Upcoming Events

The Funding Exchange – Looking Ahead

by Sharon Gherman, Funding Exchange, Inc. President/CEO

There have been many changes at The Funding Exchange in the past year and a half or so since we relocated the main office from Juneau to Fairbanks and began reorganizing.  As The Funding Exchange begins to gain a little ‘tailwind’, I thought you might like to hear about some of the progress we’ve made and our plans and ‘targets’ for the next 12-18 months or so:

• Expanded Scope and Market: We’ve always offered services throughout the United States, but our name hasn’t always reflected that. These days we've increased our work in other states and even internationally. To reflect our expanded market, you’ll now hear two names when folks refer to us. The Funding Exchange, Inc. (FEI) is our legal name, and we’re using it everywhere outside the state of Alaska and on our web page. In our home state of Alaska we’re still using our dba, Alaska Funding Exchange (AFE). We’re one and the same, so don’t be confused when you hear us refer to FEI as well as AFE!
  
• Grantwriting Training: Our two-day Grantwriting Overview and 5-day Grantwriting Intensive classes in Fairbanks are being sponsored by the University of Alaska, which has been an excellent partnership. In the next year, we’ll focus on developing the same type of relationship with UA in other areas of the state, and with other universities across the U.S. We’ll be offering a two-day training in several areas of the U.S. each year, and 5-day Intensives as interest warrants.
  
  As a compliment to our grantwriting classes, we’ve just gone to press with the ninth edition (can you believe it?) of The Funding Exchange’s grantwriting handbook, called “The Art of Grantwriting: Communicating Your Vision to Funders”. We provide the handbook at no extra charge to our 5-day Intensive students, and it’s available at our other classes and online for $99 a copy. Take a look at the ad in this newsletter – we’ve added several new sections I believe you’ll find helpful and interesting.  This manual is a valuable resource for grantwriters whether they are enrolled in one of our classes or simply require a good reference tool.
  
• Other Trainings: Sustainable Pathways: Developing a Financially Healthy Organization, is a new workshop developed from The Funding Exchange’s Funding Your Future classes, which were offered in the early 90’s. Watch for the announcement of this training opportunity in the fall. It will be offered as a 3-day face-to-face workshop, and also as a webinar training.
  
• Webinar Trainings: As part of our commitment to lower costs for organizations to participate in our trainings at the lowest cost possible, we’re in the process of adapting as many of our trainings as possible to webinar format, including:
  
• 2-day Grantwriting Overview
• Sustainable Pathways: Developing a Financially Healthy Organization
• Tips, Tricks and Tune-ups for Grantwriters  (planned for fall 2009)
• Grants Management Overview (planned for winter 2009)
  

Our intention is to record these courses and make them available online 24/7, which will allow clients to download a training session for their group at any time – for instance, for use as a Board of Directors work session, a retreat workshop, or a staff meeting topic of study. No travel required!

• Direct Services: The writers, researchers, and evaluation specialists we’ve added to our ranks this year are highly skilled, which means we’ll continue to offer high-quality services at great value for your organization. Our contract staff are located throughout the United States, and we use an online project management program to ensure that you’re able to track the work we do for you as it’s in progress, and can easily communicate and contribute needed documents from any place you have Internet access.
  
• Web Page: Our web page has changed faces and added a number of new features this year. One of my favorites is the message board area, where any reader can post a question or contribute to a discussion. We’re using these boards as ongoing support not only for our students, but also for experienced grantwriters and development specialists. Check them out here.

Our goal as a company is to strengthen organizations around the globe by providing direct services, training, and support in the areas of fundraising and program development. Let us know what you think of the direction we’re heading, and give us your ideas about how we can better serve your organization’s needs. You can contact me directly at sharon@funding-exchange.org with your thoughts and suggestions – I’ll be watching for them!