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>> Good afternoon.
My name is Vanessa and I will be your conference operator today.
At this time, I would like to welcome everyone
to the Fundraising and Resource Development conference call.
All lines have been placed on mute
to prevent any background noise.
After the speaker's remarks,
there will be a question and answer session.
If you would like to ask a question during this time,
simply press star, then the number one
on your telephone keypad.
If you would like to withdrawal your question,
press the pound key.
Thank you.
I will now like to turn the call over to Ms. Sharon Rabb.
Please, go ahead ma'am.
>> Welcome to Fundraising and Resource Development.
I'm Sharon Rabb with Campaign Consultation
and we are a training and technical assistance provider
with the Corporation for National Community Service.
This web shop is part of a series
of monthly web shops designed to provide tips and assistance
to help you navigate your Vista service and perform the work
that you've been assigned by your organization.
Please took to the right -- look to the right on your screen
and you'll see that we are asking you
to answer a few questions.
These polls will help us know who is participating
in this Webinar and direct them
to our needs -- your needs, sorry.
You may have been assigned the task for fundraising
for your organization as part of a team or as a single fundraiser
with a special area of responsibility.
The truth is, everyone who works for a non-profit is responsible
for the well being of an organization.
So whether you are a grant writer, an events coordinator,
or a community liaison, we hope there will be something
for you in this Webinar.
Today's team we have myself, Sharon Rabb
and I am a project specialist on campaign consultation.
Jill Freeman is a training and online curriculum developer
at education northwest and she will be talking to you
about communications tips for communicating with prospects.
Danielle Ricks is a meeting specialist
with Campaign Consultation and she is our tech person today.
She is sitting in for Suzanne Knizner so if you have a need
to communicate with Suzanne --
with Danielle, direct your information or question
to Suzanne and otherwise, keep it open for everyone.
>> Okay. Thank you Sharon.
We're going to go over a couple of tips, but first,
I see a lot of chat going on and so I just want
to do some house cleaning first.
If you would like to speak to me personally as the host,
if you'd like to have a private conversation then you would
click on privately and it will just go to me.
If you want to chat with everyone, however, and you want
to have a conversation back and forth with everyone
on the phone then you're going to click on everyone
from the drop down menu, otherwise I'm the only person
who gets to see what you're saying.
A couple of other things that we want to give you,
I know that some folks are having a problem
with the pass code so if you're on the line
and you can hear this, [laughter] the number,
the pass code is 8942114.
So okay. Let's go over some tips for using WebEx.
If you lose your Internet connection,
reconnect using the link that was emailed to you.
If you lose your phone connection,
redial 1-877-297-9359 and once again the pass code is 8942114
-- I'm sorry 2114.
This web shop is being recorded and will be available
in the Vista Campus tour page along with the archives
of previous web shops.
So the phone lines right now are going to be muted
and you may ask questions in the chat at the right
and we will try to answer questions,
as many of them as we go along.
And if time permits we'll also open the phone lines a little
bit later on so you can is questions there.
Again, please make sure that when you're,
you're communicate the with everyone in the chat
that you click that drop down menu
and everyone else can see you otherwise the only person that's
going to be able to read it is myself.
Thank you so much and I'm going
to turn this back over to Sharon.
>> Hello. I'm sorry for all the confusion that we have.
That pass code again if you're not sure is 89421124.
That should get you into the telephone call.
Well, for today's agenda for welcome introductions
that we have just completed, we will then have a discussion
over what the difference is
between fundraising and development.
Those two terms are often used interchangeably,
but there is a difference.
Then we will talk about where the money comes from,
rather important information to have because you will need
that to know where to solicit your funds.
A full complement of fundraising methods.
There are many different ways that you can raise funds
and we will talk about a number of them.
The all-important ask, is what you need to have --
information that you need to have before you can go
to a prospect and request funds.
We'll spend some time on the Vista Campus.
And then we will offer you some next steps.
There will be time for questions
after the class then we will have an evaluation.
Next, I'd like to introduce Andy King.
He a Vista training specialist with Vista, the NCS
and he has a few words to say to you.
Andy?
>> Thank you Sharon.
And, good afternoon everyone or good morning,
depending on where you are.
As Sharon said, my name is Andy King and I work
in the Vista training unit and on behalf of Vista,
I want to welcome all of you to this afternoon's session.
Thank you for joining us, and thank you for investing
in your professional development.
We at Vista look at your year of service as one,
not only where you will provide capacity building
for the community but also it's a year
of personal capacity building.
Developing your own skills and your own professional portfolio
so that at the end of your year, you're in a much stronger place
than you were when you started.
Just like the community will be in a stronger place
than when you started.
Then, of course, fundraising is a skill
that will be useful not only in your Vista service,
but in many other settings as well.
So we hope that you'll see this as a good investment in time.
I'm glad you've taken time out of your schedule to join us
and I'm going to turn you back over to Sharon
and Jill for today's session.
>> Thank you Andy.
We may have the poll ready.
Is the poll ready for revealing at this time so we can find
out where people stand?
>> Yes, it is.
It looks like an answer, does your vet assign --
that very first question, we have -- hold on one second.
Does your vet assign you responsibility for fundraising
and resource development
and an overwhelming majority of you have said yes.
Are you building a new fundraising resource development
activity or continuing an established one?
And many of you have said yes, but it looks like we're divided
between a new and established.
And some of you did not answer that one.
So hopefully when we get done, we will be able
to have covered all the topics for you
that you're going to need.
>> And your last question,
name your project's three most promising donor prospects.
Of course it will be different for each one of you,
but we want you to start paying attention
to those donor prospects who will be most likely
to provide support for your program
so that you should have your donor prospects ready
on the tip of your tongue.
Okay. So let's talk about fundraising versus development.
Fundraising is a final step that follows a series
of activities intended to build relationships.
Development activities stimulate a prospective donor's interest
in a commitment to your program.
Many of these activities are things
that you are probably already doing and you don't think
of them as fundraising.
Development is a continuum of effort that results
in successful fundraising.
All members of your staff can be involved in development.
For example, program staff are usually the most articulate
about the projects that tell the story in a way
that is compelling to stimulate a prospective donor's interest.
Many major donors will expect to receive and ask only
from the Executive Director so you may be serving
as a coach for that director.
In other cases, the leadership volunteer may be the best person
to ask for a gift and you may be serving
as support for him or her.
Now let's talk about where the money comes from.
If you look closely at the cash that your organization raises,
you should see that it comes
from a number of different sources.
The balance development program with requests from gifts
from more than one source indicate a healthy
fundraising program.
Over dependence in one source such as foundations is risky
because the loss of funding
in that area can cause your whole finance support system
to crash.
This chart, which you will find on the Vista Campus,
outlines the benefits and challenges
to the six sources of fundraising.
So, we'll start with the big three.
The first one, individuals.
They provide over 80 percent of the gifts
in the U.S. They provide the base for your annual fund drive
for operating support.
Treated correctly, they will give to you year after year
and often increase their giving as they become
more invested in your program.
And eventually can lead to a large planned gift.
They will support programs based on their emotional connection
and therefore often are the largest source of funding
for controversial issues.
However, be aware that they require more time and effort
than other sources of funding.
It may take several years to bring an individual
into your fold and it takes a good deal of planning and work
with fundraising volunteers.
There should be individual donor prospects among your most
promising donor prospects.
Foundation funders involve fewer people to solicit.
They will give seed grants
and they will often fund start-up projects.
They can give big money, but as a rule,
they only provide funding for a limited time.
Ten to twelve percent of all funding to non-profits comes
from foundations and they often require that you demonstrate
that you have support from other sources.
They also fund on their schedule and there is little chance
of getting operating
or emergency support from foundations.
>> Everyone.
Can you bear with us for a moment?
We're going to try to -- I know many of you are putting
in the chat that you are not able to hear.
You're having difficulty
so maybe let's try a couple of things.
We'll try the volume, turn the volume
up on the headsets over on this side.
Move the speaker a little bit closer.
Much, much closer.
Better? And then for those of you at home, if you would turn
up the volume on your speakers.
I know you said that you tried that and that didn't help.
So let's see if we can fix this for you.
So Sharon, go ahead and start talking and you guys
in the chat, let me know if that's any better.
>> Thank you.
I'm sorry.
I have the volume turned up and I hope that you can hear me now.
People think of corporations -- sorry talking about foundations.
Foundations.
Foundation funders involve fewer people to solicit.
They will get seed grants
and they will often fund start-up projects.
They can give big money but as a rule,
they only provide funding for a limited time.
Ten to twelve percent of all giving to non-profits comes
from foundations and they also require that you demonstrate
that you have support from other sources.
They also fund on their schedule and there's little chance
of getting operating
or emergency support from a foundation.
I see you are hearing me better.
So thank you for letting us know.
Then we'll talk about corporations.
Corporations should be a good source of support, but remember,
that businesses are in business for their own profit.
Only five percent of the funding comes from business.
You have the best chance if your mission is compatible
with the business' product.
Businesses seldom fund operating costs
and the gifts usually are not large.
Keep in mind, though, that corporations can be good sources
of in-kind gifts and this may be a valuable asset for you.
Now you hear a squeaking sound.
I'm going to try putting you on a different line.
Just hold for a minute.
Don't go anywhere.
>> And while we're getting situated over here,
and we apologize for some of the technical problems
that we're having, I just want to remind everyone,
especially the people that came on a little bit later,
if you want to speak to the host, to me privately,
that's fine, but some of you have some great points
and some great questions here
and it's actually meant for everyone.
So in the drop down menu in the chat you'll see a little section
that says send to and just click on everyone
and then everyone will be able to see that and in answer
to some of the questions, yes,
this presentation will be available later
on the Vista campus and yes, that is Vistacampus.org.
>> Okay. So we're trying another way to communicate and hoping
that you can hear me now.
I also see some questions that are interesting
and that we will get to later.
Someone has asked about the Vista campus
and I will show you how to get to Vista campus
and where the fundraising tools are there.
But in the meantime, the next source of money comes
from government -- sorry, three more.
Government funding.
Right. Did you know that approximately 25 percent
of all U.S. non-profit bills are paid for by government funding?
There are some very large grants available if you are a priority.
There is difficulty, however, in acquiring those funds.
The application and reporting requirements are very time
consuming and sometimes expensive
when staff time is considered.
Some organizations, which rely heavily on government funds,
find themselves in trouble when they are no longer
in a targeted priority area for funds.
Federated organizations.
These are organizations such as the United Way,
Associated Black Charities.
[ Beeping on the line ]
They are often a good source of supplemental funding
when you have other sources.
The workplace-giving program makes it easy for people to give
but some of them, there are large gifts
that are received this way.
Some organizations receive grants directly
from a federated organization.
Lastly, we have specific organizations and clubs.
Lion's clubs, The Elks, sometimes known as The Animals,
Rotary, Kiwanis and religiously affiliated groups
and fraternities and sorority often make small gifts.
These groups are a fertile source for volunteers.
Remember, one of the dangers
of fundraising is reliance too heavily
on any one single source.
Currently, in this economic situation, this has been pointed
out when organizations lose funding from a major source.
Now we're going to try to talk about fundraising methods
and yes, I'm hearing the beeps too.
[ Laughter ]
They seem to have stopped.
Okay. The thing to keep in mind about raising money is
that the closer and stronger the personal relationship,
the greater the chance of getting the desired gift.
Many times, you will not be the one
with the closest relationship.
So you'll need to turn to board members
and fundraising volunteers who can be a major benefit
when asking for funds in this case.
Sometimes more than one fundraising method is used
for single prospective donors.
You may write a letter to follow it up by a phone call
to set an appointment
for a personal visit to ask for a gift.
And then just remember, that the personal touch is always
preferred because people give to people.
So I'm going to talk about the benefits and how to use some
of the different fundraising methods.
Personal visits.
As you can see personal visits are the top producers.
If you have a large base of donors though,
it's highly unlikely that you'll be able
to make personal visits to everyone.
This method is best for seeking larger or special gifts.
It can be used for annual unrestricted support
or restricted support but save it for your best prospects.
This method is also most apt to bring positive results
when the solicitor is a peer or a fundraising volunteer
who has made a donation of comparable size.
Seventy percent of those asked usually give about fifty percent
of the requested amount in a personal visit.
Telephone calls.
These can also be very personal.
This method is often used to initiate a personal contact
as a prelude to a face-to-face ask for unrestricted
or restricted support.
Phone a-thons can be used
to supplement annual fund drives and upgrade support.
Try to match callers to people they know.
Twenty-five percent of those asked usually will give
twenty-five percent of the requested amount.
Personalized mail.
Personalized mail can be used
when you are soliciting new or repeat gifts.
It's specialized when you include the person's name
on the letter.
This method is often applied to annual fund campaigns and is --
usually brings in ten percent
of the people asked will usually give about two
and a half percent of the suggested amount
if it's a new donor
and established donors will respond at a higher rate.
When a direct mail campaign is initiated,
that's one that's not -- does not contain a donor's name,
the response will be much smaller.
The more targeted the mailing, the better chance you have
of a positive response.
You're probably familiar with written grant proposals.
These can go to foundations or corporations
and sometimes even to individuals.
Occasionally, if you are involved
in a major capital campaign you may be asked to write a proposal
to an individual to fund a specific program or project.
Grant proposals usually come with specific guidelines.
Be sure that you have the guidelines before you start your
proposal and if necessary, contact the funder for guidance
if there are questions.
Foundation staff usually are receptive to calls
from grant seekers during the proposal writing process.
Many Vistas are involved in special events.
In addition to fundraising, special events can serve
to showcase and publicize your project to the wider community.
They also involve many volunteers and may be a way
to involve the business community
in a form of gifts in kind.
These can both become funders later when they learn more
about your program through their involvement.
With special events, be aware of your return on investment.
That is, you should not be spending more on your event
than you are bringing in in revenue.
Is your website serving you well?
Online giving
can be a good source for new donors and has been proven
to be a very effective way to raise funds during a crisis.
At the very least, you need
to have a donate now button prominently displayed
on your website.
Learn to make use of Facebook, Twitter
and other social media tools that bring awareness
to your cause and to your needs and don't forget
to use standard email.
Planned gifts are usually directed
to a special purpose like endowments.
In addition to bequests, they can include gifts
of personal property such as stock or real estate.
They're a great way for long time major donors to provide
for your organizations.
Sometimes they're known as the ultimate gift
from a long time donor.
And lastly, we have tributes and memorials.
These are usually not put into your fundraising plan
because one is never sure just when you're going
to get a tribute or memorial.
They are often directed by a long-time funder
who is asking friends to make a gift as a tribute
or sometimes they are done as a memorial
for someone who has died.
Now we're going to talk about The Ask.
This slide, The Five Is of Development explains the process
of relationship building.
And relationship building is one of the most important tenants
of fundraising and development.
If you remember, people give to people.
So the first step is identify.
So you need to identify the prospects
who might support your program.
They may be people who come to events
or they have family members
or friends involved in your project.
They may have made gifts before in other ways.
Do some research to find
out about a prospect's capabilities and interests.
Next, you need to interest a prospect.
And that you do by doing your work in a way
that those prospects will notice and be interested
such as publicize in the community or hold events
that allow individuals to see the kind
of work that you're doing.
Inform. Send newsletters, generate publicities,
send out press releases, post to Facebook, hold special events
to inform your prospects about the need in the community
that your program is meeting.
You might take a special opportunity to invite a prospect
to your program so that
that person can see the work that you're doing.
Next we do involve.
The more prospectors involved in your program the more they care.
Ask for advice.
Request help on short term projects.
We hope that by using this process you'll be able
to get the money that you ask for
and that the prospects will invest in your program.
Investing is the final step in which they make a gift.
So the Ask.
Asking for money scares a lot of people but it might be helpful
to keep these thoughts in mind.
Few people give money unless they are asked.
When was the last time you went looking
for a place to give money away?
Nearly everyone feels good when they give money.
There's at least some small impression
that you have made the world
or at least someone's world a better place
to live when you make a gift.
Most giving is done by people of income
that are less than 60,000.
Don't think you can only ask rich folks for money.
In fact, those with fewer assets
and less income give a higher percentage of their income.
Also, the rise of online and web-based giving is coming
from younger donors who have the potential
to become larger donors if you capture their interest.
When you ask people you know for a contribution,
at least half of them will say yes.
That's why it's important to build the relationships.
We're taught early on that talking about religion,
politics, sex and money are taboo.
We're raised to believe that it's rude
to ask someone what their salary is or how much they paid
for their house or their car.
In fundraising, however, we're not trying to find
out how much money a person has or how much money --
or how they came by their money.
We're asking for specific gift of a certain size
for a specific purpose.
At this time, I'd like to introduce Jill Freeman
from Education Northwest.
Jill is going to -- I'm sorry.
When you ask people -- sorry.
That didn't get revealed.
At this time I'm going to introduce Jill Freeman
who is an advisor in training.
An online curriculum developer at Education Northwest
in Portland, Oregon and she is going to give us some pointers
on communicating with donors.
Jill. Are you there?
>> I am. Thanks Sharon.
So today, in talking about asking donors for money,
we need to consider also how we communicate with them.
And I'd like to talk to you about seven key points
in forming your communication with any sort of donor,
whether that be a donor you're asking in person,
a donor you're asking over email, or through a letter,
or at a pitch at a fundraising event.
It's really important that your solicitations are strong
and compelling and that they appeal
to the interest of the donors.
So knowing who your donors are is important
as part of this process.
And that links back to what Sharon was talking about earlier
with making relationships with people.
So the first step with solicitation is story.
You want to make sure that you're engaging your reader
by presenting a compelling narrative portrait
of the problem or need of the organization.
It's much more effective to let them know who's being helped
by the organization and how you're making an impact
through a narrative than giving them dry and boring statistics.
A story is something that tugs at heartstrings
and that will help people in feeling motivated to donate
to your organization and cause.
Whether that be financial or donations of time
or even any other resources that you might possibly need.
The next Ask that you want to consider is shared values.
And this links back, like I said to that relationship aspect.
You want to make sure that you're appealing to the values
and motivations of the donors.
That includes things possibly like being part of the solution
or being part of something that's larger than themselves.
Making a visible measurable impact.
Someone who's been affected by something
that the organization deals
with in their personal life might feel very motivated
and making sure you're appealing to that
in a way that's very earnest and sincere is important.
Next up is solutions.
You want to make sure when you are talking to a donor, again,
in writing or in person, that you're providing a description
of the need that establishes a logical solution to the problem
and lays the ground work for the Ask.
In other words, you want to show how your organizations work
and by extension those supporters of that work,
is an essential part of the solution at hand.
Show how you're effective
and show how you're solving problems.
Next. You want to deal with what we call the so what question.
And this is important in communication in general.
It's really about the impact.
You want to discuss the problem in a way that makes the reader
or person you're talking to in person,
sees that a change must happen as soon as possible.
You want to discuss what happens when solutions aren't offered
or supported and what happens when solutions are offered.
And finally when appropriate, you want to use experts
to help make the case.
Basically, you want to tell somebody why they should care
about this issue and why their contribution will help improve
the situation around it.
Next, you want to make a specific Ask.
You want to make a strong and direct Ask of the donor,
which includes clear directions for taking action.
If you're doing this in writing,
you want to provide links to websites.
You want to apply -- make sure you are providing envelopes
that people can send donations back to your organization in.
Make it easy for people and tell them what you want them to do
in a way that gives them a clear course of action
that is easy and specific.
Next, you want to make sure that when you're asking someone
to support your organization, you're keeping it simple
and making it sincere.
You want to be persuasive
but not overwhelm your reader with information.
Use simple language that is easy to understand and avoid the use
of jargon or any terminology that's specific
to your organization.
Abbreviations, acronyms are really things you want to avoid.
You obviously want to make sure
that you're practicing professional communication
behaviors like checking your spelling and your grammar.
Making sure your language is appropriate and your tone
of speech is indicative of your organization and the cause
that you're representing.
Make sure you are not emotionally manipulating
your audience.
You want to be respectful and sincerely grateful
for their time and support, in whatever form it comes.
That's the best way to respect the relationship
that you've built and make sure that you're keeping honest
to your cause and the needs of your organization.
I'll turn it back over now to Sharon.
Thanks for your time.
>> Thank you Jill.
At this point, we're going to open the phone lines.
Vanessa, can you open the phone lines for questions?
>> Yes, ma'am.
At this time, I would like to remind everyone if you would
like to ask a question press star one
on your telephone keypad.
We will pause for just a moment to compile the Q&A roster.
>> In the meantime, someone asked about what to do
if a business says no soliciting on their grounds?
We want to make it clear that when you're doing fundraising,
you don't start with the Ask for the gift.
You develop a relationship first.
So if you use the five Is and develop your relationship
so that you know people within the corporation
and they can provide an entry for you,
then you shouldn't have a
problem with soliciting a business.
>> While we're waiting for the phone lines,
we also had another question in the chat Sharon, --
>> Um-hum.
>> -- that maybe you or Jill can answer.
Her question is, if you have certain organizations
and local prospects, what's a good way
to develop new relationships?
>> That's when you use your volunteers.
People give to people and especial people that they know.
They don't so much give to organizations.
Your Board of Directors
or perhaps a separate fundraising committee should be
out there making connections for you and they should be the ones
who are introducing you to these potential funders, individuals,
corporations, and foundations in the community.
>> And George had a question about Jill.
Jill, could you just say your full name again and your title
and where you're located?
>> Sure. I'm Jill Freeman and I am a training
and curriculum developer for Education Northwest.
I'm also the facilitator
of the online Vista blend resource development course.
And if I could just add really quickly,
to Sharon's last answer, I think the other thing is in terms
of making those relationships, volunteers are great,
board members are great but you really want to identify
where the relationships could possibly be.
So I think doing a brainstorm session
and something called a prospect map can be really useful.
That's where you get a key group of people in a room.
Get some big pieces of paper and literally draw a map
of your organization where you start with your organization
in the center and then link out to relationships
that exist in the room.
So asking board members volunteers, key staff.
Who are the folks that share a mission with us, share values
with us, share clients or share an interest or need
to participate in our organization.
What are their motivations
and what are the resources that they have?
And when you start to build that kind of map you'll begin
to see those connections really clearly
and then you can do the -- you can follow the five Is and start
to develop those relationships from there.
>> And we have --
>> and --
>> one other question -- oh, I'm sorry.
Go ahead.
>> Go ahead.
I see there's a question about a prospect map model.
There is, if you Google prospect map
and a gentlemen named Craig Bowman, B-O-W-M-A-N,
you'll find it and I think actually it's also something
that eventually will end up in the campus.
>> A little earlier on, someone in the chat asked,
how do you develop a relationship with a foundation
or corporation that is out of state?
>> Yes, I saw that.
Those are usually funders.
I assume that you are aware of what they fund
so you've done some research on the prospect ahead of time.
You perhaps have gone to the foundation center online or one
of the foundation center books
and if you don't have a subscription
to the foundation center, you can check out one
of the libraries that hold the materials.
They are located in every state.
And if you look at the foundation center's website,
they will tell you where these libraries are located.
And in those materials you will find out how to make a contact.
Of course they know that they don't know you personally,
but they may ask for instance,
for some materials before you submit a proposal.
Something about your mission and about your --
what you're going to be asking for money for
and their guidelines will usually tell you whether
or not you're a good prospect for that foundation.
I also see there are a lot of people who are using volunteers
and I'm very pleased to see that.
>> And then I don't know, Jill or Sharon,
if you have any software.
Someone asked a question;
Erica wants to know what is the best software program
for donors?
>> Oh goodness.
There are many, many of them and they range in price
from very inexpensive to quite sophisticated and expensive.
Any of the Blackbaud Project Software Systems are probably
at the top of the line and will be out of the budget
for smaller organizations, but TechSoup, which is a partner
with the corporation, does provide some assistance in how
to find appropriate software for your fundraising
and I see people have used eTapestry.
That's a good one.
Any number of ones I can't endorse any one in particular.
But TechSoup should be a good starting point
if you are starting from zero
and don't have any idea what you need to use for software.
Vanessa, do we have any questions?
>> Yes, ma'am, we do.
Your first question comes from the line of Mona Philips.
>> Hello Mona.
>> Yes, how are you?
>> I'm fine, thank you.
>> Thank you so much for getting with us
and we really appreciate this information
that you are giving to us.
One of my big concerns is is we are, you know, a big portion
of our community-based area and we do have a lot of programs,
in general, but you know, when you want to key in on you know,
certain grants and certain community --
like I had asked before, what's you know another good tool
because I feel sometimes when you try to go
to certain big businesses and certain bigger organizations,
you have to keep in mind that there are other areas
and other organizations that are going
to be going to them as well.
So you know, what's a better way to connect
with some even smaller or not so heard of organizations
that could be in state or out of state?
>> Yes, the competition is very tough
and that's all I can really say about it.
The best way to get an inside track on donations from --
well, certainly from local businesses is
from local volunteers.
You're fundraising committee.
>> Right.
>> Put people on your fundraising committee.
Remember I said something about asking
for advice was a good way to involve people?
>> Right.
>> Well, if you know that a company is funding the community
but has not funded you lately, look for someone
in that community and invite them to participate
in your organization in some way.
People who are involved are much more apt
to be advocates for your program.
>> Thank you.
I really appreciate -- because that's something I try
to stride myself to do is not just stick to the same
because you don't want to, you know, make it look
like you're just consistently using them
as your only resource.
>> No and they don't want to be the only resource.
>> Right. So I'm always trying, in my mind, go to places
and people that I know may not have been, you know, talked to
or like you said making those personal
because sometimes it might just be that that one person
or that one group of people that actually can spread your name.
And I wanted to say that earlier when typing in, it's important,
you know, like you said, to make those networks because sometimes
that face-to-face and that friend can spread your name
out just as well as if you were, you know,
talking or doing it online.
So I really appreciate that and everyone saying that because,
you know, for here, and the years that I, you know,
have been doing, you know, this type of activity, it is,
you know, sometimes, you know, looking outside the box.
>> Right.
>> It's just more and more, you know, major organizations
and our programs are needing assistance and needing help.
So like you said sometimes people feel like just
because you haven't even asked, you know, is a way
and sometimes you have to just kind of get
out of your own comfort zone and, like you said,
really do some digging.
>> Right. Keep your eyes open.
See who's funding other organizations
that are doing like work too.
>> Oh, thank you.
Thank you so much.
>> Any other questions?
>> In just in general, I wanted to say quickly, another thing
that I see is, when you were hitting on a lot of the federal
and governmental grants.
You know, I know there are a lot out in to look for
but when you are trying to narrow it down, are you wanting
to just focus on, you know, the ones that, you know,
can hard hit your area or does it go by your state?
Because I know some that I've seen, you know,
they break off based off, you know, where you're located
or your region or just by the needs assessment, you know,
for your organization or kind of on those lines.
So is it, you know, more or less that they're going
to be focusing on those particular issues
on the pacifics or is there more that are general
that it doesn't necessarily matter where you are,
what your affiliation to other, you know, networks are
but they actually want to just help, you know, widespread.
>> It's harder to find those.
You can look for general support in your --
if you are using the foundation center, for instance,
but mainly foundations and corporations are very purposeful
about their targeted support so they can have the impact.
>> Right. That's what I thought.
Which is what I think especially if you are trying
to get other governmental, you know, they want, you know,
to know pacifically the location area.
So should we check, you know, more in,
like you said our state area or, you know, our commerce
and things of that nature or do we need to kind of go further?
>> Well, I think I'd start local and then broaden
out.
>> Okay. Are there any, you know, like I said,
ways that you feel, like I said, that once we branch
out that are any good resources to use outside
of this foundation center?
>> That would be the best one.
Yes. It's also Grant Station, I believe,
that you have access to.
>> Okay.
>> It's more for grants.
Thank you.
>> Vanessa, do we have any other questions?
>> Yes, ma'am.
Your next question comes from the line
of Sarah [assumed spelling] Benavitez.
>> Hello Sarah.
>> Hey. I -- my question is,
I am trying to create an annual appeal letter.
I just wanted to get more information on how to --
I guess the best practices
for creating an appeal letter and um --
>> Okay. I can tell you right now, that as soon
as the questions are over we are going to go to the Vista Campus
and I will show you there where you can get information on how
to craft an annual appeal.
>> Oh. Okay.
Thank you.
>> Any other questions?
>> That's it.
>> Again to ask a question, press star one
on your telephone keypad.
Your next question comes from the line
of [assumed spelling] Lacatalis Salon.
>> Hello Lacatalis.
>> Hello. Do you hear me?
>> Yes, I do.
>> Okay. I have a question.
Can I ask for a specific quantity of money
for donations or grants?
>> Yes. Absolutely.
The more specific you can be,
the more likely you are to get success.
People want to know exactly what their money is going for.
>> All right.
Thank you.
>> Again, if you would like to ask a question, press star one
on your telephone keypad.
Your next question comes from the line of Lola Ching.
>> Hello Lola.
And I think we will have to make this the last question
that we take over the phone because we are getting
on in time so other questions if you could put into the chat
and we will try to answer them.
What I will do is I will email out the chat to everyone along
with the other material, the Power Point when we are through.
Okay? Hello?
>> Miss Ching, your line is open.
Miss Ching?
Will you unmute your phone line?
There is no response from Miss Ching's line.
We can move on to the next person in queue.
>> We can take one more.
>> All right ma'am, your next question comes from the line
of Carol [assumed spelling] Basinski.
>> Very good.
You got my last name right.
My question is, how do you ensure
that your public service announcement is actually going
to be followed through and you're going to be able
to see it or you'll be able to see it appear on TV
as promised and scheduled?
>> This might be a question for Jill.
Jill, are you still there?
>> I am. I am.
You know, television stations,
radio stations actually have a certain number of those hours
that they have to give as a requirement by law
and they have to keep logs.
And so, if you have scheduled it with a specific radio station
or television station you can actually go down to
that television station and ask to see their FCC,
the Federal Communication's log,
and it should be marked in there.
Now many organizations don't keep those logs,
which is actually a violation of the FCC policy
so you have some grounds to request that they let you know
when that has been played.
And I would -- the other thing I would say
about that is making sure you understand the guidelines
that they set up for that sort of airing.
>> Uh-huh.
>> Whether or not they guarantee you a spot
or whether they guarantee
that they will play public service announcements.
So whether it's specifically guaranteed to an organization
or just a pile of announcements will really impact that as well.
So make sure you understand their obligation
to you before you go charging in and accusing them of anything.
>> Yeah, I know.
I mean, I've just had before --
[ Inaudible ]
>> We appear to be breaking up.
Hello? Hello?
>> Carol?
>> Hello?
>> I think you lost her.
>> Oh dear.
Okay. Well, at this time, continue to ask questions
in the chat if you will and Vanessa,
I think we will end the phone chat for now so we can continue
with the Webinar and we're going to go to the Vista Campus.
>> Sharon while you're doing that,
can I just add something really quickly
from a couple questions I saw in the chat?
>> Sure.
>> A couple people were asking, you know, do you think it's rude
or do you think it's appropriate to ask people for money?
And Sharon made some comments about this earlier.
You know, I just want to say really quickly,
that it's a mind shift that you have to make.
I know personally it has been a mind shift for me as well but,
really thinking about it instead of asking people
to give something and if that's a burden,
you know you're presenting people with an opportunity
to support something and be part of a solution.
And so if you can kind of start to move in that mentality
and just position yourself around that thought, I think,
I think it will really help open up this world for you.
So, I just wanted to say that.
>> Very well said.
Very well.
It is not rude.
It is helping people make the world a better place to live.
>> Yeah.
>> Thank you.
Okay. Well at this time we're going to go right
to the Vista Campus and I'm sharing my desktop with you
so that I can show you some tools
that you can use for fundraising.
Someone asked about tools that they could use in order
to find some help and these will be found in the work section
of the campus and especially, of course, in the fundraising box.
And if you haven't looked at the fundraising box before,
you will see that there are four sub boxes.
Raising funds from individuals.
Writing grants and proposals.
Planning events and the Online course of college credit.
We're going to look at these first three.
Raising funds from individuals.
Remember we said that individuals get 70 to 80 percent
of the money so that every organization should have some
support from individuals.
And talking about writing to individuals.
Individuals writing to individuals has a course.
And in this course, you work through a series
of activities and information.
And it's loading.
As you will see you have a pre-assessment,
which tells you -- woops, start at the beginning.
You have a pre-assessment, which it's to find
out how much you already know.
And then you have some information on the elements
of an individual appeal.
There is a whole package.
It's not just a letter.
There is an envelope.
There is the letter itself.
There is reply devices.
There are a number of different pieces of an individual appeal.
Also, timing when to write.
By the way, you just work through this course.
Timing one to write is important.
There are certain times that get more responses than others.
People are used to the early fall winter.
The fall early winter appeal
that comes before the end of the tax year.
When you're talking about individual appeals too,
don't think that you should always be asking for money.
Send out information on your organization on a regular basis.
But if there's a time when you are in a real crunch,
something has happened, a disaster pull is a good choice.
And then whom to write, the audience.
This section talks about segmenting your mailing.
There are different ways to send letters to different people.
Some people will get a very personalized note,
perhaps from the Executive Director.
Others will get notes from fundraising volunteers, perhaps.
And then still some others will get the standard letter.
So think about how you want to segment your mailing
so that it goes to different groups of people.
The Ask. This is the appeal we talked about
and how to write the letter.
And there are some information on the five points
and then you saw Jill's seven Ss.
This is an example of a letter and it shows you some
of the things that you might definitely want to include,
such as a personalized first line.
Dear Friend isn't very personal.
And there are some things that you, this letter could have used
that would have improved it, but didn't and you might.
Keep in mind that a PS, for instance, is a good thing
to include in a letter.
Sometimes people read the PS before they even read
the letter.
And also, don't forget, the thank you letter is part
of your appeal because if you don't send
out a thank you letter, you can be pretty sure you won't get
another gift.
That will be your last.
So this is the course
on individuals writing to individuals.
We also have among the fundraising
for individuals building fundraising
. And this is a six-step process that you can work
through to help you employ volunteers
in your fundraising effort.
And I saw in the questions that somebody said what
if your Executive Director won't allow volunteers?
Your Executive Director needs to be persuaded otherwise.
So following the six steps
of developing a fundraising volunteer champion is
very important.
Okay. And next, we have a little course called the power
of direct mail.
And it's a little interactive thing that tells you again
about the different aspects about a direct mail package
and it's kind of just a fun way of looking at how you can beef
up your solicitation appeal package.
I don't want to say letters because it's more than a package
so that it's more effective.
It talks about, for instance, ways to talk about the envelope.
This will take a minute here to get going.
It's called the carrier here.
And so there are some ways you can make sure
that your letter gets opened, for instance.
And then it goes through other aspects
of the direct mail package.
>> And while Sharon is moving onto the next one, I just wanted
to point out to everyone
that you can continue on with the chat.
So at the very top of your screen you can go
up to the very top, I think Sharon is showing you now,
and you can pull down that menu up at the top
and then you can keep this chat going.
I see there are some questions going back and forth.
And you can continue to talk amongst yourselves
and chat amongst yourselves
but she's giving you some really good information
so we also want you to pay attention to the campus as well.
[ Laughter ]
>> Thank you Danielle.
Thank you.
>> Also don't forget -- oh, volunteer phone a-thons.
Volunteer led phone a-thons.
Those are a good way to involve volunteers in your fundraising
and planning a phone a-thon campaign is both a cultivation
activity for volunteers who may become potential donors
and a way to raise funds.
So there's that tool that's available to you.
And on every page in the forum, we have --
every page of the campus, we have forums and the U
in the word forum is the one to go to if you have questions
about the work that you're doing, obviously.
And don't forget to offer your advice too.
It's not just for asking questions but it's also
for responding to questions.
And there are a few other tools in the bottom here.
Remember we talked about the sources of giving,
that will show up here and you can take another look at it
in a brighter more colorful version and know
where to go back to it again and again.
The next section I want to go to in the raising funds
from individuals is, there, okay, is the grant --
sorry writing grants and proposals.
And when we talk about writing grants and no matter what you do
at some point in your organization, you need to get
to work -- if you don't have one already --
on writing a case for support.
And a case for support is a well-documented effort
to explain your organization's value to the community,
what its needs are and why it is important for people
to support your organization.
And this is an interactive tool that is kind of fun to do.
It can take about, depending on how much of it you do,
can take a couple of days if you build your own case of support
through the question and answer template, which you can do.
Then you pass it around for input from other people.
So you can create a case
for support using the materials right here on this site.
Another tool on the writing grants
and proposals is producing proposals that work.
Again, this is an interactive flash course
that will leave you -- not leave you, but will provide you
with a completed proposal when you're finished.
So making sure that you use the guidelines
for who you are writing to but you have templates
that you can download and use those note sheets
and get feedback so that you can write a proposal right
in this site.
We have a more traditional kind of proposal writing course
that takes you through the proposal writing
step-by-step process.
One that's like the other courses in that it starts
with a pre-assessment and gives you a number
of steps to work through.
And it, too, talks about such things as how to do the writing?
How to find the support using the case for support
in the proposal writing.
When you're dealing with corporations and businesses,
there are a number of different ways that you can approach them
and that's information that you need to know.
Okay. So the last part is planning events.
Everyone here -- not everyone, but many Vistas are involved
in planning events and these are volunteer heavy activity
so again we place the building volunteer champions here along
with a couple of other places.
This tool keys to success, everything events is
like the other interactive courses
that give you a completed product at the end.
And if you download everything when you get
through you will have a plan
that will give you some action steps and some resources
for planning a special event.
There are some materials there from the PSO
that you probably already have but this is
where they're housed, again, if you're interested
and some other tools that are helpful to you.
Okay. Other than the fundraising section,
you might find some tools in communications and marketing.
These are divided into a number of different areas.
Improving personal communications namely and some
of them are from the PSO.
Communicating with stakeholders is important
since your funders are your stakeholders.
I also want to point out on this communication the marketing
page, the social media section.
Especially the social media Monday pages.
We have another Webinar coming up on August 6.
It's going to actually be on tools,
using tools for connecting on social media.
But the archives include a number of different topics
that are useful for fundraisers.
Such as how to use Facebook.
How to plan events using the social media tools,
any number of tools that might be
of useful to you -- use to you.
Also in the section working with volunteers,
we have the volunteers for planning, recruiting,
managing the volunteers and these will be helpful
if you are bringing together a cadre
of volunteers for your project.
So that is about it for the fundraising
and for on the campus.
I am going to stop sharing my screen
and pass the controls back and -- I thought I stopped sharing.
Okay. Move forward one.
Okay. So for next steps for you, we're going to ask you to do
or invite you to do a number of things
that we hope can be helpful to you.
You can bookmark the most important fundraising
and resource development pages on the Vista Campus.
Someone asked about a course for fundraising or communications.
There are a number of them.
They are short courses on the campus.
So take one or two or more of those in the fundraising
or the communications and marketing sections.
And post a message or respond to a question on the Vista forum.
Especially on the you and your work section when you need help
with a fundraising question.
Then take a look at the calendar of events to search
for any training opportunities.
Okay. Next, um-hmm.
We have an evaluation that is going to appear any minute
for you, there it is, on the right.
If you wouldn't mind taking a few minutes
to answer those questions.
And we can do the next slide.
Thank you.
Okay. That's it.
So thank you for your participation.
If you have further questions, you can reach us
through Vista Campus at campaignconsultation.com.
We have another Webinar coming up in August.
Remember, I said these are part of a series of monthly Webinars
and that one is going be on working with volunteers
and it will appear on Wednesday,
August 22nd at 2:00 p.m. eastern daylight time.
And I will send out the Power Point and I also will send
out the chat and I will probably edit it and clean it
up a little bit and answer some of your questions on the chat.
So look forward to that coming.
It probably won't be this afternoon
but I will probably get it to you some time tomorrow.
If you want to look for other information for Vista tours,
you can look on the calendar of events that appears
on the first page of the Vista Campus.
I really have enjoyed having you here.
You
had some really good questions.
It sounds like you are very good also
at asking each other questions and at answering them.
So have a very good rest of the week
and we hope to see you in August.