Ideas That Might Work

An Honest Discussion about Fund

Development
 Disclosure
Fund Development Credentials
• OJT

• Made mistakes

• Had some help

• Work in progress
 Region 5 Needs Assessment

Directors Identified A Top Concern:

Fund Development

how to sustain the organization and operations

 Parent Center Characteristics
• No Development Director, or not a paid position
• ED with limited knowledge/experience in fund development
• Competitive environment- nonprofits seek help from same sources
• Boards of Directors:
– Program boards with limited nonprofit governance experience
– Lack knowledge of nonprofit financial management and development
– Nervous & apprehensive and assign responsibility to ED & staff
– “I didn’t join the board to raise money”
• One person: manage staff; administer programs, perform project
activities; work w/ BOD; write grants; prepare budgets, manage
finances, and lead successful development efforts to bring in revenue
from private sources.
• Executive Director understands the importance and seeks help:
“Just show me an example of what one center has been able to do”
 Learning Objectives
(Take- away)
• Boost confidence and knowledge, and
provide encouragement

• One idea that might work (where efforts

could be targeted) or an area where you
want to build capacity

• Improve communication with your Board

and staff on fund development issues
Hot Topics and Burning Questions
Issues Identification:

What would the short list of your top

concerns look like?
 What are the basics?
Fund Development is a strategy …..
part of creating a financially healthy organization
• Evaluate the Board’s priorities
• Assess your capacity. Identify organization’s ability to
generate unrestricted revenue
• “Learn by doing” but evaluate results
• Know when and where to seek help
• Commit to a long-term process
 Fund Development is part of a
successful financial strategy
You are doing several key parts of fund development:
• Careful use of resources
• Careful budgeting and financial management
• Writing successful grant proposals
What else? Evaluate financial condition
Seven measures:
• Secure financial condition, balanced budget
• Access to cash in emergencies (line of credit)
• Annual audit with no findings
• Diversify funding (reduce risk)
• Build capacity in fund development
• Create a cash reserve > 30% of annual budget
• Establish an endowment fund
 Evaluate Board’s Priorities
Why were you hired?
• Are fund development duties explicit or implied?
• Does job description include substantial detail about fund
development responsibilities? (explicit)
• Is the board setting fund-raising goals for you to achieve as part
of your annual review? (explicit)
• Does your performance evaluation include a measurement of
your fund development outcomes? (explicit)
• Question: If yes, how is this supported? (no grants)
 Are you ready?
Evaluating the organization’s capacity
Key Questions:
• What is our most pressing need?
If a donor wanted to write a check, how would you describe your
most pressing need?

• How do we describe that need in terms of our

mission to serve families?
• Who is most likely to want to meet that need?
• How do we provide compelling evidence that we
effectively meet the needs of families?
 Are you ready?
• How often do we communicate our message
(meeting the needs of families) to donors and potential
donors?

• What form does that communication take?

• What other methods will increase communication and
contact with donors and potential donors?
• What kind of infrastructure and support is needed for
donor contact and relationship building?
• KEY: Does your Board budget their annual giving as
revenue for the organization?
 Learn by doing
IDEAS: “That might work” Intentional AND Opportunistic
Annual Mailing Campaign ($10-20,000)
• Staff and volunteer project
• 5,000+ letters to people we know
• Stories, quotes, pictures about what we know best

Prize Drawing – Silent Auction ($22,000)

SWA Sea World vacation pkg. for 4 (air travel, hotel, rental car)
• $20 dollar ticket for Prize Drawing, Silent Auction and Reception
• Administrative Process Key
• Relationships – Former Board President, Current BOD President,
Advisory Council Member with Southwest Airlines
• Cost: Printing tickets, staff time (donated venue, food, drink, prizes)
 Learn by doing
IDEAS: “That might work” Intentional AND Opportunistic
Law Firm ($30,000 3 yrs)
• Relationships – Board member, parent/ partner in firm
Arizona Business Bank: Biz Bash ($235,000 2 yrs)
• Relationships – Member of Advisory Council
Dandelion Golf Classic ($80,000 2 yrs)
• Relationships – Arizona Business Bank: Biz Bash
Individual Donors ($25,000 annual)
• Relationships – Donor cultivation, contacts, personal calls, letters,
and updates
“Pennies from Heaven:” Ricky Riggs Foundation ($5,000 one time)
• Relationships – Grateful Parent
 Evaluate: What works
• Evaluate results – bang for the buck: ROI
• Monitor progress and talk about results
• Celebrate success and keep moving…
IDEAS: “That Didn’t Work”
Drive a Thon ($ 1,800)
Baseball Ticket Sales ($ 1,475)

Common Characteristic: Working hard for

someone else
 Development: Long Term
KEYS POINTS
1. Board President and Executive Director

• Share a common goal and commitment

• Good relationship: Work well together
• ED/President demonstrate leadership and provide direction to ensure staff and Board
understand their roles (Handout)
• Identify what is needed and ask for it
 Development: Long Term
2. Relationship Management: Can’t do it
alone – Not about money
• It’s about mission and relationships -
everyone’s responsibility
• Public relations – contacts and colleagues
• Develop an awareness of what your
organization does and it’s achievements
• Name, materials, communication pieces
 Development: Long Term
3. Board Development

• Continuing agenda item for discussion

• Bring in expertise for board education

• Advisory Council may expand contacts and network, develop
future Board members, and keep former Board members engaged.
 Development: Long Term
4. Set Goals
• Identify fund raising goal in the annual
budget ( $XX revenue, $XX of expense)

• Start small: develop an idea and design

a plan to achieve the goal – stay focused

• Create conditions for success –

build confidence
 One Story
Once upon a time….
• Six figure deficit
• Board with no development experience
• No infrastructure support
• Lack of goals, direction, and leadership
 Sometimes there’s a happy ending…

• Unrestricted revenue- substantial increase

• Cash reserve > 30% of annual budget
• Board sets annual fund raising goal
• Board includes their personal giving as a source
of annual revenue in the budget
• Some individual donors make large contributions
• Some business partnerships created
 Conclusion
Successful Fund Development Requires
• Leadership at the executive level
• Good analysis of efforts and results
• Commitment to building relationships: a
long-term process and not an event
• Take advantage of opportunities, but
create some, too.
• Know when and where to seek help
 Resources

• GiftWorks info@missionresearch.com Donor database for fund

development. Training on the software is critical. About $400 year for the
license, includes 24 hr phone support, and 5 workshops. Can be
customized; tracks relationships

• Board Café: Archives

http://www.compasspoint.org/boardcafe/archives.php

• The Handbook of Nonprofit Governance, BoardSource,

Jossey- Bass (2010)

• Development strategies: www.Benevon.com See if it looks

interesting. Includes a short video worth watching. They offer training, too.

• Questions: Joyce Millard Hoie, joycem@raisingspecialkids.org

(602) 242-4366