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Solutions You Can Use

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Raising Money for Your Idea

Congratulations on having the vision and guts to start up your own campaign or project! Here are a few ideas to get you started on your quest for funding: The best places to look when you're just starting out are:

• Commercial Ventures
• Foundations
• Individual Donors
• Businesses
  

Commercial ventures can be anything you do to earn money as part of your greater purpose. For example, you could create merchandise promoting your theme, sell it, and use the profits to fund your organization. Or you could sell a service that is closely related with your mission. Most importantly, be creative and have fun in dreaming up ways to earn money without having to plan formal fundraising activities!

Foundations are a great source of funding for some organizations, although they only give 12% of the total private philanthropic dollars away every year. It is critical that you do your research before you apply for a foundation grant. Make sure the foundation's guidelines and purpose closely match what you are proposing to them.

Most foundations require a letter of inquiry (a two to three page letter introducing your group and project) and then if they are interested in you, they ask for a full grant proposal (usually about six pages with a budget).

The best place to learn more about foundations is www.foundationcenter.org.

Individual donors are your best bet for unrestricted, quick funding. Individuals give 82% of all private philanthropic dollars. There are many strategies for approaching individuals for money:

• Special events/benefits—come up with something creative that has a special hook
• A letter explaining your cause and why it is important to give
• In person—ask the people you know if they would like to contribute to your campaign.

The best place for more information on individual donors is www.grassrootsfundraising.org.

Businesses Corporate donors are the usually most difficult to cultivate, and they give away the least amount of money in the private sector. However, local small businesses might be more amenable to giving you small amounts of money if you ask. Go to the business in person and bring a brochure or overview of your program.

Other Tips:

Watch what other people do to raise money and learn from it. Pay attention to fundraising events at your school or church. How do they get money? What works? What doesn't?

We promise that you will be rejected when you ask for money. Depending upon whom you ask and they way you ask, you could get 99 out of 100 people saying "no." But your job is to find the one person who says yes. That person could become a long-term donor and yield much more than their initial donation.

Remember that giving money to a good cause or organization is a pleasure and a joy for most people. People give because they believe that what you are doing will benefit the world. They want to participate in changing the world along with you and money, for some people, is an easy way to do that. By asking for money from people, you are providing them with an opportunity to feel good about themselves, and to join your group in solving an urgent problem or addressing an unmet need.

Helpful Books:

John Mutz and Katherine Murray, Fundraising for Dummies
Beverly Browning, Grantwriting for Dummies
Robert Zimmerman, Maximum Dollars: the Twelve Rules of Fundraising

Helpful Websites:

The Foundation Center
Grassroots Fundraising Journal
Nonprofit Genie
Free Management Library
Milano Nonprofit Management Knowledge Hub