| Welcome
to Ventures in Philanthropy E-Newsletter |
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| Making
a Difference |
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| Linda
Lysakowski, ACFRE |
| Many
nonprofits work on a July 1 to June 30 fiscal
year so this month they are busy wrapping
up their year-end appeals and preparing reports
on the past year’s activities. Others
may be on a calendar year but are looking
forward to summer for a chance to catch their
breath before planning fall events and activities.
Regardless of where you are in your fiscal
year, for most fundraisers this had probably
been one of the most challenging years you
have had to face. The year ahead brings challenges
but also a sense of optimism for many organizations.
For some nonprofits, stimulus money may be |
available to help implement new programs or
fund current ones. Other groups have ventured
into the world of social networking and using
the Internet to raise money.
Instead of thinking if summer as down time,
I have always found June and July to be a
great time to plan for the year ahead. Here
are some ideas to help you sue the summer
productively: |
- First,
evaluate your success over the past year.
Did any area of fundraising increase,
if so, to what can you attribute the increase?
And likewise, for areas that may have
decreased, before blaming it on a poor
economy, take time to analyze what other
factors may have influenced the bottom
line.
- Use
this time to assess how well your board
and volunteers have performed over the
past year and list some areas you might
work on to improve their participation
in the year ahead.
- Do
a time study on our own personal time
and encourage the rest of your staff to
do the same. It doesn't have to be a formal
time study. See if you have the ability
to track your schedule using online tools.
If that isn't feasible, here is a really
simple method to track time: Print out
a blank calendar for the month and put
a few colored pencils on your desk. At
the end of each day, color in the block
for that day with as many colors as you
need. You could use red for time spent
on meeting with or talking to major donors,
green might be for time spent doing research,
black could be time spent doing non-development
work, etc. At the end of the month you
will have a clear picture of where you've
spent most of your time. And it might
be quite a surprise!
- Review
your budget and see where you might cut
expenses in the following year.
- Conduct
a staff meeting to discuss what areas
can be improved on next year.
- Sit
down with your CEO (or board) and ask
them what areas they would like to see
the development office improve on during
the coming year.
- Look
at your development software and see if
there are ways your data can be monitored
better, i.e. do you track all contacts
with donors, all gifts including matching
gifts and gifts-in-kind, as well as donor
preferences?
- Plan
a moves management system to track your
contacts with major donor prospects and
plan approaches to them.
- List
three to five goals for the development
office to focus on in the year ahead.
- Develop
strategies that can help implement your
goals. These might include better utilization
of volunteers, improved technology, and
cultivating the organization's staff to
becoming more aware of fundraising activities
and how they can get involved with fundraising
efforts.
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| Special
Offer for 2nd Quarter 2009! |
If your organization is planning to start
a development office this year, don’t miss
this opportunity for savings! CAPITAL
VENTURE is offering our start up program
at a discounted price for clients who schedule
before June 30, 2009 for start up before August
31, 2009.
In today’s economy, we know how important
it is for you to maximize your budget and
for your office to be cost-effective and successful
immediately. The CAPITAL VENTURE
program is a culmination of years of experience
setting up development offices for nonprofits
covering every area of interest and service.
The offer includes:
- An SWOT analysis of your organization's
readiness for a development program including
a report of areas in which your organization
can build its program.
- A budget for your start-up development
office.
- A job description for your development
officer.
- A list of resources you should buy for
the development office.
- A two-hour training session for your
board on what to expect from the development
office.
- AFP Ready Reference book Establishing
Your Development Office.
- Consultant on Call support via phone
and email for 60 days.
For details, please click
here.
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| Technology
Corner — Quickbooks for Nonprofits FREE
Support |
As
many of you already know, CAPITAL
VENTURE's services aren't
limited to fundraising consulting, or even
to education or the Tutorials,
Tip
Sheets, and other tools on the website.
CAPITAL VENTURE
offers a full-range of services for every
nonprofit organization, regardless of size.
One of those services, Consultant
on Call, began in earnest last year and
continues to gain a wider base of users, as
well as many more ala carte options. Perhaps,
you would you like to evaluate your board
and restructure it, but the budget won't allow
travel expenses for a consultant. You can
use the Consultant on Call program for a fraction
of the cost. Are you planning a capital campaign,
but before you print the Case Statement, you'd
feel better if it were reviewed by an expert?
No problem, it's a Consultant on Call speciality.
In addition to fee-based tools, Consultant
on Call offers a host of free ones. The Checklist
for an Effective Board, Development
Office Budget Worksheet, and Special
Event Evaluation Worksheet are only
a few of the many free downloads and other
free tools you'll find on the Consultant
on Call section of the CAPITAL
VENTURE website.
It's not surprising that a growing area of
the CoC options is technology. Website analysis,
donor software evaluation and setting up the
technology for development offices are among
the CoC services organizations have used over
the past year.
We recently added Quickbooks for Nonprofits
support because this is one of my areas of
expertise and requests for help are on the
rise. I've had a strong client base of businesses
using Quickbooks for 15 years and began accepting
Quickbooks for Nonprofits clients in 2002.
Since then, I've worked with a number of programs
available for nonprofit financial management.
In my opinion, there's really no competition
for Quickbooks' features and ease of use.
To introduce you to this new CoC ala carte
support service, we're offering all Quickbooks
for Nonprofits support FREE for the month
of June 2009. If you or someone in your office
is struggling with any aspect of this amazing
program, email
me with the problem and we'll get to the bottom
of it. Or maybe, you just want to know if
the engine that drives everything in the program,
the Chart of Accounts, is set up properly.
No problem, email
me and we'll give it a check up.
Please don't hold back... I'm looking forward
to your most challenging problems!
Kathryn
kathryn@cvfundraising.com
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| 2009
CAPITAL VENTURE
Premiere Series Workshops |
We are offering some very special workshops
in 2009 to help you strengthen your fundraising
efforts. All these will be half day, interactive
workshops. More details will follow in future
newsletters. In the meantime, please save
the dates!
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June 11
July 15
July 28
September 24
October 14
December 8
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Are
You Ready for a Capital Campaign?
Are
You Ready for a Capital Campaign?
Are
You Ready for a Capital Campaign?
What Do Major Donors Really Want?
Developing Your Case for Support
Are you Ready for a Capital Campaign? |
Las
Vegas, NV
Reno, NV
Allentown , PA
Las Vegas, NV
Reno, NV
Philadelphia , PA |
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| Featured
Sponsor |
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| Upcoming
Workshops |
June 8, 2009
Pennsylvania Downtown Center
The
Development Plan:
The Foundation of Success
Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE
Johnstown,
PA
Click
here for details
June 10, 2009
AFP International
Evaluating
Your Development Plan:
How Do You Measure Up?
Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE
Audioconference
Click
here for details
June
11, 2009
CAPITAL VENTURE
Are You Ready for a Capital Campaign
Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE
Las
Vegas, NV
Click
here for details
June
12, 2009
GrantStation
The Development
Plan:
The Foundation of Success
Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE
Webinar
Click
here for details
June
24, 2009
GrantStation
Developming
Your Case for Support
Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE
Webinar
Click
here for details
July
15, 2009 (Morning)
CAPITAL VENTURE
Are You Ready for a Capital Campaign?
Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE
Reno,
NV
Click
here for details
July
15, 2009 (Afternoon)
CAPITAL VENTURE
Quickbooks for Nonprofits
Kathryn Short
Reno, NV
Click
here for details
July
17, 2009
AFP Las Vegas Chapter
Fundraising Essentials: Annual
Giving
Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE
Las
Vegas, NV
Click
here for details
July
22, 2009
Philanthropy Journal
101 Fundraising Tips to
Help You Succeed
Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE
Webinar
Click
here for details
July
28, 2009
CAPITAL VENTURE
Are You Ready for a Capital Campaign?
Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE
Allentown,
PA
Click
here for details
August
7, 2009
AFP Arizona Statewide Conference
Are
You Ready for a Capital Campaign?
Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE
Flagstaff,
AZ
Click
here for details |
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| Contact
Us |
CAPITAL
VENTURE Associates
are located throughout
the United States.
Call to find the one closest to you.
(866) 539-9990 toll free
Administrative Office:
P O Box 731
Reading, PA 19607
Executive Office:
10245 S. Maryland Pkwy., Ste. 1188
Las Vegas, NV 89183
866-539-9990 toll free
702-892-0955 voice
702-892-0655 fax
Email:
info@cvfundraising.com
Website:
www.cvfundraising.com
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