Trust Your Volunteers

This trusted docent holds the keys to our non-profit kingdom.

At almost any gathering of professionals from small non-profits you will find at least one who truly believes that her or she is the only one who can do his or her job.

In two recent cases these were directors of small museums.

They guard their keys like the Holy Grail.  Work weekends because apparently no one else can open the building and refuse to leave their volunteers in charge.

How sad.  And really how silly.  I love my job but it is not brain surgery.

We have about six trusted volunteers who have the keys and all the alarm codes and are very, very capable of running the show on any given day.

If you don't trust your volunteers to sit in your museum and greet visitors then something needs to change.

You might need to recruit better volunteers but more than likely you need to loosen your grip on the keys.

Lots of Hats

Last week I gave a Career Day talk to the students at my daughter's middle school.  I told them, truthfully, that my absolutely favorite thing about working for a small non-profit was that I got to do lots of different things every day.  In the world of cliches - this is called "Wearing Lots of Hats" or a little more negatively "Jack of All Trades and Master of None."  For me - I'll go with the hats.

The variety my job offers me is pretty amazing, from teaching five year olds in summer camp and learning to spin yarn with a drop spindle to writing federal grants, working with a top publishing company or cultivating major donors.  Every day is different and sometimes every hour is different.

Today I'm working on the newsletter, special event tickets, proofreading a book and drafting museum panels.  Later in the week I get to do a walk through of a 250 year old home for our upcoming House Tour.

I may always be a "Jack" and never a "Master" of all these trades, but the constant change and challenge of them all keep me very engaged and very grateful for the opportunity to grow.

What is the photo?  One of my favorite days at work - A Sheep to Shawl Camp.

Ask and You Shall Receive

If your mom was like my mom she spent a lot of time and effort teaching me not to ask for things.  It's rude.  Wait until you are offered.  Say no the first time and then if someone really insists you can finally take what is offered the second or third time.

My mom offers a lot.  Second, third, fourth time.  She is good at insisting.  You can politely refuse my mom a couple of times and still go home very happily with a cookie in each hand.  But not everyone is like my mom, and I suspect there are some very polite, very hungry, thirsty people out there waiting to be offered what they need.

I think there is certainly a grain of truth to my mom's philosophy.  No one likes to be around someone who is constantly asking for things.  And it does seem somehow more genteel to demurely refuse and then be talked into taking things.  But wouldn't it be easier if we all just politely asked for what we needed?

In non-profits the best way to get money is to ask for it.    And the best way to get jobs done is to ask for help.  Because we have such a small staff I need a lot of help and that means volunteers.

A few years back I learned the very important lesson of asking committee members to divide up all the wonderful ideas that get generated during their meetings and to actually commit to doing them.  Previously most of those wonderful ideas got added to the list of staff responsibilities.

For years, I've dreamed of an additional staff person on the days when I'm alone in the office.  I've been politely waiting for someone to offer their services and guess what - it never happened.  Last week I finally asked.  I asked about 20 people that I know love the Historical Society and might be willing to help and guess what - I got one!  A wonderful, professional retired woman is going to come in and be my right hand man every Monday.  Alleluiah!

I could still use someone on Tuesday and Thursday - and I'm going to keep asking.

Institutional Memory - Lunch with Carlton

I had lunch yesterday with our 92 year-old Executive Director Carlton Brownell.  I needed to pick his brain about some of the historic houses in town.  He had either played in them as a boy or had been called in to consult on them as an adult.  I brought a chicken salad sandwich to share and an hour and a half later I had all the information I needed.  Including some stories that might have been lost if Carlton hadn't shared them with me.

Carlton has served the Little Compton Historical Society in one capacity or another since 1937.

At a time when the average length of employment in a non-profit job is five years and in an environment where very small staffs need to divide their attention among dozens of responsibilities, institutional memory is worth its weight in gold.

It can be easy to dismiss or marginalize people who don't use e-mail, can't make it into the office much anymore or have a hard time hearing you on the phone.  But these people may just hold the key to your latest challenge.

Young employees and volunteers (and compared to Carlton I am young) need to recognize and listen to the experiences and advice of the older staff and volunteers who have been with their organizations for decades. It would be silly to blindly follow anyone's advice no matter what their age, but the advice from these older folks who keep the memories of your organization deserve special consideration.

Their memories may save you hours of wasted work.  They might remember who donated that unregistered object, or who made the giant anonymous gift in 1960 or where the articles of incorporation are stored.  They may steer you away from a donor who said 10 years ago "don't ever contact me again" or steer you toward a donor who said "contact me again when my grandchildren are out of college."  They will remember that they tried that great "new" idea about 20 years ago and they will remember first hand whether or not it worked and why.  They can speak for the older members of your audience and will remind you that Facebook posts and e-mails are nice but people still like a beautiful paper invitation or a thoughtfully worded "snail mail" thank you note.

It may cost you the price of a 12 inch grinder and you may need to take an extra-long lunch but making the effort to access the institutional memory of your long-time supporters will be well worth the investment.

Secrets to Success

A recent post dealt with confidentiality, today let's talk about secrets.  Same thing?  Not really.

Confidentiality is a very serious grown-up subject.  It's all about protecting your organization.  Keeping any internal nastiness behind closed doors - where it belongs.

Secrets are fun.  Secrets are about keeping a wonderful project under wraps until the big unveiling or planning a surprise party for an Executive Director's 90th birthday or even deciding on the perfect thank-you gift for your volunteer of the year.

Today was full of secrets at the Historical Society - all fun, wonderful secrets  - which made for a fun wonderful day.

And just like confidential issues should be carefully and judiciously shared with people who can help make the situation better, secrets can and should be shared with just the right group and number of people.

Today's secrets focused on the art that we will be unveiling for this summer's exhibition.  Who needs to see it ahead of time?  Who needs to be kept in the dark?

We couldn't show everyone - then it really wouldn't be a secret.

Could we show everyone connected to our organization?  Members, donors, Facebook Fans?  In this case no.  It would spoil the surprise at the Preview Party.

In the end we settled on Board Members and Committee Members, a total of about 20 people who have been sworn to secrecy but who will share their excitement and enthusiasm for the artwork, the exhibition and the companion book with their family and friends.

Everyone who learned our secrets today felt special.  Honored, trusted and connected to the organization in a very intimate and important way.  They might even be even better volunteers than they were before because of the secrets we shared.  

And if they slip and share the secret with a spouse or a best friend - no real harm is done.  The circle of support gets wider and the excitement grows.

Loose Lips

Confidentiality may not seem like a big deal for a small organization but it is.

Especially in a small town or a close knit neighborhood where everyone knows everyone else's business it's really important to learn how to mind your own.

Donor information without question should be limited to only the smallest number of people within the organization possible and should never be shared with anyone outside your organization (with the exception of approved donor recognition.)

Staff squabbles, board member faux pas, volunteer errors or temper tantrums of any kind should not make it to the sidewalk.  Even sharing stories with spouses and best friends can be dangerous  - especially if the re-telling of a juicy story would be just too tempting for them.  

Of course the real problem is that these stories are going to circulate if they get out and will hurt your organization's reputation but don't underestimate the damage a few funny stories can do to you too.  In a small community you don't have to be a detective to trace stories back to their source.

Pass it On

When good things happen for your organization - spread the news.
Post it on Facebook.  Put it on your website.  Send an e-mail to your board members and key volunteers.  Include it in your newsletter.  Write a press release.  Send a photo.

We all love good news.  When you have some pass it on.

My first boss out of college used to say "People give you money because you do good things, not because you need it."  I think she was right.  Let your people know all about the good things you do.

Play Clothes - Work Clothes

Mom Knows Best

When I was a little girl my mom maintained two drawers for me - play clothes and school clothes. I remember on my first day of kindergarten being very proud that I got dressed all by myself, unfortunately I choose play clothes instead of school clothes and my mom had a very spiffy first day of school outfit ready to go. Long story short - I had to change. Longer story even shorter - nine years later I was voted "Best Dressed" at the end of my 8th grade year.

Bad Dressers

Many of us working at small not-for-profit organizations are bad dressers. We feel that because of the environments in which we work we can get away with fashion choices that would never be tolerated in the business world. Jeans and a cotton sweater are certainly comfy but if a big donor happens to pop in is that really the impression you want to make?

Dress for the Day

In all of my jobs to date I've been very blessed to have a wide variety of tasks that require a wide variety of clothing styles. When I teach summer camp I need to wear shorts and a T-shirt - ideally a t-shirt from my organization. If a big donor pops in on the middle of camp, I can be proud that I'm surrounded by happy, dirty kids and I know that my shorts and t-shirt choice was still a good one.

When I meet with a foundation, I put on a suit, (an in-style rather expensive suit with matching (polished) shoes and accessories) so that I look like a real Museum Director who will wisely and professionally steward their gift. Another good but also pretty obvious fashion choice for the task.

It gets tricker when you have a day when you think you will be sitting in your office by yourself. It's very tempting to choose the jeans and a sweater and sometimes I do and sometimes I get "caught" by people who should really be seeing me in more professional clothes. Not necessarily a suit but maybe slacks and a sweater.

Who Made These Rules?

When I was teaching my oldest son about matching clothes, he hated it and one day as he was heading back upstairs to change his mis-matched outfit he screamed "Who made these rules?'' It doesn't really matter who made them. What matters is that a lot of people still care about them.

Why does it matter - especially in a non-profit setting where we are supposed to be "above" silly things like earning a profit or the fashion rules of the business world? It matters because we usually get our funds, our audiences and our volunteers hours from people who work in the business world and will most likely hold us to the same standards. They will judge you and your staff and your volunteers by your appearance. How you present yourselves will be one of the factors they consider when they decide whether or not to donate, volunteer, join your board of directors or tell their neighbors a positive or a negative story about your organization.

Don't be the Docent in a Belly Shirt

A group of volunteers from my museum once visited another museum and received a tour from an overweight, older woman in a belly shirt. Guess what we talked about all the way home.

Don't be the docent in a belly shirt. Write a dress code for your organization. Honor it and hold your employees and your volunteers to it too.

Disaster Plan

Sort of re-thinking my view on Disaster Prevention Plans as the water crept up to the steps at the Wilbor House today. It might really be time to finish ours.

Share the Wealth - Share Your Ideas for Great Fundraisers

What's your all time favorite fundraising technique?

Anyone working or volunteering for a small nonprofit for any length of time surely has a favorite.

Please take a moment to share your favorites here.

A few of my favorites:

Fall Fest - Little Compton Community Center

Volunteers offer to host a dinner party in their home. Community members purchase tickets and sign up for the dinner of their choice. At the end of the evening everyone gathers together in a functional hall for dessert. Because the hosts pay for food and local caterers donate the desserts the full ticket price goes directly to the charity. The expenses are minimal - mainly the printing and mailing of the invitations. Today a smart non-profit could do on-line invites and save that cost as well.

Calendar Raffle - Wilbur School 8th Grade Class

In December kids sell a one month calendar for the month of January. The calendar costs $5 and offers modest ($25-$100) cash prizes for every day in the month. A winner is drawn daily. The sales income pays for the prized and the "leftovers" went to the sellers to help pay for their class trip. A great - low cost - almost no cost - kid fundraiser.

Conferences - To Go or Not To Go

I have mixed feelings about conferences.

For people new to the field I think they are wonderful - a chance to learn from the best local (national) experts, a chance to meet them and your colleagues to form personal connections and an opportunity to leave energized and expired.

For mid-level non-profit professionals it gets a little tricker. You have to be very selective. Many conference presenters are young people building their resumes and often in my experience their presentations are not worth your time. Much like picking courses in college - pick your workshops based on the presenter - the more experienced, accomplished and respected the better.

Experienced professionals start to get tapped to lead workshops. It's great to contribute to your field. It may help advance your career but you need to decide it the benefits are worth the investment your organization has to make to send you there.

My most hated, but definitely most memorable conference experience, was a full day youth leadership program in Boston that sounded great on paper but ended up proclaiming the benefits of the teenage vampire communities in Mexico. (Honest.) That would have gone over really well in Little Compton. What made it better/worse is that I attended with a wonderful friend who helped me spend the day eye-rolling instead of learning.

Read the workshop offerings carefully before you decide to go. Look up the presenters on the internet or call your friends in the field. Choose local conferences over distant ones whenever possible. Try going every other year to keep from getting burned out. Really weigh the organizational benefits of presenting. And make a pact with your friends not to eye-roll until the ride home.

Please Don't Call My Projects Cute

I was talking to an acquaintance this weekend who asked about the Historical Society. I told her about this really exciting project I (We) have been working on for over two years. It involves the creation of Little Compton's first narrative history, the volunteer participation of a Newberry Honor Award author, an exhibition involving new art by over 35 local artists and an investment of about $100,000.

She called it cute.

Please don't call my big projects cute.

Some of the things I do are cute. Doll making with little girls. Random Image Bingo with elementary school students. Wearing a costume to a fundraising event. Those things are cute. I know they are and it's OK for you to say it. I'll say it too.

But for my big projects - or the big projects of any other not-for-profit employee - please don't say cute - even if you think it - try really hard to think of another word.

"Interesting." "Wonderful." "Rewarding." "Charitable." Even "fun."

Those are good words. Those are the words that I hope come to mind when the staff and volunteers of small organizations tell you about the work they do to share art and culture with the public, feed the poor, beautify a neighborhood, find a home for animals or educate a child.

Grant Writing 1-2-3

I'm writing a grant on this beautiful first day of spring and wishing I didn't have to. Actually I'm procrastinating and not writing at all.

But when you do need to write a grant here are three important steps:

1. Take as much (or even more) time to plan and design your project as you do to write the grant. Funders see project proposals all day long. If your project has been slapped together or isn't clearly defined they are going to see right through it and won't be willing to fund it.

2. Talk to the funder ahead of time to see if your project really is eligible. We all hate to hear "No" but think about how much time a nice firm "No" would save you. Time you could spend on something that might really pay off.

3. Read their directions and follow them.

Simple. Right? Now I have to go do it...

Newsletter or Use-letter

I know - I know - "Use-letter" - Yikes.

I apologize for coining a silly word but hopefully it helps us all remember that for small organizations a newsletter has to be multi-purpose and truly useful in many different ways.

What Can Your Use-Letter Do For You?

• Share exciting news that is about to happen
• Share exciting news that happened recently
• Publish photos of the people who are helping you meet your mission
• Invite people to programs
• Provide a lasting calendar of events
• Offer interesting articles on subjects related to your misson
• Recruit volunteers
• Thank supporting foundations, sponsors, volunteers and outstanding staff
• Ask people to help you with some of the following:

1. A Wish List for in-kind donations - Camera, Chairs, Scanner etc.
2. Planned Giving - "Remember us in your estate plan."
3. Membership - with a clip and send coupon
4. Annual Appeal - for anyone who gets the newsletter but not the solicitation letter
5. Sponsor an event
6. Invites to special events

Mix It Up

A long time ago a wonderful board member felt it necessary to warn me that our newsletter was asking people for money in three different places. To him that was a bad thing. To me, it's just about right.

If all a newsletter did was ask for things, then it wouldn't be a newsletter it would be a solicitation letter - and many people would toss it in the trash. But if you can blend two or three requests with lots of great photos, invitations (that don't involve money), and interesting stories, your audience will read the newsletter from cover to cover - solicitations and all.

Use-Letter Dos

A few rules to keep in mind for a useful newsletter that people will actually read...

• Font no smaller than 11 pt
• Articles in columns - like a newspaper
• At least one interesting photo or graphic on every page
• - -- Not every photo will reproduce well - try it on your copy machine first.
• ---Not every photo is interesting - ask someone who will really tell you the truth - spouse - child - parent.
• An opportunity to become a member/supporter in every issue
• White space
• Photo captions that convey important messages
• ---This may be all that anyone reads.
• Attention grabbing headlines and subheads that tell the stories in a nutshell
• ---Most people really won't read the whole article.

Proof Positive

Finally send a pdf of your draft newsletter to your board and anyone mentioned in the newsletter before you go to press. It is far more useful, and team-building, to have their corrections, comments, complaints while you still have time to make changes.

Sometimes You Don't Really Need Money at All

I attended a great conference workshop about creating exhibitions on a shoestring budget.

My favorite part of the workshop was this great retired sailor who was volunteering with a maritime museum. He was not a professional fundraiser or a professional public humanities person, he was just this smart, old guy who loved boats and used his common sense and his lifetime's worth of experience to help "his" museum share the love of boats with the public.

He told us, "You don't really need money now do you? You need stuff. So ask for stuff."

After you've been asking for stuff for a few years you start to call them "in-kind donations" but this volunteer really hit the nail on the head.

People who might be very reluctant to give you money may be very willing to give you a thing.

People who give us things at the Historical Society often start to like us and eventually give us more and better things or sometimes even money.

One example and then I'll sign off.

I wrote a grant asking for money to buy archival shelving. The widow of the man for whom the grant was named called me and said, "Well, we're not going to give you the grant, but I can give you some shelves." Our volunteers went to her house, packed up her shelves and installed them in our archive. They were a perfect fit.

Going Home

One of the best things about working in a small pond is that when you are needed at home it is pretty easy to swim out of the office.

If You Need Money Fast

Non-profits always need money. But sometimes there are special circumstance where you really need money right away.

I'm not talking about a crisis or a disaster. I'm talking about a wonderful opportunity where a quick influx of cash will make all the difference between success and failure.

What should you do?

I've experienced situations like this two different times. In both cases time was of the essence and in both cases I wrote a letter. A really good letter.

Both letters explained the need and exactly why and how good things would happen if we could move quickly. They gave the potential donors a deadline, a return envelope and an incentive to make a larger than usual gift. In both cases the incentive was that their generosity would be permanently and publicly acknowledged if they gave a gift of $500 or more. And in both cases we brought in the money that we needed by the deadline.

What were these two great opportunities?

The first was our local playground. The equipment company made us an offer we couldn't refuse. Double the equipment if we placed and paid for an order during November, their slowest month. We did it, and now our local kids have two great play structures instead of one.

For the playground we were even able to convince a major local foundation to release some funds several weeks ahead of time. They thought I was a little crazy, racing into their offices in my "mom" clothes, pushing a baby in a stroller, but they still gave me the check. (After they called around town to make sure I was legit.)

The second project is underway right now and is one of the most exciting I've ever worked on. Janet Lisle, a Newberry Award Winning author has volunteered over a year of her time to write the history of Little Compton. What an amazing opportunity! If we could raise sufficient funds by the new year we could have a beautiful, professionally published, hardcover book. If we couldn't, we could self publish. I'm delighted and relieved to say we did succeed. Our wonderful little pond community rose to the challenge once again and a beautiful book is scheduled for July.

How Much Do You Want to Raise? (Please don't say "As much as we can.")

I've asked "How much do you want to raise?" many times in many different circumstances. The most frequent answer is also the worst possible answer - "As much as possible!"

I hate this answer.

• First, it makes me think that the fundraisers aren't working from a budget. Huge mistake.

• Second, I wonder if they really have a good understanding of their project - its funding needs - its earning capacity etc.

• Third, it's just so passive. When should we ever be happy with whatever happens?

• Fourth, how can we possibly judge whether the fundraising effort is a success or a failure if the goal is "as much as possible"?

• Finally it seems naive, and even small, first-time, fundraisers can and should be smart fundraisers.

Budget

First and foremost make a budget before you go public. Make a budget for the project you are working to accomplish as well as a budget for your fundraising effort. Let's say the project is a playground. The budget should include equipment, shipping, installation, play surfaces, signage, insurance, landscaping and everything else you can think of to shepherd this project from start to finish. Total it all up, subtract any money you have on hand, and the rest is getting close to your fundraising goal. Add a 10% contingency and then add the costs of your fundraiser and you finally have your goal.

This number is going to help you determine how hard you have to work at your fundraising and most importantly what type of types of fundraising you need to undertake. Is it bake sale fundraising or is it all out capital campaign fundraising? You can't decide until you have a budget and goal.

Know Your Project Inside and Out

You can't finalize a budget and you certainly can't conduct a successful fundraising effort until you really understand your project. Is it one piece of playground equipment or three? Is it professionally installed or installed by volunteers? These decisions directly impact the budget. If you haven't made them yet, you may end up wasting a lot of effort trying to raise $10,000 when you really only need $5,000.

People will feel much more comfortable and be much more willing to support your project if it is thoroughly planned and thoroughly communicated. Don't ask for any money until you can talk and write intelligently about your project.

Planned not Passive

Passively waiting for "as much money as possible" to roll in is not going to help you complete your project. Instead you can pretty easily predict and plan how much money a potential fundraiser will bring in. Then use the predictions to choose the best possible fundraiser.

For example - You need $5,000 to add some accessible equipment to your community playground. A local restaurant has offered a banquet room that seats 200 people and deeply discounted meal price of $15 per person. Your committee members are suggesting a $25 per person ticket price. Is a dinner a smart way to raise the money you need?

Do the math.

(200 tickets x $25) - (200 meals x $15) = $2,000

Two thousand dollars is not bad but it is less than half your goal. Are you happy with that?

Can you do better? Can you push the basic ticket price to $30? Can you add a silent auction to the event? Would some people be willing to buy special sponsor tickets for $50 or $100 each? Can you give people who can't attend the option to send a donation anyway?

Or what if you scrap the whole idea of the dinner and sent out 300 letters asking for a donation of $50 each. If just 100 people respond you've reached your goal. You can increase your potential return by sending out more letters, by asking certain people for larger donations and by making sure everyone knows that gifts of any size are welcome if they choose not to give $50.

Both ideas have their good points and bad points. With careful planning you become empowered to pick the one that is best for you.

Success or Failure

Nobody likes to fail. But setting very low fundraising goals to ensure "success" or avoiding goal setting altogether is not going to help you in the long run.

Set a goal. A real goal. Based on real needs. When you reach the goal you know you've succeeded and you can stop fundraising and get on to the really important work of completing your project.

If you don't reach the goal in the time allotted, it doesn't signal failure, it signals time for a new tactic.

Evaluating success or failure is not about laying blame or patting someone on the back, it's all about working smart so that unsuccessful efforts can be retired and replaced with something that's more likely to work and less likely to drain your limited resources.

Working Smart

Your time is valuable. Even if you are an underpaid non-profit employee or better yet an unpaid volunteer, your time and effort is one of your organization's most valuable assets and must be budgeted carefully. Stop spending 10 hours cutting out paper duckies to decorate the function hall. Stop settling for whatever you can get and start setting goals that move your organization forward.

The List Party

Whether you are starting at 0 or 1000 every once in a while it's smart to make a really strong effort to add to your mailing list. Donors lose interest, people move away, or sadly die. You have to add new names once in a while just to maintain the status quo and sometimes you really need a shot in the arm in order to grow.

One of the best ways to find some potentially new supporters is with a list party.

Invite 10 or 15 people who love your organization to get together to brainstorm new additions to your mailing list. Make sure they know the purpose of the meeting right from the start so that they are prepared and willing to help.

Time the meeting well in advance of a mailing so the pressure is off and you can focus on doing a good job rather than a fast job.

Ask your guests to bring other lists with them. This is key to your success but it is also a very fine ethical line. If these people are Board Members or staff of other non-profit organizations they should not bring lists from those organizations. It is a definite conflict of interest and just shouldn't be done. But if these people belong to social or athletic clubs, have children in private or neighborhood schools, participate in neighborhood associations or belong to local churches many of these places have lists of members and these lists are great ways to identify new people who may be interested in learning more about and/or supporting your organization. Our town is so small we often work right out of the phone book!

Have copies of your current mailing list available so people won't waste time on duplications.

Ask your list-building volunteers to each come up with 10 or more people who may share their interest in your work. Ask them to think about potential new volunteers, event attendees, speakers, part-time staff members and consultants as well as potential donors.

How you actually capture the addresses (and e-mails) is up to you. You can photocopy the lists, highlight the "good" new names and enter them into your database later on. You can ask the volunteers to write you a list and again enter the names later on. If you are really efficient, you can have a volunteer entering new contacts immediately during the event.

No database? Make starting one a priority. It will take time to enter everyone the first time around and even more time to learn to use the darn thing but the first time you print labels instead of hand addressing envelopes you'll never look back.

It's smart to be selective but only to a point. If you think it's worth the cost of a stamp (or better yet a bulk mail fee) then take a chance on a new name and see what happens. You may be surprised and you can always delete them later if you get no response after several mailings.

Speaking of deleting use the list party to clean up your list as well. It's hard to keep track of moves, deaths, divorces, etc. but in a small pond you've got a petty good chance of finding out what's going on in your community especially when you have a dozen willing volunteers ready to share the latest updates with you.

Finally, serve snacks. Snacks always help.

A is for Annual Appeal

I promise I won't do a series of alphabet theme postings but I do want to stress the importance of a strong Annual Appeal.

About 12 years ago when I was first starting with the Little Compton Community Center, the Rhode Island Foundation said they would give us a grant, but only if we promised to work harder on our Annual Appeal.

Far too often small organizations hold the mistaken notion that grants are the key to happiness when really all their fundraising efforts should begin and end with the best possible Annual Appeal.

Annual Appeals are a yearly request to a core group of supporters to make a cash gift (their annual gift) to your organization. The request is usually made by letter, usually around Christmas time and really should be the most important, most reliable source of funding for non-profits. So it deserves and should receive the bulk of your fundraising attention.

In future posts we'll take a look at timing, list building and letter writing all in the hope of boosting the returns of your Annual Appeals.

Why Grants.gov made me cry.

I am really not much of a crier. More of a yeller and a stewer than a crier. But my first time through Grants.gov I cried.

Many small organizations are understandably put off by the scariness of grants.gov but if you can get past the initial fear it is so worth conquering. Compared to the old days of 35 collated copies of 65 page documents. Grants.gov is a godsend.

Many government agencies have special grants programs especially for small organizations. I'm most familiar with the National Endowment for the Humanities and the IMLS' programs for small museums. The grants start at around $5,000 and are perfect entry into the world of Federal Grants.

The tricks to surviving grants.gov?

1. Start very early your first time through. Three weeks before the deadline. You need to apply for a DUNS number and fill out a variety of forms that were designed for multi-million dollar contractors. It takes time. All of these preliminary steps are carefully explained on the grants.gov website.

2. Read the guidelines all the way through before you begin. That way you eliminate surprises and can determine well ahead of time if you are going to need anyone else to get involved.

3. Follow the directions religiously. Pretend you are building a shelf from IKEA. Follow each step in order. Miss one and you're doomed. Not really doomed but you will have to go back and start again.

4. Have all of your supporting documents - a good solid budget, resumes etc. all ready to go as documents on your computer. You will have to upload them all to the main grants.gov file. This is not as hard as it may sound. Just follow the directions.

5. Save - Save - Save. Save the file to your computer and work from your computer not the internet. If you are just working on-line your work will not be saved.

6. Call the program officer for your area and try to make friends. Describe your project. Ask for advice. They are real people just like you and me and most of them are very nice.

7. It should go without saying, but sometimes it doesn't - have a very clearly defined project ready to go before you begin. The more clearly you understand exactly what you want to accomplish the easier it will be to write about it in a way that convinces other people it really is a great idea.

8. Call and ask for help if you need it. Again, there are real people on the other end of the phone.

So why did Grants.gov make me cry?

After two weeks of laboring over my first application and a slow but steady climb up the learning curve I was feeling pretty proud of myself. It wasn't easy but I was doing it. About an hour before the deadline I was at home putting the finishing touches on the application and finally felt ready to press "Submit."

The darn thing wouldn't go through. And the crying began.

I tried everything I could think of. Re-sumbitting. Re-loading. You name it - I tried it. Rejected. Rejected and rejected again. Until time ran out. Midnight.

All that work for nothing. I missed the deadline. The first missed deadline in 20 years. Our wonderful project was in jeopardy.

The next morning I picked up the phone and called. A very nice, real person, picked up the phone and listened to my sad story. In just a few minutes she was able to point out that I had one number wrong in my EIN (Employer Identification Number) number and that if I just fixed it and resubmitted the application she would accept it. After the deadline. Because she was a real, reasonable, person and had the ability to change a giant government's deadline for a poor little museum director who made a mistake.

We got the grant. And I don't cry any more when I apply to grants.gov.

Big Fish, Small Pond

I live in the smallest town in the smallest state and work for one of my town's smaller organizations. Definitely a small pond.

Even so, my kids do such a great job of keeping me humble that I can't possibly think of myself as a big fish, maybe a medium fish, medium-large on an extra-good day.

I am, however, reasonably bright and a hard worker, so over the last 20 years I've managed to become very good at what I do, which is fundraising and program management for small, non-profit organizations.

I'm at a point, professionally and personally, where it makes a lot of sense for me to make the jump to a bigger pond. My kids are getting bigger, our tuition bills are mounting, and I've been working and volunteering in small ponds for well over 20 years. It's tempting to make a change. But I don't, because I love my small pond and the really big, wonderful things I've been able to accomplish here working for small organizations with co-workers and volunteers who are quite often my family, friends and neighbors.

A great workshop leader once explained to a ballroom full of museum staff and volunteers that you knew you worked for a small museum if you were responsible for fixing the running toilets. I am and I don't mind a bit. I'm also responsible for dead mouse disposal when Fred isn't there, grant writing, volunteer recruitment, public relations, donor cultivation, special events, public education, bulk mailings, project execution and coffee making.

Working for small organizations is not for everyone. You are not in the limelight, the pay is average at best, you will always make your own copies and someday you're are just going to be too darn old and tired to set up even one more folding table.

But for those of us who hate red tape and standard operating procedures and endless chains of command a small pond is a pretty great place to be.

Check back for bits of good advice that I've picked up over the last 20 years along with lots of lessons learned along the way and please don't be shy about sharing your own experiences and advice from the other small ponds out there.