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Grant opportunities

Links you to funders who invite you to submit grant applications. Icons indicate geographical area of interest.

Open Society Institute Invites Proposals for Human Rights and Governance Grants Program

Category: Human Rights
Available from: Open Society Institute
Deadline: Rolling

The Open Society Institute's Human Rights and Governance Grants Program (HRGGP) seeks proposals from national and international organizations to advance government accountability in Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, and Mongolia. HRGGP will support efforts to promote public participation in and oversight of governmental activity, including in the delivery of services, at both the national and local levels.

Funding will be provided in the following three areas to national and international non-governmental organizations to monitor public administration and to curb corrupt behavior by state authorities.

1) Access to information: HRGGP will consider projects that assess the quality of freedom of information laws and ensure implementation. HRGGP also welcomeS litigation programs that challenge narrow interpretations of and failures to implement the law.

2) Fiscal transparency and abuse of state resources: HRGGP will provide support to NGOs to monitor the budget and expenditure process at the national and local government levels.

3) Transparency in governmental decision-making: HRGGP will support projects that make governmental debate and decisions public, especially efforts to promote the adoption and implementation of whistle-blowing protections. HRGGP also WILL support efforts to eliminate criminal defamation and libel laws and to limit the use of civil libel suits as a means of preventing meaningful public scrutiny.

See the Open Society Institute Web site for complete program information and contact details.

Strengthening institutional capacities in higher education

Category: Education | Environment | Health | Human Rights | Social and
Human Services |Tech Dev & Science
Available from: OEAD - Austrian Development Corporation
Deadline: 31st December 2011

The objective of Appear is to strengthen institutional capacities in higher education,
research and management in the key regions of the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) through academic partnerships with Austrian academic institutions and Master's and PhD Programmes as a contribution to sustainable reduction of poverty. Appear wants to encourage researchers, professionals and academic institutions in the addressed countries and in Austria to share their knowledge and experiences, to design innovative projects targeting the general objective described above and to improve the overall standards in higher education, research and management. All proposed activities are expected to be related to the thematic focus of Appear: higher education and research for development; water supply and sanitation, rural development, energy, private sector development, governance and human rights; poverty reduction, environment and natural resources, peace building and conflct prevention, gender equality; Strengthening of skills in social sciences as an instrument to systematically analyze the reasons of poverty and to empower capacities in social science research. Eligible countries are: Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Bhutan, Nepal, and the Palestinian Territories.

Fostering community-based conservation of landscapes and seascapes

Category: Community | Education | Environment | Media & Arts | Social & Human Services
Available from: New England Biolabs Foundation
Deadline: 15th February 2012

The New England Biolabs Foundation (NEBF) is a private, independent foundation whose mission is to foster community-based conservation of landscapes and seascapes and the bio-cultural diversity found in these places. Working internationally in selected countries of Central America, South America and West Africa, as well as locally (the north shore of Massachusetts), the Foundation supports primarily grassroots organizations with an emphasis on the following priorities: Conservation of biological diversity; Sustaining cultural diversity (linguistic diversity, as well as traditional knowledge systems and practices); Maintaining ecosystem services (water, soil, carbon sequestration); Supporting food security and economic vitality of local communities; and In the marine environment –sustaining healthy reefs and support of sustainable fisheries.

Grant Activity

Identifies funders who make cross border grants and gives examples of actual funding. Icons indicate the area of the world that the grant awarded will fund.

Soros Pledges $27.4 Million to Aid Development
in Rural Africa

Category: International Affairs | Development
Grant Amount: $27,400,000
Grant made to: Millennium Villages Project
Grant made from: Open Society Foundations

George Soros and the Open Society Foundations have pledged $27.4 million to the Millennium Villages Project to boost development in villages across rural sub-Saharan Africa, the Associated Press reports.

Soros, the founder and chairman of the Open Society Foundations, also pledged up to $20 million in loans to support business projects within the targeted villages over the next five years. In 2006, Soros made a five-year, $50 million pledge to the project despite opposition from OSF board members.

The flagship initiative of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, MVP aims to help five hundred thousand people in ten African countries achieve, by 2015, the eight development goals established by the United Nations in 2000. The MDG goals include reducing extreme poverty by half, eliminating gender disparity in primary and secondary education, reducing child mortality by two-thirds, reducing maternal mortality by two-thirds, and halting and beginning to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Millennium Villages Project | Open Society Foundations

“Soros Giving $27.4 Million to Village Project.”Associated Press

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Howard G. Buffett Foundation Awards $2.4 Million to World Food Programme

Category: Food | Development
Grant Amount: $2,400,000
Grant made to: UN World Food Programme
Grant made from: Buffett Foundation

The Howard G. Buffett Foundation has announced a two-year, $2.4 million grant to the UN World Food Programme in support of a program that assists Honduran farmers.

The grant will enable WFP to scale up its five-year Purchase for Progress (P4P) program, which teaches smallholder farmers in Honduras how to reduce post-harvest losses and increase productivity and yields. It also will be used to build the capacity of farmers' organizations and promote opportunities for smallholders to sell to commodity buyers from the private sector, government institutions, and nongovernmental organizations, which in turn will enable them to increase their incomes and gain the skills needed to engage in formal markets on a more regular basis.

Launched in 2008 with support from the Buffett Foundation and other donors, P4P aims to help more than 500,000 smallholder farmers in twenty-one countries gain access to markets where they can sell surplus crops at competitive prices and contribute to the local economy. Approximately eight thousand farmers will benefit from the foundation's most recent commitment.

“New Commitment by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation Enables 8,000 Smallholder Farmers in Honduras to Enter Marketplace and Escape Poverty.” Howard G. Buffett Foundation Press Release

Howard G. Buffett Foundation | UN World Food Programme

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Coca-Cola Foundation Awards $1 Million to Turkish Red Crescent Society

Category: Disaster Relief
Grant Amount: $1,000,000
Grant made to: Turkish Red Crescent Society
Grant made from: The Coca-Cola Foundation

The Coca-Cola Foundation has announced a $1 million gift to the Turkish Red Crescent Society for emergency relief efforts in the eastern part of the country, which was struck by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake over the weekend.

The gift will enable the Turkish Red Crescent Society to provide immediate relief efforts to survivors in Van and Ercis and help rebuild elementary schools that were destroyed by the quake and its aftershocks. The company also announced that its bottling partner in Turkey, Coca-Cola Içecek, has shipped several tractor-trailers of bottled water for distribution in the affected areas, and that local employees in Van have launched a fundraising campaign in support of the Red Crescent.

The death toll from the quake has risen to more than 460, BBC News reports, and aid agencies working in the affected areas are warning that "hundreds, possibly thousands" of people remain trapped under toppled buildings. In response, several donor nations have stepped up with assistance. They include Japan, which committed $400,000 to support relief and recovery efforts, and Israel, which pledged to send mobile homes to help house those displaced by the disaster.

“The Coca-Cola System Donates $1 Million USD for Earthquake Relief in Eastern Turkey.” Coca-Cola Company

“Turkey Earthquake: Government Will Accept Foreign Aid.” BBC News

Coca-Cola Foundation | Turkish Red Crescent Society

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READ Global Receives $4.7 Million from Gates Foundation

Category: International Affairs | Education
Grant Amount: $4,700,000
Grant made to: Rural Education and Development (READ)
Grant made from: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Rural Education and Development (READ) Global has announced a three-year, $4.7 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to strengthen the organization's capacity for growth in India, Nepal, and Bhutan.

With thirty new READ Community Library and Resource Centers slated for construction over the next five years, the grant will help the San Francisco-based organization scale up its sustainable development and empowerment work in rural South Asian communities. In particular, the funding will support efforts to expand information communications technology at READ Centers in the region, develop higher-income-generating business models for community enterprises based at the centers, and create a pilot "hub and satellite" READ Center model that enables the organization to expand to additional communities.

"The READ Global model demonstrates the positive impact that libraries are having on people's lives in the developing world. Community owned and managed READ Centers are allowing rural villagers to gain literacy skills, access important health information, and improve their livelihoods," said Gates Foundation Global Libraries initiative director Deborah Jacobs. "We are thrilled to partner with an organization that is changing lives and transforming entire communities through libraries."

“READ Global Receives $4.7M Grant From the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.” READ Global Press Release

Rural Education and Development | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

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Procter & Gamble Makes Commitment at Clinton Global Initiative

Category: Sanitation / Hygiene | Development
Grant Amount: $3,000,000
Grant made to: Various
Grant made from: Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble has announced a $3 million commitment to provide clean drinking water to more than two million people in the Horn of Africa through its Children's Safe Drinking Water Program.

Announced at the seventh annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting, the global consumer goods giant aims to prevent more than ten million days of illness in the region, which, according to the United Nations, currently faces the most urgent humanitarian crisis on the planet. In partnership with PSI (Population Services International), Save the Children, CARE AmeriCares, Action Against Hunger, GlobalMedic, and others, P&G will provide thirty-one million of its water purification packets to people in the region, resulting in more than 300 million liters of clean drinking water.

The announcement coincided with other commitments to provide developing countries with access to safe drinking, water, sanitation, and hygiene made at the annual CGI meeting. They included a commitment by World Vision to assist 2.2 million drought-affected children and their families in the Horn of Africa and a pledge by the International Medical Corps to help more than eleven million people in East Africa by providing integrated health, water, sanitation, and hygiene solutions. Through P&G's Children's Safe Drinking Water program, Target also committed to provide one million days of safe drinking water, while the U.S. Agency for International Development pledged to provide clean water to one million people living with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Procter & Gamble Makes Commitment at Clinton Global Initiative to Provide 2 Million People With Clean Drinking Water in East Africa.” Procter & Gamble Company Press Release

Procter & Gamble | Children's Safe Drinking Water Program.

View this Grantmaker profile on Grantmakers Online. A unique social networking tool for non-profits.

United Nations Foundation Announces $30m Commitment From Saudi Arabia to Eradicate Polio

Category: Health
Grant Amount: $15,000,000
Grant made to: Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI)
Grant made from: United Nations Foundation

The United Nations Foundation has announced that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has delivered $15 million of a $30 million commitment to support the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).

The funds will be used this year by UNICEF to purchase polio vaccines and by the World Health Organization to support its campaign operations. The rest of the $30 million will be delivered next year. Countries benefiting from the funds include several members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, including Yemen, Somalia, and Sudan.

While polio, which mainly affects children under the age of five, remains endemic in four countries — Nigeria, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan — more than twenty countries are affected by the spread of the wild polio virus. Several regions, including areas of Russia, China, and the Central Asian republics, also have seen a resurgence of the disease in recent years.

"The fight against polio is a global challenge for all of us," said UNICEF executive director Anthony Lake. "Its defeat will be a ringing victory for all of humanity — marking only the second time in history a disease has been eradicated. With this generous donation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia we move closer to achieving this goal, and to saving millions of people from the threat of this crippling disease."

“Saudi Arabia Gives $30 Million Toward Polio Eradication Efforts.”United Nations Foundation Press Release

United Nations Foundation | Global Polio Eradication Initiative

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Ask an Expert

Insider tips from people in the know about philanthropy

Starting a nonprofit the smart way

Starting a US nonprofit? Think carefully, then be realistic.

Have you ever considered starting a nonprofit organization?

You might be passionate about mentoring teenagers, providing transportation for the elderly, or establishing a community artists studio.

You may have volunteer or career experience in your mission, and you believe you have the management skills to guide your organization.

According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics there are more than 1.6 million nonprofits organizations in the U.S.

But recently the IRS has revoked the tax-exempt status of a record number of these organizations — more than 275,000 as of June 2011.

Why are there so many revocations?

Most revocations have been caused by an organization's failure, for three or more consecutive years, to file a return or notice as required by 2007 legislation.

Many of these organizations were started by people with the best of intentions, but they may not have understood that organizing and managing a nonprofit can be even more complex than running a for-profit business.

It's wise to understand this complexity and test your organization's viability before incurring start-up costs.

Federal filing fees range from $300 to $850, and your state may require additional filings and fees.

Add accountant's, consultant's, or attorney's fees in completing the application process, and the initial cost of starting a 501(c)(3) may exceed several thousand dollars.

But all this doesn't mean you should abandon plans to create a charity whose mission can improve a community or the lives of people it serves.

Instead, why not consider "testing" the viability of your NPO by seeking fiscal sponsorship by an existing tax-exempt organization?

A fiscal sponsorship may be appropriate while a new organization is waiting for the IRS to grant exempt status.

Once an application has been filed, it may take six months or up to a year or more for the IRS to grant the exemption.

Fiscal sponsorship may even be the ultimate solution, eliminating the need to file for independent 501(c)(3) status.

An example is when the sponsored organization's mission is a relatively short-term project or when a small, narrowly focused program would benefit from the administrative resources of a larger organization.

In order for the sponsored organization to raise tax-deductible contributions, the IRS requires that the organization acting as sponsor have "complete discretion and control" over the funds raised.

The sponsor also is responsible for ensuring that the funds are used for a project or program that furthers its own tax-exempt purpose.

Additional benefits of this arrangement may include:
1) gaining credibility by establishing a relationship with a respected, sponsoring organization;
2) having access to the experience and management skills of an established organization; and
3) being able to focus on the heart of your program while someone else manages the funds and required reporting.

Before approaching an organization with a request for fiscal sponsorship, be certain you have a well thought-out plan.

In fact, you should have a "business plan" that clearly sets forth the mission of your program, your expertise or knowledge, a budget, including revenue sources, plan for sustainability, and, most important, the need for the program.

Source: Herald Times Reporter

Resources

Dates for your diary plus other interesting bits and bobs that can help you. Here's what has captured our attention this month.

Skip to Resources:
Training & Events
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Research & Reports
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Books, Blogs & Websites

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Training & Events

Awards, Conferences, Seminars & Webinars. Icons indicate the area of the world the event is being held
(Seminars / Workshops etc) OR what countries are entitled to apply (Awards)

Sustainable Funding Masterclass

Wednesday 2nd November 2011, Time: 9:00am - 4:00pm GMT
Venue: The Wheel, 48 Fleet Street, Dublin 2, Ireland

Creating unrestricted income for nonprofits through Social Enterprises

Revenue diversification is a necessary condition for fulfilling a charity’s mission. Creating charity-owned social enterprises have been proven to generate unrestricted funding for a voluntary group, while fulfilling mission.

Learning Outcomes:

Understanding the changing fundraising market place including traditional approaches to fundraising, social investment, shifts in language, and expectations related to performance management - outcomes, impact, social return on investment.

Introducing participants to the best practices, successes and failures, opportunities and constraints in the field of charities creating social enterprises.

Providing participants with the tools and conceptual framework to create social enterprises.

Outlining ways to get organisationally ready for inward investment/funding.

Stimulating and reinforcing creative social entrepreneurial thinking amongst participants.

Providing a safe environment to create and apply new approaches to sustainable practices within the participant’s organisation.

Sharing and learning from each other using peer to peer networking and mutual support approaches.

Event Cost: €130 For Members / €180 for Non-members

[More information / Book a place]

Winning Major Gifts

Dates: 2 Day Course 3rd - 4th November, 2011 | Time: See Website
Venue: Charity Centre, 24 Stephenson Way, London NW1 2DP, England
Hosted by the Directory of Social Change

Aims
To equip participants with an understanding of the concepts, methodology, skills and resources used in major donor fundraising. Discover how to maximise the potential of major gift fundraising.

For
Anyone new to major donor fundraising or those wanting to learn more about the principles and methods applied.

Learning Outcomes
Understand the general principles of major donor fundraising and the activities and resources needed to support it
How to assess your organisation’s readiness for a major donor fundraising programme

Content - Context - the external and internal landscape
- Defining a major gift, major donor, major donor fundraising and what motivates major donors
- Considering your Case for Support
- Understanding the key phases of a major gift plan:
- Prospecting, Cultivation, Solicitation, Stewardship
- Finding your major donors and cultivating relationships
- Making the ask - techniques to support solicitation
- The principles and value of good stewardship
- Resources for Winning Major Gifts
- Feasibility check and next steps for your organisation

Costs start at £285.00

[More information / Book a place]

American Foundation Research – Researching US Foundations, a practical approach.

Helping you to meet your fundraising targets!
This workshop, which has been profited and enjoyed by over 60 organizations over the last two years, is aimed at anyone wishing to explore the multi-million dollar funding opportunities represented by the 100,000+ US Grantmaking Foundations.

The workshop includes:

- 3 hours plus of supervised individual research time at a dedicated terminal using the most comprehensive and flexible American Foundation Research Database available;

- An overview of what you need to know to maximise your chance of success when applying to US Grantmaking Foundations.

Duration: 7 hours
Cost: £201.25 + VAT Early Bird Discount Price: £175.00 + VAT
(inc. Lunch & Refreshments)
Venue: Intuition House, London, SE1 1JX, UK
Workshop presenter: Peter Haley

BOOK TODAY
Wednesday 30th November 2011 - [Click here]

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Research & Reports

Gates Foundation HIV Prevention Initiative In India Shows Mixed Progress

According to a preliminary analysis published in the UK-based Lancet, a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation initiative to reduce HIV transmissions in India may have prevented more than 100,000 new infections over a five-year period, the Associated Press reports.

The foundation's Avahan initiative, which was funded to the tune of $258 million between 2003 and 2008 and received an additional $80 million in 2009, targets high-risk groups such as female sex workers and their clients, truck drivers, men who have sex with men, and intravenous drug-users. The program focuses on a variety of preventative measures, including educational campaigns, needle exchanges, safe-sex counseling, and free condom distribution.

Despite encouraging progress, the authors of the report, led by Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation fellow Marie Ng, noted that results were mixed across the six states targeted by the initiative and found that data and methodology limitations prevented the impact of the program from being fully understood. Reductions in HIV prevalence were most evident in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, with Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu showing more modest reductions and the small northeastern states of Manipur and Nagaland showing no improvement at all.

“Study Suggests $258 Million HIV Program May Have Prevented Some 100,000 Infections in India.” Associated Press

[Read more] Source: Medscape News

Nonprofits Optimistic Heading Into 2012, Survey Finds

Despite global economic uncertainty, nonprofit leaders around the world report a growing sense of optimism regarding increases in staffing and earned and charitable income in 2012, a new survey by fundraising software provider Blackbaudfinds.

Based on responses from approximately 2,200 nonprofit leaders in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, India, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the 2011 State of the Nonprofit Industry Survey (33 pages, PDF) found that organizations continue to leverage traditional channels of communication and fundraising even as they are expanding their use of new interactive channels. More than half the organizations surveyed raise funds online, and in most countries the percentage raising funds online increased between 2010 and 2011.

The report also found that while nonprofits around the world said that managing relationships with supporters, recruiting new donors, and reporting their accomplishments are critical to growth, most indicated they thought they were not doing enough.

“Despite Global Economic Uncertainty, Nonprofits Are Optimistic Heading Into 2012.” Blackbaud Press Release

[Read More] Source: Blackbaud

Steve Jobs Found Much to Dislike About Philanthropy

Steve Jobs wasn’t simply too busy for philanthropy. The Apple co-founder found many things about professional philanthropy—the jargon, showiness, and all the rich people who thought they could shake it up—distasteful.

In his new biography, titled Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson explains why the technology pioneer quickly abandoned the foundation he started in the mid-1980s.

“He discovered that it was annoying to have to deal with the person he had hired to run it, who kept talking about ‘venture’ philanthropy and how to ‘leverage’ giving,” the book says.

In an interview with The New York Times, Mark Vermilion, whom Mr. Jobs reportedly hired away from Apple to run the foundation, describes the philanthropy’s brief run a little differently. “He clearly didn’t have the time,” Mr. Vermilion told the newspaper.

He said that Mr. Jobs wanted to support projects focused on nutrition and vegetarianism, while Mr. Vermilion wanted him to promote social entrepreneurs. “I don’t know if it was my inability to get him excited about it,” he told The Times. “I can’t criticize Steve.”

Mr. Isaacson writes that Mr. Jobs was “contemptuous of people who made a display of philanthropy or thinking they could reinvent it.”

Even his wife’s charitable work didn’t convince Mr. Jobs of philanthropy’s value. Early in his marriage to Laurene Powell Jobs, a former Goldman Sachs employee, she helped to start the education nonprofit College Track. Mr. Jobs said he was “impressed” with her nonprofit work.

But Mr. Isaacson writes that he still remained “generally dismissive of philanthropic endeavors and never visited her after-school centers.”

He seemed to care more about how Apple technology could help nonprofits than donating his Apple profits to them. For example, Mr. Jobs once gave $5,000 to Larry Brilliant’s Seva Foundation. But he wasn’t more forthcoming.

“He instead worked on finding ways that a donated Apple II and a VisiCal program could make it easier for the foundation to do a survey it was planning on blindness in Nepal,” writes Mr. Jobs’s biographer.

Source: Chronicle of Philanthropy

RELATED: Jobs says Bill Gates "unimaginative" - biography - [VIEW] Source: Reuters

UK charities raise record £72m for East Africa

British aid agencies have raised £72 million for drought victims in East Africa, the highest total ever for a food crisis.

The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) launched an appeal in July after Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and the Republic of South Sudan suffered one of the worst droughts in 60 years.

One hundred days since the appeal's launch, the total raised is the third largest in the charity's 45-year history.

More money has only been raised by the tsunami earthquake appeal of December 2004 (£390 million) and Haiti earthquake of January 2010 (£107 million), the charity said.

It is also the largest total for any African appeal, and the highest for one where conflict was a principle cause of a disaster.

The disaster left more than 12 million people in need of food, water and emergency healthcare.

The DEC, which comprises 14 British aid agencies, said it has helped nine million people receive aid in East Africa - but it said there are still "significant shortfalls" in the delivery of aid.

There is a shortage of funds, particularly from sources outside the UK, and problems of insecurity and limited access in the worst affected areas of Somalia.

Some affected areas of Kenya and Ethiopia are seeing the first signs of improvement, the charity said. Increasing amounts of aid are getting through, harvests are being reaped in many areas and rains are making more pasture available for surviving livestock.

But the charity warned that many people in these areas still need emergency support in the short term, as well as longer term aid in the coming years to rebuild their livelihoods.

Independent UK foundations give nine per cent of grants to international development

According to Cass Business School report, they gave £290m out of about £3bn to international development causes in 2009/10

Nine per cent of all spending by independent foundations in the UK went to international development causes in 2009/10, according to new research by Cass Business School.

Global Grantmaking: A Review of UK Foundations' Funding for International Development, which will be published in November, analyses the spending of 90 independent UK foundations that gave more than £50,000 each to international development and related causes in 2009/10.

Their overall charitable spending accounted for 74 per cent of the spending of all independent UK foundations.

The report says that independent foundations gave £290m to international development and related causes in 2009/10. This was 9 per cent of the spending of all independent UK foundations, which spent just over £3bn each year in grants.

It says that 37 per cent of foundations funded causes in Africa, the highest proportion, followed by Asia with 23 per cent and the Americas with 13 per cent.

No comparable figures for previous years are available.

Cathy Pharoah, author of the report, said its findings showed that UK foundations were playing an increasing role in shaping civil society in developing countries.

"But the research highlights the big questions facing independent foundations too – how much of their relatively limited resources should be devoted to international need?" she said. "What is their role within the bigger picture of governmental and private aid to developing countries?"

Source: Third Sector.com

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Books, Blogs, Social Networking & Websites

Social media is becoming essential to charity fundraising

Social media is becoming an essential part of charity fundraising, according to a paper from the Institute for Philanthropy.

Philanthropy and Social Media gives advice to charities and funders on how to use social media for activities including fundraising, connecting with supporters and delivering their services.

It says social media is beoming increasingly important in driving donations. "There are organisations, groups and individuals who are using these tools to great effect," the report says. "Some have completely revolutionised their work by using social media.

"Social media campaigns can direct existing supporters to online and mobile giving portals, or encourage people to donate via text."

But it warns charities to make sure they show people exactly how they can donate once a relationship has been built with them. "Every barrier means money lost, so the path from conversation to donation must be as smooth and intuitive as possible," it says.

The paper argues that social media can help charities feed information from the front line to supporters, share knowledge with communities and other organisations, reach isolated groups and provide charities with feedback.

"Service providers should already be taking advantage of the opportunities to hear feedback from their beneficiaries provided by digital tools, and at the very least should not be ignoring conversations that are already taking place," it says.

Social media can be particularly useful to smaller charities because of the low costs involved, according to the report.
Online models provide more cost-effective ways to reach scale because, unlike offline interactions, the costs of inputs are not directly related to the potential number of people you can reach," it says.

{Read more] (PDF) Source: Institute of Philanthropy

Financing Not Fundraising: 5 Lies to Stop Telling Donors

In part 11 of our ongoing blog series, Financing Not Fundraising, we are talking about being brutally honest with your donors. If nonprofits are going to truly break free from the vicious fundraising cycle, they must find the courage to tell funders how it really is. And since board members are a nonprofit’s closest supporters and (I hope) donors, you need to stop telling them these lies as well.

If you are new to our Financing Not Fundraising blog series, the series is about how nonprofits must break out of the narrow view that traditional FUNDRAISING (individual donor appeals, events, foundation grants) will completely fund all of their activities. Instead, they must create a broader, more strategic approach to securing the overall FINANCING necessary to create social change. You can read the entire series here.

And, if you want to learn more about how to apply the concepts of Financing Not Fundraising to your nonprofit, join us for our Financing Not Fundraising webinar on November 9th, 2011.

If you want to break free of the exhausting cycle of fundraising, a key step is to start being brutally honest with funders. Here are the top 5 lies you have to stop telling donors:

1. X% of your donation goes to the program
The distinction between “program expenses” and “overhead” is, at best, meaningless and, at worst, destructive. You cannot have a program without staff, technology, space, systems, evaluation, research and development. It is magical thinking to say that you can separate money spent on programs from money spent on the support of programs. Donors need to understand, and you need to explain to them, that “overhead” is not a dirty word. A nonprofit exists to deliver programs. And everything the organization does helps to make those programs better, stronger, bigger, more effective.
2. We can do the same program with less money
No you can’t. You know you can’t. You are already scraping by. Don’t accept a check from a donor who wants all the bells and whistles you explained in your pitch, but at a lower cost. Explain the true costs, including administrative costs, of getting results. Politely, but firmly, explain to them that an inferior investment will yield an inferior result. If they simply can’t afford the price tag, then encourage them to find fellow funders to co-invest with.
3. We can start a new program that doesn’t fit with our mission or strategy
Yes that big, fat check a donor is holding in front of you looks very appealing. But if it takes your organization in a different direction than your strategy or your core competencies require, accepting it is a huge mistake. Nonprofits must constantly ensure that money and mission are aligned. Otherwise the organization will be scattered in countless directions with an exhausted staff and confused donor base. Don’t let a donor take you down that road.

[Read more] Source: Social Velocity Blog

Email Alert Service: European Grants Update Service

Directory of American Grantmakers

The EU Grant Proposals Update Service is the most efficient way to obtain the full range of information available on the latest calls for grant proposals for Members of the EU.

We will regularly email you our “EU Grants Proposals – Alert” which will include a link to the following information:

Call for grant application
Grant objectives, current priorities etc.
Grant deadlines
Grant rates
Application timetable
Contact names and address
Partnership requirements
Application forms
Guidance notes

Subscription for this service includes updates (at least 1 per month) for 12 months and costs £25.00

Each European Grant update contains an HTML attachment that takes you directly to the latest call for grant proposals.

EMAIL ALERT SERVICE | £25.00 | BUY

Wikileaks stops leaking & starts fundraising

Due to the excessive costs of various lawsuits and the problems of a blockcade by nearly all large credit cards, WikiLeaks has stopped leaking and is diverting all power to shields aggressive fundraising in order to get enough money to fight the credit card companies in court. Bank of America, VISA, MasterCard, PayPal and Western Union all refused to accept donations for WikiLeaks on December 7th of 2010 and the situation has reached a particularly dire point.

While it seems that the companies engaged in the blockade have gotten what they’ve wanted, WikiLeaks doesn’t look like it’ll be going down easy. The site is not shutting down and is, instead, fundraising like crazy. On every page a “donate” window pops up and upon clicking the donate button, users are provided with several walkthroughs explaining exactly how they can donate so that the money actually gets to WikiLeaks.

Things do not look particularly good for WikiLeaks, but I think that this battle is far from over. If the resulting press from this announcement drives enough supporters to donate, WikiLeaks could very well manage to win in court if there are, in fact, no lawful grounds for this blockade as the site claims.

[Read more] Source: The Telegraph

Compelling tool to identify potential US foundation funders

Multi-million dollar funding opportunities at your fingertips

Updated daily, FoundationSearch, an American Foundation Research database,includes more than 120,000 US grant making foundations, representing billions of dollars in annual granting and includes tools to locate grants by type, value, year, recipient, donor and historical giving trends, and much, much more.

FoundationSearch is in our opinion the best database of its kind in the world. It provides more accurate, accessible information than any other comparable database and its unique features enable you to appreciably reduce expensive research time, make your choices significantly better informed, and considerably improve your chances of success.

If you would like to learn more about FoundationSearch or are interested in a free online demonstration please contact research@chapel-york.com for details and costs or visit Chapel-york online

[More information]

Broadcast Area, Top Links, About G&R

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Grant Opportunities

During the course of our work we identify many funding opportunities which we know will be of interest and benefit to others.. This is why we have introduced our free Grant Opportunities alert service.

Every time we identify a new opportunity to make an application for funds, or a new cross border grant, or a useful, interesting charity resource relating to our chosen categories (14 in total), we will email you details. There is no charge. [View Example]

Our 14 categories are:

Children & Youth, Community, Disability, Education, Environment , Health , Human Rights, Media & Arts, Medical Research, NGO Capacity Building, Human Services, Spirituality & Religion, Sport, Technological & Science

**Update**
Chapel & York are changing the format of Grant Opportunites. Rather than receiving an email for each of your interest areas you will in future receive only one email listing all the opportunities we have identified. Each opportunity will include the interest areas to which they refer enabling you to quickly identify those that may be of interest.

If you would like to start receiving Grant Opportunities then please sign up here. For further information please contact our Head of Research, Peter Haley on +44 1342 871913 or email here

Clients in the news

Chapel & York is proud of the amazing things its clients achieve and is enthusiastic to tell everyone when they are in the news. Clients in the News uses our email broadcast system to promote our clients by linking the publicity they have received in the media.

If you would like us to feature your organization please tell our Head of Communications, Barbara Davidson, on +44 1342 871910 or email here

Missed the Last Edition of G&R?

September '11 - Grant Opportunities & Grant Activity items from all over the world helping you find possible sources of funding covering a vast array of giving interest areas | Ask the Expert: Charity Leaders’ Exchange | American Foundation Research – Researching US Foundations | How Sept. 11 changed charity in America | The Forbes 400: The Ten Biggest Gifts since 2010 | 17 Tips for Better Fundraising Emails....and much, much more! View G&R September here

The Top 5 Most Viewed Items in G&R September 2011

7 Tips for Better Fundraising Emails

Email marketing represents a critical component of online fundraising. In fact, in spite of the social era or perhaps because of it, more email is being generated. A growing minority of emails are read and responded to on mobile devices now. Contacting friends and supporters who may back your fundraiser via email cannot be overlooked.

For most nonprofits, email has been and remains the heart and soul of their online strategies. Even social media-heavy programs seek to engage more loyal supporters through email programs like newsletter, petitions, pledges, advocacy and more. The purpose is to build a house file.

So how can you make email work best for your campaign? Here are seven tips to consider.

1) Vet your list

Carpet bombing your entire rolodex and house file is not a great way to make potential investors feel good about receiving your email. If you are looking for support from friends, focus on creating a small list of people who will likely care about the effort. The email itself is an ask. If at all possible, a personal email to each fundraiser makes a big difference.

If you are a nonprofit, you will want a list that is opt-in, and not purchased wholesale. There are great solutions from companies like Care2 to develop email lists of customized, qualified parties who will opt-in to information from you. Spend the money to build a list, but don’t buy an existing one that is not directly associated with your cause.

2) Write a fantastic headline

There are many elements to consider in writing a great headline, but make no bones about it, this is essential. Only 15% of emails are even opened, according to Blackbaud. Creating pithy headlines that are active in tense, short in length, and clear in purpose are critical to success.

[Read more] Source: Inspiring Generosity via razoo

Learn from rejected grant applications

The Art of Refusal: Promising Practice for Grant Makers and Grant Seekers

The full report of this research project, “The art of refusal: experiences of grant makers and grant seekers”, provides the findings of a study of communication experiences and practices, at the point of grant refusal, among selected grant making and grant seeking organisations. Its context was the frustration and disappointment being experienced by many grant seekers in a period of enhanced competition for funding, alongside the multiple pressures facing grant makers, in responding to grant seekers’ needs and in meeting their own range of obligations. The overall purpose of the research was to support learning and improvement in policy and practice among grant makers and grant seekers. A summary of the findings from the qualitative research undertaken for the project is provided at the end of this paper.

[View Report] Source: Cass Business School / Charities Aid Foundation (PDF)

ASK AN EXPERT - AUGUST 2011

10 things to do before writing a fundraising strategy

Having a shared purpose and a common fundraising goal is essential to any successful nonprofit campaign or program. This is why it is important for charities to work hard in order to develop their fundraising strategy prior to setting out with their asks or before beginning work on a fundraising project.

Developing a strong and coherent fundraising strategy helps cut down on wasting time and resources and gives a common purpose to the organization’s staff, including any volunteers.

Having a fundraising strategy with built-in timelines and targets also manages expectations amongst senior staff and board members and provides an effective manner in which to verbalize desired outcomes.

Before you start writing your strategy, here are 10 things your organization should be doing:

1. Review your charity’s current status. What are your present resources? What went well in the past and what needs improvement? Consider a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats)
2. Ask yourself, what kind of funding do you need? Unrestricted income? Gifts in kind? Major donations for specific projects?

[Read more] Source: adviceforgood

The seven deadly sins of fundraising appeals – and how to avoid them

These points and tips are mainly written in the context of individual giving, although many are also just as relevant to events, community and legacy fundraising, membership marketing, volunteer recruitment or anywhere direct marketing techniques are used. They represent the most common issues in fundraising appeals that I have come across and include suggestions to help you avoid the same pitfalls.

I hope that some of these insights and suggestions are useful to you and that you will test to prove or disprove them for yourself!

1. Beating around the bush
Many people seem to feel slightly embarrassed about asking for donations. I only say this because there have been numerous occasions where I’ve been asked to remove most of the asks for a donation from appeal copy; once to the point that the first mention was almost at the bottom of the last page of the letter, almost as though it was an afterthought.

This is a fundraising appeal, not a magazine article or a short story, so get to the point and do it quickly. You’ve heard of the saying, ‘if you don’t ask, you don’t get’, and never has this been more true than in this context. Experience and testing tells me that the earlier you include an ask, and the more direct you are about it, the better the response will be.

Tips to uplift response & income:

-Include your ask early – the earlier the better
-Repeat the ask several times throughout your copy
-Be direct – phrases like, ‘will you donate today?’, will be more effective than, ‘your support would be appreciated’

[Read in full, Tips 2-7] Source: Beautiful World

Future trends: Predictions for charity IT

We asked charities and IT suppliers alike for their predictions on IT trends in the charity sector over the next year, and received a huge response. Of course, cloud computing and mobile technology were frequently cited – so to avoid repetition just a few of the comments on these topics were included, with preference given to predictions addressing other interesting areas.

In our case it is improving our remote access capabilities to allow more efficient and more integrated work to be done by staff who are away from - or not based in - head office. In general I think that the maturing (finally) nature of the "cloud" and SaaS will (eventually) have an impact in how charity IT operates (assuming we all decide the security implications of having your data somewhere else are ok). In particular the scalability of this approach should mean that small charities can effectively operate
on the same type of systems as large charities.
Adrian Mitchell, IT manager, Variety Club

Complete pull to web-based apps (internal and external) paving the way for staff to use their own equipment within corporate networks (if all they need is a browser....not much for IT departments to support). This will be the norm in less than 10 years.
Paul Hughes, head of IT, the Stroke Association

[Read more] Source: Civil Society.co.uk

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