Is Grant Writing The Same Thing as Writing a Letter to Santa Claus?

A Gracious Plenty: Quirky Ideas, Thoughts and Ideas

By Dr. Larry Pittman Goddard, CFRE (Certified Fund Raising Executive)

Writing Grants for Charitable Organizations?  Easy as Writing to Santa Claus…Not Even Close!

We have always been fundraisers. In fact, the first grant we wrote was that letter to Santa Claus. So, anyone who claims that they cannot raise funds, then they need to think again.

Here’s a few ideas to help complement the fundraising program you have in place at your education foundation:

• Telephone the donor as soon as possible. You open the mail and there’s a check from a donor. Pick up the telephone—yep, don’t go to email or Facebook or Twitter—but the old timey device on your desk. Call them. Thank them…briefly…no need to jabber all afternoon. But, just say, even on their machine, “Thank you for this kind gift—we will send you an official acknowdgement and receipt on good paper soon, but we wanted you to know that we received this gift and we appreciate your generosity.”
• Have everyone in the office sign the thank you letter. And, everyone in the office put their card in the letter—if there is only one person in your shop, then it’s a one step process, huh?
• Host a Thank A Thon. Maybe after work one day, ask your board directors to come by your office or meet at someone’s house. Ask them to bring their cell phones and all those rollover minutes they haven’t used—and let’s use them before the kids on our family plan use them. Prepare a list of about 20 names of donors from the past year with their phone numbers. Have the board directors make short calls of thanks—not asking for donations at this time, but thanking them for their past support.
• You might also give your board directors five or six examples of grants that have outcomes of success or some funny experience of the grant recipient—tell them how we used their donation in some example. Just a short (emphasis on short) phone call. If you want, you can always ask your donor, “Is there anything we could do differently?” We don’t solicit opinions from donors as often as we solicit money, so this would be friendly invitation if there is something they would like for us to improve.
• One successful Foundation Board has one director who volunteers to telephone every single donor and thank them. It’s an amazing how much the personal touch of a volunteer director calling can do for your foundation’s image. And, research shows that if a donor is well-thanked, their next donation will be 1/3 higher. (Hard to beat those odds!)

Other ideas from The Idea Factory.... Dr. Larry Pittman Goddard, Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) larry.goddard@suddenlink.net or larry_goddard@yahoo.com or Facebook Larry Pittman Goddard, The Goddard Foundation Tyler Texas, or Larry Goddard, Ordained Clergy.

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