Articles

The Concept Paper

An early step in the creation of any new program is the development of a concept paper. The concept paper allows you to communicate to those outside your organization the purpose of your project. Just as importantly, it allows the organization to internally define the scope of the project – what it is and what it is not.          
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The Case for Support

A Case for Support – also known as a Case Statement – is a short, targeted, persuasive document. It convincingly demonstrates a societal need and showcases the organization's ability to meet that need. The language in a nonprofit's Case for Support will be used over and over again: it is truly the backbone of development efforts.
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Funding Research for Novices

The first step to creating a feasible funding strategy or grant calendar is research. Beginning funding research can be daunting because new researchers are unsure of where to start or how to finish to such a task.
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Ten Tips for Securing Corporate Funding

Many nonprofit organizations seek corporate funding as a part of their revenue mix - sometimes at the expense of developing more sustainable sources of revenue, but that is a topic for another day.
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Go Ahead, Ask

“Will you donate to this cause?” It’s a hard question to ask. Our society has raised people to believe that asking for money is shameful and, in most situations, the subject of finances should be avoided at all times. Unfortunately, most nonprofits do not have all the money they need to achieve their noble goals, and someone has to ask for it.
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Capital Campaigns-the Ingredients for Success

If a capital campaign is in your organization’s future, you will want to do everything you can to assure its success. There are several key ingredients to every successful campaign and three of these ingredients, when analyzing successful campaigns, surface as the most crucial.          
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Prospects for Trail Construction Funding

Handout from Trails Construction workshop at Alaska Forum on the Environment, 2/15/08 in Anchorage, Alaska.