Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Doing some reading


A few months ago I attended a Resources Now! Conference and got a lot out of it (it was put on by: http://www.campaignconsultation.com/). It really revved up my thinking in terms of sustainability and diversification of funding. One of the benefits of the conference was that each participant received a subscription to the Chronicle of Philanthropy--it has been impossible to keep up with reading it, but the ones I have read have given me a lot of great information and ideas. That's where I read reviews of two books I've since purchased, and am now reading "Robin Hood Marketing: Stealing Corporate Savvy to Sell Just Causes", by Katya Andresen, and another book "Fundraising Basics". I'm not quite finished with the Robin Hood book, but so far it is EXCELLENT! Here's a good summary on another blog: http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2006/07/nonprofit_book_.html

As a result of all this input over the past months, these are some of the ideas to follow up on:

  • Developing a donor base of small and larger donations
  • Putting on one or more "doable" fundraisers, such as events
  • Developing one or more corporate partnerships
  • Writing corporate or foundation grants
I'm in the incubation phase still, lots of thinking and planning, but I'm going to have to break out of this or else I'll just get stuck here. Also, time is an issue, if we don't get our AmeriCorps funding, the state office will not be funded for next year. So, with the leadership of the Advisory Council, as well as the newly forming "Texas Parent Child Initiative" non-profit, we can begin to move forward with some of these plans.
I'm always amazed that after 18 years working in HIPPY, this job can still be new to me. I'm always learning, always being challenged. This new venture is truly making me step out of my comfort zone. It's very exciting, a little scary, and definitely a move in the right direction. That's what "doing some reading" can do to you...

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