Organization Assignment 7: Soliciting Donations

Organization Assignment 7: Soliciting
Donations

Your organization will be conducting an annual campaign; an outside
telemarketing company will handle the telephone solicitations. Prepare a one
page training guide and “script” for the telephone solicitation. You
may model these on information from the text and Exhibit 10-4. (Go to the textWebsiteand download EXH1004.

Organization Assignment 8: Direct Mail

Prepare or draft a direct mail letter to support your organization’s annual
campaign. Adapt suggestions found in David Frey’s (2002) article:12-Step
Foolproof Sales Letter Templateon the MarketingProfs Web site.

Note:You may need to register with the marketingprofs.com Web site
(registration is free) in order to obtain this article.

Organization Assignment 9: Special Events

Develop a plan for an event (e.g., golf tournament; gala ball;
annual meeting; or a series of lectures, workshops, or seminars where a fee is
charged for attendance or participation) for your organization. Specify your
purpose; the target audience for your invitations; the structure of the
organizing committee; a timeline for key decisions/achievements; a plan and
timeline for securing speakers; as well as other aspects that would help ensure
the event’s success.

Organization Assignment
10: Foundation and Corporate Research Paper

Go to theFoundation
Center Online. (For alternate search
options, click thealternate search options link.)

1.
Click “Find
Funders” near the top of the page.

2.
On the next page, click
“Top Funders” in the left navigation bar.

3.
You may then click the
names of various foundations to reach their Web sites. These sites indicate the
types of grants each foundation funds. Target several foundations as possible
donors.

4.
Using all the
information you have found, complete a “Foundation Research Summary
Form” for at least one of the foundations you have targeted as a possible
donor. (You will find this worksheet on your course Web site in the “Forms,
Examples, Resources” folder, as “Foundation_Res_Summ_12-2”.) Submit the
completed form to your mentor. Also, note the keywords you used in your
foundation search.

5.
Review one or more of
the following Web sites for possible federal government grant programs for your
organization:

·
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

·
Grants.gov

·
U.S. General Services Administration

Prepare a one-page
report of what you find. Be sure to include a list of the keywords used in your
search.

Organization Assignment
11: Planned Giving

Compose the text for a
brochure to leave with prospective donors for your organization that clearly
explains the advantages of different types of planned giving vehicles
available. Don’t worry about layout and photos—only about the text—but be as
clear and helpful as possible.

If your organization
already has a planned giving brochure, provide a critical assessment of it
instead.

Organization Assignment
12: A Capital Campaign

Review chapter 14
in The Complete Guide to Fundraising Management by
Weinstein. Write a critical assessment of your organization’s need for and
capacity to conduct a successful capital campaign. Outline the key features and
requirements of a capital campaign and the steps that should be taken by your
organization in one to five years to launch such a program.

Organization Assignment
13: Information Systems

Arrange for a
face-to-face or telephone interview with the person in your organization
responsible for information systems. Ask about the software used by the
organization. Frame your discussion with the individual using the five
functions discussed in the text (record keeping, direct support of fundraising
strategies, acknowledgements, reports, and targeted communications), finding
out how the software used by your organization helps it handle the items
mentioned in the last paragraph of page 73 in Weinstein.

Prepare a 2- to 4-page
report or memorandum (500 to 1,000 words) on what you find. Assess your
organization’s current Web site and recordkeeping capabilities as they relate
to fundraising. Include recommendations for improvement.

Organization Assignment
14: Budgeting Principles

Create a short
explanation of important budget and resource management principles gleaned from
Weinstein and any other sources you have consulted. Consider in your discussion
the role of stewardship in an organization’s overall fundraising program.

·
Obtain copies of the
budget from your organization and write a commentary on the budget in light of
what you have learned. In this commentary, suggest which instruments or fundraising
tactics are best suited to achieve your mission. Tell how you would budget for
fundraising activities and evaluate your results.