Overview

This beginner-level course is designed for people who want to learn the basics of fundraising for social change programs or organizations.  The course will cover the philosophy of fundraising, and why people give; as well as specific details on fundraising from individuals, foundation fundraising, online fundraising and event fundraising.
Participants will leave the course with a year-long fundraising plan and the skills to carry it out.

Logistics

Course Dates: July 13-14, July 20-21 & August 24-25; Instructor guidance & consultation available by phone & email outside of class.
Time: 9-5 each day; with one hour for lunch
Location: Burlington, VT (Plus, a field trip to the Montpelier Library to use their Foundation database)
Certification: Students completing the course will receive a Flashbulb Course Certificate.
Registration:  To apply for this course, contact sara@theflashbulb.org
Tuition & Financial Aid: The tuition for this class is $3000. Vermont residents may be eligible for a VSAC Non-degree Grant to cover the full tuition.  See Tuition & Financial Aid for more information. 

Instructor Bio

Anne Petermann, Executive Director, Global Justice Ecology Project

Anne has been raising funds for nonprofit organizations since 1992, including several she co-founded.  Her experience includes membership development, major donor cultivation, foundation fundraising, monthly donor development, online fundraising and events.

In 2001 she received a scholarship to attend a year long fundraising training course called “The Complete Fundraiser” which was organized by the Institute for Conservation Leadership.

Anne has organized and conducted fundraising trainings for more than 15 years.

Syllabus

Saturday July 13th: Basics of Fundraising
  • Basic statistics of where money comes from
  • Fears, obstacles and misconceptions around asking people for money
  • Income types and their pluses and minuses
  • Why People Give
  • Identifying Prospects: The ABC’s of who to ask for money
  • Participants will brainstorm lists of potential prospects
  • The most effective ways to ask for money
  • Membership cultivation: what is it, why is it important
  • Basic information to keep on your donors
  • The importance of thanking
  • Don’t treat your donors like walking ATMs

Sunday the 14th: Finding and caring for donors
  • Where to find potential donors?  Major donors? (review notes from yesterday)
  • Methods to ask potential donors for money
  • Fundraising letter, online solicitation, phone call, face to face meeting
  • The fundraising letter: (participants will review some direct mail samples and discuss what they found to be effective or not effective)
  • The difference between appeals, acquisition letters and renewals
  • Getting people to open the envelope
  • Long letter vs short letter
  • Premiums
  • The lift letter
  • Return slip and return envelope
  • How many to send per year?
  • Including personal notes
  • Phone-a-thon basics
  • Online appeals: 
  • Who to ask
  • What you need to have in place
    • donate button/ online donation processing service
    • html program?
  • Caring for donors once they are on board
  • Cultivating basic donors into major donors
  • Inviting them to become more involved in the organization
  • Specific tasks to care for major donors
Over the week, participants will hone and expand their list of potential individual donor prospects

Saturday the 20th: Foundation Fundraising
  • Foundation research: where to start
    • Foundation directory at the library
    • Annual reports of allied organizations
    • Ask your allies
    • Ask the foundation staff for other suggestions
    • Create a foundation calendar
  • Components of the foundation grant:
    • Problem statement
    • Background of personnel
    • History and accomplishments
    • Budget
    • Fiscal sponsor or not?
    • Goals, objectives, strategies and timeline
    • Methods of evaluation
    • Specific outcomes
    • Key allies
    • Letters of support
    • Supporting materials
  • Before sending the grant
    • Do your research: don’t waste your time or theirs!
    • Call and ask specific questions (if they allow calls)
    • Send a letter of inquiry
Sunday, July 21st
  • Fundraising role plays followed by group evaluations:
    • Asking individuals for a face to face meeting
    • Asking for money over the phone
    • Talking to foundation officers on the phone
  • Time management:
    • Prioritizing important over urgent
    • Create calendars of fundraising tasks
    • Don’t forget to contact a donor when you said you would!
    • Keep the work load manageable so you don’t screw up.
  • Fundraising Calendar: each participant will create a draft calendar of fundraising tasks for the year

Preparation for the month between classes

• Each student will create a calendar of tasks to accomplish during the month before the final weekend of classes


Final Weekend: students will discuss and evaluate what they did in the month between classes:
  • How many donation letters did they send out?
  • What was the return rate?
  • What was the average donation?
  • How many were major donors?
  • How did they follow up with these donors?
  • How did they follow up with non-donors?
  • What would they do differently the next time?
  • Did they find new pools of prospects?
  • Where did they find them?
  • What is their plan of approach for them?
  • How many foundations did they find to approach?
  • How did they find these foundations prospects?
  • What were their methods of approaching them?
  • What were the results?
  • What are the next steps?