I am delighted to announce an exciting new strategic partnership between Benevon and GrantStation, the pre-eminent grants research subscription service for up-to-the-minute grantmaker information.
Over the years, we have received many questions from our alumni groups and our E-New$ subscribers about how to integrate their grants program with their growing individual giving/major gifts program using the Benevon (formerly Raising More Money) Model. Questions like:
- We know that over 80% of the money given to charitable organizations in the U.S. comes from individuals and the remainder comes from corporations and foundations. What is the ideal balance we should be aiming for in our funding mix?
- Our longstanding foundation funder has told us they will be cutting back on our grant next year. How can we plan to offset that amount with individual funding?
- How can we find the best private foundations to approach when our government funding is going to be cut back?
- Should we invite funders to our Point of Entry®?
- What is the best way to approach a funder for a grant to pay for the tuition for our team to come to the Benevon workshops?
- How should we follow up with a Point of Entry guest who wants to refer us to a foundation they're involved with?
- Should we keep our grants program going now that we have developed a strong individual giving program using the Benevon Model?
- How can we staff both our grants program and our individual giving program?
- Will foundations make five-year pledges?
- Many of our Multiple-Year Giving Society™ Donors have family foundations. Should we stop writing proposals to those foundations and just work with the family members directly now?
- Will foundations stop supporting us if they know we have become successful with individual giving? How can we show them our overall funding strategy?
- Should we invite our foundation funders to our Ask Event™?
These questions led us to seek a partner in the grant funding area—a partner whose approach would mesh philosophically with our model and who is capable of customizing services to the unique needs of the broad range of nonprofit organizations we serve. We have found that quality partner in GrantStation.
GrantStation is a set of online tools and resources to help you identify the right grantmaker (government or private) for any given program or project. Unlike any other research tool on the web, GrantStation offers a searchable grantmaker database with each profile built on what the grantmaker intends to fund this coming year—not what they've funded in the past. In this way, GrantStation's Web site is forward-looking, and its content changes daily to keep up with the latest information.
To launch our partnership, Cindy Adams, GrantStation CEO, and I will be moderating a series of free interactive one-hour conference calls designed for our mutual subscribers.
Meshing and Maximizing your Individual Giving and Grants Strategies: A Conversation with Cindy Adams, CEO of GrantStation and Terry Axelrod, CEO of Benevon
- Key topics* to be discussed on each call:
- What is the best mix of individual and grant funding to strive for?
- What is the best way to staff for individual and grant funding?
- How can understaffed nonprofits focus on the grant funders and individual donors who will be most likely to say yes to their requests?
- What is so unique about GrantStation and Benevon, and how can we mesh our efforts in both areas?
- Dates and Times:
- Call #1: August 14, 2007 from 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. PDT
- Call #2: August 16, 2007 from 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. PDT
- Call #3: September 6, 2007 from 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. PDT
- Call #4: September 13, 2007 from 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. PDT
- These one-hour calls are free of charge (with the exception of the long-distance fees required to place the call). The calls are open to all nonprofit staff, volunteers, and board members. You must pre-register to participate on the calls. Registration for all conference calls is limited.
- To Register: click here and fill out the registration form.
Please come prepared to ask questions.
* During each call, we will announce special discounted savings on some of our products to encourage you to take advantage of this new relationship. For example, all Benevon E-New$ subscribers will receive a 55% discount on an annual GrantStation subscription (normally $599, now $269).
Thank you again for your support. I hope to be talking with many of you on these calls.
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