Grants Are Grand, But They Don't Heat the Office
Grants Are Grand, But They Don't Heat the Office
Jan. 31, 2006
By Ann Fritschner
If you're in development at a newer nonprofit, you might hear your board members say, "Go write some grants; get that big money," as though writing a few proposals will make your fundraising as successful as that of an older, more established organization. This can be especially frustrating when you're penning appeal letters, sending out press releases, writing and mailing the newsletter, cleaning the bathrooms, and generally trying to keep your head above water.
Grants are helpful and fairly easy to come by -- comparatively speaking -- when your organization is just starting out, or undertaking a new program or capital campaign. But don't get used to them. Grants shouldn't be the backbone -- the essence -- of your development plan. If they are, you'll soon find out how hard it is to make the transition to multi-level, integrated funding streams -- and how necessary.
Annual giving is defined as gifts made by individuals (primarily) that are (often) unrestricted and therefore to be used as decided by the board of directors. Larger in number and smaller in dollar size than capital gifts and endowment pledges, they often are a donor's "entry point" to your organization.
In a perfect world, the donor timeline works like this: A prospect sees your annual appeal, reads your newsletter or visits your Web site (all of which have the appropriate reply devices to encourage giving), and sends you a check or makes a contribution by credit card. Once this donor has given to your organization, it's highly likely (at least 75 percent) that he will give again in Year Two -- especially if you thank him well throughout the year and remind him in Appeal Two that he gave to Appeal One. In other words, you can count on these gifts year after year after year -- if you treat your donors right.
After a few years of giving in this manner, annual-giving donors become the basis for more complex and larger gifts during a capital or endowment campaign, and eventually they'll be ready to talk about planned giving.
But foundation funds don't commonly work like that. Foundations often want to give to support or start "programs"; they don't want to fund keeping the lights on, the heaters working and the rent paid.
Annual giving might not be as sexy as a huge bequest gift or a really big foundation grant, but it's essential to covering the day-to-day expenses that are what your organization's about. Your precious annual-giving donors are the ones who pay the staff and provide the space so your constituency can be served. It's important to treat these folks well, to try to get to know them personally, to find out why they gave you a gift in the first place, and what you or your organization will need to do or show in order for them to increase their gift.
Ann Fritschner, ACFRE is a lecturer and trainer for the Duke University Center for Nonprofit Management and her new book "Starting a Nonprofit: An Easy, Smart Guide" has just been published by Barnes and Noble. She is a consultant and coach for nonprofit organizations wanting to reach new donors, volunteers and supporters with her program "Raising Funds Effectively" and can be reached at afritschner@raisingfundseffectively.com.
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