Nonprofit Fundraising 101 - Heyman Darian Rodriguez

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the folks who orchestrated that campaign via a detailed case study, as well as learning from a wide range of experts with decades of experience under their belts – and literally more than a billion dollars raised online between them. With their help, you can take your nonprofit into the future, today.

      Parts 5 and 6 share a range of tips and tools for institutional giving. Learn how to identify the most likely prospects, secure the all-too-elusive call or meeting, and not only be invited to apply for foundation, corporate, or government support, but how to secure crucial pieces of information that will catapult your odds of success from 5 percent to 50 percent. The interviewees follow that with tips for writing a great proposal and how to monitor your progress and report back in a language that funders appreciate and expect. And beyond straight cash support, we’ve devoted a chapter to in-kind and media sponsors, as we’ve witnessed firsthand the transformative impact those partnerships can have on both a fledgling nonprofit and a well-established organization, even though they’re infinitely easier to secure.

      Finally, the book ends with Part 7, where guest contributor Rick Aubry shares and explores the ins and outs of earned income for nonprofits. If you’re considering launching a social enterprise in an effort to diversity your revenue base, don’t miss this chapter. And as long as we’re in the world of social enterprise, what better way to wrap things up than with an inspiring Afterword by Kiva.org founder Premal Shah.

      Again, this book is a reference guide, so feel free to skip around. Pick the chapters that you find most compelling and useful today, and don’t be surprised when other topics pop up on your radar as times goes by. After all, change is the very essence of life, and it’s ultimately the goal of all nonprofits, isn’t it?

Fundraising Ethics

      We’d be remiss if we neglected to introduce this book without a quick note on fundraising ethics and, most notably, commission-based fundraising. As you implement the best practices shared in the coming pages, always remember that the public expects you to be honest, accountable, and transparent. The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Code of Ethical Standards (www.afpnet.org/files/ContentDocuments/CodeofEthics.pdf) provides a comprehensive overview of ethical aspirations and boundaries for fundraisers. An ethical fundraiser applies the Code of Ethics and all relevant laws and regulation to their work.

      In particular, unlike the corporate world, in the nonprofit sector, donors and funders can mandate exactly how their gifts are to be used. You are ethically and legally bound to use funds as directed by the donor. If someone states he wants his donation or grant to be used exclusively for a specific program, or even a particular line item in your budget, then you need to take all proper measures – especially bookkeeping, accounting, and measuring program expenditures – to ensure those funds are used as directed.

      Whether you’re a consultant or a paid staff member, remember that in the nonprofit sector, commission-based fundraising is considered unethical. Standard 21 in the AFP Code of Ethical Standards addresses this principle. Deviating from this simple guideline can have devastating implications for your nonprofit and on donor relationships. Supporters want to know their gifts go to the mission-based work of your organization, not to a glorified salesperson. This, too, is very different from the corporate world, where performance-based compensation is common. In short, in the nonprofit or social sector, every fundraiser is expected to do his or her best to represent the organization or client, and to be paid fairly for work out of the organization’s budget.

      As you begin, or continue, your journey doing your best to represent a cause you care deeply about, may this book serve as a useful guide – to you, to your cause, to the people whose lives you make better every day you go about your work, and ultimately to the public trust we serve as fundraisers.

      Acknowledgments

      First and foremost, I offer thanks and congratulations to Laila Brenner, without whose contribution this book never would have been possible. Laila, you are a joy to work with, and I admire your great writing and unwavering commitment, even while expecting your second child. I look forward to working with you again.

      Thanks also to John Wiley & Sons for graciously offering to publish my second book and for being an understanding and flexible partner. I offer a deep bow of humble appreciation to the 121 interviewees and partners who shared their time, insights, and resources, ensuring this book offered truly useful tips and tools for nonprofits and fundraisers, and providing invaluable marketing support around its release. Thanks to my colleagues at Sparrow for their support of this project and for their work helping nonprofits employ the power of mobile technology to better serve the poor. I also want to thank the two other sponsors of this book, Eventbrite and CommitChange, for their invaluable support as well as the Association of Fundraising Professionals for their incredible endorsement, and Social Media for Nonprofits’ Ritu Sharma, for being the catalyst for this project.

      I thank my family in Argentina for showing me firsthand how challenging yet rewarding philanthropy can be on a personal level. To the Heyman family, my mishpocheh, thanks for providing me with the support and love I needed to experiment and discover my path. In particular, I’d like to thank my brother for being the best thought partner I could ever ask for and for always being in my corner, even when things get hard. Paulo, you can never lose me. And most of all, I offer gratitude to my mother, Annette. Mom, you taught me how to love and helped me see that, no matter how much I work to change the world, ultimately what really matters is helping one person at a time.

      Foreword Discovering What It Means to Be a Fundraiser

       Lynne Twist

      “You will find as you look back upon your life, that the moments you have really lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.”

– Henry Drummond

      I discovered my passion for fundraising when I was in kindergarten in Evanston, Illinois. My oldest sister had just gotten the lead role in the school play, but there wasn’t enough money to buy costumes or sets because of a budget crisis. I saw how heartbroken she was, so I went to my teacher and asked if there was anything our class could do to help. Turns out I wasn’t alone in wanting to support the cause, and I’ve often found since then that when you take a stand for something you believe in, it inspires others to follow your lead.

      As Goethe once said, “Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid.” The entire kindergarten class ended up selling chocolate chip cookies and lemonade outside our school every afternoon, and on weekends, until we’d raised enough money to support the play. Our actions inspired the rest of the school, including the PTA and Board of Education, to step up and look at how they could solve the budget crisis. At just five years old, this was a life-altering experience for me; it ignited my passion and helped me realize that fundraising is an act of love. We were a bunch of children who couldn’t read or write, add or subtract, but we could fundraise with homemade cookies and lemonade! I remember thinking how amazing it was that, out of an act of love for my sister, we were able to solve a problem and help turn the tide for the whole school.

      This first experience with fundraising taught me that it took commitment and courage to raise money. Ever since, I’ve seen it as an act of love and affirmation. We all know that giving is an act of generosity, and often love, commitment, and vision; but I think that asking also taps into a very powerful part of the human heart. To me, fundraising is sacred – it’s holy work, and I’m privileged and honored to do it. Fundraising enables people to move their resources toward what they really believe in. It’s how we shift people’s relationships with money, showing them it can be used to empower and inspire us to be the best people we can be, while nourishing others around us.

      At this time in history – the first decades of the 21st century – one of the greatest things we need to come to terms with as a species is our use of resources: the earth’s resources; human resources; and, of course, financial resources. We need to recognize that we’re at a critical juncture, where until we learn to live within our ecological means, we won’t learn to live within our economic

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