Fund Development

Grant Writing

Many different granting and loan programs are available to not-for-profits, charities, professional associations, and start-up businesses that can support a wide range of activities, and projects at local, municipal, regional, provincial, national and international levels.

Sponsorship

Corporate sponsorship is a fundraising strategy. Local businesses who may be looking for ways to increase their visibility and public awareness and larger businesses often seek to soften an austere image by working with charities diverse and stable funding for shared value.

Fund Development is about more than money, number of donors, average amount of donations, or even the reach of a campaign. Fund development includes marketing and communications (telling the story, attracting new people to the cause, and building connections that strengthen ties to the community), relationship building (understanding and leveraging motivation, stewarding connections/partnerships, engagement, and reciprocal need for success).

Fund development cannot function in isolation, or be generalized. It is an integrated and dynamic process that makes connections between humans and organizations. The process requires a commitment of time and energy. Direct participation of key leadership is essential to build understanding and ownership.

To be effective, credible, profitable, and produce lasting results, the fund development planning process must link people to values, values to mission, mission to programs, programs to outcomes, and outcomes to values by encouraging learning, generating organizational change, aligning personnel with the organization’s strategy and vision, and producing shared accountability among the entire board and staff, if any.

An effective fund development strategy should be derived from deliberate strategic planning activities and include research, matching and an understanding of how the organization can contribute to the funders’ needs and organizational priorities.

Methodology

Consulting on best practice, an ethical code, funder databases, and collaborative strategies that save time, and money, during the personalized process of seeking and acquiring funds.

Fostering a Culture That Supports Fund Development

  • Facilitating the “fun” in fund development by supporting the reduction of fears board members may have of fundraising.
  • Aligning the values, ethics, and standards of the organization to fund development.
  • Defining functions, competencies, and skills necessary for fund development, and the appropriate structure for optimum performance.
  • Defining organizational roles for staff, if any, the Board as a group and its individual members, and other potential volunteers, and identifying training needs.

Positioning Your Organization For Successful Fund Development

  • Situational Analysis, Value Proposition, Needs Analysis, Risk Assessment, Policy Review/Creation.
  • Identification and recruitment of champions to support the cause.
  • Facilitating a review to ensure a clear identity and brand, along with finding opportunities to bring the mission to life and creating dynamic experiences for supporters.

Identifying Potential Funding Sources and Partners

  • Empowering the Board to raise funds by making them aware of their fundraising responsibilities, including identifying themselves and their networks as potential donors.
  • Conducting comprehensive search to identify optimal funders and divergent sources of non-earned revenue through databases and other sources.
  • Evaluating and prioritizing the funding pipeline.

Implementation and Evaluation

  • Developing a Fund Development and Stewardship Plan to steward current and future donors, and an Information Management System.
  • Evaluating progress via financial goals, impact of donor relations, and program assessment.