Difference between revisions of "Basics for Seeking Grants and Other Funding"
From NGO Handbook
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The issue is dollar or goods going across borders. If your organization is only looking for resources, such as “We want doctors to come and serve our children,” or “We want teachers to come to our country and teach,” it still holds that if you are recognized as legitimate by the IRS, it makes it easier to get that kind of resource. The process for recognition is to apply for a 501(c)(3) tax exempt status from the IRS. | The issue is dollar or goods going across borders. If your organization is only looking for resources, such as “We want doctors to come and serve our children,” or “We want teachers to come to our country and teach,” it still holds that if you are recognized as legitimate by the IRS, it makes it easier to get that kind of resource. The process for recognition is to apply for a 501(c)(3) tax exempt status from the IRS. | ||
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==Programs and budget== | ==Programs and budget== | ||
| − | It is important to understand that most people, corporations, governments, foundations and individual owners give very specific programs, not general organizations. Once your non-profit is considered a legitimate organization, has a correct legal structure and is recognized by the IRS, the next important process that your organization has to do, before you ask for money, is to plan and articulate what it is that is going to be achieved. What are your programs? If you are writing a literacy program for youth, how many people are involved? What towns or villages are you visiting? How many children are going to be affected? How much is it going to cost? What do you do? | + | It is important to understand that most people, corporations, governments, foundations, and individual owners give very specific programs, not general organizations. Once your non-profit is considered a legitimate organization, has a correct legal structure, and is recognized by the IRS, the next important process that your organization has to do, before you ask for money, is to plan and articulate what it is that is going to be achieved. What are your programs? If you are writing a literacy program for youth, how many people are involved? What towns or villages are you visiting? How many children are going to be affected? How much is it going to cost? What do you do? |
It all has to be written down on paper. There are a lot of organizations that try and raise money saying, “We’re going to eliminate x, y, z. We are going to eliminate AIDS in Uganda.” | It all has to be written down on paper. There are a lot of organizations that try and raise money saying, “We’re going to eliminate x, y, z. We are going to eliminate AIDS in Uganda.” | ||
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“Are you doing abstinence sex education? What do you do?” | “Are you doing abstinence sex education? What do you do?” | ||
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So everything that you visualize has to be broken down into programs and budgeted as a program. It is important before people give you money; not only that you are legitimate, but that you can show that other people are providing you either money or resources as well. | So everything that you visualize has to be broken down into programs and budgeted as a program. It is important before people give you money; not only that you are legitimate, but that you can show that other people are providing you either money or resources as well. | ||
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The number one asset that is overlooked is volunteer labors. Volunteers here in the United States are recognized, depending on what they do, at the market rate for their work. When your organization gets a person to volunteer to do computer work, secretarial work, and so forth, that can be valued at $8 or $9 an hour, depending on what they are doing, and all of that counts in the budget. | The number one asset that is overlooked is volunteer labors. Volunteers here in the United States are recognized, depending on what they do, at the market rate for their work. When your organization gets a person to volunteer to do computer work, secretarial work, and so forth, that can be valued at $8 or $9 an hour, depending on what they are doing, and all of that counts in the budget. | ||
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==Ethics and governance== | ==Ethics and governance== | ||
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Before asking for money, you need to identify what you do, what the programs are, and how much it costs. Another big issue for the non-profit, non-governmental organizational world is ethics and the legal/governance rules for organizations. | Before asking for money, you need to identify what you do, what the programs are, and how much it costs. Another big issue for the non-profit, non-governmental organizational world is ethics and the legal/governance rules for organizations. | ||
| − | In the United States, for a non-profit corporation to exist legally, it is owned by a group of people, who run the organization. If you are a director on the Board of Directors of a non-profit organization, normally you do not receive financial compensation, but rather are seen as a person who can either get money for the organization (either directly, by giving money yourself, or indirectly, such as lending your name or finding donors) or provide expertise to the organization. By the same token, if you are a director, you may not be involved with the everyday activities of the organization; there is a paid staff. In the United States, that is one of the checks and balances that are in place for non-profit governance. The officers are held responsible to the board, which determines responsibilities and compensation for the officers, while the board itself is generally composed of dedicated individuals who are not compensated and are overseeing the welfare of the non-profit organization and its activities. | + | In the United States, for a non-profit corporation to exist legally, it is owned by a group of people, who run the organization. If you are a director on the Board of Directors of a non-profit organization, normally you do not receive financial compensation, but rather are seen as a person who can either get money for the organization (either directly, by giving money yourself, or indirectly, such as lending your name or finding donors), or provide expertise to the organization. By the same token, if you are a director, you may not be involved with the everyday activities of the organization; there is a paid staff. In the United States, that is one of the checks and balances that are in place for non-profit governance. The officers are held responsible to the board, which determines responsibilities and compensation for the officers, while the board itself is generally composed of dedicated individuals who are not compensated and are overseeing the welfare of the non-profit organization and its activities. |
| − | If your organization in another country has a different structure, you have to be clear to articulate how it is established. How do you make sure that the guy who owns the organization is not taking all the money and going to Paris? It is an issue of accountability and checks and balances. Usually, you also have a Board of Advisors and someone other than your officers who handles your books to make sure that the person in charge cannot use the money without anybody else knowing about it. In some countries, the owners may be the officers, and they do everything | + | If your organization in another country has a different structure, you have to be clear to articulate how it is established. How do you make sure that the guy who owns the organization is not taking all the money and going to Paris? It is an issue of accountability and checks and balances. Usually, you also have a Board of Advisors and someone other than your officers who handles your books to make sure that the person in charge cannot use the money without anybody else knowing about it. In some countries, the owners may be the officers, and they do everything—get the money, do the work, spend the money, and so forth. In the United States, there are certain safeguards designed to make sure that an organization listed as a non-profit with the government has an acceptable system of checks and balances. |
If your organization is of the type where the person in charge ultimately runs the organization, make sure that there is someone else to take care of the money. For organizations in the United States, there are generally accepted accounting practices, such as an audit every year, a third-party review by the board of finances, checks signed by two individuals, and so forth. | If your organization is of the type where the person in charge ultimately runs the organization, make sure that there is someone else to take care of the money. For organizations in the United States, there are generally accepted accounting practices, such as an audit every year, a third-party review by the board of finances, checks signed by two individuals, and so forth. | ||
Latest revision as of 10:31, 3 September 2008
For a nonprofit organization to fundraise successfully, there are foundational steps that must be in order first. These basics, such as governance structure and recognition as a legitimate nonprofit, come prior to the issues of addressing how to ask for money and where to get it. People and foundations do not just hand out money; Ted Turner is not going to walk up to your door with a briefcase full of a million dollars and the Gates Foundation is not going to be inspired by the name of your organization and bank wire funds. Organizations need to have certain things in line, legal and otherwise. This article provides an overview of these foundational steps that must be in place before asking for money.
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