A Beginners Guide To Bare Philanthropy by Sarah Childers - HTML preview

A Beginners Guide:

Laying the Foundation

Thank you so much for purchasing this eBook.  I am willing to bet you are just starting out on your journey to change your surroundings and leave your mark on this world. This is a very exciting and scary venture all at the same time, isn’t it?  I also understand that there is so much information out there for you that is technical, mind boggling, and quite frankly way too formal for your taste. After much research, I began to think about the organizations that are not already established with employees and that are brand new. Where can they go to learn how to make their organization grow? What about the ones that have zero resources and will thank their lucky stars just to be able to keep it between the navigational beacons this year?  I have never personally known Philanthropy to be shiny. Starting a nonprofit organization is anything but polished and shiny. Its dirty, it keeps you up at night, its bloody, its sweaty, its tears, it is using a pocket knife to cut down a tree, and it’s worth it. There are the reasons why I call it “Bare” and why I am doing what I am doing.

My mission is to guide you, step by step, through a process that seems so elusive to quite a few and show you the simplest way to achieve your goal using grassroots techniques.

But, you are going to have to meet me halfway. I cannot help you if you are not willing to help yourself.

I would like to introduce myself. My name is Sarah Childers and I have been involved in this subjective world of philanthropy for over 16 years now. I stumbled across it by sheer accident while completing my internship in college. My professors had thrown me in with the local chapter of the Red Cross and Humane Society and I have been hooked ever since. I have served as a consultant to nonprofit entities, performed grant writing/technical writing duties for various other institutions, and even started nonprofit organizations by only using air and duct tape as my only tools. I have also served as a peer reviewer for the USDE Office of Innovation and Improvement. My track record to date has been procuring over 1 million for various entities in the last three years as a grant writer. I also know what it is like to be emotionally attached to your cause and what it feels like when it ages you.  I know EXACTLY what you are going through and I am here to help you.

You can contact me with any questions you may have in your process through my website:  www.BarePhilanthropy.com  ,and I will do my best to thoroughly answer them.

I commend you for making a difference in your community and I want you to know that this process is going to be grueling, maddening, and one of the most rewarding things you are going to have the privilege to partake in. Over the years, I have found that one silver bullet will not solve every dilemma. Nor will you find that everyone will agree on the same solution to a problem. So, keep that in mind. In addition, I want you to know that there are a few hard and fast rules that will pertain to what you are trying to do, but for the most part, all of it is seriously subjective and shifts on a nightly basis (I’m not kidding.) I find that is because human beings themselves cannot be defined by just a few set of rules and when you are dealing with these dynamics, you are dealing with every type of personality and scenario under the sun.

So, in this eBook, I am going to explain a few basics to assist you in getting started. Maybe you just had your organization declared a nonprofit by the IRS or you are in the process of submitting you paperwork. Either way, you will need the information contained here. Ok, so here we go…...

Common Misconceptions I Am Going To Clear Up

Before we go any further, here are a few misconceptions I want to get out of the way first before we continue hopping down our bunny trail:

1. Finding your large donors is going to be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I define large donors as the ones contributing over $5000 annually. This is usually done via a grant proposal to a private foundation that you will submit (There are three ways you will procure funds. More on that later.) There are so many steps you will need to take before you can even get to the part where an organization hands you a check and everyone working on this project needs to be 110% vested in the process. For those of you that need assistance creating a winning grant proposal, I also wrote another book that pertains to what has worked in the past for me. It is called, “The Unwritten Art of Finding Grant Funds.” It is for sale on my products page and pertains to procuring funds in the private sector. When you begin your solicitation process, be alright with the fact that you will receive 30 “no”s before you receive one “maybe” during your quest for funds. It is completely maddening and you have to be focused and persistent.  In the past, I have always kept my rejections letters to line the birdcage or use as puppy pads. Hey, it saves me money and I get to recycle so win, win! Be forewarned though, this process of finding funds for a particular program can also take time. Sometimes, I can solicit an entity and I don’t even hear a response from them for 6 months. Make sure that you and your Board/Team members avoid burnout in the meantime. Also, even if you do find a main funder, your program or mission may have changed by that time and it may need to be modified. This leads me to my next point…..
2. He who has the gold, makes the rules and it will buy you a first class ticket to the crazy train at times. This means that if a large donor does not like a part of the program and still wants to fund you, they will make you change it to their specifications before funding. Which is all fine and dandy unless they are just funding a portion of the program which is very common. Then, what happens when you finally secure another large funder for the other half, but they want you to change something else up that the first funder was okay with? See what I mean? Choo Choo! All aboard! Don’t worry, as long as communication is open, this can be remedied. Not fun, but remedied none the less. In time, you will learn how to troubleshoot all of the daunting things with the precision of a race car pit crew and it will become second nature to you as you grow with this process. Communication will be a key ingredient in building solid relationships with your donors in the long run.
3. Just because you obtain/have a nonprofit status from the IRS for your organization, does not mean money will fall from the sky to fund your every whim. I know, I was really disappointed too when I realized this. I prepared for months for that particular day of raining moolah. I patiently waited and nothing ever happened. Not one coin fell down from the heavens to my dismay. It took a few hours to gather up all the buckets I put out hoping to cash in on that highly anticipated occasion. The deposit I had on the bulldozer rental to gather up money from the ground was nonrefundable too.
4. There are differences between public and private grant funding and you will have to utilize and build on both. Keep in mind that the nonprofit sector utilizes quite a bit from the business sector. Think of it as your reflection in a mirror. The actual you is the business, and your reflection is the nonprofit. It looks the same, but it has differences. Get it? One of the things you will need to utilize from the business sector is a business model. You will then use the three methods of securing funds via Public Grants, Private Grants , and Fundraising as building blocks for that model. Public grants are funded by tax dollars and are issued through governmental agencies like the USDE. They are technical, long winded, dry, bureaucratic, and I hate them. These are the ones that drive me to stand over my computer at night screaming expletives while waving a baseball bat. Private grants are funded through private foundations via private money. This is basically money that someone has made in their lifetime and set aside to make a difference in areas they feel needs assistance and a private foundation’s guidelines can vary. Each private foundation has its own board of directors, set of rules, and paradigm. You will have to research quite a bit to see if you even qualify for them to grant you anything. The upside to this is you get real, breathing humans on the other end of the phone line when you hit a bump in the road. Most of them are awesome to work with. Some of them….not so awesome and will not hesitate to tell you to go play in the traffic. So, you need to get used to being told that too among other things. A third method of funding is soliciting donations by good old fashioned pavement pounding. This can be done a million different ways and it is referred to as “Fundraisers,” or “Campaigns.”  One method that is commonly practiced these days is “content marketing,” that is done online to “raise awareness.” This in itself is a craft to be mastered and I highly suggest doing thorough research to learn as much as you can about this. There are classes for this type of thing and it evolves with technology. I have some of my favorite companies listed on my products page that you can view that I think will be budget friendly. Sign up for something that strikes your fancy and listen to what they have to say. I cannot stress this enough. With the ability to reach out all over the world, an online campaign can be the bread and butter of your organization.
5. Very rarely will there ever be grant funds available to individuals (this pertains to the United States). This last one drives me bonkers when it comes up in conversation. No, there are not a whole plethora of things you can apply for at all hours of the day that is going to suit your needs. So PLEASE stop referencing those dang infomercials you watched at 3AM! Sometimes there may be a grant from the public sector that pertains to what you want or need and you will have to look or wait for it to become available. But, I can tell you with great certainty that 99.9999999% of the time, it has to do with furthering your education. Not your home or business. Yes, there are business grants available (they are rare) however they all revolve around an idea that is cutting edge or will benefit a large amount of people in the end. Such as using your business model as a test tube in order to implement a method on a larger scale at some time. So, if you are the owner of an already established business, you are going to have a better chance at milking a bull than obtaining grant money to keep your business afloat or pay off your back taxes. So, don’t let someone fool you into this, it is a scam. This realm is also full of some serious tricksters that I have had to spend time cleaning up after and their aftermath is not pretty. They can sink an already struggling entity, and it has turned me into a fire breathing dragon at times. This is what I am getting at : You will rarely find any entity that is going to pay off debts for another entity out of the goodness of their hearts, give for the sake of giving to an individual, or bail you out of a financial disaster. You are not going to get a check because you are sitting there looking all cute and fluffy. So, please get that notion out of your head. On another note, if anyone does know of an ongoing source that actually DOES what I just stated previously, do hook a sister up. Since we are at it, momma needs an in ground pool, a new blender, some flip flops, a big bottle of sun tanning oil, and a few more dollars for that purse I have been eyeballing. But until that rainbow appears with the pot of gold that everyone visualizes when the word “grant” is spoken, please stop asking about it.

I want you to understand this: In the event grants are given, they are to increase/improve the idea of something and bring it into fruition. There are always strings attached be it blood, sweat, and tears or matching funds that you will need to come up with. Resistance is what progression is made up of. You cannot grow by staying in one place. Yes, getting to the next level will take a bit of extra work and let’s face it, this process is not for everyone and this will be survival of the fittest.

Now, onto the next one…..

Have you established what your need is yet? Do you have any idea as to how you get to that point?

Needs vs wants has been a human dilemma since the beginning of time. Most often than not, we feel that something we want is something we need and vice vera. As I type this, I need to go sit in a time out chair in the sand somewhere watching the sun set in the horizon over the water. If I don’t get to sit in my chair in the sand, will life cease as I know it?  Probably not, but soaking in some Vitamin D would really sooth my soul about right now. I am one of those individuals that will define a need as something that keeps an individual alive and well, mentally and physically. The dictionary gives another definition that a need is something required or wanted; a requisite. I don’t know about you, but that is a seriously relative and subjective definition.

Be as that may, all of the basic necessities of what keeps me alive and well are already within my reach.  I just finished cleaning up the kitchen after making the family taco soup for supper. The last time I checked, I was breathing in good old fashioned oxygen. I have a home, clean clothes, and a place to lay my head. I would say compared to most, I am doing pretty dang good.

The reason why I bring this topic up is that I want you to seriously think through what you are planning to do with this new nonprofit organization you are creating. Here lately, when I can fit it into my schedule, I also work as a consultant for new nonprofit organizations and I find it extremely rewarding. One of the most daunting topics that come up in the middle of discussions at meetings is how to meet the needs of a community. Since I am not usually from that particular area and I am not familiar with the personal dynamics at work, I will tell people to name what they feel is a need while I keep my mouth shut by eating a doughnut. Hands will go up immediately and I hear replies such as “a program for to help kids,” or “such and such building to be renovated and turned into a community center.”

With a blessed doughnut in one hand, and a pen in the other, I will start scribbling as I start asking questions. I want everyone to audibly think through what they are planning and see it on paper. When everyone is finished, I will then inquire as to why they feel whatever it is that they stated, is in fact, a need. You will be very surprised to see what happens when ideas make it to paper and how everything then takes shape when you start getting into nitty gritty details. Everything will begin to take shape and it usually looks much different than what was thought of, especially when multiple people are collaborating on it. However, you need to be a bit more organized.

Once you agree on what it is that you truly want to do, this will be called your mission. Then, you need to break it down even further. Once you have a mission, you need to create goals and a timeline for each goal in order to fulfill the stated mission. This will keep you from running in circles in the future. As a rule of thumb, I tell other to focus on 3 goals a year to fulfill their mission. This is an adequate starting point. Whittle it down to your top three things.

Then its time…..

I am assuming that you are officially at the point that you have identified your need and now have a plan in place to fill that need. You have searched high and low for individuals just as crazy as yourself that feel this mission is important and they are ready to rock it out. Welcome to the dark side ;) Let’s get started.

You need to consult with a certified professional to get the necessary paperwork in place.

Laws vary from state to state as to how those are set up and you will need to consult with a CPA. I am sure once you tell them what you are doing; they will gladly walk you through the process of what needs to be done, free of charge or for a reduced fee. Get used to asking for free or reduced charge from vendors to keep your overhead costs down.  I have vendors listed on my products page that will do just that for you and understand you are on a tight budget.

·Word of Advice: Wait until your organization is declared tax exempt by the IRS and you have the official letter from them in your hand.

You now have all the official paperwork in your hand and you are ready to rock it out. You need to call your first meeting and get the ball rolling. According to your by-laws, it should spell out how often you meet, how many members you have, and what happens during that meeting such as a visitors input, etc. It should spell out crystal clear what you are about and roles should be assigned to all members. Your by laws are the merit in which you will operate.

You also need to have an agenda (what you are going to talk about) for every meeting and every item on that agenda needs to be as specific as possible. Which leads me to this next topic…..

Every meeting will have a formula of simple formalities consisting of your agenda (what you want to talk about,) someone keeping notes of the time it starts and ends, those who are attending, what was discussed (those are called the minutes,) and someone leading the meeting (usually the president or director.)

What is not included in the formalities, I am going to try my best to explain:

One huge problem that I encounter with a group of individuals that get together is that they meet with a few really vague concepts they want to discuss. Then they are there for 2 hours with not a whole lot that was accomplished except for a lot of conversation and idle gossip. I am also willing to bet that since you are reading this, you are the president of the organization or another officer and you will be leading your meeting. If you want to cover as much ground as possible in a short amount of time, my recommendation is to not only keep your agendas as specific as possible, but keep the meeting moving from item to item, and even control how input from members is given and how the conversation flows. You will not be censoring anyone, but you will basically be commanding valuable information from everyone that is needed to progress instead of the conversation veering off to discussing the next Zumba class. Does that make sense?  By following this method, you will once again be borrowing a technique from the business sector.

Specifically ask a question of each member to achieve your mission. If you leave everything up for discussion, it will become a chaotic mess and it can derail quickly. You also run into the main problem that I witness most organizations have: having a meeting to discuss the next meeting. You don’t want that. Trust me, there is going to be some repetition with what you are about to do and you need to keep that to a minimum in other areas of your life. I highly recommend that you hammer out, at every meeting, the “Who, What, When, Where, and Why” and then assign homework to everyone, adjourn the meeting, and THEN you can go talk about Zumba.

Here is a more simplistic example if what I stated seems a bit hazy:

As soon as you sit down for a meeting and start, begin to vocally engage everyone in the room.  My rule of thumb is to inform everyone of what is going on. Then I call everyone by name and ask for their input about each specific item as I mark down my list.

For Example: Say you are meeting and your agenda is to discuss a fundraiser (the “What”). You have identified the need in which you want to raise the money for (the “Who”.) First, ask everyone what they want to do. Everyone will give their response, and you write it down.

Then, out of all of the suggestions, ask everyone which one will be the most beneficial (you just narrowed down the” What” even further.)

Ok, now where is the most convenient place to have it and when? (the” Where and When”.)

So, in conclusion, the gang has decided that you want to have a fundraiser, sell hamburgers at the local craft fair next Saturday, and all of the proceeds will go towards assisting economically disadvantaged kids to buy school supplies next year.

But wait! There are still a couple of variables you still have not nailed down by the end of the meeting! This means homework assignments! The variables are that you don’t know what food vendor will be the cheapest therefore the best at giving you the highest profit margin. You also are aware that some of the local stores will donate school supplies directly, but you are not for sure the specifics of that donation.

Once input is given from every member that wishes to speak, and all questions are asked and everyone has come to a conclusion about something, then assign homework assignments with a deadline of completion to everyone. For Example: This means you ask another member if they can call around to see who has the cheapest prices on ground meat. They can do this while you inform them that you can research what local stores can give school supplies directly to you before the next monthly meeting.

Sound simple enough? Good. Keep it specific and productive.

Now, since we are on the topic of fundraisers, and since this will probably be the first way you will try and find a bit of badly needed cash. Here are a few more tidbits you need to know for your first fundraiser:

Fundraising 101

First- develop a plan. Remember to ask yourselves the Who, What, When, Why, and Where of what you want to do. Work out all of the logistics because you will need them when you start soliciting money.

Word of Advice: “adequate” is a relative term to most. My suggestion is to steer away from trying to construct whatever it is you want out of the most expensive items available. Would you want someone using your money to buy name brand items they feel they need when the generic would suffice? Then don’t expect a donor to do the same. Keep your plan simple and figure out “wants vs needs.” Also try finding used things that you can recycle to be donated before you look for money to buy it.

Word of Advice: if you are starting a brand new organization with other volunteers, you need to WAIT until all paperwork and roles are established before soliciting donations. If you are starting from scratch, sometimes this can take up to a year.

Third – once you figure out the previous two items, pick your poison when it comes to finding money and then assign everyone a task to complete before the next meeting.  Be sure to check the rules and regulations regarding what types of fundraisers you are planning. The Secretary of State’s or even the IRS’s website’s are good places to start.

Common ways of securing donations are:

• Cold call local businesses and talk to whoever is in charge of community giving. Tell them what is going down and ask for what you need.  This includes all utility companies that service your area. Do you have large ticket items you need (such as a sign) where they can advertise their company logo? Great. Find out how much it will cost and ask them for it. ** For bigger ticket items, go directly to the company president with what you have planned. They are the ones that will have to take it to the Board of Directors for approval anyway.
• Get creative. Have a fundraiser. Host a dinner with a show. Plan a bake sale. If you are need of supplies for a planned fundraiser, you can obtain free gift cards from grocery stores to use for needed supplies. Sometimes businesses will donate the supplies directly to you. You will need to contact customer service to obtain the items. This will assist you immensely with your bottom line.

Utilize social media to its fullest to create a buzz surrounding your event. I cannot stress this enough. Social media is a powerful tool this day and age and there is an art to mastering it to your advantage. If you are going to pay for anything, my advice is to pay to learn as much as you can about it. There are 7 billion people on earth that you have the potential to reach. Even if 1% of them will listen to what you have to say and donate five cents, imagine what impact that will have in what you are trying to accomplish.

**Laws for soliciting vary from state to state and there are rules in place addressing soliciting donations over state lines so regulations can get a bit murky. Consult with a professional to make sure you are adequately preparing.

Send out letters to other organizations telling them the story of what you want to start in your community. Tell them all about what you have planned. You never know what someone has lying around that they want to get rid of. This method has worked for me many times in the past. You can end up with used equipment at no cost to you. I don’t know about you, but I am not above hand me downs!

And above everything else, HAVE FUN!!!!!

Alright, you have now acquired some knowledge as to how to get started in the right direction. I know you are probably getting tired after a long day so I want to leave you with one more thing before you put your device down. This is going to be a word of serious caution and it was something my college professors never warned me about. This has to do with people you are going to surround yourself with. As trite as this may sound, I honestly wish someone had sat me down and talked to me about this before I commenced to hopping down my trail years ago. It would have saved me quite a bit of heartache in the end.

Here it is….

How to Create a Non Toxic Board of Directors and / or Volunteer Base

Most of the time, when a Board is created, it involves a few people who had the idea in the first place to sit and ask themselves,” Who do we want to ask to do this with us?”  All of you then spend the afternoon racking your brains trying to figure out who else you want to ask to participate in this cause and put their names on the dotted line. Keep in mind, that as your organization grows, the Board is going to ultimately be in charge and call all of the shots.  It is easy to base your decisions on soliciting individuals based on the fact that they volunteer with other organizations. This really hits home if you are located in a small town. In that case, all organizations are usually operating with the same individuals serving on the same boards. In the event that you have a large pool of potential people to help you or a small one, there are a few key things I want you to watch out for before you ask someone to assist you in furthering your cause be it someone that serves on the board or volunteers. The reason being is because this is basically going to be the equivalent of a marriage minus the sex. You will be up close and personal with everyone and will be making decisions concerning money. You are going to be in this for the long haul and it needs everything to run as smoothly as possible. You definitely want individuals that are forward thinkers and are innovative for sure. However, there are a few personality types that can and will spell trouble in the long run and most likely serve as your organization’s kiss of death at some point. These types may thrive in the business sector, but most likely will not in the nonprofit sector.  I am going to list the traits of those that I have either experienced firsthand, or heard horror stories of.  Here are those traits you don’t want around this particular area in your life and why:

Arrogant/Disconnected People – These two traits usually go hand and hand. These are going to be the ones that expect everyone to cater to their every whim and are usually in the role of being a volunteer not because they want to help, but because it makes them look awesome. You know of those of which I speak.  However, they could care less about anyone that cannot do anything for them. When times get bumpy (and they can), they will be the first to save their own skin. Want to know a quick way to weed them out? Go out to eat with them and watch how they treat the wait staff. If they sit and act like royalty on their thrones, then that is as far as you need to go with them. Another way to identify these types is how they treat animals. You can even bring up the topic of a cat stuck in a tree or a puppy on the side of the road and then listen to the conversation progress. If nothing is said about assisting the poor animal, and in some cases, jokes made about furthering its demise, walk away while you are still ahead. If they cannot connect with everyone around them and empathize, they will not be able to connect with the ones that need assistance or the ones funding your program and that can spell disaster for you down the road. You have to be able to connect with everything around you in the Realm of Philanthropy.

Individuals that cannot handle their personal business – I will be the first to admit to you that you want to surround yourself with the most intelligent people you can find to help you with your cause. I will also be the first to tell you that a PhD does not necessarily mean they are the best educated or best suited for what you want to do. If a person is known to have continuous strife in their personal life, regardless of their title, it will carry over into the organization at some point. You cannot expect someone to operate smoothly as a volunteer if there is constant chaos in their personal life. For Example: If it is a well-kept secret that domestic abuse exists in their home, they cannot be expected to have an impact in the lives of individuals that are survivors of domestic abuse. Make sense?

Individuals that gossip, openly slander others, and cause drama- If it is known that a particular person is always in the process of saying nasty things about other people and spilling others secrets to everyone, then know they will do it the minute they have the opening to such a thing about the entity that you are creating. It will not matter if they do this public or privately. When everyone is trying to work together, you can have disagreements and even debate a topic. That can actually be very productive in the end. However, if you constantly have those in place that stay in an aggressive state towards everyone around them, it will prove to be deadly to what you are trying to do. Why would anyone work with someone that is always in an aggressive mode towards everyone?  Furthermore, why would a donor give to that hot mess of a dynamic? Not to mention the negative PR your organization may receive. These types can be like poison in the well water.

Word of Advice: Disagreements and different points of view are alright and can be welcomed. Everyone can agree to disagree and work to meet in the middle. Surround yourself with innovative thinkers that are open to discussion about different things and that are overall proactive and positive in their lives. Want to know how to recognize them? They build everything up around them instead of