Managing Grant Money
Jeff Anderson, of Oregon Community Foundation, says, “Don’t apply for a foundation grant unless you’re truly ready for the scrutiny of outsiders, regarding everything from your office’s appearance to the […]
Nonprofit Enterprise
For someone who’s spent 20 years trying to right the wrongs created by our economic system, I’ve come to a startling discovery: Commerce can be used to create social change. […]
Twelve Ways to Say “Thank You.”
My colleague Kim Klein, publisher of the Grassroots Fundraising Journal, once wrote an article, “Donors Are Not Water Faucets.” If you only contact your contributors to request money and ignore […]
Schmoozing 102: How to Meet Foundation Officers
In Schmoozing 101, in the last issue of Shelterforce, we discussed the value of developing strong, healthy relationships with grantmakers. Before turning to specific ways to meet foundation officers, here […]
Schmoozing 101: Developing Relationships with Foundation Officers
If you want to raise money through grant proposals, one of the most important things you can do is develop strong, peer-to-peer relationships with the decision makers. The value of […]
Everything I Know About Fundraising
In 1980, a few weeks after Ronald Reagan was elected President, I answered a classified ad in the Portland Oregonian. The first word was ACTIVIST. I can’t remember the rest […]
Why People (and Foundations) Give Away Their Money
A great deal of unnecessary mystery surrounds the process of philanthropy (a fancy word for “giving away money”). Dozens of books, articles, and sociological studies have analyzed the typical donor, […]
When in Doubt, Think
In the words of Gandhi, “If the cause is right, the means will come.” There are resources out there – in every community, however small and however poor. We need […]