Funding and Grants for Charities and Not for Profit organisations
More Non-Profit Articles
Podcasts For Nonprofit Organizations: Development for Leaders, Board Members...
There are some terrific podcasts available on the subject of nonprofit organizations. They cover topics including: * Starting a nonprofit organization * Fundraising * Leading and managing * Using technology effectively Listening to informative podcasts is a great way to learn. You can listen to podcasts on your computer or with a portable mp3 player when you are away from your home or office.
Why You Need to List Charities that You Would Be Willing to Work With
When you look for information about charities you will be given the information about various charities that have similar traits as the one that you are looking for. These charities will be found on a list charities are generally listed in alphabetical terms. These listing will allow you to see at a glance the various charities that can be found.
Golf Fundraiser for NonProfit Groups
A great warm-weather fundraising event is a golf fundraiser. Hosting your own golf tournament is actually fairly easy and if done right, you can raise a significant amount of money. Here are some tips for maximizing your results. Big turnout Obviously, the bigger the crowd, the better you'll do with your tournament.
Donating Your Car: The What, Why, Where and How
Car donation is the simple practice of giving away unwanted trucks to any of a wide array of charitable organizations. Donating to charitable organizations is nearly always a good thing and by donating a vehicle to charity you can receive a valuable income tax deduction as well. Donation of a vehicle is one of the most unique, yet easy ways to give back to your community.
How nonprofits can use annual reports to develop support
How nonprofits can use annual reports to develop support Creating annual reports that tell success stories about the organization helps build support. Most organizations have successes that even some employees haven't heard. It's important to tell the wider community about your accomplishments.
Little League Fundraisers
Youth sports fundraisers can be painful for parents, so here are some easy baseball fundraiser ideas. Most Little League teams need to raise funds to cover expenses such as field maintenance, uniforms, umpires, etc. The money raised by selling advertising space at the ball fields and by doing the portrait fund raiser only goes so far.
Bake Sale Fundraiser
A bake sale fundraiser is a great way for church groups, clubs, and elementary school groups to raise much needed funds. A bake sale is easy to put together and with a little extra effort, you can turn yours into a fun event. The basic premise is that everyone in the group brings in homemade baked goods that are sold to other supporters or the general public.
I have been wanting to talk about funding and grants in my blog for many weeks as it is an area that I feel very strongly about and feel that my thoughts need to made public on. This is a long rant so bear with me as I think many of you will agree with what I have to say.
Many Charities and Not for Profit organisations rely on funding and grants from trusts, the lottery, the government and many more funding awarding bodies to carry out their daily activities. Through my years of being involved in charities and Not for Profit organisations I have never experienced a worse or harder time for these organisations to exist in.
Now I come from a media background so every week I purchase a copy of the Guardian on Monday for their media section which is a very well respected section in media circles. In this section they have pages and pages of the latest media jobs. Well that use to be the case as now when I open it up there seems to be more job adverts for Fundraising Managers with salaries of £20,000 - £30,000 than actual jobs that actually require a media background.
Now these organisations are employing these people to be professional application form fillers and to help them win the big grants and awards for their projects. The thing is that every week there seem to be more and more positions but the money that is out there in grants doesn't seem to be increasing. Granting bodies seem to have followed suit with the amount of professional people working applying for grants by making the application process a lot harder to qualify for many grants.
How is an organisation or a charity that is run solely through volunteers who all have other day jobs ever going to compete with organisations that can employ people on big salaries to apply for these grants and awards Quite simply they can't. They can't phone the organisations awarding the grants as by the time they finish work the offices are closed and then the volunteers have a few hours when they are tired after working all day and whilst looking after a family to try and fill out the forms.
An organisation's worthiness to receive an award shouldn't be based on the amount of employees they have or the size of their offices but the actual difference they can make. With many big organisations you would be surprised by how much of the money they make through donations and winning grants goes to paying admin staff, costs, office space and PR campaigns. I would say a good 95% of charities and not for profits can not afford any of that as it would be not financially sensible for them to do so. If you are interested to find out where your money goes to go to the Charity Commission website or Companies House website where you can get annual reports for free or at a small cost for every registered organisation. One thing I would strongly advise is, if you are donating money to an organisation and you are worried where your money is going, to specifically say in writing that you want that money spent on a certain area.
Now I have always been brought up that the right way to set up a charity or not for profit is because there is an area you want to help or change whether that be young people, a disability or a country dealing with poverty and then look for funds to support your organisation. It seems now though that the only way to survive is to look at what grants are out there at the moment and then a tailor an organisation around that award which meets all their criteria.
The Internet has helped smaller organisations a great deal with it now being easier to find out about grants through search engines and to be able to download forms instead of having to do it via the post. However it seems many people are now cashing in on this by offering software packages, CDs and websites which you have to pay to use in order to get the latest information and details on grants. These companies guard this information very closely and try to make sure the only way you can find out about them is by buying their product. I think it is a sad world we live in where the charity and not for profit world have been taken over by companies and the race to make more money. Organisations shouldn't be forced to pay for information for grants that they are able to apply for.
Now there are many conspiracy theorists out there that believe our hosting of the 2012 Olympics is robbing many organisations of money which I'm not going to comment on either way. All I can say is that we seem to be living in an era where the goalposts are getting changed on a regular basis and grants are getting harder and harder to apply for and to win. It's like now to become a registered charity you have to have an annual income of £5000 coming in to your charity. To get £5000 many organisations need to apply for grants to get this sort of money but for most grants they expect you to be a registered charity so although they are doing all the things a charity should be they can't become a registered charity because of their finances so can't apply for the grant.
Now I am not denying that there are valid reasons why it is so hard to win grants and to become a registered charity as it helps stop a lot of cowboy organisations or dishonest people getting involved but they need to find ways of doing this without penalising the good people and good organisations.
The one thing to remember though if you are an organisation who is currently applying for grants is that they aren't a long term financial solution to your financial needs and can't provide you sustainability. Grants are good for one off projects but if you are using them to fund long term projects and the grants are only allowed to be used within a year period then the next year it leaves you with a big financial hole to fill as many granting bodies will only let you apply once or at least have a few years year break before you are allowed to apply again. It is ok to start off your first year with a grant but during that year you need to be thinking of ways you can generate that kind of funding through other means like fundraising events, sponsors etc. which is more sustainable and that you control so that in the second year your financial future is secure.
That brings an end to my rant I hope this has given all of you some food for thought this week.
To get involved in our weekly discussion on this matter go to:
http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.phpt=247
Adam Sibley Founder of the Talented Young People organisation www.talentedyoungpeople.com "Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
About the Author
Adam is a passionate youth motivator who is dedicated to making social change.
Source: Non-Profit Articles on ArticlesTree.com
Recent Non-Profit Articles
Non-profit...Or Not Just Not Profiting?
Do you run a church or non-profit organization Is your organization donation-based Is your company a 501(C)3 If you run a non-profit, you might be surprised at the changes in landscape that can help you create an online experience that would even surpass secular businesses.
Youth Peace Project
YOUTH PEACE PROJECT Our community peace project this year is a Youth Arts and Entrepreneur Conference. The theme of the conference is My Future is Bright Because... Young people from grades 4 to 12 will bring their own designs and learn how to use a heat press and button maker to manufacture their own t-shirts and buttons.
Fighting the War for Talent: Retaining Generation Y in the Nonprofit Sector
Educated. Tech-Savvy. Idealistic. Self-Absorbed. The "Me" Generation. Impatient. Call us what you want, but Generation Y (made up of 70 million people born between 1977 and 2002) is indeed the future of the workplace in America, and undoubtedly comprises the next generation of nonprofit leaders.
Seasonal Fundraising Ideas
The calendar can provide some great inspiration when looking for fundraising ideas for your group. The changing seasons, holidays and other calendar related events can create good opportunities for fundraisers that can be repeated year after year.
Wish List Fundraiser
"Wish list fundraiser" could be considered to be a misnomer. When you create a wish list for your nonprofit group and receive a contribution from it, have you created a new fundraising source or saved yourself from spending your hard earned fundraising dollars Actually .
Product Fundraising in the Workplace vs. Office Etiquette
A recent phone call from a Los Angeles Times reporter for some back ground information (yeah, I was kind of amazed too) got me thinking on this subject. But given the time of year it's relevant to think about and go over some of the issues involved.
Recycle Printer Cartridges & Cell Phones Fundraiser
Most folks wouldn't dream that recycling something they normally throw away could be a very lucrative fundraiser. You would be overlooking a great new low impact fundraiser if you ignore the potential untapped profit a printer cartridge and cell phone recycling fundraiser could be earning for your group.
Rebate Fundraisers
Twenty years ago nobody would have thought that by just doing your day-to-day shopping for groceries you could be fundraising for your group. Or that your usual shopping for household and business items could be generating money for your nonprofit too.
Fundraising with Cookbooks
Cookbooks have been popular fundraisers for years. They started out with church and women's groups and have now spread like wildfire. It's because they can be produced by almost any size group, club, team, or nonprofit organization.
Bill MacKenzie to Speak at Celebrate Tualatin
For more information, contact: Shelly Jones, MEDIA ALERT Bill MacKenzie to Speak at Celebrate Tualatin January 29, 2008 (Tualatin, OR) The Tualatin Chamber of Commerce is proud to announce that Bill MacKenzie, Communications Manager for Intel Texas and Intel Oregon, will be the speaker at the "Celebrate Tualatin" volunteer recognition dinner on April 17, 2008 at the Tualatin Country Club (9145 SW Tualatin Road, Tualatin, OR 97062).
The 50-50 Raffle Fundraiser
The 50-50 raffle fundraiser. It's not the most glamorous fundraiser. Or even the most productive fundraiser for the amount of money it raises. But when used correctly, the 50-50 raffle can be a steady ongoing source of fundraising revenue for almost any size or type of nonprofit group.
Hot Items for Your Charity Auction Fundraiser
Procurement is perhaps the most important part of planning your charity fundraising auction. The success of your auction depends on the value and demand for items up for bid. Your team in charge of procurement should be looking for items, experiences, and activities that are not easily purchased.
What's on Your Fundraising Calendar
It doesn't matter if your nonprofit has 30,000 members, 3,000 members, 300 members, or 30 members. Scheduling your organization's fundraisers to take maximum advantage of the calendar is a no-brainer.
Choose the Right Catering Service for Your Fundraising Event
When food is a part of your fundraising event you must choose a catering service wisely. How your guests remember your fundraiser will greatly depend on what they thought of the food and service. Those memories, good or bad, will influence them when it comes time to think about attending your next fundraising event.
Choosing a Nonprofit Email Newsletter Provider
One of the most important decisions you'll ever have to make about your nonprofit email newsletter is which company to choose for delivery. Choose wrong and maybe your newsletter will never see the light of day in your members email inbox.