On-the-GO! e-TA: November 2006 Edition

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Dear “Foundation Grantseeker,”

Do you know that there are over 70,000 foundations seeking programs to receive the benefits of their funding? Somewhere there is one that is the perfect fit for you and your program.

This issue of OTG eTA provides information to help you find the right foundation and to prepare a proposal for securing funds for your program. Click on the headings to the right to learn more about finding and securing support from large and small foundations in your community.

Foundation Fundamentals

Foundations are as diverse as the organizations they support. Here are a few of their distinctions:

public or private
small grants of hundreds to large of millions and in between
individual, a family or a corporation
specific geographic areas or national and international in scope
open selection process or restricted to pre-selected organizations
operate own programs and raise funds themselves

Here is a chart to help you understand the basic characteristics of foundations:

Foundation Type	Examples
Private Foundations Usually receive funding from a single source. Private foundations must make “qualifying distributions” of at least 5% of the average market value of their investment assets in every fiscal year by the end of the following year.	1. Independent or Family Foundations receive endowments from individuals or families. The often continue to show measurable donor or donor-family involvement.
	2. Company-Sponsored or Corporate Foundations receive funds from their parent companies, although they are legally separate entities
	3. Operating Foundations run their own programs and services and typically do not provide much grant support to outside organizations
Public Foundations (Also known as a “Grantmaking Public Charity”) Receive funding from numerous sources and must continue to seek money from diverse sources in order to retain their public charity status	1. Community Foundations seek support for themselves from the public, but like private foundations provide grants. Their grants primarily support the needs of the geographic community or region in which they are located.
	2. Giving Circles—Groups of individuals who come together to pool their resources to fund programs of their own interest. Many are formed by women. Examples include the Los Angeles Women’s Foundation, the Ms. Foundation for Women, the New York Women’s Foundation.
	3. Other Public Foundations include funds serving other population groups and field-specific funds, such as health funding foundations set up with proceeds from health care conversions-often referred to as “new health foundations”, legal defense funds, or public education funds.

There are a few characteristics that foundations hold in common. A foundation is a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization managed by its own trustees and directors. Keep in mind that foundations are not unending cash “spickets” and are subject to economic slumps, much like individuals and corporations. Even though they have endowments, they experience reduced income from principal as well as more requests to fill the gap from reduced individual and corporate support in a recession.

Knowing as much as you can about the kind of foundation you are approaching will help you tailor your request so that it will be read and seriously considered for funding. All private, public and corporate-sponsored foundations must file the IRS Form 990, which is a valuable source of information about their finances, board members, and grants. The Form 990 is available to view for free at www.guidestar.org

The Proposal Writing Process

Allow enough time to develop a systematic, logical, step-by-step process. Research funders’ interests and the amount of funding they could potentially grant.

The Foundation Center has over 275 Foundation Center Cooperating Collections that are free information centers in libraries, community foundations, and other nonprofit resource centers in every state. They provide a core collection of Foundation Center publications and a variety of supplementary materials and services in areas useful to grantseekers. To find out where you can visit a Foundation Center Cooperating Collection, go to www.foundationcenter.org

Conclude your research by contacting the funding organization to answer any questions about your fit with the foundation. The funder is just as eager to get a good proposal as you are to offer one. They may be willing to review a preliminary proposal and make suggestions to make it right for them to support your program.

Click here for tips to write your proposal and for sample proposal, cover letter and cover sheet.

Presenting the Budget

When reviewing a proposal, foundation executives first look at the budget. Make your budget realistic enough to successfully complete a project that produces the desired community impact. Realism also includes how you propose to sustain the project at the conclusion of the foundation funding cycle. Prior to budget preparation, check with the funder to see if they have suggested/required budget categories. If the potential funding agency doesn’t have any suggested/required budget categories, organize your budget around a set of meaningful categories such as …

Personnel (salary and fringe benefits)
Consultants (professional fee)
Instruction
Equipment
Supplies
Communication (telephone/postage)
Materials preparation
Travel
Rental of facilities
Evaluation
Other expenses
Indirect costs (such as G&A [general and administrative]
which could include resource development costs associated with sustaining the project after the funding cycle)

Click here for helpful tips to preparing your budget and to download a sample budget.

Let us know

Do you have questions about developing strong corporate relationships in your community? Contact us at LEADline@CampaignConsultation.com
We would be happy to answer questions or to give you more support.

Thank you for your interest in On-The-Go eTA. We encourage you to send this and other issues of OTG eTA to friends and colleagues who would benefit from the information. Also, if you’re on information-overload, you may request email removal. Otherwise OTG e-TA will be back soon with another edition.

IN THIS ISSUE:
click on titles below to read full articles

Foundation Fundamentals

The Proposal Writing Process

Presenting the Budget

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Facts for your fundraising volunteers to know

Glossary

Additional Resources

Read Back Issues of
OTG e-TA

Additional Learning Products & Services

LEADline

Online Courses

GIZMOs

The Chronicle of
Philantropy

Workshops & Clinics

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Volunteer fundraising leaders are helpful in the foundation grantseeking process. Get them involved early on to target foundations. Ask them to help you develop an “approach campaign” to get to know foundation leaders. Ask them to help in the solicitation process. Request their input for the proposal. Of course, always include staff leadership at the “get-go”. Early and ongoing involvement makes a stronger approach and is another way to educate leaders about your project, your organization and resource development.

“I resolved to stop accumulating and begin the infinitely more serious and difficult task of wise distribution.”

Andrew Carnegie

Details from above:

Proposal Writing Tips:

Brainstorm or list ideas

Assemble a foundation approach-team of volunteer fundraising leaders and another group of internal staff leadership to help you solidify…

What is the need you are asking a donor to support?
How much do you need?
What are your options?

One funder?
Several funders?

Research foundation(s) for program fit and select

Contact funder

Get guidelines/budget template.
Review submission dates and requirements.
Ask for technical assistance:

Will the funder read a draft?
What is the notification policy and timeline?

Outline

Is this a Letter of Inquiry? Letter proposal? Or a full proposal?
Has the funder given you an outline?

Gather materials

What background and supporting information will you need?

Case for Support?

Facts?
Statistics?
Research?
Examples?
Program Need?
Targeted Program Impact?
Other?

Who do you need to talk to get all of the information needed?

Draft Rough Notes

What message is most important to the funder?
How does the project fit with your mission?
How does the project fit with the funder’s mission?

First Draft

Keep referring back to your outline

Edit for content

Review funder information.
Have you fully addressed the funder’s concerns?
Did you say all you wanted to say?
Tighten up your paragraphs.

2nd Draft

Proofread
Print out
Read aloud
Several times
Seek input of volunteer fundraising leaders and staff leadership teams

3rd Draft

Format
White space?
Headings?
Page breaks?
Graphs and charts?

Proofread again to catch any mistakes made in formatting

Final Draft

Get necessary Volunteer Leadership / Executive Director sign – off

In the mail!

How many copies?
Ample postage?
Allow enough time for delivery in advance of the deadline.

Click here to download a sample Cover Letter, a sample Cover Sheet, and a sample Proposal to a Private Foundation.

A Checklist for Budgets

Work with the Director, Finance Department, etc. for a realistic review of the budget.
Do you really need a large amount of funding at the beginning of the project or will your project be "phased up" over a period of time? Sometimes it's not very realistic to expect a new project to be able to be up and operating (and spending large amounts of money) during the first 6 months or year of operation.
A possible strategy to build foundation trust is to ask for funding for the first phase of the project. Specify in your proposal what you expect to achieve during this "minimal funding phase" and when you will be returning to the funding agency to ask for funds for the next phase. This can suggest to the funding agency that they can terminate the relationship easily if your project is not successful (and then it is essential for you to make sure the first phase IS successful).
Check your math.

Click here to download a sample budget.

Glossary

Corporate-sponsored Foundation: (n) A charitable foundation set up by a corporation to receive a percentage of pre-tax dollars from the profit-making portion of the business for later distribution of gifts and grants to social-profit organizations.

Letter of Inquiry: (n) The last step of a well-conceived proposal, the letter of inquiry is a one or two-page letter to a foundation outlining the essential elements of your funding request to tantalize funding interest and agreement to proceed with full proposal submission.

Additional Resources

National ASK to Sustain Institute, sponsored by Corporation for National and Community Service, provided by Campaign Consultation, Inc. 1998, 2002

Resources Now! National Institute, sponsored by Corporation for National and Community Service, provided by Campaign Consultation, Inc. 2006 - present

The Chronicle of Philanthropy

The Foundation Center http://www.fdncenter.org

Guidestar, www.guidestar.org

Deborah Kluge www.proposalwriter.com
(list of proposal writing Internet resources for writing effective proposals)

How to Write a Grant Proposal, New and Quick, 2003.
LearnerAssociates.net, http://www.learnerassociates.net/proposal/links.htm

How to Write Knockout Proposals, Joel Orosz, 2004.

Additional Learning Products and Services

Online Courses:
Web course delivery of topics pertinent to resource development such as — Build Fundraising Volunteer Champions and Cause Related Marketing and Corporate Partnerships.

Available through the Resource Center, Click Here

LEADline:
(Learning Experiences At a Distance) LEADline is designed to give information fast. Have a resource & fund development question? Use LEADline and within 24 hours you will receive response and advice from a fundraising professional.

Contact us
LEADline@CampaignConsultation.com

GIZMOs:
(Giving Information for Zooming Money Objectives) Gizmos are resource and fund development tools for you and your volunteers. They are tangible products in packets, pocket brochures, CD-Roms, games, etc. They feature a myriad of fundraising topics such as The Power of Direct Mail, an interactive cd-rom and detailed companion booklet on developing your direct mail program.

To order, contact us through
LEADline@CampaignConsultation.com
or call 410.243.7979
or toll free at 1.877.243.2253

For more information:

Download
Gizmo Presentation

Download
Order Form

The Chronicle of Philanthropy:
Everyone who comes to a Resources Now! National Institute gets a free subscription to the Chronicle for a year. Participants in CNCS Campaign Consultation workshops receive the latest issue free of charge plus a $20 discount on one year’s subscription.

Workshops:
The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), through its T/TA service provider Campaign Consultation, Inc., offers a three-hour session for those interested in mastering key resource development skills.

Featured Workshop: Participants in Writing for $$$:
Foundation & Corporate Proposals will have the opportunity to learn and apply best practices in writing the components of a successful Case for Support. Participants will determine the difference between proposals made to a Foundation, and those made to a Business. More than half of the clinic is dedicated to individual and peer study to prepare a proposal outline that can be finalized at home.

For more information, contact Susan Hailman at Campaign Consultation, Hailman@CampaignConsultation.com
or call 1-877.243.2253 ext. 18.

Tell Us!

Let us know by contacting us through LEADline@CampaignConsultation.com

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