Developing and Maintaining Relationships with Funders
Facilitator: Joanne Oppelt, MHA, GPC
Fundraising is NOT about money — money is just a means to an end. The crux of all fundraising, including writing proposals, is RELATIONSHP BUILDING. Funders are groups of people. People give to people. More to the point, people give to people they feel understand them and that they trust. Yes, you are asking for money. And, yes, you have to write well. But your continued success in obtaining the money you are asking for will be in how well can you develop and maintain trusting relationships with your funders.
Developing and Maintaining Relationships with Funders will help you understand what it is the funder is looking for, how they want you to respond to their needs and how you can present yourself as trustworthy, i.e., how they know you will do what you say you will.
We will cover the importance of understanding THEIR mission and goals in aligning your request for funding. We will go through the differences that exist in the different types of funders you approach: foundation, corporate and governmental. We will cover in detail how you can craft your proposal in language and organization to make it easy for them to understand how you can best meet their goals.
We will discuss the importance of the presentation of the application itself. It needs to answer all the questions funders are asking. We will go over the fundamental questions all funders have, including justifying community need, organizational credibility, methodology, determining success, and sustainability of the program. We will go over the vital importance of integrity in your application. It is important that you always are truthful and factual in everything you do. You do not want to jeopardize your or your organization’s reputation. In addition, we will discuss the importance of your application looking pretty. Visual impact counts.
We then will move to what happens once your application is submitted and what to do during the waiting period. After the review period, if you are accepted, we will review what steps to take to start to prepare for continued funding beyond the initial grant period. We will also cover what to do if there are changes in the scope of your program in the course of the funding period. Finally, if you are not funded, we will cover steps you can take to improve your chances to other funders or in future applications to that particular funder.
This course is intended for the beginner and intermediate practitioner. Professionals who will benefit from this class include grant writers, directors of corporate and foundation relations, development directors, executive directors and others in the organization responsible for obtaining foundation, corporate or governmental funding.
Class Format: This class is recorded from the live class on November 19, 2010. On registering, you are transported to the classroom page, where you may play the class player to view the slides and hear the class presentation and discussion. You may log in as many times as you wish for one year from the date of registration, enabling you to replay all or portions of the class as you wish.
How to Register: Add the class (and any others that you wish to take) to your shopping cart, then proceed through the checkout process. As soon as you have completed the payment, you will be taken to the classroom page for this class, where you will find the class player where you play the class and view the slides. You may log in to listen to the class as often as you wish for up to one year from the date of registration.
About the Instructor: Joanne Oppelt
Joanne Oppelt is Development Director at Community Access Unlimited in New Jersey, an agency dedicated to supporting people with special needs to achieve real lives. She is also an adjunct professor at Kean University, teaching “Funding Social Causes” in the Masters of Social Justice program. At Community Access, Joanne is responsible for diversifying revenue sources and obtaining funding for the agency. She initiates and manages relationships with a variety of funders including foundations, corporations and federal, state and local governments. She has testified before numerous legislative committees at the state and local levels. In addition, she publishes the Community Access Unlimited quarterly newsletter The Independent Citizen as well as the agency’s Annual Report.
With over seventeen years of experience in program and fund development, Joanne has personally authored more than $28.8 million in specific funding requests, raising more than $10.8 million in grants, corporate sponsorships, annual appeals and in kind donations. Through her efforts, agency annual operating revenues have increased by more than $1.75 million. Joanne is known for the passion she exudes and has worked in the fields of health care, education, housing and social services.
Graduating with honors at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, Joanne holds a Bachelors of Arts in Education from Bethany College and a Masters in Health Administration from Wilkes University. She is a certified grants professional. An expert in proposal development, Joanne has conducted grant writing workshops for the Westfield United Fund. She has also sat on conference funding panels and interviewed for podcasts for the Center for Non-Profit Success.
Joanne knows the grants field from both the grant seeker and grant funder perspectives. Early in her career, Joanne facilitated the funding allocation process at the March of Dimes Central Jersey Chapter. Since then, she was selected to serve as a proposal reviewer for the US Department of Education Goals 2000 Initiative. Most recently, she served as a reviewer for the Union County Department of Human Services.
Joanne is a current member of the American Association of Grant Professionals where she contributes to the association’s e-newsletter, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and the American Marketing Association. She is active with the Gateway Chamber of Commerce, Greater Elizabeth Chamber of Commerce, Union County Continuum of Care, Union County Prevention/Treatment Planning Committee, City of Elizabeth Housing Task Force and Supported Housing Association of New Jersey. Joanne is also an active Board Member of the Community Access Community Development Fund, a Certified Development Financial Institution engaged in financing affordable housing activities for people with special needs.