Large-scale fund raising for new charity

Thank you very much, all of you for your input. Very kind of you to offer such good advice to a stranger :)

Martin, I see your point about directing our applications to foundations / trusts that are in-line with our own goals; and this is something that we have been trying to stick to, however finding the trusts in the first place seems to be the hard part! We have a list of 6 or so hopefuls, and one that has gone to a board of directors recently, so we have our fingers crossed.

Sandra, regarding our current projected costs for our first project. As far as I'm aware the figures have been tweaked as much as possible, but I guess working on one specific section of this sub-project instead of the whole she-bang at once would show as much of an impact to the community, not to mention potential donors / sponsors. I'll see if I can take a look at the budget, and see if there is a specific goal we could achieve with a lower cost.

Gerry, thank you for your input regarding how we must be crystal clear with our intentions, or risk an outcome or advisory that does not match with our own targets and goals. I'll be sure to take this on board.

Now, I'm not a fundraiser, consultant, or anything in that field, but I can see that at the moment we're not getting the support we need and something has to change. Whether that something is an image shown from a completed project thanks to a successful grant application, a full-blown advertising / awareness campaign, or a complete overhaul of our goals to match with potential sponsors / trusts, I'm hopeful that we'll get there in the end. Thanks again for all your help, and I'll be sure to keep you appraised! :)

Best regards,
Jim

Hi Jim.
Finding trusts isn't too bad, but can take a little investment.
Directory of Social Change do a few books - a guide to major trusts vols 1 & 2 are good. Or for a little more up to date stuff, I use trustfunding.org.uk - plus once I've got some details, also using the charity commission website to see what the trust has put in its most recent annual report.

Local council for voluntary service can be good too - they can search on their database and give a printout of likely trusts to look at.
And don't forget the phone once you've read everything you can find about a trust (including its website).
Saves time if you find out early on that they don't cover your type of work or your part of the country.

Have a look at the Institue of Fundraising http://www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk/

Have a look at the bit about information/about fundraising.

They used to have (maybe still have) a good guide to fundraising for trustees available to download. Otherwise can be purchased.

Be wary of changing what the charity wants to do to match what people want to fund. A minor tweak here and there to tighten up the message or objectives can be OK (things also change over time) but some charities can end up changing all the time to chase the money.

Good luck.

Martin

A couple of brief observations to add to my esteemed colleagues' fairly comprehensive posts :

If your new Charity really needs to start with the Big Bang (£50k), there are only really 2 ways to go about it - you can try a mass appeal, by, for instance, cultivating an influential journalist that you can take and show what you have seen to make you so enthusiastic; or you can invest your time in developing a relationship with a wealthy or influential individual who can give or leverage the money for you.

Neither of these will be easy or quick, and that probably goes for any other option : there's going to be a lot of hard graft, unless you win the lottery and decide to give your winnings away!

My other point echoes Sandre's, to some extent. If you are considering taking on a Consultant, your clear vision and strategy will help to develop a clear brief, which will in turn lead to a clear and unambiguous relationship where both sides will profit.

There are few things worse than hiring a consultant to perform a task which is ill-defined at the start, or which changes as the job progresses, or which ends with the client saying, "That wasn't what we thought we'd asked for!"

You'll feel rotten at the end of it, and so will the consultant. Trust me, I are one!

Cheers

Gerry

Gerry Beldon FInstF
Director, 26-01 CIC
www.26-01.com

[quote]Any advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated..I've been lurking here for a whole, and have noticed that your users are generally very helpful and polite to each other, which is very refreshing.[/quote]

Ah, you must not have come across any of my posts yet then :grin:

Martin is right in saying that no track record will make fundraising harder. He's dead on with the research stuffs too - unless you are *very* lucky and your objects fit the trust's exactly, a round robin type mailing will normally go straight in the bin. Golden rule: trusts need to be treated as major donors - i.e. a 'personal' approach which demonstrates that you have invested some time in them (in line with whatever amount you are asking for), just as you hope they will invest some time in considering your proposal. Following their guidelines in terms of format/length of application is a good start.

On the positive side, trusts and foundations - and to a certain extent, corporates - want to be 'special' and are often looking out for the new. However, we (yes, I'm an Evil Grants Officer) won't just take your word for probable outcomes/success. We need proof.

Sound like a Catch 22? Well, it is a bit I'm afraid - but we are also accountable to the Charity Commission for our spending, and as we don't do direct charitable work, we need you to be successful. Funding is a partnership, not a competition.

Solution: is there any possibility of starting smaller scale/in one area with a pilot scheme. Starting a charity is, in many ways, just like starting a new business. You need to 'market test'. You start 'somewhere' and grow. It's like eating an elephant - one bite at a time is the way to get it done. You'll be far more likely to get £10K for a pilot from one or two trusts - over which they can feel pride and some ownership as facilitators. Trusts are more likely to see a smaller scale programme as a reasonable risk of their money.

As a new charity with no track record, you also need to be absolutely crystal clear about your mission/objects. If you can't articulate them, how will a funder ever understand them? This lack of clarity is more common than you might think! A clear mission/object will also be vital in ensuring that any consultant you may wish to use communicates your work in the way you want it to be communicated.

HTH

Sandre
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Hi Jim.
As a new charity, getting lots of money can be time consuming. With no track record, funders won't know you from Adam.

How do you ask for funds? Is it 'we need £10 for this member of staff'?
Or 'we need £10k for this project to make xxx difference in the lives of our client group'?

I have a couple of postings I can email across if you want to email me at mart2306@hotmail.com - just good stuff I've come across.

Unfortunately, professional consultants do charge a lot. But can be worth their weight in gold. Literally.
Though the charity also has to be willing to listen to them.

Not uncommon in my experience for the charity to go one way in doing things and the person charged with fundraising to go a different way.

Are you targetting application and requests for money to the right places, as in those will support your type of work? Or just anyone you come across?
Targetting on relevant places can give better results. Especially with companies and charitable trusts who tend to be restrictive in what they will fund.

Martin