[Nfb-fundraising] Imagination Fund & General Grant Tactics

[Joe Orozco]

Scott,

In my opinion, student divisions have a distinct advantage in grant writing 
because there are plenty of funders who would like to contribute to youth 
projects.  Student divisions have the flexibility of engaging educational 
projects using several approaches.  The most difficult aspect is finding the 
people in a division to be dedicated enough to see a proposal through its 
development.  Is it rocket science?  No.  Can it be time-consuming?  Most 
definitely, and if any team is going to invest that much time in sending out 
proposals, the division had better be prepared to back up its outcomes if 
funds are awarded.  Funders may be generous in their donations, but they are 
equally interested in how their donations are going to attract publicity for 
their own operations.

I would recommend a student division beginning their instruction by sending 
out for door prize solicitations.  In this manner, the fundraising team can 
become accustomed to writing persuasively and succinctly.  And, while you're 
putting these initial letters of inquiry together, make sure you are 
appointing people who can rattle off our NFB philosophy in short forms that 
are brief but informative.  Make sure they are capable of tying our 
philosophy to what the organization is known for sponsoring.  We know the 
NFB is great.  Other people will not, and you need to be able to sell our 
purpose to someone who knows nothing about the NFB, let alone blindness. 
And, make sure they can write well.  I've seen too many proposals that were 
well-intentioned but poorly presented.  They did not receive funds, and it's 
a shame because the groups were worthy candidates.

There are a lot of factors to consider when beginning to write proposals. 
Our student divisions could be generating plentiful quantities from grant 
writing alone, but let us remember that grant writing can also detract from 
potential recruitment operations.  If it's a toss up between whipping up a 
proposal and putting together a social fundraising, go with the social event 
because you need membership before you need money.  Get a solid core group 
under your belt, and then pick one or two people who will make grant writing 
their sole responsibility.  Perhaps we will discuss grant writing from it 
initial stages and work our way through the point of reporting the 
expenditures for an award.  I hope this helps for now, and I hope other 
people will chime in with their thoughts and ideas.

Regards,

Joe Orozco

"I came, I saw, I conquered."--Julius Caesar
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Scott Spaulding" <spaulding.scott at gmail.com>
To: "'NFB Fundraising Mailing List'" <nfb-fundraising at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2007 1:00 AM
Subject: Re: [Nfb-fundraising] Imagination Fund & General Grant Tactics


>I have never done any grant writing, but the NFB of Kentucky Association of
> Blind Students is looking to start doing more of this type of thing for 
> our
> fundraising. I know someone who gets all there financing done through
> donations from companies and we have decided that we want to do the same
> thing if possible, since it seems that we have not been doing all that 
> great
> lately. I am also on the board of our Technology Assistance Division, so I
> will take what I learn to them also.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-fundraising-bounces at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:nfb-fundraising-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Joe Orozco
> Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2007 12:28 AM
> To: NFB-FundRaising
> Subject: [Nfb-fundraising] Imagination Fund & General Grant Tactics
>
> Dear list,
>
> David Andrews will forgive me for insisting on this list's creation and 
> then
> taking a leave of absence from promoting posts.  I have, however, been
> following the threads and thank Everett Gavel, among others, for sharing 
> so
> generously of their resources and experiences.
>
> I would like to encourage fresh activity in the list by proposing weekly
> topic discussions.  It is my hope that through concentrated dialogue we 
> can
> find the means to bring fundraising operations in the Federation to a
> dynamic and profitable science that will benefit the organization from the
> local chapter to the national division level.
>
> To start, I would like to invite thoughts on the intricate science of 
> grant
> writing.  I refer to it as such because for the past nine months I have
> become familiar with the many nuances of putting together a winning
> proposal.  I cannot claim to be an expert, but having worked on grants
> ranging from general operations to capital campaigns, I've learned a lot
> about tailoring materials for varying audiences.
>
> So, I hope you all will share a little bit about some of the opportunities
> for which you have submitted proposals.  One common factor some of you may
> share is the Imagination Fund.  What activities have you sponsored through
> these funds?  Would you be willing to share portions of your reports to
> educate others?  What evaluation tools have you implemented to measure
> output?  Are there any best practice models you cite in generating your
> proposals?  Have you experienced success in applying for some of the
> opportunities passed along by Everett and others that are not specifically
> blind-related?
>
> Mind you, I will also make my own contributions to the discussion.  For 
> now,
> I'm hoping to hear from you all, to find out about what has worked and 
> what
> requires improvement.  I realize not every chapter and/or affiliate is 
> going
> to utilize grants to generate funds, and I do not want to advance the 
> notion
> that we are only going to tackle proposals.  For now this seems as good of 
> a
> starting point as any other, and I hope you all benefit from what I am 
> sure
> will be an instructive exchange of ideas.  If you have previously shied 
> away
> from grants, perhaps this will be your nudge to begin considering it.
> Thanks, and I hope to hear from you all soon.
>
> Regards,
>
> Joe Orozco
>
> "I came, I saw, I conquered."--Julius Caesar
>
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