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| December 2008 | |
| President’s Message: | |
| Welcome to our Ventures in Philanthropy E-Newsletter | |
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| Why a Planning Study? |
| When
considering a capital or endowment campaign, a major undertaking for
most organizations, there are two things that need to be done in order
to determine the likely success of a campaign: an internal assessment
of the organization’s readiness and an external assessment of
the willingness and ability of the organization’s constituency
to support the campaign. This month, I will focus on the internal
assessment aspect. Next month, I will discuss the external aspect. The planning study, sometimes referred to as a feasibility study, is the most common way to determine both internal and external readiness for a major project. Today, most firms use the term “planning study” because the goal is not just to determine the feasibility of doing the project, but to help the organization develop a plan that will strengthen their organization overall while preparing to launch a major campaign. Often, the project is going to be done, whether funded through a campaign or not, so the feasibility of the project is not the question. Another reason why many prefer the term “planning study” is so that the process is not confused with the architectural feasibility study. Internal Readiness If the nonprofit has never done a capital campaign before, a full development audit is recommended before doing the external assessment. Even if the agency is “seasoned” in campaigning, a full development audit can still be beneficial. Internal readiness should always be considered first, before testing the campaign with the public. Sometimes a full-blown audit is not needed, or time will not allow for this process. However, the internal readiness still needs to be considered in the planning study. Some key internal readiness questions are:
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| Visit Our New Website! |
| We
are really excited about the launch of our new website. You will now
be able to link directly to many nonprofit resources, review books,
build your own “briefcase” of resources, and much more.
Visit our site today at www.cvfundraising.com
and send us your feedback. |
| Technology Corner — What is Web 2.0? |
| Of
all the questions I've been asked this year, "What is Web 2.0?"
is asked more often than any other.
There is no simple definition for Web 2.0. Broadly speaking, it is a trend in web design and development that aims to facilitate creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users. These concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities and hosted services, such as social-networking sites, wikis, blogs, communication tools, and folksonomies (the practice of categorizing content through tags.) A few years ago, the Internet was such a novelty, people were awed by the fact that it was even there, but all that has changed. Users are more computer savvy now and although there will always be a place for static, read-only pages, today's users want the option to voice their opinions and to share those with other like-minded visitors to a website. CAPITAL VENTURE's new
website has been designed around the principles of Web 2.0. Visitors
will find many tutorials,
tip
sheets and recommended
books they can rate individually and add comments to help their
colleagues in fundraising. Visitors may also ask specific questions in the "Ask the Expert" section and although every question will be answered by a CAPITAL VENTURE associate, we invite you to share your thoughts in this section, too. You will find many helpful features incorporated into the new website. One we're particularly proud of is the ability to bookmark your favorite tutorials, tip sheets, etc and access them via your CAPITAL VENTURE Briefcase or bookmark them to a vast array of social bookmarking sites. It can be frustrating to find the perfect tutorial when you don't have time to read it, only to waste your available reading time later trying to find it again. More features and many more tutorials will be added over the next
few months. Our aim is to make it YOUR website! Please visit www.cvfundraising.com
and let us know how we can further meet your needs. |
| Training and Professional Development |
| CAPITAL
VENTURE has updated our
Training Catalogue, which is available
by email. We offer a wide variety of workshops for groups such as
AFP chapters, statewide associations, national organizations, Dioceses,
United Ways and Centers for Nonprofits. If you would like to receive
a copy of our offerings, please contact cvlinda@cox.net. |
| Training Opportunities |
| Pressed
for time? Travel budget limited? Check out our website for the great
webinars presented by Affinity
Seminars on various topics of interest to development professionals.
Another excellent resource for nonprofit webinars is Charity University. You'll find several on-demand courses sessions I've recorded available there, including the most recent one, The Development Plan. I'll be presenting three more tele-courses for Charity University this fall which will be available on demand as well. You'll find the dates and details listed in the Upcoming Presentations section below. Early next year, CAPITAL VENTURE will be launching our own special training videos this fall, so be sure to check next month’s newsletter for more information. |
| 2009 CAPITAL VENTURE Special Workshops |
| We
will be 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 but ere
is our tentative schedule: |
|
UPCOMING
PRESENTATIONS |
|
January
5, 2009 February
20, 2009 |
March 13, 2009 March
16, 2009 |
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| CONTACT
U S |
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| CAPITAL VENTURE | ||||
| Advancing Philanthropy through Consulting and Training for Nonprofits | ||||
| Offices throughout the United States | ||||
| 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 |
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CAPITAL
VENTURE
Associates are located throughout the United
States. Call to find the one closest to you. (866) 539-9990 toll free |
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Email: info@cvfundraising.com Website:www.cvfundraising.com |
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