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Toolkit: A Guide to Independent Fundraising

| Five Tips | Finding Foundations | Communities | Conferences | Challenges |
| RSS Feeds | Articles | Contribute |

 

The French American Charitable Trust contributed to the N2Y4 Mobile Challenge in a unique way: awarding cash grants at the N2Y4 Mobile Conference to five Projects with the most potential to address social justice issues, and another grant to cover continuous development of the Featured Projects.   This Toolkit is part of the on-going support for Projects, helping them transition from developing and sharing ideas at the Conference and in the Project Gallery, to finding collaborators and funders to put the Projects on the ground.  

We hope you'll share some of your favorite links, resources, case studies or stories to continue building this toolkit for the whole community.   To add to this page, simply let us know what's missing!

Five Tips for Approaching Funding

Looking for funding can be a daunting task; we've done it, too!   Even experienced organizations have to learn the process and key elements of diving into the world of funding.   We've compiled a list of five main tips to get you started.  

Be clear about your organization's priorities before looking for funding.

Your funding request will be seen in the context of your organization's overall plans, so get your priorities straight. Subject your ideas/plans to scrutiny both within and beyond your organization to help clarify and strengthen your thinking.

Know the universe of foundations you are eligible to apply to.

There are tools you can access (e.g. from the Foundation Center) that will help you discover foundations. Identify more local resources as well. Often small family foundations aren't known by nonprofits. Talk to other nonprofits, follow foundations and grantmaking associations on Twitter etc.

Tailor the request to the foundation.

Research foundations to do this well. Determine what size and duration of awards the foundation is known, whether they are local, regional, national or global. Don't waste a small ask on a large foundation.

Make sure you are able to clarify outcomes of the project.

Be able to explain how they address the larger issue your organization is attempting to solve. Show how your project fits in to the universe of people and organizations working on the same issue. Collaborate with other organizations that have the same goals.

Don't overestimate the importance of foundation funding.

Remember that it represents a much smaller amount of charitable giving than that from individuals. Develop your relationships with supporters before you apply for foundation grants so you can approach foundations from a position of strength.

 

(These tips were developed with help from Marie Deatherage at Meyer Memorial Trust.)

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Finding Foundations  

There are far too many foundations, trusts, and other funders, making it difficult for people new to the process to know where to begin.   We've highlighted below some comprehensive tools that will help you start your funding search and narrow the field.

The Foundation Center:   Use the Foundation's Center's "Foundation Finder" which offers basic information on grantmakers in the United States including private foundations, community foundations, grantmaking public charities, and corporate giving programs.

FoundationSearch America!   This online resource includes more than 120,000 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 more.

GuideStar: The GuideStar Web site connects people and organizations with information on the programs and finances of more than 1.8 million IRS-recognized nonprofits.

Prospect Research Online:   This subscription based resource is a research tool that helps nonprofits identify and qualify potential funders in three key areas: individual giving, corporate giving and foundation giving.

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Communities You Should Engage With

There are a growing number of online communities (including our own) where innovators can kind find others working in this space, find mentors and advice, even collaborators or partners.   This list is growing every day.   Below we've included just a few to get you plugged in.

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Conferences You Should Follow

We like to think that NetSquared's events are the best around, but there's a bunch of other conferences, events, gatherings and community-powered hack days that we know you'd love just as much as us.   Below are some of our favorites, but be sure to let us know if there are any we should add. (Just email us with links).

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Challenges You Should Participate In

NetSquared isn't the only group putting cash into the community.   Here are some upcoming competitions where you can share your Projects:

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RSS Feeds You Should Subscribe To

Below is a list of blogs on the NetSquared team's "must read" list and links directly to the RSS feed for each.

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TechSoup Global Fundraising Articles

Below is a sampling of recent articles posted on TechSoup.org. To stay informed, sign up for free webinars and much more, visit The Learning Center.

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Share Your Ideas

We hope that this toolkit will directly benefit the Projects as well as the community at large. We welcome and encourage your feedback and input. Feel free to leave a comment on this page or send an email to let us know what we can add!

You can also show your support and offer your insights to N2Y4 Featured Projects by reviewing and providing feedback on the Fundraising Pitch Series.

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