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Oh, Go Fund Yourself!
Raising Resources for
Your Work
An RCC Workshop
Rev. Bud Heckman
Executive Director
International Shinto Foundation

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What Do You Want to Learn?
Introductions & Let’s Discuss…
 How to write a grant to get some support to pay for your
communications/media work? To support staff? To enhance
professional development?
 How to approach or talk to a person at a foundation?
 What is most important? Where do you start?
 How to work with the development/fundraising staff in your
shop? What do you do when it is just you?
 How to look for money for yourself?
 What??

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Where I am coming from…
 Have worked for several national and international nonprofits
raising funds
 Have asked for gifts ranging from $5 to $2.5M dollars from
 Recently worked for three foundations in a row – Coexist
Foundation, The El-Hibri Foundation, and the International Shinto
Foundation overseeing gifts that range from $500 to $6M
 Led a capital campaign at Hartford Seminary and grew major gift
giving and HNWI giving at Religions for Peace from $600K to
$1.3M annually in three years
 Consult on fundraising in the field of interfaith cooperation
 Learned at the Foundation Center, the Support Center for
Nonprofit Management, Baruch College and on the job

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Funding Resources –
Where Do The $ Come From?
 Foundations
 Corporations (brand match is key, e.g., Avis: We Try Harder)
 Other Nonprofits (often overlooked, but…)
 Government Funders (the arduous path…)
 HNWIs and special cultivations
 Individual Donors (Direct Mail, Online, Crowdsourcing, Board
Members, Annual Appeals, etc.)
 Special Events (Gala, Telethon, Run/Walk, etc.)

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And individuals give the
majority of all nonprofit
funding… foundations
and corporations are a
sliver
Source: 2015 Giving USA Report

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Religion is a
huge sector
Source: 2015 Giving USA Report

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Giving overall is at a 60-year high and
religion, in particular, is a big high.
Average yearly increase is normally
only 3%. Past few years abnormally
high and unabated after 207-8 crash.

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Fundraising 101 – A Top Ten
1. If you don’t ask – you don’t get. Ask. You will be rejected. A lot. Get over it.
2. More specifically, the more you ask – the more you get.
3. But ask smartly – do your homework so that asks are nearer to “yes,” than “no.”
Ask well into a relationship.
4. 20% of your donors will give you 80% of your funding. Feed them!
5. Fundraising is: building and sustaining relationships, donor-centered, & mission-
guided. It follows strong ethical principles.
6. Start with articulating a case for support that is concise, believable, and shows
urgency. Write it. Refine it. Rewrite it. Get advice from “strangers.”
7. Use your board and contacts to get noticed and a conversation.
8. Ask open-ended questions and let your donor talk. God gave you two ears, one
mouth… follow that formula.
9. Say thank you promptly, formally and informally. Say it again. And again.
10. Data is king / queen. Record, track, and focus. Donors have long memories.

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The Key - Who Do You Know?
 Board (not givers? Add a fundraising leadership group)
 Staff
 Friends
 “Competitors” (don’t count it out! – use open source approach)
 Dumb Luck
Pass around a list of contacts (program officers and directors) of your
target list of foundations. Look for connections. Get past the “only pre-
selected applicants” barrier.

12. + Planning
and Priority
Setting
Write
Proposal
and Budget
Compile
List of
Potential
Sources
Initial Contact
a) appointment
b) permission
Submission
of Proposal
Appointment
a) establish rapport
b) increase
likelihood of
funding
c) discuss funding
priorities
Cultivation
a) Board networking
b) updates, progress reports
c) continual phone contact
Result
a) Grant
b) Wait
c) Rejection
85% will
take a call
from you
Only 10%
want a LOI
first now
60% will meet
with you as a
good effort or
due diligence
90% do not
have a
website!

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Where to find grant opportunities?
 Requests for Proposals (quite rare)
 Prospect Research (always necessary)
 Word of Mouth / Referral (quite promising)
 Previous Relationship (the best)
 Following e-news and social media feeds from consolidators
like the Foundation Center, Chronicle of Philanthropy, and key
foundations (promising)
 Dumb Luck (hey, “grace” happens)

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Letter of Inquiry, Common Grant
Application, or Full Proposal
 Introduction
 Brief Organization Description
 Statement of Need / Problem
 Unique Qualifying Character and Contributions
 Methodology and Key People Involved
 Current and Expected Funding, Request, and *Budget!*
 Measurable Outcomes
 Final Summary

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A Cover Letter
 Request your dollar amount and introduce your project in the
first sentence.
 Describe how your project and/or organization will further the
foundation's mission.
 Reference your most recent contact with the foundation – you
should have called, visited, been referred, or been invited.
 Give full contact details in case the funder wants additional
information.
 Signed by your organization's Executive Director

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The Foundation Directory Online

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Power Searching on Foundation
Directory Online

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An Alternative:
The Foundation Search America

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Organized Research and Tracking
 Shareable tracking of contacts and grants in Word, Excel,
SalesForce, or the like
 File set of 990s and 990PFs
 File set of Foundation Directory (or equivalent) profiles
 File set of foundation’s own data – annual report, guidelines,
website stories or information, notes from meetings, public
research data…. Go through the drawers at your local FC
library and ask the librarian for help with your A list folks
 Google and other prospect research finds, e.g., bio of
funder/founder, impact stories, transitions in staff/focus… learn
Google’s advanced search features...

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When you are looking… use
narrowing criteria to make a hit list
 Who Funds in My Geographic Region?
 Who Funds in My Area of Interest?
 Who Provides the Type of Support I Need?
 Who Has Funded Organizations Like Mine?
 Who Has Given Amounts in the Range I Need?
Make an A, B, and C List and keep simple notes on due dates,
policies, contacts with them, observations about their patterns,
and key connections under each funder. Share your list with staff
and board.

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Where to get help…
 The Foundation Center (www.foundationcenter.org)
 Association of Fundraising Professionals (www.afpnet.org)
 Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement
(www.aprahome.org)
 Council on Foundations (www.cof.org)
 Exponent Philanthropy (www.exponentphilanthropy.org)
 The Grantsmanship Center (www.tgci.com)
 New York Regional Association of Grantmakers (www.nyrag.com) or it’s
local equivalent
 Guidestar (www.guidestar.org)
 Giving USA Annual Report (www.givingusareports.org)
 The Chronicle of Philanthropy (www.philanthropy.com)
 Advanced search tools in Google