I started out just looking for a basic grant writing 101 guide and was surprised to find so many resources available for free, even classes and full text books. Even if you eventually hire a consultant or purchase training material, these resources will provide a good introduction to the basic terminology and concepts of grant […]

The success of a grant fundraising effort is challenging to measure. Simple ratios that compare the number of grants submitted to the number funded don’t really reveal much. Grant fundraising success must be defined for each organization individually, in part by considering how appealing its organizational mission is by current public or foundation standards. More […]

There are many fundraising events where business and/or individual sponsors play an important role.  Here is a great question that we recently received on this topic: What is the role of sponsors? Is the money raised through sponsors only used to help reach the goal or can some funds be used to help with running […]

Turn on any news show and you’ll hear analysts and pundits forecasting economic doom and gloom. Their reports are filled with words and phrases like “economic downturn,” “soft economy,” and the dreaded “recession.” While the jury is still out about whether or not we’re really in a recession, now is a great time to recession-proof […]

Jeremy Gregg does a great job of describing the personalities of people who give to charity in The Seven Faces of Philanthropy. I like the photos that he’s chosen to represent the various giving styles. (At the risk of being trite, you know what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.) His post […]

Though giving from U.S. foundations was up in 2007, the investment market isn’t looking pretty for anybody. We can expect that numbers for 2008 will be quite different. Foundations effected by declining investment markets are likely to give less and you may be on the other end of some letters declining funding this year. So […]

Asking people to donate money is never an easy task. In tough economic times, it’s even more difficult. If people are struggling to pay their mortgage and utilities, how can they find any extra for your organization? I, like many of you in the non-profit sector, have had to exist in this challenging reality for […]