education. This will provide you with the opportunity to:

. Thank them for participating in the educational session
. Ask them to share their thoughts about the session
. Listen to what their specific interests are in the Group
. Ask whether they see themselves being involved in the Group
. Ask whether they know of anyone else who would be
interested in hearing about the Group and its mission

Make the ask....i.e. ask. Timing counts a lot at this stage.
Once a potential first-time donor has been educated and you have
followed up with them, you are at an appropriate stage to ask
for money. Use the information you have gathered about them so
far in order to determine how their contribution can best serve
both the Group and the donor. Lay out the different methods of
donating:

. Specific Amounts: explain your financial needs in general
and specify which ones are related to their interests
. Levels of Donation: explain what certain contribution
levels can typically do for the Group
. Multiple Year Pledges: explain how this type of funding is
best for helping to support the operating needs of the
Group

To help with the collection of pledged donations, you may wish
to create a donor pledge sheet. Just remember that the
donations you collect will not be tax-deductible unless your
group has charitable status or can find a fiscal sponsor who
does.

See our Post Carbon Institute Sample Funding Pledge Sheet for ideas on
how to set up your own pledge sheet.

Keep track of your donors. Make sure that you maintain a donor
tracking system. Knowing who speaks to donors
in what way and how often will help you learn more about how
your Local Group relates to its donors. This, in turn, will help
you learn how to develop and maintain strong relationships with
loyal donors. It will also give you a list of regular donors,
who you can use to ask for future support and link you to more
potential-first time donors. Tracking donors over time
increases the likelhood of developing a strong base of lifetime
supporters.

Foundations and other grantmaking organizations

Fundraising tactics aimed at foundations and other grant
making organizations require finding a 'good fit' between
the goals
of your Group and the requirements of the particular
foundation or organization. Remembering the common principle
that
not all of your fundraising attempts will be successful, you
will need to ask as many potential donors for money as possible.
Finding foundations that fit. In order to find a 'good fit'
there are a few things that you can do:

. Develop, maintain and update a list of potential 'good
fits' in your area.
. Subscribe to a server that lists foundation profiles
[A good example is the Foundation Center at
http://fdncenter.org ]
. Mine your contacts to find out whether they know
anyone influential who could help achieve the goals of the
organization; ask for an introduction.
. Make sure that you discuss the mission and goals of
the Group candidly with your own contacts so that they are
well-versed when talking to others.
. Approach community funds through one of its members
who would likely advocate the goals of your Local Group
and Post Carbon Institute. Use your contacts for an
introduction and remember that grants or donations
typically go
to organizations that the community fund is tied to in
some way.
. Remember that foundations want their contributions to
have the largest possible impact. For this reason, you
may want to emphasize that your group's resources will
be shared among an international network of over 100
other Loc al Post Carbon Groups and that, in this way,
your successes will help many other communities.
Once you have made and cultivated contacts for potential
'good fits', it is time to write and send them funding
proposals.
Don't forget to tailor your proposals to each individual
funder.

See our Post Carbon Institute funding proposal template for more help writing funding proposals.

Businesses

Soliciting funding from businesses can be tricky because
they often have a large set of criteria that an organization
must
meet before they commit to a donation. They may not view a
potential partnership with the Post Carbon Institute and your
Group as beneficial to their overall image or may not find
our mission conducive to the way they wish to continue running
their business. You can start by making a list of local
businesses that have demonstrated a concern related to any
of the issues
that your Local Group addresses.

Conclusion

This information should help to start you and your Local Group
on the path to fundraising success. If you have any questions
about this package or need more fundraising support, please
contact our Development Coordinator at
members@postcarbon.org or by phone at 604-736-9000.
Good luck!!


Appendix A:

DONOR PROSPECT PROFILE TEMPLATE

Profiled by:

Date:

Context:

. Include a brief statement about the relationship between
the potential donor & your organization (i.e. who referred
them to you or how they became interested in your Local Group)

Current activities:


. Include the donor's current jobs, volunteer activities

Boards he/she currently sits on:

Organizations he/she currently funds:


. Include all charitable donations, political contributions,
and anything else you can find

Past activities:


. Old jobs, past involvement with other organizations, books
written, talks given, etc.

Education:

Personal:
. Include anything else that is relevant to your donor's
interest in your Local Group


Appendix B:


DONOR THANK YOU LETTER TEMPLATE

[Print on your Group's letterhead, if you have one]
[address]

[Date]

Dear [addressee],
Thank you so much for your generous donation to [Local Group
name here]. We are extremely appreciative of the support
you have shown for our group.
With your gift, we will be able to [insert use of funds here].
The ability to [sum up outcomes and/or positive benefit of the
activity which you will be undertaking] is critical, and we are
grateful for the opportunity to continue doing so. Thank you for
helping to ensure the success of our group's mission. Your
invaluable support helps us grow and develop.
We will be sending you an update in [date 9 months from receipt
of funds, if the donor is reasonably large] to let you know
how we have been making use of the funds you so kindly provided.
Please do not hesitate to contact me personally at any
time if you have any questions or would like further information.
Yours truly,
[Contact person]
[Title]
[Contact information]


Appendix C:


FUNDRAISING PROPOSAL TEMPLATE


Post Carbon Institute

Post Carbon Institute is a non-profit think, action and
education tank offering research, project tools, education and
information to implement proactive strategies to adapt to an
energy constrained world. The development of Post Carbon
Institute came out of a concern for the environmental, social,
political and economic ramifications of global over-reliance on
cheap energy. Our main response to these concerns is the
strategy of Relocalization, which aims to rebuild societies based on
the local production of food, manufactured goods and energy, and
the Relocalization of currency, governance and culture.
The main goals of Relocalization are to increase community
energy security, strengthen local economies, dramatically improve
environmental conditions and foster social equity.

An Imperative to Act

Relying on a system of cheap energy and globalized trade has
many negative implications. These include climate change
and environmental degradation; the erosion of small businesses
and the diversion of profits away from local communities;
loss of energy security and increased geo-political conflict;
the proliferation of suburbs and resulting social dislocation; and
increased dependence on oil, a finite resource which many
experts predict will hit its global production peak before the end
of this decade.

[You may want to add more information to this section which
addresses the foundation's
area of focus. For example, if a potential funder is
concerned about local food production, you
might want to talk about the fuel used in fertilizer &
transportation and the environmental
benefits of local farming. If a funder is concerned about
climate change, you can focus on the
emissions reductions that come from decreased energy
consumption.]


The Response- Relocalization

Relocalization provides community solutions to these significant
challenges by allowing community members to source
essential goods and services much closer to home and, as a
result, dramatically reduce their overall energy consumption.
Each individual Relocalization response has additional positive
benefits. For example, making food or manufactured goods
locally reduces the amount of energy intensive long-distance
shipping that is required to bring products to consumers.
Producing local renewable energy decreases the need for
large-scale polluting sources of energy, such as oil, nuclear,
natural
gas and coal. In addition, linking communities' outputs to their
capacity for local energy production will encourage them to
stay within their local limits to growth, reducing environmental
degradation and climate change.



The Relocalization Network

Post Carbon Institute supports the Relocalization Network, a
growing network of Local Post Carbon Groups and
Relocalization Network affiliates all over the world which are
working to prepare their communities for an energy-constrained
future. These community-based groups receive guidance,
educational resources and electronic infrastructure from Post
Carbon Institute. The Groups work within their communities in
cooperation with local governments, businesses, nongovernmental
organizations and educational institutions to put the concept of
Relocalization into practice.

While working primarily within their communities, these groups
also share knowledge, experience, and educational resources
with the all of the other Local Groups within the global
Relocalization Network. Local Post Carbon Groups are experimenting
with Relocalization projects with the aim of developing viable
solutions to the challenges of peak oil. All successes and
failures are valuable contributions, helping the network develop
a comprehensive Relocalization strategy.

[Insert your Local Group's name here]

[Here, you will want to describe a bit about your group
including its most recent
accomplishments, current activities and future plans. Make
sure to tailor the information to
appeal to the particular funder you have in mind each time
you write an application.]


Appendices

[You should include a copy of your project's budget, overall
goals, timeline, specific tasks and
deliverables, along with a listing of key project staff or
board members and their relevant
qualifications. You may also want to include a list of past
funders and information about your
fiscal sponsor or charitable status**.]

** Note: Fiscal sponsorship is when a charitable
organization contracts another nonprofit
organization without charitable status to do some of its
charitable work. This allows
organizations without charitable status to accept tax-exempt
grants. For more information
about fiscal sponsorship or charitable status, please
consult a lawyer specializing in non-profit
tax law.

--
Keith Johnson
Permaculture Activist Magazine
PO Box 5516
Bloomington, IN 47408
(812) 335-0383
http://www.permacultureactivist.net
also Patterns for Abundance Design & Consulting

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  • [permaculture] 'Fun'draising Toolkit - A template [which is somehow strangely obvious], Keith Johnson, 09/30/2006

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