The Casebook Blog

The previous post outlined the primary types of capacity-building projects and reviewed how transformational successful capacity-building implementation have been, for example, nonprofits. In this post, we’ll delve into reporting as well as the need for positive and open lines of communication with funders. Nonprofits, as public charities, are subject to investment from both public and private sources. Institutions (such as foundations and corporations) are examples of private sources of support necessary to nonprofits sustainable funding.Let’s say your organization has done a large amount of the work, and you just received your grant award! Beyond implementing the program, communicating with funders is key to ensuring you maintain good standing with their organization. Much of institutional giving is based on the promises you are making to these sources (your proposed programming/services, deliverables, etc.) however, equally important, is how you communicate with founders on your progress. There are the two main types of open communication with funders: formal reporting and relationship-building moments. Formal Reporting are updates given through either Interim Reporting or Impact Reports. They are often requested by each funder and have guidelines on what they should entail (typically sent in the same packet with the award letter/agreement). Interim Reports are updates that support the promised deliverables made to funders (how you’d use the funds). Even for general operating grants, updates to funders—or interim reports—are a necessary part of stewardship (aka maintaining positive relationships with funders which furthers ensure they continue to give/renew). Funding/Impact Reports are distributed to funders at the close of the grant period (typically 1-2 years, however, longer grant periods exist). They are a report back to funders on the full scope of work you’ve accomplished with their funding and a direct assessment of deliverables and key outcomes that were promised. Both of these reporting styles should have qualitative and quantitative examples that compare the progress you’re making to the deliverables you stated you would achieve. Things to detail in the more formal report include indicators of learnings, ways you improved the program, successes, and even challenges that explain where deficits occurred, and solutions you created to offset the barriers to success/implementation. This communication method leans more data driven, leveraging the quantitative efforts of your organization against the key outputs you stated that you would achieve within the initial proposal. Relationship-Building Moments are more informal updates within the stewardship process. This can take place in the form of phone calls to funders, emails, newsletter shares, and sometimes invitations to visit your program (when applicable/safe). One thing I must stress is that you can’t steward an ‘institution.’ You can only really form a bond and reputation with an individual (or group of individuals) at the foundation/corporation. These individuals, through updates, and phone calls, and ‘face- time’ begin to transition from funders to champions of your work. By communicating small victories throughout your grant period, you are showing an institution’s representative that your organization was a worthy investment, and that your impact is rippling beyond their initial grant distribution. This allows a program officer/funder to get to know you (and the organization you represent). Through your touchpoints they learn what your organization stands for at it’s core, beyond the outputs and outcomes outlined in the formal grant and impact reporting. The previous post outlined the primary types of capacity-building projects and reviewed how transformational successful capacity-building implementation have been, for example, nonprofits. In this post, we’ll delve into reporting as well as the need for positive and open lines of communication with funders. Nonprofits, as public charities, are subject to investment from both public and private sources. Institutions (such as foundations and corporations) are examples of private sources of support necessary to nonprofits sustainable funding.Let’s say your organization has done a large amount of the work, and you just received your grant award! Beyond implementing the program, communicating with funders is key to ensuring you maintain good standing with their organization. Much of institutional giving is based on the promises you are making to these sources (your proposed programming/services, deliverables, etc.) however, equally important, is how you communicate with founders on your progress. There are the two main types of open communication with funders: formal reporting and relationship-building moments. Formal Reporting are updates given through either Interim Reporting or Impact Reports. They are often requested by each funder and have guidelines on what they should entail (typically sent in the same packet with the award letter/agreement). Interim Reports are updates that support the promised deliverables made to funders (how you’d use the funds). Even for general operating grants, updates to funders—or interim reports—are a necessary part of stewardship (aka maintaining positive relationships with funders which furthers ensure they continue to give/renew). Funding/Impact Reports are distributed to funders at the close of the grant period (typically 1-2 years, however, longer grant periods exist). They are a report back to funders on the full scope of work you’ve accomplished with their funding and a direct assessment of deliverables and key outcomes that were promised. Both of these reporting styles should have qualitative and quantitative examples that compare the progress you’re making to the deliverables you stated you would achieve. Things to detail in the more formal report include indicators of learnings, ways you improved the program, successes, and even challenges that explain where deficits occurred, and solutions you created to offset the barriers to success/implementation. This communication method leans more data driven, leveraging the quantitative efforts of your organization against the key outputs you stated that you would achieve within the initial proposal. Relationship-Building Moments are more informal updates within the stewardship process. This can take place in the form of phone calls to funders, emails, newsletter shares, and sometimes invitations to visit your program (when applicable/safe). One thing I must stress is that you can’t steward an ‘institution.’ You can only really form a bond and reputation with an individual (or group of individuals) at the foundation/corporation. These individuals, through updates, and phone calls, and ‘face- time’ begin to transition from funders to champions of your work. By communicating small victories throughout your grant period, you are showing an institution’s representative that your organization was a worthy investment, and that your impact is rippling beyond their initial grant distribution. This allows a program officer/funder to get to know you (and the organization you represent). Through your touchpoints they learn what your organization stands for at it’s core, beyond the outputs and outcomes outlined in the formal grant and impact reporting. The previous post outlined the primary types of capacity-building projects and reviewed how transformational successful capacity-building implementation have been, for example, nonprofits. In this post, we’ll delve into reporting as well as the need for positive and open lines of communication with funders. Nonprofits, as public charities, are subject to investment from both public and private sources. Institutions (such as foundations and corporations) are examples of private sources of support necessary to nonprofits sustainable funding.Let’s say your organization has done a large amount of the work, and you just received your grant award! Beyond implementing the program, communicating with funders is key to ensuring you maintain good standing with their organization. Much of institutional giving is based on the promises you are making to these sources (your proposed programming/services, deliverables, etc.) however, equally important, is how you communicate with founders on your progress. There are the two main types of open communication with funders: formal reporting and relationship-building moments. Formal Reporting are updates given through either Interim Reporting or Impact Reports. They are often requested by each funder and have guidelines on what they should entail (typically sent in the same packet with the award letter/agreement). Interim Reports are updates that support the promised deliverables made to funders (how you’d use the funds). Even for general operating grants, updates to funders—or interim reports—are a necessary part of stewardship (aka maintaining positive relationships with funders which furthers ensure they continue to give/renew). Funding/Impact Reports are distributed to funders at the close of the grant period (typically 1-2 years, however, longer grant periods exist). They are a report back to funders on the full scope of work you’ve accomplished with their funding and a direct assessment of deliverables and key outcomes that were promised. Both of these reporting styles should have qualitative and quantitative examples that compare the progress you’re making to the deliverables you stated you would achieve. Things to detail in the more formal report include indicators of learnings, ways you improved the program, successes, and even challenges that explain where deficits occurred, and solutions you created to offset the barriers to success/implementation. This communication method leans more data driven, leveraging the quantitative efforts of your organization against the key outputs you stated that you would achieve within the initial proposal. Relationship-Building Moments are more informal updates within the stewardship process. This can take place in the form of phone calls to funders, emails, newsletter shares, and sometimes invitations to visit your program (when applicable/safe). One thing I must stress is that you can’t steward an ‘institution.’ You can only really form a bond and reputation with an individual (or group of individuals) at the foundation/corporation. These individuals, through updates, and phone calls, and ‘face- time’ begin to transition from funders to champions of your work. By communicating small victories throughout your grant period, you are showing an institution’s representative that your organization was a worthy investment, and that your impact is rippling beyond their initial grant distribution. This allows a program officer/funder to get to know you (and the organization you represent). Through your touchpoints they learn what your organization stands for at it’s core, beyond the outputs and outcomes outlined in the formal grant and impact reporting. The previous post outlined the primary types of capacity-building projects and reviewed how transformational successful capacity-building implementation have been, for example, nonprofits. In this post, we’ll delve into reporting as well as the need for positive and open lines of communication with funders. Nonprofits, as public charities, are subject to investment from both public and private sources. Institutions (such as foundations and corporations) are examples of private sources of support necessary to nonprofits sustainable funding.Let’s say your organization has done a large amount of the work, and you just received your grant award! Beyond implementing the program, communicating with funders is key to ensuring you maintain good standing with their organization. Much of institutional giving is based on the promises you are making to these sources (your proposed programming/services, deliverables, etc.) however, equally important, is how you communicate with founders on your progress. There are the two main types of open communication with funders: formal reporting and relationship-building moments. Formal Reporting are updates given through either Interim Reporting or Impact Reports. They are often requested by each funder and have guidelines on what they should entail (typically sent in the same packet with the award letter/agreement). Interim Reports are updates that support the promised deliverables made to funders (how you’d use the funds). Even for general operating grants, updates to funders—or interim reports—are a necessary part of stewardship (aka maintaining positive relationships with funders which furthers ensure they continue to give/renew). Funding/Impact Reports are distributed to funders at the close of the grant period (typically 1-2 years, however, longer grant periods exist). They are a report back to funders on the full scope of work you’ve accomplished with their funding and a direct assessment of deliverables and key outcomes that were promised. Both of these reporting styles should have qualitative and quantitative examples that compare the progress you’re making to the deliverables you stated you would achieve. Things to detail in the more formal report include indicators of learnings, ways you improved the program, successes, and even challenges that explain where deficits occurred, and solutions you created to offset the barriers to success/implementation. This communication method leans more data driven, leveraging the quantitative efforts of your organization against the key outputs you stated that you would achieve within the initial proposal. Relationship-Building Moments are more informal updates within the stewardship process. This can take place in the form of phone calls to funders, emails, newsletter shares, and sometimes invitations to visit your program (when applicable/safe). One thing I must stress is that you can’t steward an ‘institution.’ You can only really form a bond and reputation with an individual (or group of individuals) at the foundation/corporation. These individuals, through updates, and phone calls, and ‘face- time’ begin to transition from funders to champions of your work. By communicating small victories throughout your grant period, you are showing an institution’s representative that your organization was a worthy investment, and that your impact is rippling beyond their initial grant distribution. This allows a program officer/funder to get to know you (and the organization you represent). Through your touchpoints they learn what your organization stands for at it’s core, beyond the outputs and outcomes outlined in the formal grant and impact reporting. The previous post outlined the primary types of capacity-building projects and reviewed how transformational successful capacity-building implementation have been, for example, nonprofits. In this post, we’ll delve into reporting as well as the need for positive and open lines of communication with funders. Nonprofits, as public charities, are subject to investment from both public and private sources. Institutions (such as foundations and corporations) are examples of private sources of support necessary to nonprofits sustainable funding.Let’s say your organization has done a large amount of the work, and you just received your grant award! Beyond implementing the program, communicating with funders is key to ensuring you maintain good standing with their organization. Much of institutional giving is based on the promises you are making to these sources (your proposed programming/services, deliverables, etc.) however, equally important, is how you communicate with founders on your progress. There are the two main types of open communication with funders: formal reporting and relationship-building moments. Formal Reporting are updates given through either Interim Reporting or Impact Reports. They are often requested by each funder and have guidelines on what they should entail (typically sent in the same packet with the award letter/agreement). Interim Reports are updates that support the promised deliverables made to funders (how you’d use the funds). Even for general operating grants, updates to funders—or interim reports—are a necessary part of stewardship (aka maintaining positive relationships with funders which furthers ensure they continue to give/renew). Funding/Impact Reports are distributed to funders at the close of the grant period (typically 1-2 years, however, longer grant periods exist). They are a report back to funders on the full scope of work you’ve accomplished with their funding and a direct assessment of deliverables and key outcomes that were promised. Both of these reporting styles should have qualitative and quantitative examples that compare the progress you’re making to the deliverables you stated you would achieve. Things to detail in the more formal report include indicators of learnings, ways you improved the program, successes, and even challenges that explain where deficits occurred, and solutions you created to offset the barriers to success/implementation. This communication method leans more data driven, leveraging the quantitative efforts of your organization against the key outputs you stated that you would achieve within the initial proposal. Relationship-Building Moments are more informal updates within the stewardship process. This can take place in the form of phone calls to funders, emails, newsletter shares, and sometimes invitations to visit your program (when applicable/safe). One thing I must stress is that you can’t steward an ‘institution.’ You can only really form a bond and reputation with an individual (or group of individuals) at the foundation/corporation. These individuals, through updates, and phone calls, and ‘face- time’ begin to transition from funders to champions of your work. By communicating small victories throughout your grant period, you are showing an institution’s representative that your organization was a worthy investment, and that your impact is rippling beyond their initial grant distribution. This allows a program officer/funder to get to know you (and the organization you represent). Through your touchpoints they learn what your organization stands for at it’s core, beyond the outputs and outcomes outlined in the formal grant and impact reporting. The previous post outlined the primary types of capacity-building projects and reviewed how transformational successful capacity-building implementation have been, for example, nonprofits. In this post, we’ll delve into reporting as well as the need for positive and open lines of communication with funders. Nonprofits, as public charities, are subject to investment from both public and private sources. Institutions (such as foundations and corporations) are examples of private sources of support necessary to nonprofits sustainable funding.Let’s say your organization has done a large amount of the work, and you just received your grant award! Beyond implementing the program, communicating with funders is key to ensuring you maintain good standing with their organization. Much of institutional giving is based on the promises you are making to these sources (your proposed programming/services, deliverables, etc.) however, equally important, is how you communicate with founders on your progress. There are the two main types of open communication with funders: formal reporting and relationship-building moments. Formal Reporting are updates given through either Interim Reporting or Impact Reports. They are often requested by each funder and have guidelines on what they should entail (typically sent in the same packet with the award letter/agreement). Interim Reports are updates that support the promised deliverables made to funders (how you’d use the funds). Even for general operating grants, updates to funders—or interim reports—are a necessary part of stewardship (aka maintaining positive relationships with funders which furthers ensure they continue to give/renew). Funding/Impact Reports are distributed to funders at the close of the grant period (typically 1-2 years, however, longer grant periods exist). They are a report back to funders on the full scope of work you’ve accomplished with their funding and a direct assessment of deliverables and key outcomes that were promised. Both of these reporting styles should have qualitative and quantitative examples that compare the progress you’re making to the deliverables you stated you would achieve. Things to detail in the more formal report include indicators of learnings, ways you improved the program, successes, and even challenges that explain where deficits occurred, and solutions you created to offset the barriers to success/implementation. This communication method leans more data driven, leveraging the quantitative efforts of your organization against the key outputs you stated that you would achieve within the initial proposal. Relationship-Building Moments are more informal updates within the stewardship process. This can take place in the form of phone calls to funders, emails, newsletter shares, and sometimes invitations to visit your program (when applicable/safe). One thing I must stress is that you can’t steward an ‘institution.’ You can only really form a bond and reputation with an individual (or group of individuals) at the foundation/corporation. These individuals, through updates, and phone calls, and ‘face- time’ begin to transition from funders to champions of your work. By communicating small victories throughout your grant period, you are showing an institution’s representative that your organization was a worthy investment, and that your impact is rippling beyond their initial grant distribution. This allows a program officer/funder to get to know you (and the organization you represent). Through your touchpoints they learn what your organization stands for at it’s core, beyond the outputs and outcomes outlined in the formal grant and impact reporting. The previous post outlined the primary types of capacity-building projects and reviewed how transformational successful capacity-building implementation have been, for example, nonprofits. In this post, we’ll delve into reporting as well as the need for positive and open lines of communication with funders. Nonprofits, as public charities, are subject to investment from both public and private sources. Institutions (such as foundations and corporations) are examples of private sources of support necessary to nonprofits sustainable funding.Let’s say your organization has done a large amount of the work, and you just received your grant award! Beyond implementing the program, communicating with funders is key to ensuring you maintain good standing with their organization. Much of institutional giving is based on the promises you are making to these sources (your proposed programming/services, deliverables, etc.) however, equally important, is how you communicate with founders on your progress. There are the two main types of open communication with funders: formal reporting and relationship-building moments. Formal Reporting are updates given through either Interim Reporting or Impact Reports. They are often requested by each funder and have guidelines on what they should entail (typically sent in the same packet with the award letter/agreement). Interim Reports are updates that support the promised deliverables made to funders (how you’d use the funds). Even for general operating grants, updates to funders—or interim reports—are a necessary part of stewardship (aka maintaining positive relationships with funders which furthers ensure they continue to give/renew). Funding/Impact Reports are distributed to funders at the close of the grant period (typically 1-2 years, however, longer grant periods exist). They are a report back to funders on the full scope of work you’ve accomplished with their funding and a direct assessment of deliverables and key outcomes that were promised. Both of these reporting styles should have qualitative and quantitative examples that compare the progress you’re making to the deliverables you stated you would achieve. Things to detail in the more formal report include indicators of learnings, ways you improved the program, successes, and even challenges that explain where deficits occurred, and solutions you created to offset the barriers to success/implementation. This communication method leans more data driven, leveraging the quantitative efforts of your organization against the key outputs you stated that you would achieve within the initial proposal. Relationship-Building Moments are more informal updates within the stewardship process. This can take place in the form of phone calls to funders, emails, newsletter shares, and sometimes invitations to visit your program (when applicable/safe). One thing I must stress is that you can’t steward an ‘institution.’ You can only really form a bond and reputation with an individual (or group of individuals) at the foundation/corporation. These individuals, through updates, and phone calls, and ‘face- time’ begin to transition from funders to champions of your work. By communicating small victories throughout your grant period, you are showing an institution’s representative that your organization was a worthy investment, and that your impact is rippling beyond their initial grant distribution. This allows a program officer/funder to get to know you (and the organization you represent). Through your touchpoints they learn what your organization stands for at it’s core, beyond the outputs and outcomes outlined in the formal grant and impact reporting. The previous post outlined the primary types of capacity-building projects and reviewed how transformational successful capacity-building implementation have been, for example, nonprofits. In this post, we’ll delve into reporting as well as the need for positive and open lines of communication with funders. Nonprofits, as public charities, are subject to investment from both public and private sources. Institutions (such as foundations and corporations) are examples of private sources of support necessary to nonprofits sustainable funding.Let’s say your organization has done a large amount of the work, and you just received your grant award! Beyond implementing the program, communicating with funders is key to ensuring you maintain good standing with their organization. Much of institutional giving is based on the promises you are making to these sources (your proposed programming/services, deliverables, etc.) however, equally important, is how you communicate with founders on your progress. There are the two main types of open communication with funders: formal reporting and relationship-building moments. Formal Reporting are updates given through either Interim Reporting or Impact Reports. They are often requested by each funder and have guidelines on what they should entail (typically sent in the same packet with the award letter/agreement). Interim Reports are updates that support the promised deliverables made to funders (how you’d use the funds). Even for general operating grants, updates to funders—or interim reports—are a necessary part of stewardship (aka maintaining positive relationships with funders which furthers ensure they continue to give/renew). Funding/Impact Reports are distributed to funders at the close of the grant period (typically 1-2 years, however, longer grant periods exist). They are a report back to funders on the full scope of work you’ve accomplished with their funding and a direct assessment of deliverables and key outcomes that were promised. Both of these reporting styles should have qualitative and quantitative examples that compare the progress you’re making to the deliverables you stated you would achieve. Things to detail in the more formal report include indicators of learnings, ways you improved the program, successes, and even challenges that explain where deficits occurred, and solutions you created to offset the barriers to success/implementation. This communication method leans more data driven, leveraging the quantitative efforts of your organization against the key outputs you stated that you would achieve within the initial proposal. Relationship-Building Moments are more informal updates within the stewardship process. This can take place in the form of phone calls to funders, emails, newsletter shares, and sometimes invitations to visit your program (when applicable/safe). One thing I must stress is that you can’t steward an ‘institution.’ You can only really form a bond and reputation with an individual (or group of individuals) at the foundation/corporation. These individuals, through updates, and phone calls, and ‘face- time’ begin to transition from funders to champions of your work. By communicating small victories throughout your grant period, you are showing an institution’s representative that your organization was a worthy investment, and that your impact is rippling beyond their initial grant distribution. This allows a program officer/funder to get to know you (and the organization you represent). Through your touchpoints they learn what your organization stands for at it’s core, beyond the outputs and outcomes outlined in the formal grant and impact reporting. The previous post outlined the primary types of capacity-building projects and reviewed how transformational successful capacity-building implementation have been, for example, nonprofits. In this post, we’ll delve into reporting as well as the need for positive and open lines of communication with funders. Nonprofits, as public charities, are subject to investment from both public and private sources. Institutions (such as foundations and corporations) are examples of private sources of support necessary to nonprofits sustainable funding.Let’s say your organization has done a large amount of the work, and you just received your grant award! Beyond implementing the program, communicating with funders is key to ensuring you maintain good standing with their organization. Much of institutional giving is based on the promises you are making to these sources (your proposed programming/services, deliverables, etc.) however, equally important, is how you communicate with founders on your progress. There are the two main types of open communication with funders: formal reporting and relationship-building moments. Formal Reporting are updates given through either Interim Reporting or Impact Reports. They are often requested by each funder and have guidelines on what they should entail (typically sent in the same packet with the award letter/agreement). Interim Reports are updates that support the promised deliverables made to funders (how you’d use the funds). Even for general operating grants, updates to funders—or interim reports—are a necessary part of stewardship (aka maintaining positive relationships with funders which furthers ensure they continue to give/renew). Funding/Impact Reports are distributed to funders at the close of the grant period (typically 1-2 years, however, longer grant periods exist). They are a report back to funders on the full scope of work you’ve accomplished with their funding and a direct assessment of deliverables and key outcomes that were promised. Both of these reporting styles should have qualitative and quantitative examples that compare the progress you’re making to the deliverables you stated you would achieve. Things to detail in the more formal report include indicators of learnings, ways you improved the program, successes, and even challenges that explain where deficits occurred, and solutions you created to offset the barriers to success/implementation. This communication method leans more data driven, leveraging the quantitative efforts of your organization against the key outputs you stated that you would achieve within the initial proposal. Relationship-Building Moments are more informal updates within the stewardship process. This can take place in the form of phone calls to funders, emails, newsletter shares, and sometimes invitations to visit your program (when applicable/safe). One thing I must stress is that you can’t steward an ‘institution.’ You can only really form a bond and reputation with an individual (or group of individuals) at the foundation/corporation. These individuals, through updates, and phone calls, and ‘face- time’ begin to transition from funders to champions of your work. By communicating small victories throughout your grant period, you are showing an institution’s representative that your organization was a worthy investment, and that your impact is rippling beyond their initial grant distribution. This allows a program officer/funder to get to know you (and the organization you represent). Through your touchpoints they learn what your organization stands for at it’s core, beyond the outputs and outcomes outlined in the formal grant and impact reporting. The previous post outlined the primary types of capacity-building projects and reviewed how transformational successful capacity-building implementation have been, for example, nonprofits. In this post, we’ll delve into reporting as well as the need for positive and open lines of communication with funders. Nonprofits, as public charities, are subject to investment from both public and private sources. Institutions (such as foundations and corporations) are examples of private sources of support necessary to nonprofits sustainable funding.Let’s say your organization has done a large amount of the work, and you just received your grant award! Beyond implementing the program, communicating with funders is key to ensuring you maintain good standing with their organization. Much of institutional giving is based on the promises you are making to these sources (your proposed programming/services, deliverables, etc.) however, equally important, is how you communicate with founders on your progress. There are the two main types of open communication with funders: formal reporting and relationship-building moments. Formal Reporting are updates given through either Interim Reporting or Impact Reports. They are often requested by each funder and have guidelines on what they should entail (typically sent in the same packet with the award letter/agreement). Interim Reports are updates that support the promised deliverables made to funders (how you’d use the funds). Even for general operating grants, updates to funders—or interim reports—are a necessary part of stewardship (aka maintaining positive relationships with funders which furthers ensure they continue to give/renew). Funding/Impact Reports are distributed to funders at the close of the grant period (typically 1-2 years, however, longer grant periods exist). They are a report back to funders on the full scope of work you’ve accomplished with their funding and a direct assessment of deliverables and key outcomes that were promised. Both of these reporting styles should have qualitative and quantitative examples that compare the progress you’re making to the deliverables you stated you would achieve. Things to detail in the more formal report include indicators of learnings, ways you improved the program, successes, and even challenges that explain where deficits occurred, and solutions you created to offset the barriers to success/implementation. This communication method leans more data driven, leveraging the quantitative efforts of your organization against the key outputs you stated that you would achieve within the initial proposal. Relationship-Building Moments are more informal updates within the stewardship process. This can take place in the form of phone calls to funders, emails, newsletter shares, and sometimes invitations to visit your program (when applicable/safe). One thing I must stress is that you can’t steward an ‘institution.’ You can only really form a bond and reputation with an individual (or group of individuals) at the foundation/corporation. These individuals, through updates, and phone calls, and ‘face- time’ begin to transition from funders to champions of your work. By communicating small victories throughout your grant period, you are showing an institution’s representative that your organization was a worthy investment, and that your impact is rippling beyond their initial grant distribution. This allows a program officer/funder to get to know you (and the organization you represent). Through your touchpoints they learn what your organization stands for at it’s core, beyond the outputs and outcomes outlined in the formal grant and impact reporting.

Casebook’s configurable platform can be adapted to suit the needs of many organizations, not just those in human services. Educational institutions specifically are ideal settings to deploy scalable cloud-based software. Not just for student case managers, Casebook is perfectly suited to aid teachers, counselors, and administrators in carrying out their diverse duties. Let’s see what it is about the academic environment that makes Casebook a model choice of software for schools of all kinds. Facilitating Tutorials and After school Programs Tracking the attendance and progress of students in after school clubs, tutorials, and programs provided by outside vendors can be challenging. Accurate documentation about these interactions is especially important for your school’s record-keeping, as well as for the student experience. Casebook deposits this information in a secure server accessible from your mobile device, making paper-based and on-premise digital records outdated and unwieldy by comparison. Administrators can then pull customized reports to gauge the success of these programs and their students. In addition, any accommodation that a student may need, such as extra time for an exam, are easily recorded and referenced directly within the platform. Because these kinds of details can often get lost in the normal hubbub of the school day, having a consistent, secure, and streamlined process for managing this data is a big step forward. With today’s educators expecting quick, digitally-based procedures in most contexts, it benefits your school to meet them where they are. How Casebook Handles ARD, IEPs, and 504s Given the importance of the Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) process for students in special education, consistency in the documentation of student accommodations is critical. For students enrolled in Individualized Education Programs (IEP), schools have to maintain relevant health information, progress reports, restrictions, standardized test results, 504 accommodation plans, and more. Casebook makes this quick and painless, allowing your staff to log and track all accommodations provided to a student, track a student’s progress toward their goals, and document all the outcomes. Keeping confidential IEP records secure is elementary with Casebook. Schools that rely on hard copies of files can struggle to keep them safely locked away. However, granting or restricting access to these records is a simple click-by-click process with Casebook’s intuitive software. Faculty, staff, and volunteers can document their work in the platform, then easily pull reports when gathering data for an ARD or any other meeting. These benefits in particular make Casebook an optimal choice of software for schools. Feature-Rich Software for Schools of All Sizes Casebook’s mobile-optimized software equips educators with a range of configurable tools to help them do their crucial jobs. Volumes of paper files may now be discarded in favor of a single digital platform that you can access wirelessly. Off-duty discussions about students are no longer necessary, as these conversations can readily take place in a secure online forum. Counselors needn’t disrupt lessons by visiting classrooms to inquire after students anymore. This is all due to Casebook’s powerful yet simple features. Let’s look closer at the features that make Casebook particularly well-suited software for schools. Casebook’s configurable platform can be adapted to suit the needs of many organizations, not just those in human services. Educational institutions specifically are ideal settings to deploy scalable cloud-based software. Not just for student case managers, Casebook is perfectly suited to aid teachers, counselors, and administrators in carrying out their diverse duties. Let’s see what it is about the academic environment that makes Casebook a model choice of software for schools of all kinds. Facilitating Tutorials and After school Programs Tracking the attendance and progress of students in after school clubs, tutorials, and programs provided by outside vendors can be challenging. Accurate documentation about these interactions is especially important for your school’s record-keeping, as well as for the student experience. Casebook deposits this information in a secure server accessible from your mobile device, making paper-based and on-premise digital records outdated and unwieldy by comparison. Administrators can then pull customized reports to gauge the success of these programs and their students. In addition, any accommodation that a student may need, such as extra time for an exam, are easily recorded and referenced directly within the platform. Because these kinds of details can often get lost in the normal hubbub of the school day, having a consistent, secure, and streamlined process for managing this data is a big step forward. With today’s educators expecting quick, digitally-based procedures in most contexts, it benefits your school to meet them where they are. How Casebook Handles ARD, IEPs, and 504s Given the importance of the Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) process for students in special education, consistency in the documentation of student accommodations is critical. For students enrolled in Individualized Education Programs (IEP), schools have to maintain relevant health information, progress reports, restrictions, standardized test results, 504 accommodation plans, and more. Casebook makes this quick and painless, allowing your staff to log and track all accommodations provided to a student, track a student’s progress toward their goals, and document all the outcomes. Keeping confidential IEP records secure is elementary with Casebook. Schools that rely on hard copies of files can struggle to keep them safely locked away. However, granting or restricting access to these records is a simple click-by-click process with Casebook’s intuitive software. Faculty, staff, and volunteers can document their work in the platform, then easily pull reports when gathering data for an ARD or any other meeting. These benefits in particular make Casebook an optimal choice of software for schools. Feature-Rich Software for Schools of All Sizes Casebook’s mobile-optimized software equips educators with a range of configurable tools to help them do their crucial jobs. Volumes of paper files may now be discarded in favor of a single digital platform that you can access wirelessly. Off-duty discussions about students are no longer necessary, as these conversations can readily take place in a secure online forum. Counselors needn’t disrupt lessons by visiting classrooms to inquire after students anymore. This is all due to Casebook’s powerful yet simple features. Let’s look closer at the features that make Casebook particularly well-suited software for schools. Casebook’s configurable platform can be adapted to suit the needs of many organizations, not just those in human services. Educational institutions specifically are ideal settings to deploy scalable cloud-based software. Not just for student case managers, Casebook is perfectly suited to aid teachers, counselors, and administrators in carrying out their diverse duties. Let’s see what it is about the academic environment that makes Casebook a model choice of software for schools of all kinds. Facilitating Tutorials and After school Programs Tracking the attendance and progress of students in after school clubs, tutorials, and programs provided by outside vendors can be challenging. Accurate documentation about these interactions is especially important for your school’s record-keeping, as well as for the student experience. Casebook deposits this information in a secure server accessible from your mobile device, making paper-based and on-premise digital records outdated and unwieldy by comparison. Administrators can then pull customized reports to gauge the success of these programs and their students. In addition, any accommodation that a student may need, such as extra time for an exam, are easily recorded and referenced directly within the platform. Because these kinds of details can often get lost in the normal hubbub of the school day, having a consistent, secure, and streamlined process for managing this data is a big step forward. With today’s educators expecting quick, digitally-based procedures in most contexts, it benefits your school to meet them where they are. How Casebook Handles ARD, IEPs, and 504s Given the importance of the Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) process for students in special education, consistency in the documentation of student accommodations is critical. For students enrolled in Individualized Education Programs (IEP), schools have to maintain relevant health information, progress reports, restrictions, standardized test results, 504 accommodation plans, and more. Casebook makes this quick and painless, allowing your staff to log and track all accommodations provided to a student, track a student’s progress toward their goals, and document all the outcomes. Keeping confidential IEP records secure is elementary with Casebook. Schools that rely on hard copies of files can struggle to keep them safely locked away. However, granting or restricting access to these records is a simple click-by-click process with Casebook’s intuitive software. Faculty, staff, and volunteers can document their work in the platform, then easily pull reports when gathering data for an ARD or any other meeting. These benefits in particular make Casebook an optimal choice of software for schools. Feature-Rich Software for Schools of All Sizes Casebook’s mobile-optimized software equips educators with a range of configurable tools to help them do their crucial jobs. Volumes of paper files may now be discarded in favor of a single digital platform that you can access wirelessly. Off-duty discussions about students are no longer necessary, as these conversations can readily take place in a secure online forum. Counselors needn’t disrupt lessons by visiting classrooms to inquire after students anymore. This is all due to Casebook’s powerful yet simple features. Let’s look closer at the features that make Casebook particularly well-suited software for schools. Casebook’s configurable platform can be adapted to suit the needs of many organizations, not just those in human services. Educational institutions specifically are ideal settings to deploy scalable cloud-based software. Not just for student case managers, Casebook is perfectly suited to aid teachers, counselors, and administrators in carrying out their diverse duties. Let’s see what it is about the academic environment that makes Casebook a model choice of software for schools of all kinds. Facilitating Tutorials and After school Programs Tracking the attendance and progress of students in after school clubs, tutorials, and programs provided by outside vendors can be challenging. Accurate documentation about these interactions is especially important for your school’s record-keeping, as well as for the student experience. Casebook deposits this information in a secure server accessible from your mobile device, making paper-based and on-premise digital records outdated and unwieldy by comparison. Administrators can then pull customized reports to gauge the success of these programs and their students. In addition, any accommodation that a student may need, such as extra time for an exam, are easily recorded and referenced directly within the platform. Because these kinds of details can often get lost in the normal hubbub of the school day, having a consistent, secure, and streamlined process for managing this data is a big step forward. With today’s educators expecting quick, digitally-based procedures in most contexts, it benefits your school to meet them where they are. How Casebook Handles ARD, IEPs, and 504s Given the importance of the Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) process for students in special education, consistency in the documentation of student accommodations is critical. For students enrolled in Individualized Education Programs (IEP), schools have to maintain relevant health information, progress reports, restrictions, standardized test results, 504 accommodation plans, and more. Casebook makes this quick and painless, allowing your staff to log and track all accommodations provided to a student, track a student’s progress toward their goals, and document all the outcomes. Keeping confidential IEP records secure is elementary with Casebook. Schools that rely on hard copies of files can struggle to keep them safely locked away. However, granting or restricting access to these records is a simple click-by-click process with Casebook’s intuitive software. Faculty, staff, and volunteers can document their work in the platform, then easily pull reports when gathering data for an ARD or any other meeting. These benefits in particular make Casebook an optimal choice of software for schools. Feature-Rich Software for Schools of All Sizes Casebook’s mobile-optimized software equips educators with a range of configurable tools to help them do their crucial jobs. Volumes of paper files may now be discarded in favor of a single digital platform that you can access wirelessly. Off-duty discussions about students are no longer necessary, as these conversations can readily take place in a secure online forum. Counselors needn’t disrupt lessons by visiting classrooms to inquire after students anymore. This is all due to Casebook’s powerful yet simple features. Let’s look closer at the features that make Casebook particularly well-suited software for schools. Casebook’s configurable platform can be adapted to suit the needs of many organizations, not just those in human services. Educational institutions specifically are ideal settings to deploy scalable cloud-based software. Not just for student case managers, Casebook is perfectly suited to aid teachers, counselors, and administrators in carrying out their diverse duties. Let’s see what it is about the academic environment that makes Casebook a model choice of software for schools of all kinds. Facilitating Tutorials and After school Programs Tracking the attendance and progress of students in after school clubs, tutorials, and programs provided by outside vendors can be challenging. Accurate documentation about these interactions is especially important for your school’s record-keeping, as well as for the student experience. Casebook deposits this information in a secure server accessible from your mobile device, making paper-based and on-premise digital records outdated and unwieldy by comparison. Administrators can then pull customized reports to gauge the success of these programs and their students. In addition, any accommodation that a student may need, such as extra time for an exam, are easily recorded and referenced directly within the platform. Because these kinds of details can often get lost in the normal hubbub of the school day, having a consistent, secure, and streamlined process for managing this data is a big step forward. With today’s educators expecting quick, digitally-based procedures in most contexts, it benefits your school to meet them where they are. How Casebook Handles ARD, IEPs, and 504s Given the importance of the Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) process for students in special education, consistency in the documentation of student accommodations is critical. For students enrolled in Individualized Education Programs (IEP), schools have to maintain relevant health information, progress reports, restrictions, standardized test results, 504 accommodation plans, and more. Casebook makes this quick and painless, allowing your staff to log and track all accommodations provided to a student, track a student’s progress toward their goals, and document all the outcomes. Keeping confidential IEP records secure is elementary with Casebook. Schools that rely on hard copies of files can struggle to keep them safely locked away. However, granting or restricting access to these records is a simple click-by-click process with Casebook’s intuitive software. Faculty, staff, and volunteers can document their work in the platform, then easily pull reports when gathering data for an ARD or any other meeting. These benefits in particular make Casebook an optimal choice of software for schools. Feature-Rich Software for Schools of All Sizes Casebook’s mobile-optimized software equips educators with a range of configurable tools to help them do their crucial jobs. Volumes of paper files may now be discarded in favor of a single digital platform that you can access wirelessly. Off-duty discussions about students are no longer necessary, as these conversations can readily take place in a secure online forum. Counselors needn’t disrupt lessons by visiting classrooms to inquire after students anymore. This is all due to Casebook’s powerful yet simple features. Let’s look closer at the features that make Casebook particularly well-suited software for schools. Casebook’s configurable platform can be adapted to suit the needs of many organizations, not just those in human services. Educational institutions specifically are ideal settings to deploy scalable cloud-based software. Not just for student case managers, Casebook is perfectly suited to aid teachers, counselors, and administrators in carrying out their diverse duties. Let’s see what it is about the academic environment that makes Casebook a model choice of software for schools of all kinds. Facilitating Tutorials and After school Programs Tracking the attendance and progress of students in after school clubs, tutorials, and programs provided by outside vendors can be challenging. Accurate documentation about these interactions is especially important for your school’s record-keeping, as well as for the student experience. Casebook deposits this information in a secure server accessible from your mobile device, making paper-based and on-premise digital records outdated and unwieldy by comparison. Administrators can then pull customized reports to gauge the success of these programs and their students. In addition, any accommodation that a student may need, such as extra time for an exam, are easily recorded and referenced directly within the platform. Because these kinds of details can often get lost in the normal hubbub of the school day, having a consistent, secure, and streamlined process for managing this data is a big step forward. With today’s educators expecting quick, digitally-based procedures in most contexts, it benefits your school to meet them where they are. How Casebook Handles ARD, IEPs, and 504s Given the importance of the Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) process for students in special education, consistency in the documentation of student accommodations is critical. For students enrolled in Individualized Education Programs (IEP), schools have to maintain relevant health information, progress reports, restrictions, standardized test results, 504 accommodation plans, and more. Casebook makes this quick and painless, allowing your staff to log and track all accommodations provided to a student, track a student’s progress toward their goals, and document all the outcomes. Keeping confidential IEP records secure is elementary with Casebook. Schools that rely on hard copies of files can struggle to keep them safely locked away. However, granting or restricting access to these records is a simple click-by-click process with Casebook’s intuitive software. Faculty, staff, and volunteers can document their work in the platform, then easily pull reports when gathering data for an ARD or any other meeting. These benefits in particular make Casebook an optimal choice of software for schools. Feature-Rich Software for Schools of All Sizes Casebook’s mobile-optimized software equips educators with a range of configurable tools to help them do their crucial jobs. Volumes of paper files may now be discarded in favor of a single digital platform that you can access wirelessly. Off-duty discussions about students are no longer necessary, as these conversations can readily take place in a secure online forum. Counselors needn’t disrupt lessons by visiting classrooms to inquire after students anymore. This is all due to Casebook’s powerful yet simple features. Let’s look closer at the features that make Casebook particularly well-suited software for schools. Casebook’s configurable platform can be adapted to suit the needs of many organizations, not just those in human services. Educational institutions specifically are ideal settings to deploy scalable cloud-based software. Not just for student case managers, Casebook is perfectly suited to aid teachers, counselors, and administrators in carrying out their diverse duties. Let’s see what it is about the academic environment that makes Casebook a model choice of software for schools of all kinds. Facilitating Tutorials and After school Programs Tracking the attendance and progress of students in after school clubs, tutorials, and programs provided by outside vendors can be challenging. Accurate documentation about these interactions is especially important for your school’s record-keeping, as well as for the student experience. Casebook deposits this information in a secure server accessible from your mobile device, making paper-based and on-premise digital records outdated and unwieldy by comparison. Administrators can then pull customized reports to gauge the success of these programs and their students. In addition, any accommodation that a student may need, such as extra time for an exam, are easily recorded and referenced directly within the platform. Because these kinds of details can often get lost in the normal hubbub of the school day, having a consistent, secure, and streamlined process for managing this data is a big step forward. With today’s educators expecting quick, digitally-based procedures in most contexts, it benefits your school to meet them where they are. How Casebook Handles ARD, IEPs, and 504s Given the importance of the Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) process for students in special education, consistency in the documentation of student accommodations is critical. For students enrolled in Individualized Education Programs (IEP), schools have to maintain relevant health information, progress reports, restrictions, standardized test results, 504 accommodation plans, and more. Casebook makes this quick and painless, allowing your staff to log and track all accommodations provided to a student, track a student’s progress toward their goals, and document all the outcomes. Keeping confidential IEP records secure is elementary with Casebook. Schools that rely on hard copies of files can struggle to keep them safely locked away. However, granting or restricting access to these records is a simple click-by-click process with Casebook’s intuitive software. Faculty, staff, and volunteers can document their work in the platform, then easily pull reports when gathering data for an ARD or any other meeting. These benefits in particular make Casebook an optimal choice of software for schools. Feature-Rich Software for Schools of All Sizes Casebook’s mobile-optimized software equips educators with a range of configurable tools to help them do their crucial jobs. Volumes of paper files may now be discarded in favor of a single digital platform that you can access wirelessly. Off-duty discussions about students are no longer necessary, as these conversations can readily take place in a secure online forum. Counselors needn’t disrupt lessons by visiting classrooms to inquire after students anymore. This is all due to Casebook’s powerful yet simple features. Let’s look closer at the features that make Casebook particularly well-suited software for schools. Casebook’s configurable platform can be adapted to suit the needs of many organizations, not just those in human services. Educational institutions specifically are ideal settings to deploy scalable cloud-based software. Not just for student case managers, Casebook is perfectly suited to aid teachers, counselors, and administrators in carrying out their diverse duties. Let’s see what it is about the academic environment that makes Casebook a model choice of software for schools of all kinds. Facilitating Tutorials and After school Programs Tracking the attendance and progress of students in after school clubs, tutorials, and programs provided by outside vendors can be challenging. Accurate documentation about these interactions is especially important for your school’s record-keeping, as well as for the student experience. Casebook deposits this information in a secure server accessible from your mobile device, making paper-based and on-premise digital records outdated and unwieldy by comparison. Administrators can then pull customized reports to gauge the success of these programs and their students. In addition, any accommodation that a student may need, such as extra time for an exam, are easily recorded and referenced directly within the platform. Because these kinds of details can often get lost in the normal hubbub of the school day, having a consistent, secure, and streamlined process for managing this data is a big step forward. With today’s educators expecting quick, digitally-based procedures in most contexts, it benefits your school to meet them where they are. How Casebook Handles ARD, IEPs, and 504s Given the importance of the Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) process for students in special education, consistency in the documentation of student accommodations is critical. For students enrolled in Individualized Education Programs (IEP), schools have to maintain relevant health information, progress reports, restrictions, standardized test results, 504 accommodation plans, and more. Casebook makes this quick and painless, allowing your staff to log and track all accommodations provided to a student, track a student’s progress toward their goals, and document all the outcomes. Keeping confidential IEP records secure is elementary with Casebook. Schools that rely on hard copies of files can struggle to keep them safely locked away. However, granting or restricting access to these records is a simple click-by-click process with Casebook’s intuitive software. Faculty, staff, and volunteers can document their work in the platform, then easily pull reports when gathering data for an ARD or any other meeting. These benefits in particular make Casebook an optimal choice of software for schools. Feature-Rich Software for Schools of All Sizes Casebook’s mobile-optimized software equips educators with a range of configurable tools to help them do their crucial jobs. Volumes of paper files may now be discarded in favor of a single digital platform that you can access wirelessly. Off-duty discussions about students are no longer necessary, as these conversations can readily take place in a secure online forum. Counselors needn’t disrupt lessons by visiting classrooms to inquire after students anymore. This is all due to Casebook’s powerful yet simple features. Let’s look closer at the features that make Casebook particularly well-suited software for schools. Casebook’s configurable platform can be adapted to suit the needs of many organizations, not just those in human services. Educational institutions specifically are ideal settings to deploy scalable cloud-based software. Not just for student case managers, Casebook is perfectly suited to aid teachers, counselors, and administrators in carrying out their diverse duties. Let’s see what it is about the academic environment that makes Casebook a model choice of software for schools of all kinds. Facilitating Tutorials and After school Programs Tracking the attendance and progress of students in after school clubs, tutorials, and programs provided by outside vendors can be challenging. Accurate documentation about these interactions is especially important for your school’s record-keeping, as well as for the student experience. Casebook deposits this information in a secure server accessible from your mobile device, making paper-based and on-premise digital records outdated and unwieldy by comparison. Administrators can then pull customized reports to gauge the success of these programs and their students. In addition, any accommodation that a student may need, such as extra time for an exam, are easily recorded and referenced directly within the platform. Because these kinds of details can often get lost in the normal hubbub of the school day, having a consistent, secure, and streamlined process for managing this data is a big step forward. With today’s educators expecting quick, digitally-based procedures in most contexts, it benefits your school to meet them where they are. How Casebook Handles ARD, IEPs, and 504s Given the importance of the Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) process for students in special education, consistency in the documentation of student accommodations is critical. For students enrolled in Individualized Education Programs (IEP), schools have to maintain relevant health information, progress reports, restrictions, standardized test results, 504 accommodation plans, and more. Casebook makes this quick and painless, allowing your staff to log and track all accommodations provided to a student, track a student’s progress toward their goals, and document all the outcomes. Keeping confidential IEP records secure is elementary with Casebook. Schools that rely on hard copies of files can struggle to keep them safely locked away. However, granting or restricting access to these records is a simple click-by-click process with Casebook’s intuitive software. Faculty, staff, and volunteers can document their work in the platform, then easily pull reports when gathering data for an ARD or any other meeting. These benefits in particular make Casebook an optimal choice of software for schools. Feature-Rich Software for Schools of All Sizes Casebook’s mobile-optimized software equips educators with a range of configurable tools to help them do their crucial jobs. Volumes of paper files may now be discarded in favor of a single digital platform that you can access wirelessly. Off-duty discussions about students are no longer necessary, as these conversations can readily take place in a secure online forum. Counselors needn’t disrupt lessons by visiting classrooms to inquire after students anymore. This is all due to Casebook’s powerful yet simple features. Let’s look closer at the features that make Casebook particularly well-suited software for schools. Casebook’s configurable platform can be adapted to suit the needs of many organizations, not just those in human services. Educational institutions specifically are ideal settings to deploy scalable cloud-based software. Not just for student case managers, Casebook is perfectly suited to aid teachers, counselors, and administrators in carrying out their diverse duties. Let’s see what it is about the academic environment that makes Casebook a model choice of software for schools of all kinds. Facilitating Tutorials and After school Programs Tracking the attendance and progress of students in after school clubs, tutorials, and programs provided by outside vendors can be challenging. Accurate documentation about these interactions is especially important for your school’s record-keeping, as well as for the student experience. Casebook deposits this information in a secure server accessible from your mobile device, making paper-based and on-premise digital records outdated and unwieldy by comparison. Administrators can then pull customized reports to gauge the success of these programs and their students. In addition, any accommodation that a student may need, such as extra time for an exam, are easily recorded and referenced directly within the platform. Because these kinds of details can often get lost in the normal hubbub of the school day, having a consistent, secure, and streamlined process for managing this data is a big step forward. With today’s educators expecting quick, digitally-based procedures in most contexts, it benefits your school to meet them where they are. How Casebook Handles ARD, IEPs, and 504s Given the importance of the Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) process for students in special education, consistency in the documentation of student accommodations is critical. For students enrolled in Individualized Education Programs (IEP), schools have to maintain relevant health information, progress reports, restrictions, standardized test results, 504 accommodation plans, and more. Casebook makes this quick and painless, allowing your staff to log and track all accommodations provided to a student, track a student’s progress toward their goals, and document all the outcomes. Keeping confidential IEP records secure is elementary with Casebook. Schools that rely on hard copies of files can struggle to keep them safely locked away. However, granting or restricting access to these records is a simple click-by-click process with Casebook’s intuitive software. Faculty, staff, and volunteers can document their work in the platform, then easily pull reports when gathering data for an ARD or any other meeting. These benefits in particular make Casebook an optimal choice of software for schools. Feature-Rich Software for Schools of All Sizes Casebook’s mobile-optimized software equips educators with a range of configurable tools to help them do their crucial jobs. Volumes of paper files may now be discarded in favor of a single digital platform that you can access wirelessly. Off-duty discussions about students are no longer necessary, as these conversations can readily take place in a secure online forum. Counselors needn’t disrupt lessons by visiting classrooms to inquire after students anymore. This is all due to Casebook’s powerful yet simple features. Let’s look closer at the features that make Casebook particularly well-suited software for schools.

Donors are individuals who give funds to help your organization achieve its mission! Program/Grant Administrators/Officers are employees of institutions and represent the foundations’ interest. Typically, they are individuals who have extensive knowledge in the field of interest and carry a portfolio of grantees of which they advise and advocate for within their greater institutions.Donors are individuals who give funds to help your organization achieve its mission! Program/Grant Administrators/Officers are employees of institutions and represent the foundations’ interest. Typically, they are individuals who have extensive knowledge in the field of interest and carry a portfolio of grantees of which they advise and advocate for within their greater institutions. So now that we understand the difference between the two, what’s the magic secret to receiving sustainable funding from program officers? It boils down to two things: trust and engagement. There’s no real sorcery involved, but there are a few ‘magic’ truths in fundraising. Some include: those who don’t ask don’t receive (a squeaky wheel gets the oil sort of ideology); and if a program officer wouldn’t trust you with their own money, they’re probably not going to trust you with their foundation’s money either. Fundraising success is usually strengthened by two things: strong data and strong relationships. Relationship building in particular is fundamental. Yes, the collateral you provide to funders matter. The strength of your proposal, and the alignment of your work as it relates to the funder’s vision, matters. Your reputation in the community matters. AND one big indicator of long-term sustainable funding is the relationship you build with your program officer as an extension of the foundation. Relationships matter. And all of this brings us back to understanding how to build trust and drive engagement. Let’s start with engagement. There’s a working theory in fundraising called the ‘rule of 7’. Simple put, expert fundraisers (yours included) believe that you need seven quality touch points between requesting gifts. The majority of these engagement touch points should be thank yours and updates. This practice doesn’t just go for individual donors, it also is helpful for foundation program officers as well. An example of engagement timeline which may work for you could include: Donors are individuals who give funds to help your organization achieve its mission! Program/Grant Administrators/Officers are employees of institutions and represent the foundations’ interest. Typically, they are individuals who have extensive knowledge in the field of interest and carry a portfolio of grantees of which they advise and advocate for within their greater institutions.Donors are individuals who give funds to help your organization achieve its mission! Program/Grant Administrators/Officers are employees of institutions and represent the foundations’ interest. Typically, they are individuals who have extensive knowledge in the field of interest and carry a portfolio of grantees of which they advise and advocate for within their greater institutions. So now that we understand the difference between the two, what’s the magic secret to receiving sustainable funding from program officers? It boils down to two things: trust and engagement. There’s no real sorcery involved, but there are a few ‘magic’ truths in fundraising. Some include: those who don’t ask don’t receive (a squeaky wheel gets the oil sort of ideology); and if a program officer wouldn’t trust you with their own money, they’re probably not going to trust you with their foundation’s money either. Fundraising success is usually strengthened by two things: strong data and strong relationships. Relationship building in particular is fundamental. Yes, the collateral you provide to funders matter. The strength of your proposal, and the alignment of your work as it relates to the funder’s vision, matters. Your reputation in the community matters. AND one big indicator of long-term sustainable funding is the relationship you build with your program officer as an extension of the foundation. Relationships matter. And all of this brings us back to understanding how to build trust and drive engagement. Let’s start with engagement. There’s a working theory in fundraising called the ‘rule of 7’. Simple put, expert fundraisers (yours included) believe that you need seven quality touch points between requesting gifts. The majority of these engagement touch points should be thank yours and updates. This practice doesn’t just go for individual donors, it also is helpful for foundation program officers as well. An example of engagement timeline which may work for you could include: Donors are individuals who give funds to help your organization achieve its mission! Program/Grant Administrators/Officers are employees of institutions and represent the foundations’ interest. Typically, they are individuals who have extensive knowledge in the field of interest and carry a portfolio of grantees of which they advise and advocate for within their greater institutions.Donors are individuals who give funds to help your organization achieve its mission! Program/Grant Administrators/Officers are employees of institutions and represent the foundations’ interest. Typically, they are individuals who have extensive knowledge in the field of interest and carry a portfolio of grantees of which they advise and advocate for within their greater institutions. So now that we understand the difference between the two, what’s the magic secret to receiving sustainable funding from program officers? It boils down to two things: trust and engagement. There’s no real sorcery involved, but there are a few ‘magic’ truths in fundraising. Some include: those who don’t ask don’t receive (a squeaky wheel gets the oil sort of ideology); and if a program officer wouldn’t trust you with their own money, they’re probably not going to trust you with their foundation’s money either. Fundraising success is usually strengthened by two things: strong data and strong relationships. Relationship building in particular is fundamental. Yes, the collateral you provide to funders matter. The strength of your proposal, and the alignment of your work as it relates to the funder’s vision, matters. Your reputation in the community matters. AND one big indicator of long-term sustainable funding is the relationship you build with your program officer as an extension of the foundation. Relationships matter. And all of this brings us back to understanding how to build trust and drive engagement. Let’s start with engagement. There’s a working theory in fundraising called the ‘rule of 7’. Simple put, expert fundraisers (yours included) believe that you need seven quality touch points between requesting gifts. The majority of these engagement touch points should be thank yours and updates. This practice doesn’t just go for individual donors, it also is helpful for foundation program officers as well. An example of engagement timeline which may work for you could include: Donors are individuals who give funds to help your organization achieve its mission! Program/Grant Administrators/Officers are employees of institutions and represent the foundations’ interest. Typically, they are individuals who have extensive knowledge in the field of interest and carry a portfolio of grantees of which they advise and advocate for within their greater institutions.Donors are individuals who give funds to help your organization achieve its mission! Program/Grant Administrators/Officers are employees of institutions and represent the foundations’ interest. Typically, they are individuals who have extensive knowledge in the field of interest and carry a portfolio of grantees of which they advise and advocate for within their greater institutions. So now that we understand the difference between the two, what’s the magic secret to receiving sustainable funding from program officers? It boils down to two things: trust and engagement. There’s no real sorcery involved, but there are a few ‘magic’ truths in fundraising. Some include: those who don’t ask don’t receive (a squeaky wheel gets the oil sort of ideology); and if a program officer wouldn’t trust you with their own money, they’re probably not going to trust you with their foundation’s money either. Fundraising success is usually strengthened by two things: strong data and strong relationships. Relationship building in particular is fundamental. Yes, the collateral you provide to funders matter. The strength of your proposal, and the alignment of your work as it relates to the funder’s vision, matters. Your reputation in the community matters. AND one big indicator of long-term sustainable funding is the relationship you build with your program officer as an extension of the foundation. Relationships matter. And all of this brings us back to understanding how to build trust and drive engagement. Let’s start with engagement. There’s a working theory in fundraising called the ‘rule of 7’. Simple put, expert fundraisers (yours included) believe that you need seven quality touch points between requesting gifts. The majority of these engagement touch points should be thank yours and updates. This practice doesn’t just go for individual donors, it also is helpful for foundation program officers as well. An example of engagement timeline which may work for you could include: Donors are individuals who give funds to help your organization achieve its mission! Program/Grant Administrators/Officers are employees of institutions and represent the foundations’ interest. Typically, they are individuals who have extensive knowledge in the field of interest and carry a portfolio of grantees of which they advise and advocate for within their greater institutions.Donors are individuals who give funds to help your organization achieve its mission! Program/Grant Administrators/Officers are employees of institutions and represent the foundations’ interest. Typically, they are individuals who have extensive knowledge in the field of interest and carry a portfolio of grantees of which they advise and advocate for within their greater institutions. So now that we understand the difference between the two, what’s the magic secret to receiving sustainable funding from program officers? It boils down to two things: trust and engagement. There’s no real sorcery involved, but there are a few ‘magic’ truths in fundraising. Some include: those who don’t ask don’t receive (a squeaky wheel gets the oil sort of ideology); and if a program officer wouldn’t trust you with their own money, they’re probably not going to trust you with their foundation’s money either. Fundraising success is usually strengthened by two things: strong data and strong relationships. Relationship building in particular is fundamental. Yes, the collateral you provide to funders matter. The strength of your proposal, and the alignment of your work as it relates to the funder’s vision, matters. Your reputation in the community matters. AND one big indicator of long-term sustainable funding is the relationship you build with your program officer as an extension of the foundation. Relationships matter. And all of this brings us back to understanding how to build trust and drive engagement. Let’s start with engagement. There’s a working theory in fundraising called the ‘rule of 7’. Simple put, expert fundraisers (yours included) believe that you need seven quality touch points between requesting gifts. The majority of these engagement touch points should be thank yours and updates. This practice doesn’t just go for individual donors, it also is helpful for foundation program officers as well. An example of engagement timeline which may work for you could include: Donors are individuals who give funds to help your organization achieve its mission! Program/Grant Administrators/Officers are employees of institutions and represent the foundations’ interest. Typically, they are individuals who have extensive knowledge in the field of interest and carry a portfolio of grantees of which they advise and advocate for within their greater institutions.Donors are individuals who give funds to help your organization achieve its mission! Program/Grant Administrators/Officers are employees of institutions and represent the foundations’ interest. Typically, they are individuals who have extensive knowledge in the field of interest and carry a portfolio of grantees of which they advise and advocate for within their greater institutions. So now that we understand the difference between the two, what’s the magic secret to receiving sustainable funding from program officers? It boils down to two things: trust and engagement. There’s no real sorcery involved, but there are a few ‘magic’ truths in fundraising. Some include: those who don’t ask don’t receive (a squeaky wheel gets the oil sort of ideology); and if a program officer wouldn’t trust you with their own money, they’re probably not going to trust you with their foundation’s money either. Fundraising success is usually strengthened by two things: strong data and strong relationships. Relationship building in particular is fundamental. Yes, the collateral you provide to funders matter. The strength of your proposal, and the alignment of your work as it relates to the funder’s vision, matters. Your reputation in the community matters. AND one big indicator of long-term sustainable funding is the relationship you build with your program officer as an extension of the foundation. Relationships matter. And all of this brings us back to understanding how to build trust and drive engagement. Let’s start with engagement. There’s a working theory in fundraising called the ‘rule of 7’. Simple put, expert fundraisers (yours included) believe that you need seven quality touch points between requesting gifts. The majority of these engagement touch points should be thank yours and updates. This practice doesn’t just go for individual donors, it also is helpful for foundation program officers as well. An example of engagement timeline which may work for you could include: Donors are individuals who give funds to help your organization achieve its mission! Program/Grant Administrators/Officers are employees of institutions and represent the foundations’ interest. Typically, they are individuals who have extensive knowledge in the field of interest and carry a portfolio of grantees of which they advise and advocate for within their greater institutions.Donors are individuals who give funds to help your organization achieve its mission! Program/Grant Administrators/Officers are employees of institutions and represent the foundations’ interest. Typically, they are individuals who have extensive knowledge in the field of interest and carry a portfolio of grantees of which they advise and advocate for within their greater institutions. So now that we understand the difference between the two, what’s the magic secret to receiving sustainable funding from program officers? It boils down to two things: trust and engagement. There’s no real sorcery involved, but there are a few ‘magic’ truths in fundraising. Some include: those who don’t ask don’t receive (a squeaky wheel gets the oil sort of ideology); and if a program officer wouldn’t trust you with their own money, they’re probably not going to trust you with their foundation’s money either. Fundraising success is usually strengthened by two things: strong data and strong relationships. Relationship building in particular is fundamental. Yes, the collateral you provide to funders matter. The strength of your proposal, and the alignment of your work as it relates to the funder’s vision, matters. Your reputation in the community matters. AND one big indicator of long-term sustainable funding is the relationship you build with your program officer as an extension of the foundation. Relationships matter. And all of this brings us back to understanding how to build trust and drive engagement. Let’s start with engagement. There’s a working theory in fundraising called the ‘rule of 7’. Simple put, expert fundraisers (yours included) believe that you need seven quality touch points between requesting gifts. The majority of these engagement touch points should be thank yours and updates. This practice doesn’t just go for individual donors, it also is helpful for foundation program officers as well. An example of engagement timeline which may work for you could include: Donors are individuals who give funds to help your organization achieve its mission! Program/Grant Administrators/Officers are employees of institutions and represent the foundations’ interest. Typically, they are individuals who have extensive knowledge in the field of interest and carry a portfolio of grantees of which they advise and advocate for within their greater institutions.Donors are individuals who give funds to help your organization achieve its mission! Program/Grant Administrators/Officers are employees of institutions and represent the foundations’ interest. Typically, they are individuals who have extensive knowledge in the field of interest and carry a portfolio of grantees of which they advise and advocate for within their greater institutions. So now that we understand the difference between the two, what’s the magic secret to receiving sustainable funding from program officers? It boils down to two things: trust and engagement. There’s no real sorcery involved, but there are a few ‘magic’ truths in fundraising. Some include: those who don’t ask don’t receive (a squeaky wheel gets the oil sort of ideology); and if a program officer wouldn’t trust you with their own money, they’re probably not going to trust you with their foundation’s money either. Fundraising success is usually strengthened by two things: strong data and strong relationships. Relationship building in particular is fundamental. Yes, the collateral you provide to funders matter. The strength of your proposal, and the alignment of your work as it relates to the funder’s vision, matters. Your reputation in the community matters. AND one big indicator of long-term sustainable funding is the relationship you build with your program officer as an extension of the foundation. Relationships matter. And all of this brings us back to understanding how to build trust and drive engagement. Let’s start with engagement. There’s a working theory in fundraising called the ‘rule of 7’. Simple put, expert fundraisers (yours included) believe that you need seven quality touch points between requesting gifts. The majority of these engagement touch points should be thank yours and updates. This practice doesn’t just go for individual donors, it also is helpful for foundation program officers as well. An example of engagement timeline which may work for you could include: Donors are individuals who give funds to help your organization achieve its mission! Program/Grant Administrators/Officers are employees of institutions and represent the foundations’ interest. Typically, they are individuals who have extensive knowledge in the field of interest and carry a portfolio of grantees of which they advise and advocate for within their greater institutions.Donors are individuals who give funds to help your organization achieve its mission! Program/Grant Administrators/Officers are employees of institutions and represent the foundations’ interest. Typically, they are individuals who have extensive knowledge in the field of interest and carry a portfolio of grantees of which they advise and advocate for within their greater institutions. So now that we understand the difference between the two, what’s the magic secret to receiving sustainable funding from program officers? It boils down to two things: trust and engagement. There’s no real sorcery involved, but there are a few ‘magic’ truths in fundraising. Some include: those who don’t ask don’t receive (a squeaky wheel gets the oil sort of ideology); and if a program officer wouldn’t trust you with their own money, they’re probably not going to trust you with their foundation’s money either. Fundraising success is usually strengthened by two things: strong data and strong relationships. Relationship building in particular is fundamental. Yes, the collateral you provide to funders matter. The strength of your proposal, and the alignment of your work as it relates to the funder’s vision, matters. Your reputation in the community matters. AND one big indicator of long-term sustainable funding is the relationship you build with your program officer as an extension of the foundation. Relationships matter. And all of this brings us back to understanding how to build trust and drive engagement. Let’s start with engagement. There’s a working theory in fundraising called the ‘rule of 7’. Simple put, expert fundraisers (yours included) believe that you need seven quality touch points between requesting gifts. The majority of these engagement touch points should be thank yours and updates. This practice doesn’t just go for individual donors, it also is helpful for foundation program officers as well. An example of engagement timeline which may work for you could include: Donors are individuals who give funds to help your organization achieve its mission! Program/Grant Administrators/Officers are employees of institutions and represent the foundations’ interest. Typically, they are individuals who have extensive knowledge in the field of interest and carry a portfolio of grantees of which they advise and advocate for within their greater institutions.Donors are individuals who give funds to help your organization achieve its mission! Program/Grant Administrators/Officers are employees of institutions and represent the foundations’ interest. Typically, they are individuals who have extensive knowledge in the field of interest and carry a portfolio of grantees of which they advise and advocate for within their greater institutions. So now that we understand the difference between the two, what’s the magic secret to receiving sustainable funding from program officers? It boils down to two things: trust and engagement. There’s no real sorcery involved, but there are a few ‘magic’ truths in fundraising. Some include: those who don’t ask don’t receive (a squeaky wheel gets the oil sort of ideology); and if a program officer wouldn’t trust you with their own money, they’re probably not going to trust you with their foundation’s money either. Fundraising success is usually strengthened by two things: strong data and strong relationships. Relationship building in particular is fundamental. Yes, the collateral you provide to funders matter. The strength of your proposal, and the alignment of your work as it relates to the funder’s vision, matters. Your reputation in the community matters. AND one big indicator of long-term sustainable funding is the relationship you build with your program officer as an extension of the foundation. Relationships matter. And all of this brings us back to understanding how to build trust and drive engagement. Let’s start with engagement. There’s a working theory in fundraising called the ‘rule of 7’. Simple put, expert fundraisers (yours included) believe that you need seven quality touch points between requesting gifts. The majority of these engagement touch points should be thank yours and updates. This practice doesn’t just go for individual donors, it also is helpful for foundation program officers as well. An example of engagement timeline which may work for you could include:

We’ve covered many topics! Grant writing basics, shifting framing based on audience type, external validators, and even the building blocks of relationship building. The glue that holds all of these key elements together is solid project management. An organization’s development department (even if you’re a team of one!) is the drumbeat for sustainability. To ensure the livelihood of your organization you need resources, a clear understanding of how programming dovetails with the world of philanthropy, and a system to keep all of the critical pieces moving at a steady pace. Burnout in the nonprofit world is a real threat, especially in the fast-paced world of fundraising. One thing that helps, is a well-ordered plan. I would suggest using a Gantt Chart to help you keep track of top line tasks and major times of the year. I’ve created a customizable template here as an example of something you can use. This can be used in combination with a strong database and software tools, to ensure you’re using data to support your priorities. Casebook can pull together program level outcomes with involvement data, dynamic fields and demographics. DARCI & The Gantt Chart In the customizable Gantt Chart template below, you’ll notice a column in the chart marked “Accountable” that’s taken from the internal accountability and project management system called a “DARCI”. [Decision Maker, Accountable, Responsible, Consulted, Informed]. More information on DARCI’s applicability can be found here. Overall, accountability is important. Knowing who is doing what is critical to the success of the organization, and the individual responsible for ensuring the completion of the activity in a time-bound and realistic manner is the ‘Accountable’ party. The accountability party should have a clear sense of the goals of each section, and the tactical purpose of each activity. Helpful to understanding this knowledge base is historical information that can be bolstered by the use of a CRM. For example, in the Gantt Chart linked here you’ll find five main priority area categories within the 2022 Fundraising Calendar example: Development Core Work — the tasks that directly support fundraising, cultivation and stewardship throughout the year Finance Support — cross-department functions that focus on resource tracking and projections Communications Support — annual donor engagement, campaigns and reporting projects Staff PD — activities that build a shared understanding of development’s work and a culture of fundraising throughout the year Board Support — governance and fundraising responsibilities of the board, prioritizing tasks that support the board’s understand of cultivation tactics and potential donor engagement We’ve covered many topics! Grant writing basics, shifting framing based on audience type, external validators, and even the building blocks of relationship building. The glue that holds all of these key elements together is solid project management. An organization’s development department (even if you’re a team of one!) is the drumbeat for sustainability. To ensure the livelihood of your organization you need resources, a clear understanding of how programming dovetails with the world of philanthropy, and a system to keep all of the critical pieces moving at a steady pace. Burnout in the nonprofit world is a real threat, especially in the fast-paced world of fundraising. One thing that helps, is a well-ordered plan. I would suggest using a Gantt Chart to help you keep track of top line tasks and major times of the year. I’ve created a customizable template here as an example of something you can use. This can be used in combination with a strong database and software tools, to ensure you’re using data to support your priorities. Casebook can pull together program level outcomes with involvement data, dynamic fields and demographics. DARCI & The Gantt Chart In the customizable Gantt Chart template below, you’ll notice a column in the chart marked “Accountable” that’s taken from the internal accountability and project management system called a “DARCI”. [Decision Maker, Accountable, Responsible, Consulted, Informed]. More information on DARCI’s applicability can be found here. Overall, accountability is important. Knowing who is doing what is critical to the success of the organization, and the individual responsible for ensuring the completion of the activity in a time-bound and realistic manner is the ‘Accountable’ party. The accountability party should have a clear sense of the goals of each section, and the tactical purpose of each activity. Helpful to understanding this knowledge base is historical information that can be bolstered by the use of a CRM. For example, in the Gantt Chart linked here you’ll find five main priority area categories within the 2022 Fundraising Calendar example: Development Core Work — the tasks that directly support fundraising, cultivation and stewardship throughout the year Finance Support — cross-department functions that focus on resource tracking and projections Communications Support — annual donor engagement, campaigns and reporting projects Staff PD — activities that build a shared understanding of development’s work and a culture of fundraising throughout the year Board Support — governance and fundraising responsibilities of the board, prioritizing tasks that support the board’s understand of cultivation tactics and potential donor engagement We’ve covered many topics! Grant writing basics, shifting framing based on audience type, external validators, and even the building blocks of relationship building. The glue that holds all of these key elements together is solid project management. An organization’s development department (even if you’re a team of one!) is the drumbeat for sustainability. To ensure the livelihood of your organization you need resources, a clear understanding of how programming dovetails with the world of philanthropy, and a system to keep all of the critical pieces moving at a steady pace. Burnout in the nonprofit world is a real threat, especially in the fast-paced world of fundraising. One thing that helps, is a well-ordered plan. I would suggest using a Gantt Chart to help you keep track of top line tasks and major times of the year. I’ve created a customizable template here as an example of something you can use. This can be used in combination with a strong database and software tools, to ensure you’re using data to support your priorities. Casebook can pull together program level outcomes with involvement data, dynamic fields and demographics. DARCI & The Gantt Chart In the customizable Gantt Chart template below, you’ll notice a column in the chart marked “Accountable” that’s taken from the internal accountability and project management system called a “DARCI”. [Decision Maker, Accountable, Responsible, Consulted, Informed]. More information on DARCI’s applicability can be found here. Overall, accountability is important. Knowing who is doing what is critical to the success of the organization, and the individual responsible for ensuring the completion of the activity in a time-bound and realistic manner is the ‘Accountable’ party. The accountability party should have a clear sense of the goals of each section, and the tactical purpose of each activity. Helpful to understanding this knowledge base is historical information that can be bolstered by the use of a CRM. For example, in the Gantt Chart linked here you’ll find five main priority area categories within the 2022 Fundraising Calendar example: Development Core Work — the tasks that directly support fundraising, cultivation and stewardship throughout the year Finance Support — cross-department functions that focus on resource tracking and projections Communications Support — annual donor engagement, campaigns and reporting projects Staff PD — activities that build a shared understanding of development’s work and a culture of fundraising throughout the year Board Support — governance and fundraising responsibilities of the board, prioritizing tasks that support the board’s understand of cultivation tactics and potential donor engagement We’ve covered many topics! Grant writing basics, shifting framing based on audience type, external validators, and even the building blocks of relationship building. The glue that holds all of these key elements together is solid project management. An organization’s development department (even if you’re a team of one!) is the drumbeat for sustainability. To ensure the livelihood of your organization you need resources, a clear understanding of how programming dovetails with the world of philanthropy, and a system to keep all of the critical pieces moving at a steady pace. Burnout in the nonprofit world is a real threat, especially in the fast-paced world of fundraising. One thing that helps, is a well-ordered plan. I would suggest using a Gantt Chart to help you keep track of top line tasks and major times of the year. I’ve created a customizable template here as an example of something you can use. This can be used in combination with a strong database and software tools, to ensure you’re using data to support your priorities. Casebook can pull together program level outcomes with involvement data, dynamic fields and demographics. DARCI & The Gantt Chart In the customizable Gantt Chart template below, you’ll notice a column in the chart marked “Accountable” that’s taken from the internal accountability and project management system called a “DARCI”. [Decision Maker, Accountable, Responsible, Consulted, Informed]. More information on DARCI’s applicability can be found here. Overall, accountability is important. Knowing who is doing what is critical to the success of the organization, and the individual responsible for ensuring the completion of the activity in a time-bound and realistic manner is the ‘Accountable’ party. The accountability party should have a clear sense of the goals of each section, and the tactical purpose of each activity. Helpful to understanding this knowledge base is historical information that can be bolstered by the use of a CRM. For example, in the Gantt Chart linked here you’ll find five main priority area categories within the 2022 Fundraising Calendar example: Development Core Work — the tasks that directly support fundraising, cultivation and stewardship throughout the year Finance Support — cross-department functions that focus on resource tracking and projections Communications Support — annual donor engagement, campaigns and reporting projects Staff PD — activities that build a shared understanding of development’s work and a culture of fundraising throughout the year Board Support — governance and fundraising responsibilities of the board, prioritizing tasks that support the board’s understand of cultivation tactics and potential donor engagement We’ve covered many topics! Grant writing basics, shifting framing based on audience type, external validators, and even the building blocks of relationship building. The glue that holds all of these key elements together is solid project management. An organization’s development department (even if you’re a team of one!) is the drumbeat for sustainability. To ensure the livelihood of your organization you need resources, a clear understanding of how programming dovetails with the world of philanthropy, and a system to keep all of the critical pieces moving at a steady pace. Burnout in the nonprofit world is a real threat, especially in the fast-paced world of fundraising. One thing that helps, is a well-ordered plan. I would suggest using a Gantt Chart to help you keep track of top line tasks and major times of the year. I’ve created a customizable template here as an example of something you can use. This can be used in combination with a strong database and software tools, to ensure you’re using data to support your priorities. Casebook can pull together program level outcomes with involvement data, dynamic fields and demographics. DARCI & The Gantt Chart In the customizable Gantt Chart template below, you’ll notice a column in the chart marked “Accountable” that’s taken from the internal accountability and project management system called a “DARCI”. [Decision Maker, Accountable, Responsible, Consulted, Informed]. More information on DARCI’s applicability can be found here. Overall, accountability is important. Knowing who is doing what is critical to the success of the organization, and the individual responsible for ensuring the completion of the activity in a time-bound and realistic manner is the ‘Accountable’ party. The accountability party should have a clear sense of the goals of each section, and the tactical purpose of each activity. Helpful to understanding this knowledge base is historical information that can be bolstered by the use of a CRM. For example, in the Gantt Chart linked here you’ll find five main priority area categories within the 2022 Fundraising Calendar example: Development Core Work — the tasks that directly support fundraising, cultivation and stewardship throughout the year Finance Support — cross-department functions that focus on resource tracking and projections Communications Support — annual donor engagement, campaigns and reporting projects Staff PD — activities that build a shared understanding of development’s work and a culture of fundraising throughout the year Board Support — governance and fundraising responsibilities of the board, prioritizing tasks that support the board’s understand of cultivation tactics and potential donor engagement We’ve covered many topics! Grant writing basics, shifting framing based on audience type, external validators, and even the building blocks of relationship building. The glue that holds all of these key elements together is solid project management. An organization’s development department (even if you’re a team of one!) is the drumbeat for sustainability. To ensure the livelihood of your organization you need resources, a clear understanding of how programming dovetails with the world of philanthropy, and a system to keep all of the critical pieces moving at a steady pace. Burnout in the nonprofit world is a real threat, especially in the fast-paced world of fundraising. One thing that helps, is a well-ordered plan. I would suggest using a Gantt Chart to help you keep track of top line tasks and major times of the year. I’ve created a customizable template here as an example of something you can use. This can be used in combination with a strong database and software tools, to ensure you’re using data to support your priorities. Casebook can pull together program level outcomes with involvement data, dynamic fields and demographics. DARCI & The Gantt Chart In the customizable Gantt Chart template below, you’ll notice a column in the chart marked “Accountable” that’s taken from the internal accountability and project management system called a “DARCI”. [Decision Maker, Accountable, Responsible, Consulted, Informed]. More information on DARCI’s applicability can be found here. Overall, accountability is important. Knowing who is doing what is critical to the success of the organization, and the individual responsible for ensuring the completion of the activity in a time-bound and realistic manner is the ‘Accountable’ party. The accountability party should have a clear sense of the goals of each section, and the tactical purpose of each activity. Helpful to understanding this knowledge base is historical information that can be bolstered by the use of a CRM. For example, in the Gantt Chart linked here you’ll find five main priority area categories within the 2022 Fundraising Calendar example: Development Core Work — the tasks that directly support fundraising, cultivation and stewardship throughout the year Finance Support — cross-department functions that focus on resource tracking and projections Communications Support — annual donor engagement, campaigns and reporting projects Staff PD — activities that build a shared understanding of development’s work and a culture of fundraising throughout the year Board Support — governance and fundraising responsibilities of the board, prioritizing tasks that support the board’s understand of cultivation tactics and potential donor engagement We’ve covered many topics! Grant writing basics, shifting framing based on audience type, external validators, and even the building blocks of relationship building. The glue that holds all of these key elements together is solid project management. An organization’s development department (even if you’re a team of one!) is the drumbeat for sustainability. To ensure the livelihood of your organization you need resources, a clear understanding of how programming dovetails with the world of philanthropy, and a system to keep all of the critical pieces moving at a steady pace. Burnout in the nonprofit world is a real threat, especially in the fast-paced world of fundraising. One thing that helps, is a well-ordered plan. I would suggest using a Gantt Chart to help you keep track of top line tasks and major times of the year. I’ve created a customizable template here as an example of something you can use. This can be used in combination with a strong database and software tools, to ensure you’re using data to support your priorities. Casebook can pull together program level outcomes with involvement data, dynamic fields and demographics. DARCI & The Gantt Chart In the customizable Gantt Chart template below, you’ll notice a column in the chart marked “Accountable” that’s taken from the internal accountability and project management system called a “DARCI”. [Decision Maker, Accountable, Responsible, Consulted, Informed]. More information on DARCI’s applicability can be found here. Overall, accountability is important. Knowing who is doing what is critical to the success of the organization, and the individual responsible for ensuring the completion of the activity in a time-bound and realistic manner is the ‘Accountable’ party. The accountability party should have a clear sense of the goals of each section, and the tactical purpose of each activity. Helpful to understanding this knowledge base is historical information that can be bolstered by the use of a CRM. For example, in the Gantt Chart linked here you’ll find five main priority area categories within the 2022 Fundraising Calendar example: Development Core Work — the tasks that directly support fundraising, cultivation and stewardship throughout the year Finance Support — cross-department functions that focus on resource tracking and projections Communications Support — annual donor engagement, campaigns and reporting projects Staff PD — activities that build a shared understanding of development’s work and a culture of fundraising throughout the year Board Support — governance and fundraising responsibilities of the board, prioritizing tasks that support the board’s understand of cultivation tactics and potential donor engagement We’ve covered many topics! Grant writing basics, shifting framing based on audience type, external validators, and even the building blocks of relationship building. The glue that holds all of these key elements together is solid project management. An organization’s development department (even if you’re a team of one!) is the drumbeat for sustainability. To ensure the livelihood of your organization you need resources, a clear understanding of how programming dovetails with the world of philanthropy, and a system to keep all of the critical pieces moving at a steady pace. Burnout in the nonprofit world is a real threat, especially in the fast-paced world of fundraising. One thing that helps, is a well-ordered plan. I would suggest using a Gantt Chart to help you keep track of top line tasks and major times of the year. I’ve created a customizable template here as an example of something you can use. This can be used in combination with a strong database and software tools, to ensure you’re using data to support your priorities. Casebook can pull together program level outcomes with involvement data, dynamic fields and demographics. DARCI & The Gantt Chart In the customizable Gantt Chart template below, you’ll notice a column in the chart marked “Accountable” that’s taken from the internal accountability and project management system called a “DARCI”. [Decision Maker, Accountable, Responsible, Consulted, Informed]. More information on DARCI’s applicability can be found here. Overall, accountability is important. Knowing who is doing what is critical to the success of the organization, and the individual responsible for ensuring the completion of the activity in a time-bound and realistic manner is the ‘Accountable’ party. The accountability party should have a clear sense of the goals of each section, and the tactical purpose of each activity. Helpful to understanding this knowledge base is historical information that can be bolstered by the use of a CRM. For example, in the Gantt Chart linked here you’ll find five main priority area categories within the 2022 Fundraising Calendar example: Development Core Work — the tasks that directly support fundraising, cultivation and stewardship throughout the year Finance Support — cross-department functions that focus on resource tracking and projections Communications Support — annual donor engagement, campaigns and reporting projects Staff PD — activities that build a shared understanding of development’s work and a culture of fundraising throughout the year Board Support — governance and fundraising responsibilities of the board, prioritizing tasks that support the board’s understand of cultivation tactics and potential donor engagement We’ve covered many topics! Grant writing basics, shifting framing based on audience type, external validators, and even the building blocks of relationship building. The glue that holds all of these key elements together is solid project management. An organization’s development department (even if you’re a team of one!) is the drumbeat for sustainability. To ensure the livelihood of your organization you need resources, a clear understanding of how programming dovetails with the world of philanthropy, and a system to keep all of the critical pieces moving at a steady pace. Burnout in the nonprofit world is a real threat, especially in the fast-paced world of fundraising. One thing that helps, is a well-ordered plan. I would suggest using a Gantt Chart to help you keep track of top line tasks and major times of the year. I’ve created a customizable template here as an example of something you can use. This can be used in combination with a strong database and software tools, to ensure you’re using data to support your priorities. Casebook can pull together program level outcomes with involvement data, dynamic fields and demographics. DARCI & The Gantt Chart In the customizable Gantt Chart template below, you’ll notice a column in the chart marked “Accountable” that’s taken from the internal accountability and project management system called a “DARCI”. [Decision Maker, Accountable, Responsible, Consulted, Informed]. More information on DARCI’s applicability can be found here. Overall, accountability is important. Knowing who is doing what is critical to the success of the organization, and the individual responsible for ensuring the completion of the activity in a time-bound and realistic manner is the ‘Accountable’ party. The accountability party should have a clear sense of the goals of each section, and the tactical purpose of each activity. Helpful to understanding this knowledge base is historical information that can be bolstered by the use of a CRM. For example, in the Gantt Chart linked here you’ll find five main priority area categories within the 2022 Fundraising Calendar example: Development Core Work — the tasks that directly support fundraising, cultivation and stewardship throughout the year Finance Support — cross-department functions that focus on resource tracking and projections Communications Support — annual donor engagement, campaigns and reporting projects Staff PD — activities that build a shared understanding of development’s work and a culture of fundraising throughout the year Board Support — governance and fundraising responsibilities of the board, prioritizing tasks that support the board’s understand of cultivation tactics and potential donor engagement We’ve covered many topics! Grant writing basics, shifting framing based on audience type, external validators, and even the building blocks of relationship building. The glue that holds all of these key elements together is solid project management. An organization’s development department (even if you’re a team of one!) is the drumbeat for sustainability. To ensure the livelihood of your organization you need resources, a clear understanding of how programming dovetails with the world of philanthropy, and a system to keep all of the critical pieces moving at a steady pace. Burnout in the nonprofit world is a real threat, especially in the fast-paced world of fundraising. One thing that helps, is a well-ordered plan. I would suggest using a Gantt Chart to help you keep track of top line tasks and major times of the year. I’ve created a customizable template here as an example of something you can use. This can be used in combination with a strong database and software tools, to ensure you’re using data to support your priorities. Casebook can pull together program level outcomes with involvement data, dynamic fields and demographics. DARCI & The Gantt Chart In the customizable Gantt Chart template below, you’ll notice a column in the chart marked “Accountable” that’s taken from the internal accountability and project management system called a “DARCI”. [Decision Maker, Accountable, Responsible, Consulted, Informed]. More information on DARCI’s applicability can be found here. Overall, accountability is important. Knowing who is doing what is critical to the success of the organization, and the individual responsible for ensuring the completion of the activity in a time-bound and realistic manner is the ‘Accountable’ party. The accountability party should have a clear sense of the goals of each section, and the tactical purpose of each activity. Helpful to understanding this knowledge base is historical information that can be bolstered by the use of a CRM. For example, in the Gantt Chart linked here you’ll find five main priority area categories within the 2022 Fundraising Calendar example: Development Core Work — the tasks that directly support fundraising, cultivation and stewardship throughout the year Finance Support — cross-department functions that focus on resource tracking and projections Communications Support — annual donor engagement, campaigns and reporting projects Staff PD — activities that build a shared understanding of development’s work and a culture of fundraising throughout the year Board Support — governance and fundraising responsibilities of the board, prioritizing tasks that support the board’s understand of cultivation tactics and potential donor engagement

So, how do we build trust? You build trust by ensuring that you’re following through on your commitments and promises to funders. This is partly why the engagement phase is so important, each follow-up, touch point engagement moment underline commitments and builds trust. As you’re moving through the initial cultivation process or renewal phase, funders will often be interested in your current accomplishments and what you intend to do if awarded funding. This is where deliverables come in as central to communicating and building to trust with donors. Simply put, deliverables are goods or services produced as a result of a project that is intended to be delivered. These goals need to be concrete but they almost must be within the organizations field of interest and realistic to their giving patterns. Field of Interest is what it sounds like! —the scopes of work funders are interested in funding, usually defined in categories like Health Care, Technology Innovation, Youth, Families, etc. Sometimes these fields of interest have sub-categories and fancy titles such as Equity in Hospitals or Future of Work(ers). However, an institution’s giving pattern shows how large, frequent, and the scale of the investment funders make within those sections. A funder can distribute funds across multiple fields of interest, but how deeply (such as 85% of their giving going towards Healthy Children & Family v. Research) and how much (1M average grants v. 10K) is the structure of their giving pattern. Keep this in mind as you think about your engagement and trust-building with funder—the field of interest and potential giving request should all be aligned with the scope of work you’re proposing. Best practices teach us that deliverables need to follow a specific format —SMARTIE—to articulate that they are equitable, tangible, and actionable actions. SMARTIE goals often resonate best with program officers as you work to convey your organization’s trustworthiness. When creating outcomes for your work, use the below prompts to determine if the deliverable is a SMARTIE goal? Strategic - Is the deliverable consistent with our priorities? Measurable - Can you quantitatively or qualitatively measure it? Ambitious - Does the deliverable meaningfully progress our work? Realistic - Can the deliverable be achieved with a set amount of resources and time? Time-bound - Is it tied to a specific date/time? Inclusive - Does the deliverable afford power to those who are marginalized? Equitable - Does the deliverable address systemic injustice? Of special note, it is easier to write a grant proposal when you have deliverables to frame it around. Having clear deliverables ahead of moving into the cultivation phase also makes it easier to answer funders’ questions during meetings. Deliverables are a roadmap for not just the funder but also for you. When executive leadership, development teams and program staff are co-developing deliverables it helps improve collaboration and productivity. Key to the success of grant programs and deliverables development is maintaining a solid database. Because you’re reading this, your organization is likely at a stage where it has (or desires to have) multiple on-going grants and cultivation opportunities. Customer relationship management (CRM) tools are also key to keeping track of all the touch points needed to stay the course on the pathway to funding success. CRMs are cloud-based platforms that support data management. Without an effective platform, it can be difficult to remember which deliverables are for which projects -- as well as when they are due. Effectively tracking en So, how do we build trust? You build trust by ensuring that you’re following through on your commitments and promises to funders. This is partly why the engagement phase is so important, each follow-up, touch point engagement moment underline commitments and builds trust. As you’re moving through the initial cultivation process or renewal phase, funders will often be interested in your current accomplishments and what you intend to do if awarded funding. This is where deliverables come in as central to communicating and building to trust with donors. Simply put, deliverables are goods or services produced as a result of a project that is intended to be delivered. These goals need to be concrete but they almost must be within the organizations field of interest and realistic to their giving patterns. Field of Interest is what it sounds like! —the scopes of work funders are interested in funding, usually defined in categories like Health Care, Technology Innovation, Youth, Families, etc. Sometimes these fields of interest have sub-categories and fancy titles such as Equity in Hospitals or Future of Work(ers). However, an institution’s giving pattern shows how large, frequent, and the scale of the investment funders make within those sections. A funder can distribute funds across multiple fields of interest, but how deeply (such as 85% of their giving going towards Healthy Children & Family v. Research) and how much (1M average grants v. 10K) is the structure of their giving pattern. Keep this in mind as you think about your engagement and trust-building with funder—the field of interest and potential giving request should all be aligned with the scope of work you’re proposing. Best practices teach us that deliverables need to follow a specific format —SMARTIE—to articulate that they are equitable, tangible, and actionable actions. SMARTIE goals often resonate best with program officers as you work to convey your organization’s trustworthiness. When creating outcomes for your work, use the below prompts to determine if the deliverable is a SMARTIE goal? Strategic - Is the deliverable consistent with our priorities? Measurable - Can you quantitatively or qualitatively measure it? Ambitious - Does the deliverable meaningfully progress our work? Realistic - Can the deliverable be achieved with a set amount of resources and time? Time-bound - Is it tied to a specific date/time? Inclusive - Does the deliverable afford power to those who are marginalized? Equitable - Does the deliverable address systemic injustice? Of special note, it is easier to write a grant proposal when you have deliverables to frame it around. Having clear deliverables ahead of moving into the cultivation phase also makes it easier to answer funders’ questions during meetings. Deliverables are a roadmap for not just the funder but also for you. When executive leadership, development teams and program staff are co-developing deliverables it helps improve collaboration and productivity. Key to the success of grant programs and deliverables development is maintaining a solid database. Because you’re reading this, your organization is likely at a stage where it has (or desires to have) multiple on-going grants and cultivation opportunities. Customer relationship management (CRM) tools are also key to keeping track of all the touch points needed to stay the course on the pathway to funding success. CRMs are cloud-based platforms that support data management. Without an effective platform, it can be difficult to remember which deliverables are for which projects -- as well as when they are due. Effectively tracking en So, how do we build trust? You build trust by ensuring that you’re following through on your commitments and promises to funders. This is partly why the engagement phase is so important, each follow-up, touch point engagement moment underline commitments and builds trust. As you’re moving through the initial cultivation process or renewal phase, funders will often be interested in your current accomplishments and what you intend to do if awarded funding. This is where deliverables come in as central to communicating and building to trust with donors. Simply put, deliverables are goods or services produced as a result of a project that is intended to be delivered. These goals need to be concrete but they almost must be within the organizations field of interest and realistic to their giving patterns. Field of Interest is what it sounds like! —the scopes of work funders are interested in funding, usually defined in categories like Health Care, Technology Innovation, Youth, Families, etc. Sometimes these fields of interest have sub-categories and fancy titles such as Equity in Hospitals or Future of Work(ers). However, an institution’s giving pattern shows how large, frequent, and the scale of the investment funders make within those sections. A funder can distribute funds across multiple fields of interest, but how deeply (such as 85% of their giving going towards Healthy Children & Family v. Research) and how much (1M average grants v. 10K) is the structure of their giving pattern. Keep this in mind as you think about your engagement and trust-building with funder—the field of interest and potential giving request should all be aligned with the scope of work you’re proposing. Best practices teach us that deliverables need to follow a specific format —SMARTIE—to articulate that they are equitable, tangible, and actionable actions. SMARTIE goals often resonate best with program officers as you work to convey your organization’s trustworthiness. When creating outcomes for your work, use the below prompts to determine if the deliverable is a SMARTIE goal? Strategic - Is the deliverable consistent with our priorities? Measurable - Can you quantitatively or qualitatively measure it? Ambitious - Does the deliverable meaningfully progress our work? Realistic - Can the deliverable be achieved with a set amount of resources and time? Time-bound - Is it tied to a specific date/time? Inclusive - Does the deliverable afford power to those who are marginalized? Equitable - Does the deliverable address systemic injustice? Of special note, it is easier to write a grant proposal when you have deliverables to frame it around. Having clear deliverables ahead of moving into the cultivation phase also makes it easier to answer funders’ questions during meetings. Deliverables are a roadmap for not just the funder but also for you. When executive leadership, development teams and program staff are co-developing deliverables it helps improve collaboration and productivity. Key to the success of grant programs and deliverables development is maintaining a solid database. Because you’re reading this, your organization is likely at a stage where it has (or desires to have) multiple on-going grants and cultivation opportunities. Customer relationship management (CRM) tools are also key to keeping track of all the touch points needed to stay the course on the pathway to funding success. CRMs are cloud-based platforms that support data management. Without an effective platform, it can be difficult to remember which deliverables are for which projects -- as well as when they are due. Effectively tracking en So, how do we build trust? You build trust by ensuring that you’re following through on your commitments and promises to funders. This is partly why the engagement phase is so important, each follow-up, touch point engagement moment underline commitments and builds trust. As you’re moving through the initial cultivation process or renewal phase, funders will often be interested in your current accomplishments and what you intend to do if awarded funding. This is where deliverables come in as central to communicating and building to trust with donors. Simply put, deliverables are goods or services produced as a result of a project that is intended to be delivered. These goals need to be concrete but they almost must be within the organizations field of interest and realistic to their giving patterns. Field of Interest is what it sounds like! —the scopes of work funders are interested in funding, usually defined in categories like Health Care, Technology Innovation, Youth, Families, etc. Sometimes these fields of interest have sub-categories and fancy titles such as Equity in Hospitals or Future of Work(ers). However, an institution’s giving pattern shows how large, frequent, and the scale of the investment funders make within those sections. A funder can distribute funds across multiple fields of interest, but how deeply (such as 85% of their giving going towards Healthy Children & Family v. Research) and how much (1M average grants v. 10K) is the structure of their giving pattern. Keep this in mind as you think about your engagement and trust-building with funder—the field of interest and potential giving request should all be aligned with the scope of work you’re proposing. Best practices teach us that deliverables need to follow a specific format —SMARTIE—to articulate that they are equitable, tangible, and actionable actions. SMARTIE goals often resonate best with program officers as you work to convey your organization’s trustworthiness. When creating outcomes for your work, use the below prompts to determine if the deliverable is a SMARTIE goal? Strategic - Is the deliverable consistent with our priorities? Measurable - Can you quantitatively or qualitatively measure it? Ambitious - Does the deliverable meaningfully progress our work? Realistic - Can the deliverable be achieved with a set amount of resources and time? Time-bound - Is it tied to a specific date/time? Inclusive - Does the deliverable afford power to those who are marginalized? Equitable - Does the deliverable address systemic injustice? Of special note, it is easier to write a grant proposal when you have deliverables to frame it around. Having clear deliverables ahead of moving into the cultivation phase also makes it easier to answer funders’ questions during meetings. Deliverables are a roadmap for not just the funder but also for you. When executive leadership, development teams and program staff are co-developing deliverables it helps improve collaboration and productivity. Key to the success of grant programs and deliverables development is maintaining a solid database. Because you’re reading this, your organization is likely at a stage where it has (or desires to have) multiple on-going grants and cultivation opportunities. Customer relationship management (CRM) tools are also key to keeping track of all the touch points needed to stay the course on the pathway to funding success. CRMs are cloud-based platforms that support data management. Without an effective platform, it can be difficult to remember which deliverables are for which projects -- as well as when they are due. Effectively tracking en So, how do we build trust? You build trust by ensuring that you’re following through on your commitments and promises to funders. This is partly why the engagement phase is so important, each follow-up, touch point engagement moment underline commitments and builds trust. As you’re moving through the initial cultivation process or renewal phase, funders will often be interested in your current accomplishments and what you intend to do if awarded funding. This is where deliverables come in as central to communicating and building to trust with donors. Simply put, deliverables are goods or services produced as a result of a project that is intended to be delivered. These goals need to be concrete but they almost must be within the organizations field of interest and realistic to their giving patterns. Field of Interest is what it sounds like! —the scopes of work funders are interested in funding, usually defined in categories like Health Care, Technology Innovation, Youth, Families, etc. Sometimes these fields of interest have sub-categories and fancy titles such as Equity in Hospitals or Future of Work(ers). However, an institution’s giving pattern shows how large, frequent, and the scale of the investment funders make within those sections. A funder can distribute funds across multiple fields of interest, but how deeply (such as 85% of their giving going towards Healthy Children & Family v. Research) and how much (1M average grants v. 10K) is the structure of their giving pattern. Keep this in mind as you think about your engagement and trust-building with funder—the field of interest and potential giving request should all be aligned with the scope of work you’re proposing. Best practices teach us that deliverables need to follow a specific format —SMARTIE—to articulate that they are equitable, tangible, and actionable actions. SMARTIE goals often resonate best with program officers as you work to convey your organization’s trustworthiness. When creating outcomes for your work, use the below prompts to determine if the deliverable is a SMARTIE goal? Strategic - Is the deliverable consistent with our priorities? Measurable - Can you quantitatively or qualitatively measure it? Ambitious - Does the deliverable meaningfully progress our work? Realistic - Can the deliverable be achieved with a set amount of resources and time? Time-bound - Is it tied to a specific date/time? Inclusive - Does the deliverable afford power to those who are marginalized? Equitable - Does the deliverable address systemic injustice? Of special note, it is easier to write a grant proposal when you have deliverables to frame it around. Having clear deliverables ahead of moving into the cultivation phase also makes it easier to answer funders’ questions during meetings. Deliverables are a roadmap for not just the funder but also for you. When executive leadership, development teams and program staff are co-developing deliverables it helps improve collaboration and productivity. Key to the success of grant programs and deliverables development is maintaining a solid database. Because you’re reading this, your organization is likely at a stage where it has (or desires to have) multiple on-going grants and cultivation opportunities. Customer relationship management (CRM) tools are also key to keeping track of all the touch points needed to stay the course on the pathway to funding success. CRMs are cloud-based platforms that support data management. Without an effective platform, it can be difficult to remember which deliverables are for which projects -- as well as when they are due. Effectively tracking en So, how do we build trust? You build trust by ensuring that you’re following through on your commitments and promises to funders. This is partly why the engagement phase is so important, each follow-up, touch point engagement moment underline commitments and builds trust. As you’re moving through the initial cultivation process or renewal phase, funders will often be interested in your current accomplishments and what you intend to do if awarded funding. This is where deliverables come in as central to communicating and building to trust with donors. Simply put, deliverables are goods or services produced as a result of a project that is intended to be delivered. These goals need to be concrete but they almost must be within the organizations field of interest and realistic to their giving patterns. Field of Interest is what it sounds like! —the scopes of work funders are interested in funding, usually defined in categories like Health Care, Technology Innovation, Youth, Families, etc. Sometimes these fields of interest have sub-categories and fancy titles such as Equity in Hospitals or Future of Work(ers). However, an institution’s giving pattern shows how large, frequent, and the scale of the investment funders make within those sections. A funder can distribute funds across multiple fields of interest, but how deeply (such as 85% of their giving going towards Healthy Children & Family v. Research) and how much (1M average grants v. 10K) is the structure of their giving pattern. Keep this in mind as you think about your engagement and trust-building with funder—the field of interest and potential giving request should all be aligned with the scope of work you’re proposing. Best practices teach us that deliverables need to follow a specific format —SMARTIE—to articulate that they are equitable, tangible, and actionable actions. SMARTIE goals often resonate best with program officers as you work to convey your organization’s trustworthiness. When creating outcomes for your work, use the below prompts to determine if the deliverable is a SMARTIE goal? Strategic - Is the deliverable consistent with our priorities? Measurable - Can you quantitatively or qualitatively measure it? Ambitious - Does the deliverable meaningfully progress our work? Realistic - Can the deliverable be achieved with a set amount of resources and time? Time-bound - Is it tied to a specific date/time? Inclusive - Does the deliverable afford power to those who are marginalized? Equitable - Does the deliverable address systemic injustice? Of special note, it is easier to write a grant proposal when you have deliverables to frame it around. Having clear deliverables ahead of moving into the cultivation phase also makes it easier to answer funders’ questions during meetings. Deliverables are a roadmap for not just the funder but also for you. When executive leadership, development teams and program staff are co-developing deliverables it helps improve collaboration and productivity. Key to the success of grant programs and deliverables development is maintaining a solid database. Because you’re reading this, your organization is likely at a stage where it has (or desires to have) multiple on-going grants and cultivation opportunities. Customer relationship management (CRM) tools are also key to keeping track of all the touch points needed to stay the course on the pathway to funding success. CRMs are cloud-based platforms that support data management. Without an effective platform, it can be difficult to remember which deliverables are for which projects -- as well as when they are due. Effectively tracking en So, how do we build trust? You build trust by ensuring that you’re following through on your commitments and promises to funders. This is partly why the engagement phase is so important, each follow-up, touch point engagement moment underline commitments and builds trust. As you’re moving through the initial cultivation process or renewal phase, funders will often be interested in your current accomplishments and what you intend to do if awarded funding. This is where deliverables come in as central to communicating and building to trust with donors. Simply put, deliverables are goods or services produced as a result of a project that is intended to be delivered. These goals need to be concrete but they almost must be within the organizations field of interest and realistic to their giving patterns. Field of Interest is what it sounds like! —the scopes of work funders are interested in funding, usually defined in categories like Health Care, Technology Innovation, Youth, Families, etc. Sometimes these fields of interest have sub-categories and fancy titles such as Equity in Hospitals or Future of Work(ers). However, an institution’s giving pattern shows how large, frequent, and the scale of the investment funders make within those sections. A funder can distribute funds across multiple fields of interest, but how deeply (such as 85% of their giving going towards Healthy Children & Family v. Research) and how much (1M average grants v. 10K) is the structure of their giving pattern. Keep this in mind as you think about your engagement and trust-building with funder—the field of interest and potential giving request should all be aligned with the scope of work you’re proposing. Best practices teach us that deliverables need to follow a specific format —SMARTIE—to articulate that they are equitable, tangible, and actionable actions. SMARTIE goals often resonate best with program officers as you work to convey your organization’s trustworthiness. When creating outcomes for your work, use the below prompts to determine if the deliverable is a SMARTIE goal? Strategic - Is the deliverable consistent with our priorities? Measurable - Can you quantitatively or qualitatively measure it? Ambitious - Does the deliverable meaningfully progress our work? Realistic - Can the deliverable be achieved with a set amount of resources and time? Time-bound - Is it tied to a specific date/time? Inclusive - Does the deliverable afford power to those who are marginalized? Equitable - Does the deliverable address systemic injustice? Of special note, it is easier to write a grant proposal when you have deliverables to frame it around. Having clear deliverables ahead of moving into the cultivation phase also makes it easier to answer funders’ questions during meetings. Deliverables are a roadmap for not just the funder but also for you. When executive leadership, development teams and program staff are co-developing deliverables it helps improve collaboration and productivity. Key to the success of grant programs and deliverables development is maintaining a solid database. Because you’re reading this, your organization is likely at a stage where it has (or desires to have) multiple on-going grants and cultivation opportunities. Customer relationship management (CRM) tools are also key to keeping track of all the touch points needed to stay the course on the pathway to funding success. CRMs are cloud-based platforms that support data management. Without an effective platform, it can be difficult to remember which deliverables are for which projects -- as well as when they are due. Effectively tracking en So, how do we build trust? You build trust by ensuring that you’re following through on your commitments and promises to funders. This is partly why the engagement phase is so important, each follow-up, touch point engagement moment underline commitments and builds trust. As you’re moving through the initial cultivation process or renewal phase, funders will often be interested in your current accomplishments and what you intend to do if awarded funding. This is where deliverables come in as central to communicating and building to trust with donors. Simply put, deliverables are goods or services produced as a result of a project that is intended to be delivered. These goals need to be concrete but they almost must be within the organizations field of interest and realistic to their giving patterns. Field of Interest is what it sounds like! —the scopes of work funders are interested in funding, usually defined in categories like Health Care, Technology Innovation, Youth, Families, etc. Sometimes these fields of interest have sub-categories and fancy titles such as Equity in Hospitals or Future of Work(ers). However, an institution’s giving pattern shows how large, frequent, and the scale of the investment funders make within those sections. A funder can distribute funds across multiple fields of interest, but how deeply (such as 85% of their giving going towards Healthy Children & Family v. Research) and how much (1M average grants v. 10K) is the structure of their giving pattern. Keep this in mind as you think about your engagement and trust-building with funder—the field of interest and potential giving request should all be aligned with the scope of work you’re proposing. Best practices teach us that deliverables need to follow a specific format —SMARTIE—to articulate that they are equitable, tangible, and actionable actions. SMARTIE goals often resonate best with program officers as you work to convey your organization’s trustworthiness. When creating outcomes for your work, use the below prompts to determine if the deliverable is a SMARTIE goal? Strategic - Is the deliverable consistent with our priorities? Measurable - Can you quantitatively or qualitatively measure it? Ambitious - Does the deliverable meaningfully progress our work? Realistic - Can the deliverable be achieved with a set amount of resources and time? Time-bound - Is it tied to a specific date/time? Inclusive - Does the deliverable afford power to those who are marginalized? Equitable - Does the deliverable address systemic injustice? Of special note, it is easier to write a grant proposal when you have deliverables to frame it around. Having clear deliverables ahead of moving into the cultivation phase also makes it easier to answer funders’ questions during meetings. Deliverables are a roadmap for not just the funder but also for you. When executive leadership, development teams and program staff are co-developing deliverables it helps improve collaboration and productivity. Key to the success of grant programs and deliverables development is maintaining a solid database. Because you’re reading this, your organization is likely at a stage where it has (or desires to have) multiple on-going grants and cultivation opportunities. Customer relationship management (CRM) tools are also key to keeping track of all the touch points needed to stay the course on the pathway to funding success. CRMs are cloud-based platforms that support data management. Without an effective platform, it can be difficult to remember which deliverables are for which projects -- as well as when they are due. Effectively tracking en So, how do we build trust? You build trust by ensuring that you’re following through on your commitments and promises to funders. This is partly why the engagement phase is so important, each follow-up, touch point engagement moment underline commitments and builds trust. As you’re moving through the initial cultivation process or renewal phase, funders will often be interested in your current accomplishments and what you intend to do if awarded funding. This is where deliverables come in as central to communicating and building to trust with donors. Simply put, deliverables are goods or services produced as a result of a project that is intended to be delivered. These goals need to be concrete but they almost must be within the organizations field of interest and realistic to their giving patterns. Field of Interest is what it sounds like! —the scopes of work funders are interested in funding, usually defined in categories like Health Care, Technology Innovation, Youth, Families, etc. Sometimes these fields of interest have sub-categories and fancy titles such as Equity in Hospitals or Future of Work(ers). However, an institution’s giving pattern shows how large, frequent, and the scale of the investment funders make within those sections. A funder can distribute funds across multiple fields of interest, but how deeply (such as 85% of their giving going towards Healthy Children & Family v. Research) and how much (1M average grants v. 10K) is the structure of their giving pattern. Keep this in mind as you think about your engagement and trust-building with funder—the field of interest and potential giving request should all be aligned with the scope of work you’re proposing. Best practices teach us that deliverables need to follow a specific format —SMARTIE—to articulate that they are equitable, tangible, and actionable actions. SMARTIE goals often resonate best with program officers as you work to convey your organization’s trustworthiness. When creating outcomes for your work, use the below prompts to determine if the deliverable is a SMARTIE goal? Strategic - Is the deliverable consistent with our priorities? Measurable - Can you quantitatively or qualitatively measure it? Ambitious - Does the deliverable meaningfully progress our work? Realistic - Can the deliverable be achieved with a set amount of resources and time? Time-bound - Is it tied to a specific date/time? Inclusive - Does the deliverable afford power to those who are marginalized? Equitable - Does the deliverable address systemic injustice? Of special note, it is easier to write a grant proposal when you have deliverables to frame it around. Having clear deliverables ahead of moving into the cultivation phase also makes it easier to answer funders’ questions during meetings. Deliverables are a roadmap for not just the funder but also for you. When executive leadership, development teams and program staff are co-developing deliverables it helps improve collaboration and productivity. Key to the success of grant programs and deliverables development is maintaining a solid database. Because you’re reading this, your organization is likely at a stage where it has (or desires to have) multiple on-going grants and cultivation opportunities. Customer relationship management (CRM) tools are also key to keeping track of all the touch points needed to stay the course on the pathway to funding success. CRMs are cloud-based platforms that support data management. Without an effective platform, it can be difficult to remember which deliverables are for which projects -- as well as when they are due. Effectively tracking en So, how do we build trust? You build trust by ensuring that you’re following through on your commitments and promises to funders. This is partly why the engagement phase is so important, each follow-up, touch point engagement moment underline commitments and builds trust. As you’re moving through the initial cultivation process or renewal phase, funders will often be interested in your current accomplishments and what you intend to do if awarded funding. This is where deliverables come in as central to communicating and building to trust with donors. Simply put, deliverables are goods or services produced as a result of a project that is intended to be delivered. These goals need to be concrete but they almost must be within the organizations field of interest and realistic to their giving patterns. Field of Interest is what it sounds like! —the scopes of work funders are interested in funding, usually defined in categories like Health Care, Technology Innovation, Youth, Families, etc. Sometimes these fields of interest have sub-categories and fancy titles such as Equity in Hospitals or Future of Work(ers). However, an institution’s giving pattern shows how large, frequent, and the scale of the investment funders make within those sections. A funder can distribute funds across multiple fields of interest, but how deeply (such as 85% of their giving going towards Healthy Children & Family v. Research) and how much (1M average grants v. 10K) is the structure of their giving pattern. Keep this in mind as you think about your engagement and trust-building with funder—the field of interest and potential giving request should all be aligned with the scope of work you’re proposing. Best practices teach us that deliverables need to follow a specific format —SMARTIE—to articulate that they are equitable, tangible, and actionable actions. SMARTIE goals often resonate best with program officers as you work to convey your organization’s trustworthiness. When creating outcomes for your work, use the below prompts to determine if the deliverable is a SMARTIE goal? Strategic - Is the deliverable consistent with our priorities? Measurable - Can you quantitatively or qualitatively measure it? Ambitious - Does the deliverable meaningfully progress our work? Realistic - Can the deliverable be achieved with a set amount of resources and time? Time-bound - Is it tied to a specific date/time? Inclusive - Does the deliverable afford power to those who are marginalized? Equitable - Does the deliverable address systemic injustice? Of special note, it is easier to write a grant proposal when you have deliverables to frame it around. Having clear deliverables ahead of moving into the cultivation phase also makes it easier to answer funders’ questions during meetings. Deliverables are a roadmap for not just the funder but also for you. When executive leadership, development teams and program staff are co-developing deliverables it helps improve collaboration and productivity. Key to the success of grant programs and deliverables development is maintaining a solid database. Because you’re reading this, your organization is likely at a stage where it has (or desires to have) multiple on-going grants and cultivation opportunities. Customer relationship management (CRM) tools are also key to keeping track of all the touch points needed to stay the course on the pathway to funding success. CRMs are cloud-based platforms that support data management. Without an effective platform, it can be difficult to remember which deliverables are for which projects -- as well as when they are due. Effectively tracking en

Searching for a new human services platform can turn up a host of options, leading to confusion or even analysis paralysis. Should you pick a familiar name-brand platform and spend the time (and consulting fees) conforming it to your specific needs? Or are there more appropriate choices for your organization that can help you save those resources for your mission-critical projects? To find the human services software solution with the best time to value, your search should begin with purpose Select a Purpose-Built Software Solution If efficiency is your goal, you’ll find that the best human services software solution is designed expressly for human services. Adapting a customer relationship management (CRM) solution like Salesforce for human services may seem expedient, but it’s far from ideal. CRMs provide more than what’s needed in the human services space, resulting in a distracting experience. Plus, configuring them for the unique needs of human services professionals can be time-consuming, negatively impacting their time to value. That’s why choosing a platform that’s purpose-built for human services is the best course of action. Cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) options are few, but they offer the most value given the accessibility, affordability, and security they offer. The first and only pure SaaS platform for the human services industry is Casebook. With Casebook, you have the advantage of a data model and interfaces that are crafted specifically for this field, making it ideally suited for the wide range of human services. The organizations that benefit the most from using Casebook are leaders in the fields of: Child welfare & foster care Social work Case management Community services Victim services & advocacy Homeless services By choosing an intuitive, accessible SaaS platform like Casebook as your human services software, you can maximize your operational efficiency while improving your client experience. Make Configuration Quick and Painless As you consider new solutions for your organization, it’s important to note the difference between configurable and customizable software. To customize a software platform, the vendor has to make changes to it on behalf of the user. Besides the monetary costs this method often incurs, its lengthy customization process can significantly impair your operational efficiency. That’s why opting for a configurable software package is advisable if you’re serious about saving your valuable resources and maximizing your time to value. Configurable platforms are typically purpose-built for the audience they serve and give you, the end user, more control so you can avoid expensive consulting services not included in standard purchase or setup costs. Configurability empowers you to adjust prebuilt capabilities in the way that’s best for your organization, providing lots of freedom and flexibility when it comes to shaping the platform to fit your needs. Since Casebook is built for human services in particular, the platform has about 80 percent of what your organization would need preloaded, giving you an intuitive user experience (UX) that streamlines the configuration process. The four areas where Casebook offers the greatest opportunity for configuration are: Dynamic data Workflows Forms Reporting Regardless of the type of services you provide, the Casebook platform comes with just enough out of the box to allow for precise tailoring to your unique requirements while still promising a breezy setup period that can go by in less than a day. How quickly you configure and implement Casebook depends on your organization’s readiness for digitization and any data migration needs. For most organizations, implementation takes about 30 days or less.. Searching for a new human services platform can turn up a host of options, leading to confusion or even analysis paralysis. Should you pick a familiar name-brand platform and spend the time (and consulting fees) conforming it to your specific needs? Or are there more appropriate choices for your organization that can help you save those resources for your mission-critical projects? To find the human services software solution with the best time to value, your search should begin with purpose Select a Purpose-Built Software Solution If efficiency is your goal, you’ll find that the best human services software solution is designed expressly for human services. Adapting a customer relationship management (CRM) solution like Salesforce for human services may seem expedient, but it’s far from ideal. CRMs provide more than what’s needed in the human services space, resulting in a distracting experience. Plus, configuring them for the unique needs of human services professionals can be time-consuming, negatively impacting their time to value. That’s why choosing a platform that’s purpose-built for human services is the best course of action. Cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) options are few, but they offer the most value given the accessibility, affordability, and security they offer. The first and only pure SaaS platform for the human services industry is Casebook. With Casebook, you have the advantage of a data model and interfaces that are crafted specifically for this field, making it ideally suited for the wide range of human services. The organizations that benefit the most from using Casebook are leaders in the fields of: Child welfare & foster care Social work Case management Community services Victim services & advocacy Homeless services By choosing an intuitive, accessible SaaS platform like Casebook as your human services software, you can maximize your operational efficiency while improving your client experience. Make Configuration Quick and Painless As you consider new solutions for your organization, it’s important to note the difference between configurable and customizable software. To customize a software platform, the vendor has to make changes to it on behalf of the user. Besides the monetary costs this method often incurs, its lengthy customization process can significantly impair your operational efficiency. That’s why opting for a configurable software package is advisable if you’re serious about saving your valuable resources and maximizing your time to value. Configurable platforms are typically purpose-built for the audience they serve and give you, the end user, more control so you can avoid expensive consulting services not included in standard purchase or setup costs. Configurability empowers you to adjust prebuilt capabilities in the way that’s best for your organization, providing lots of freedom and flexibility when it comes to shaping the platform to fit your needs. Since Casebook is built for human services in particular, the platform has about 80 percent of what your organization would need preloaded, giving you an intuitive user experience (UX) that streamlines the configuration process. The four areas where Casebook offers the greatest opportunity for configuration are: Dynamic data Workflows Forms Reporting Regardless of the type of services you provide, the Casebook platform comes with just enough out of the box to allow for precise tailoring to your unique requirements while still promising a breezy setup period that can go by in less than a day. How quickly you configure and implement Casebook depends on your organization’s readiness for digitization and any data migration needs. For most organizations, implementation takes about 30 days or less.. Searching for a new human services platform can turn up a host of options, leading to confusion or even analysis paralysis. Should you pick a familiar name-brand platform and spend the time (and consulting fees) conforming it to your specific needs? Or are there more appropriate choices for your organization that can help you save those resources for your mission-critical projects? To find the human services software solution with the best time to value, your search should begin with purpose Select a Purpose-Built Software Solution If efficiency is your goal, you’ll find that the best human services software solution is designed expressly for human services. Adapting a customer relationship management (CRM) solution like Salesforce for human services may seem expedient, but it’s far from ideal. CRMs provide more than what’s needed in the human services space, resulting in a distracting experience. Plus, configuring them for the unique needs of human services professionals can be time-consuming, negatively impacting their time to value. That’s why choosing a platform that’s purpose-built for human services is the best course of action. Cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) options are few, but they offer the most value given the accessibility, affordability, and security they offer. The first and only pure SaaS platform for the human services industry is Casebook. With Casebook, you have the advantage of a data model and interfaces that are crafted specifically for this field, making it ideally suited for the wide range of human services. The organizations that benefit the most from using Casebook are leaders in the fields of: Child welfare & foster care Social work Case management Community services Victim services & advocacy Homeless services By choosing an intuitive, accessible SaaS platform like Casebook as your human services software, you can maximize your operational efficiency while improving your client experience. Make Configuration Quick and Painless As you consider new solutions for your organization, it’s important to note the difference between configurable and customizable software. To customize a software platform, the vendor has to make changes to it on behalf of the user. Besides the monetary costs this method often incurs, its lengthy customization process can significantly impair your operational efficiency. That’s why opting for a configurable software package is advisable if you’re serious about saving your valuable resources and maximizing your time to value. Configurable platforms are typically purpose-built for the audience they serve and give you, the end user, more control so you can avoid expensive consulting services not included in standard purchase or setup costs. Configurability empowers you to adjust prebuilt capabilities in the way that’s best for your organization, providing lots of freedom and flexibility when it comes to shaping the platform to fit your needs. Since Casebook is built for human services in particular, the platform has about 80 percent of what your organization would need preloaded, giving you an intuitive user experience (UX) that streamlines the configuration process. The four areas where Casebook offers the greatest opportunity for configuration are: Dynamic data Workflows Forms Reporting Regardless of the type of services you provide, the Casebook platform comes with just enough out of the box to allow for precise tailoring to your unique requirements while still promising a breezy setup period that can go by in less than a day. How quickly you configure and implement Casebook depends on your organization’s readiness for digitization and any data migration needs. For most organizations, implementation takes about 30 days or less.. Searching for a new human services platform can turn up a host of options, leading to confusion or even analysis paralysis. Should you pick a familiar name-brand platform and spend the time (and consulting fees) conforming it to your specific needs? Or are there more appropriate choices for your organization that can help you save those resources for your mission-critical projects? To find the human services software solution with the best time to value, your search should begin with purpose Select a Purpose-Built Software Solution If efficiency is your goal, you’ll find that the best human services software solution is designed expressly for human services. Adapting a customer relationship management (CRM) solution like Salesforce for human services may seem expedient, but it’s far from ideal. CRMs provide more than what’s needed in the human services space, resulting in a distracting experience. Plus, configuring them for the unique needs of human services professionals can be time-consuming, negatively impacting their time to value. That’s why choosing a platform that’s purpose-built for human services is the best course of action. Cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) options are few, but they offer the most value given the accessibility, affordability, and security they offer. The first and only pure SaaS platform for the human services industry is Casebook. With Casebook, you have the advantage of a data model and interfaces that are crafted specifically for this field, making it ideally suited for the wide range of human services. The organizations that benefit the most from using Casebook are leaders in the fields of: Child welfare & foster care Social work Case management Community services Victim services & advocacy Homeless services By choosing an intuitive, accessible SaaS platform like Casebook as your human services software, you can maximize your operational efficiency while improving your client experience. Make Configuration Quick and Painless As you consider new solutions for your organization, it’s important to note the difference between configurable and customizable software. To customize a software platform, the vendor has to make changes to it on behalf of the user. Besides the monetary costs this method often incurs, its lengthy customization process can significantly impair your operational efficiency. That’s why opting for a configurable software package is advisable if you’re serious about saving your valuable resources and maximizing your time to value. Configurable platforms are typically purpose-built for the audience they serve and give you, the end user, more control so you can avoid expensive consulting services not included in standard purchase or setup costs. Configurability empowers you to adjust prebuilt capabilities in the way that’s best for your organization, providing lots of freedom and flexibility when it comes to shaping the platform to fit your needs. Since Casebook is built for human services in particular, the platform has about 80 percent of what your organization would need preloaded, giving you an intuitive user experience (UX) that streamlines the configuration process. The four areas where Casebook offers the greatest opportunity for configuration are: Dynamic data Workflows Forms Reporting Regardless of the type of services you provide, the Casebook platform comes with just enough out of the box to allow for precise tailoring to your unique requirements while still promising a breezy setup period that can go by in less than a day. How quickly you configure and implement Casebook depends on your organization’s readiness for digitization and any data migration needs. For most organizations, implementation takes about 30 days or less.. Searching for a new human services platform can turn up a host of options, leading to confusion or even analysis paralysis. Should you pick a familiar name-brand platform and spend the time (and consulting fees) conforming it to your specific needs? Or are there more appropriate choices for your organization that can help you save those resources for your mission-critical projects? To find the human services software solution with the best time to value, your search should begin with purpose Select a Purpose-Built Software Solution If efficiency is your goal, you’ll find that the best human services software solution is designed expressly for human services. Adapting a customer relationship management (CRM) solution like Salesforce for human services may seem expedient, but it’s far from ideal. CRMs provide more than what’s needed in the human services space, resulting in a distracting experience. Plus, configuring them for the unique needs of human services professionals can be time-consuming, negatively impacting their time to value. That’s why choosing a platform that’s purpose-built for human services is the best course of action. Cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) options are few, but they offer the most value given the accessibility, affordability, and security they offer. The first and only pure SaaS platform for the human services industry is Casebook. With Casebook, you have the advantage of a data model and interfaces that are crafted specifically for this field, making it ideally suited for the wide range of human services. The organizations that benefit the most from using Casebook are leaders in the fields of: Child welfare & foster care Social work Case management Community services Victim services & advocacy Homeless services By choosing an intuitive, accessible SaaS platform like Casebook as your human services software, you can maximize your operational efficiency while improving your client experience. Make Configuration Quick and Painless As you consider new solutions for your organization, it’s important to note the difference between configurable and customizable software. To customize a software platform, the vendor has to make changes to it on behalf of the user. Besides the monetary costs this method often incurs, its lengthy customization process can significantly impair your operational efficiency. That’s why opting for a configurable software package is advisable if you’re serious about saving your valuable resources and maximizing your time to value. Configurable platforms are typically purpose-built for the audience they serve and give you, the end user, more control so you can avoid expensive consulting services not included in standard purchase or setup costs. Configurability empowers you to adjust prebuilt capabilities in the way that’s best for your organization, providing lots of freedom and flexibility when it comes to shaping the platform to fit your needs. Since Casebook is built for human services in particular, the platform has about 80 percent of what your organization would need preloaded, giving you an intuitive user experience (UX) that streamlines the configuration process. The four areas where Casebook offers the greatest opportunity for configuration are: Dynamic data Workflows Forms Reporting Regardless of the type of services you provide, the Casebook platform comes with just enough out of the box to allow for precise tailoring to your unique requirements while still promising a breezy setup period that can go by in less than a day. How quickly you configure and implement Casebook depends on your organization’s readiness for digitization and any data migration needs. For most organizations, implementation takes about 30 days or less.. Searching for a new human services platform can turn up a host of options, leading to confusion or even analysis paralysis. Should you pick a familiar name-brand platform and spend the time (and consulting fees) conforming it to your specific needs? Or are there more appropriate choices for your organization that can help you save those resources for your mission-critical projects? To find the human services software solution with the best time to value, your search should begin with purpose Select a Purpose-Built Software Solution If efficiency is your goal, you’ll find that the best human services software solution is designed expressly for human services. Adapting a customer relationship management (CRM) solution like Salesforce for human services may seem expedient, but it’s far from ideal. CRMs provide more than what’s needed in the human services space, resulting in a distracting experience. Plus, configuring them for the unique needs of human services professionals can be time-consuming, negatively impacting their time to value. That’s why choosing a platform that’s purpose-built for human services is the best course of action. Cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) options are few, but they offer the most value given the accessibility, affordability, and security they offer. The first and only pure SaaS platform for the human services industry is Casebook. With Casebook, you have the advantage of a data model and interfaces that are crafted specifically for this field, making it ideally suited for the wide range of human services. The organizations that benefit the most from using Casebook are leaders in the fields of: Child welfare & foster care Social work Case management Community services Victim services & advocacy Homeless services By choosing an intuitive, accessible SaaS platform like Casebook as your human services software, you can maximize your operational efficiency while improving your client experience. Make Configuration Quick and Painless As you consider new solutions for your organization, it’s important to note the difference between configurable and customizable software. To customize a software platform, the vendor has to make changes to it on behalf of the user. Besides the monetary costs this method often incurs, its lengthy customization process can significantly impair your operational efficiency. That’s why opting for a configurable software package is advisable if you’re serious about saving your valuable resources and maximizing your time to value. Configurable platforms are typically purpose-built for the audience they serve and give you, the end user, more control so you can avoid expensive consulting services not included in standard purchase or setup costs. Configurability empowers you to adjust prebuilt capabilities in the way that’s best for your organization, providing lots of freedom and flexibility when it comes to shaping the platform to fit your needs. Since Casebook is built for human services in particular, the platform has about 80 percent of what your organization would need preloaded, giving you an intuitive user experience (UX) that streamlines the configuration process. The four areas where Casebook offers the greatest opportunity for configuration are: Dynamic data Workflows Forms Reporting Regardless of the type of services you provide, the Casebook platform comes with just enough out of the box to allow for precise tailoring to your unique requirements while still promising a breezy setup period that can go by in less than a day. How quickly you configure and implement Casebook depends on your organization’s readiness for digitization and any data migration needs. For most organizations, implementation takes about 30 days or less.. Searching for a new human services platform can turn up a host of options, leading to confusion or even analysis paralysis. Should you pick a familiar name-brand platform and spend the time (and consulting fees) conforming it to your specific needs? Or are there more appropriate choices for your organization that can help you save those resources for your mission-critical projects? To find the human services software solution with the best time to value, your search should begin with purpose Select a Purpose-Built Software Solution If efficiency is your goal, you’ll find that the best human services software solution is designed expressly for human services. Adapting a customer relationship management (CRM) solution like Salesforce for human services may seem expedient, but it’s far from ideal. CRMs provide more than what’s needed in the human services space, resulting in a distracting experience. Plus, configuring them for the unique needs of human services professionals can be time-consuming, negatively impacting their time to value. That’s why choosing a platform that’s purpose-built for human services is the best course of action. Cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) options are few, but they offer the most value given the accessibility, affordability, and security they offer. The first and only pure SaaS platform for the human services industry is Casebook. With Casebook, you have the advantage of a data model and interfaces that are crafted specifically for this field, making it ideally suited for the wide range of human services. The organizations that benefit the most from using Casebook are leaders in the fields of: Child welfare & foster care Social work Case management Community services Victim services & advocacy Homeless services By choosing an intuitive, accessible SaaS platform like Casebook as your human services software, you can maximize your operational efficiency while improving your client experience. Make Configuration Quick and Painless As you consider new solutions for your organization, it’s important to note the difference between configurable and customizable software. To customize a software platform, the vendor has to make changes to it on behalf of the user. Besides the monetary costs this method often incurs, its lengthy customization process can significantly impair your operational efficiency. That’s why opting for a configurable software package is advisable if you’re serious about saving your valuable resources and maximizing your time to value. Configurable platforms are typically purpose-built for the audience they serve and give you, the end user, more control so you can avoid expensive consulting services not included in standard purchase or setup costs. Configurability empowers you to adjust prebuilt capabilities in the way that’s best for your organization, providing lots of freedom and flexibility when it comes to shaping the platform to fit your needs. Since Casebook is built for human services in particular, the platform has about 80 percent of what your organization would need preloaded, giving you an intuitive user experience (UX) that streamlines the configuration process. The four areas where Casebook offers the greatest opportunity for configuration are: Dynamic data Workflows Forms Reporting Regardless of the type of services you provide, the Casebook platform comes with just enough out of the box to allow for precise tailoring to your unique requirements while still promising a breezy setup period that can go by in less than a day. How quickly you configure and implement Casebook depends on your organization’s readiness for digitization and any data migration needs. For most organizations, implementation takes about 30 days or less.. Searching for a new human services platform can turn up a host of options, leading to confusion or even analysis paralysis. Should you pick a familiar name-brand platform and spend the time (and consulting fees) conforming it to your specific needs? Or are there more appropriate choices for your organization that can help you save those resources for your mission-critical projects? To find the human services software solution with the best time to value, your search should begin with purpose Select a Purpose-Built Software Solution If efficiency is your goal, you’ll find that the best human services software solution is designed expressly for human services. Adapting a customer relationship management (CRM) solution like Salesforce for human services may seem expedient, but it’s far from ideal. CRMs provide more than what’s needed in the human services space, resulting in a distracting experience. Plus, configuring them for the unique needs of human services professionals can be time-consuming, negatively impacting their time to value. That’s why choosing a platform that’s purpose-built for human services is the best course of action. Cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) options are few, but they offer the most value given the accessibility, affordability, and security they offer. The first and only pure SaaS platform for the human services industry is Casebook. With Casebook, you have the advantage of a data model and interfaces that are crafted specifically for this field, making it ideally suited for the wide range of human services. The organizations that benefit the most from using Casebook are leaders in the fields of: Child welfare & foster care Social work Case management Community services Victim services & advocacy Homeless services By choosing an intuitive, accessible SaaS platform like Casebook as your human services software, you can maximize your operational efficiency while improving your client experience. Make Configuration Quick and Painless As you consider new solutions for your organization, it’s important to note the difference between configurable and customizable software. To customize a software platform, the vendor has to make changes to it on behalf of the user. Besides the monetary costs this method often incurs, its lengthy customization process can significantly impair your operational efficiency. That’s why opting for a configurable software package is advisable if you’re serious about saving your valuable resources and maximizing your time to value. Configurable platforms are typically purpose-built for the audience they serve and give you, the end user, more control so you can avoid expensive consulting services not included in standard purchase or setup costs. Configurability empowers you to adjust prebuilt capabilities in the way that’s best for your organization, providing lots of freedom and flexibility when it comes to shaping the platform to fit your needs. Since Casebook is built for human services in particular, the platform has about 80 percent of what your organization would need preloaded, giving you an intuitive user experience (UX) that streamlines the configuration process. The four areas where Casebook offers the greatest opportunity for configuration are: Dynamic data Workflows Forms Reporting Regardless of the type of services you provide, the Casebook platform comes with just enough out of the box to allow for precise tailoring to your unique requirements while still promising a breezy setup period that can go by in less than a day. How quickly you configure and implement Casebook depends on your organization’s readiness for digitization and any data migration needs. For most organizations, implementation takes about 30 days or less.. Searching for a new human services platform can turn up a host of options, leading to confusion or even analysis paralysis. Should you pick a familiar name-brand platform and spend the time (and consulting fees) conforming it to your specific needs? Or are there more appropriate choices for your organization that can help you save those resources for your mission-critical projects? To find the human services software solution with the best time to value, your search should begin with purpose Select a Purpose-Built Software Solution If efficiency is your goal, you’ll find that the best human services software solution is designed expressly for human services. Adapting a customer relationship management (CRM) solution like Salesforce for human services may seem expedient, but it’s far from ideal. CRMs provide more than what’s needed in the human services space, resulting in a distracting experience. Plus, configuring them for the unique needs of human services professionals can be time-consuming, negatively impacting their time to value. That’s why choosing a platform that’s purpose-built for human services is the best course of action. Cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) options are few, but they offer the most value given the accessibility, affordability, and security they offer. The first and only pure SaaS platform for the human services industry is Casebook. With Casebook, you have the advantage of a data model and interfaces that are crafted specifically for this field, making it ideally suited for the wide range of human services. The organizations that benefit the most from using Casebook are leaders in the fields of: Child welfare & foster care Social work Case management Community services Victim services & advocacy Homeless services By choosing an intuitive, accessible SaaS platform like Casebook as your human services software, you can maximize your operational efficiency while improving your client experience. Make Configuration Quick and Painless As you consider new solutions for your organization, it’s important to note the difference between configurable and customizable software. To customize a software platform, the vendor has to make changes to it on behalf of the user. Besides the monetary costs this method often incurs, its lengthy customization process can significantly impair your operational efficiency. That’s why opting for a configurable software package is advisable if you’re serious about saving your valuable resources and maximizing your time to value. Configurable platforms are typically purpose-built for the audience they serve and give you, the end user, more control so you can avoid expensive consulting services not included in standard purchase or setup costs. Configurability empowers you to adjust prebuilt capabilities in the way that’s best for your organization, providing lots of freedom and flexibility when it comes to shaping the platform to fit your needs. Since Casebook is built for human services in particular, the platform has about 80 percent of what your organization would need preloaded, giving you an intuitive user experience (UX) that streamlines the configuration process. The four areas where Casebook offers the greatest opportunity for configuration are: Dynamic data Workflows Forms Reporting Regardless of the type of services you provide, the Casebook platform comes with just enough out of the box to allow for precise tailoring to your unique requirements while still promising a breezy setup period that can go by in less than a day. How quickly you configure and implement Casebook depends on your organization’s readiness for digitization and any data migration needs. For most organizations, implementation takes about 30 days or less.. Searching for a new human services platform can turn up a host of options, leading to confusion or even analysis paralysis. Should you pick a familiar name-brand platform and spend the time (and consulting fees) conforming it to your specific needs? Or are there more appropriate choices for your organization that can help you save those resources for your mission-critical projects? To find the human services software solution with the best time to value, your search should begin with purpose Select a Purpose-Built Software Solution If efficiency is your goal, you’ll find that the best human services software solution is designed expressly for human services. Adapting a customer relationship management (CRM) solution like Salesforce for human services may seem expedient, but it’s far from ideal. CRMs provide more than what’s needed in the human services space, resulting in a distracting experience. Plus, configuring them for the unique needs of human services professionals can be time-consuming, negatively impacting their time to value. That’s why choosing a platform that’s purpose-built for human services is the best course of action. Cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) options are few, but they offer the most value given the accessibility, affordability, and security they offer. The first and only pure SaaS platform for the human services industry is Casebook. With Casebook, you have the advantage of a data model and interfaces that are crafted specifically for this field, making it ideally suited for the wide range of human services. The organizations that benefit the most from using Casebook are leaders in the fields of: Child welfare & foster care Social work Case management Community services Victim services & advocacy Homeless services By choosing an intuitive, accessible SaaS platform like Casebook as your human services software, you can maximize your operational efficiency while improving your client experience. Make Configuration Quick and Painless As you consider new solutions for your organization, it’s important to note the difference between configurable and customizable software. To customize a software platform, the vendor has to make changes to it on behalf of the user. Besides the monetary costs this method often incurs, its lengthy customization process can significantly impair your operational efficiency. That’s why opting for a configurable software package is advisable if you’re serious about saving your valuable resources and maximizing your time to value. Configurable platforms are typically purpose-built for the audience they serve and give you, the end user, more control so you can avoid expensive consulting services not included in standard purchase or setup costs. Configurability empowers you to adjust prebuilt capabilities in the way that’s best for your organization, providing lots of freedom and flexibility when it comes to shaping the platform to fit your needs. Since Casebook is built for human services in particular, the platform has about 80 percent of what your organization would need preloaded, giving you an intuitive user experience (UX) that streamlines the configuration process. The four areas where Casebook offers the greatest opportunity for configuration are: Dynamic data Workflows Forms Reporting Regardless of the type of services you provide, the Casebook platform comes with just enough out of the box to allow for precise tailoring to your unique requirements while still promising a breezy setup period that can go by in less than a day. How quickly you configure and implement Casebook depends on your organization’s readiness for digitization and any data migration needs. For most organizations, implementation takes about 30 days or less..

As an organization, you have to be able to pivot between funders to position yourselves for grants for which you’re eligible. The adaptability needed to convey different tones and key points in your work will ensure your longevity. In this post, you’ll learn more about how to build your institutional strategy to ensure sustainability. Nonprofits need to communicate effectively to multiple types of institutions. In order to successfully pivot, you must be able to speak their language without losing your own voice. As an organization, you have to be able to pivot between funders to position yourselves for grants for which you’re eligible. The adaptability needed to convey different tones and key points in your work will ensure your longevity. In this post, you’ll learn more about how to build your institutional strategy to ensure sustainability. Nonprofits need to communicate effectively to multiple types of institutions. In order to successfully pivot, you must be able to speak their language without losing your own voice. As an organization, you have to be able to pivot between funders to position yourselves for grants for which you’re eligible. The adaptability needed to convey different tones and key points in your work will ensure your longevity. In this post, you’ll learn more about how to build your institutional strategy to ensure sustainability. Nonprofits need to communicate effectively to multiple types of institutions. In order to successfully pivot, you must be able to speak their language without losing your own voice. As an organization, you have to be able to pivot between funders to position yourselves for grants for which you’re eligible. The adaptability needed to convey different tones and key points in your work will ensure your longevity. In this post, you’ll learn more about how to build your institutional strategy to ensure sustainability. Nonprofits need to communicate effectively to multiple types of institutions. In order to successfully pivot, you must be able to speak their language without losing your own voice. As an organization, you have to be able to pivot between funders to position yourselves for grants for which you’re eligible. The adaptability needed to convey different tones and key points in your work will ensure your longevity. In this post, you’ll learn more about how to build your institutional strategy to ensure sustainability. Nonprofits need to communicate effectively to multiple types of institutions. In order to successfully pivot, you must be able to speak their language without losing your own voice. As an organization, you have to be able to pivot between funders to position yourselves for grants for which you’re eligible. The adaptability needed to convey different tones and key points in your work will ensure your longevity. In this post, you’ll learn more about how to build your institutional strategy to ensure sustainability. Nonprofits need to communicate effectively to multiple types of institutions. In order to successfully pivot, you must be able to speak their language without losing your own voice. As an organization, you have to be able to pivot between funders to position yourselves for grants for which you’re eligible. The adaptability needed to convey different tones and key points in your work will ensure your longevity. In this post, you’ll learn more about how to build your institutional strategy to ensure sustainability. Nonprofits need to communicate effectively to multiple types of institutions. In order to successfully pivot, you must be able to speak their language without losing your own voice. As an organization, you have to be able to pivot between funders to position yourselves for grants for which you’re eligible. The adaptability needed to convey different tones and key points in your work will ensure your longevity. In this post, you’ll learn more about how to build your institutional strategy to ensure sustainability. Nonprofits need to communicate effectively to multiple types of institutions. In order to successfully pivot, you must be able to speak their language without losing your own voice. As an organization, you have to be able to pivot between funders to position yourselves for grants for which you’re eligible. The adaptability needed to convey different tones and key points in your work will ensure your longevity. In this post, you’ll learn more about how to build your institutional strategy to ensure sustainability. Nonprofits need to communicate effectively to multiple types of institutions. In order to successfully pivot, you must be able to speak their language without losing your own voice. As an organization, you have to be able to pivot between funders to position yourselves for grants for which you’re eligible. The adaptability needed to convey different tones and key points in your work will ensure your longevity. In this post, you’ll learn more about how to build your institutional strategy to ensure sustainability. Nonprofits need to communicate effectively to multiple types of institutions. In order to successfully pivot, you must be able to speak their language without losing your own voice.

Building a legacy that stands the test of time is difficult. On average, US-based nonprofits have expenses of less than $1 million; and the majority of those focus on youth, education, community development, or human services at large. For every ‘powerhouse’ nonprofit (with budgets in the billions) there are thousands of grassroots organizations with expenses under that $1M mark. It is a tough market out there; institutional support is competitive and setting your organization up for success is key. The previous posts touched on the types of institutional support available, and how to best communicate your mission and solutions to funders based on their preferred tones. Now, let’s dive deeper into how to further position your organization for capacity-building success so that your organization can grow effectively and sustainably. One cornerstone of strong organizational growth is strategically increasing capacity. Successful programmatic implementation is the vehicle that drives your mission and vision, but the institutional support of an organization is equally as important. In addition to program support funding opportunities, there are funders such as the Annie E. Casey Foundation (who work primarily to strengthen organizations that support children and families) or The David and Lucile Packard Foundation (which focuses on nonprofit leadership & governance at large) that directly support the capacity-building efforts of nonprofits or general funds. Capacity Development grants in a nutshell are funds used specifically to build resources and tools that help your organization strengthen its infrastructure; whereas general operating funds can be used for anything your organization needs (programmatic, capital, or capacity-development). Learn a little more about why capacity-building grants are game-changing opportunities here. Three Tips to Keep in Mind when Applying for Capacity-building Grants: Develop a Framework: Create a Strength Weakness Opportunities and Threat (SWOT) analysis of your nonprofit systems and structures before looking for funding. This is important for two reasons: Prioritization of Requests. You need to have a comprehensive understanding of your immediate growth needs, and what could wait for later. For example, is it more important that you build out a finance department to better track expenses and reporting; or is a software or database that helps you streamline your communication with community stakeholders and track data the top priority? Don’t Set Yourself Up to Chase Funding: Without a comprehensive SWOT analysis of your organization, you may be inclined to pursue funding based regardless of what your key needs are. By applying for open opportunities that do not necessarily align with your priorities, you end up chasing funding without responding to your organization’s needs. Often developing nonprofits will try and apply for any and everything, but what happens when you get a grant that focuses on building out your marketing team, but you really need a comprehensive database that tracks client success before implementing additional outreach? All of this is to say -- create a framework and game plan before you even begin to look for funding. Do a SWOT analysis, it will help you frame your priorities. Build your Appeal Network Out: Once you have your framework and have conceptualized priorities, appeal to funders that are already in your network. Get referrals from current foundation funders, let them know your capacity-building needs. Even if they only fund program-specific projects, funders have a network; they talk to each other. Leverage your connections to gain additional leads on potential partners and funding sources. Prospecting tools like Instrumentl or Candid help, but nothing is as good as a recommendation from someone who already believes in your work. Scaffold Funding Phases: Think in long-term solutions once you have your priorities, create a timeline that allows for continuous growth. You’ve prioritized your capacity-development focus areas for the next 6 months, what are your plans and needs to accomplish those goals in the next 18 months or the next 3 years? Think about your grant writing needs, there are funds for that; leadership and management trainings, there are funds for that; growing your board….there are funds for that! Separate your strategic growth points into milestones and fundraise around those buckets of work— this goes not only for programmatic goals but also for your institutional structure and scaling efforts. Managing finances, updated website design, evaluation strategy, and data collection are all examples of building blocks that are critical to programmatic growth because they amplify the might of your organization. Without people power, and solid tools, nonprofits can face barriers to growing beyond the shoestring budget. Funders that distribute capacity-building grants recognize that organizations need to develop competent management systems in addition to programming and services. Ensure that your organization is researching general operating and capacity-development funding opportunities concurrently with program-specific support. Remember, every nonprofit with a $50 million budget, used to be a much smaller one. Every grant is an opportunity for your organization to expand its network and scale one more ring of growth. Clear direction, well-equipped staff with effective tools, and pursuit of strategic funding will help you climb that ladder. Building a legacy that stands the test of time is difficult. On average, US-based nonprofits have expenses of less than $1 million; and the majority of those focus on youth, education, community development, or human services at large. For every ‘powerhouse’ nonprofit (with budgets in the billions) there are thousands of grassroots organizations with expenses under that $1M mark. It is a tough market out there; institutional support is competitive and setting your organization up for success is key. The previous posts touched on the types of institutional support available, and how to best communicate your mission and solutions to funders based on their preferred tones. Now, let’s dive deeper into how to further position your organization for capacity-building success so that your organization can grow effectively and sustainably. One cornerstone of strong organizational growth is strategically increasing capacity. Successful programmatic implementation is the vehicle that drives your mission and vision, but the institutional support of an organization is equally as important. In addition to program support funding opportunities, there are funders such as the Annie E. Casey Foundation (who work primarily to strengthen organizations that support children and families) or The David and Lucile Packard Foundation (which focuses on nonprofit leadership & governance at large) that directly support the capacity-building efforts of nonprofits or general funds. Capacity Development grants in a nutshell are funds used specifically to build resources and tools that help your organization strengthen its infrastructure; whereas general operating funds can be used for anything your organization needs (programmatic, capital, or capacity-development). Learn a little more about why capacity-building grants are game-changing opportunities here. Three Tips to Keep in Mind when Applying for Capacity-building Grants: Develop a Framework: Create a Strength Weakness Opportunities and Threat (SWOT) analysis of your nonprofit systems and structures before looking for funding. This is important for two reasons: Prioritization of Requests. You need to have a comprehensive understanding of your immediate growth needs, and what could wait for later. For example, is it more important that you build out a finance department to better track expenses and reporting; or is a software or database that helps you streamline your communication with community stakeholders and track data the top priority? Don’t Set Yourself Up to Chase Funding: Without a comprehensive SWOT analysis of your organization, you may be inclined to pursue funding based regardless of what your key needs are. By applying for open opportunities that do not necessarily align with your priorities, you end up chasing funding without responding to your organization’s needs. Often developing nonprofits will try and apply for any and everything, but what happens when you get a grant that focuses on building out your marketing team, but you really need a comprehensive database that tracks client success before implementing additional outreach? All of this is to say -- create a framework and game plan before you even begin to look for funding. Do a SWOT analysis, it will help you frame your priorities. Build your Appeal Network Out: Once you have your framework and have conceptualized priorities, appeal to funders that are already in your network. Get referrals from current foundation funders, let them know your capacity-building needs. Even if they only fund program-specific projects, funders have a network; they talk to each other. Leverage your connections to gain additional leads on potential partners and funding sources. Prospecting tools like Instrumentl or Candid help, but nothing is as good as a recommendation from someone who already believes in your work. Scaffold Funding Phases: Think in long-term solutions once you have your priorities, create a timeline that allows for continuous growth. You’ve prioritized your capacity-development focus areas for the next 6 months, what are your plans and needs to accomplish those goals in the next 18 months or the next 3 years? Think about your grant writing needs, there are funds for that; leadership and management trainings, there are funds for that; growing your board….there are funds for that! Separate your strategic growth points into milestones and fundraise around those buckets of work— this goes not only for programmatic goals but also for your institutional structure and scaling efforts. Managing finances, updated website design, evaluation strategy, and data collection are all examples of building blocks that are critical to programmatic growth because they amplify the might of your organization. Without people power, and solid tools, nonprofits can face barriers to growing beyond the shoestring budget. Funders that distribute capacity-building grants recognize that organizations need to develop competent management systems in addition to programming and services. Ensure that your organization is researching general operating and capacity-development funding opportunities concurrently with program-specific support. Remember, every nonprofit with a $50 million budget, used to be a much smaller one. Every grant is an opportunity for your organization to expand its network and scale one more ring of growth. Clear direction, well-equipped staff with effective tools, and pursuit of strategic funding will help you climb that ladder. Building a legacy that stands the test of time is difficult. On average, US-based nonprofits have expenses of less than $1 million; and the majority of those focus on youth, education, community development, or human services at large. For every ‘powerhouse’ nonprofit (with budgets in the billions) there are thousands of grassroots organizations with expenses under that $1M mark. It is a tough market out there; institutional support is competitive and setting your organization up for success is key. The previous posts touched on the types of institutional support available, and how to best communicate your mission and solutions to funders based on their preferred tones. Now, let’s dive deeper into how to further position your organization for capacity-building success so that your organization can grow effectively and sustainably. One cornerstone of strong organizational growth is strategically increasing capacity. Successful programmatic implementation is the vehicle that drives your mission and vision, but the institutional support of an organization is equally as important. In addition to program support funding opportunities, there are funders such as the Annie E. Casey Foundation (who work primarily to strengthen organizations that support children and families) or The David and Lucile Packard Foundation (which focuses on nonprofit leadership & governance at large) that directly support the capacity-building efforts of nonprofits or general funds. Capacity Development grants in a nutshell are funds used specifically to build resources and tools that help your organization strengthen its infrastructure; whereas general operating funds can be used for anything your organization needs (programmatic, capital, or capacity-development). Learn a little more about why capacity-building grants are game-changing opportunities here. Three Tips to Keep in Mind when Applying for Capacity-building Grants: Develop a Framework: Create a Strength Weakness Opportunities and Threat (SWOT) analysis of your nonprofit systems and structures before looking for funding. This is important for two reasons: Prioritization of Requests. You need to have a comprehensive understanding of your immediate growth needs, and what could wait for later. For example, is it more important that you build out a finance department to better track expenses and reporting; or is a software or database that helps you streamline your communication with community stakeholders and track data the top priority? Don’t Set Yourself Up to Chase Funding: Without a comprehensive SWOT analysis of your organization, you may be inclined to pursue funding based regardless of what your key needs are. By applying for open opportunities that do not necessarily align with your priorities, you end up chasing funding without responding to your organization’s needs. Often developing nonprofits will try and apply for any and everything, but what happens when you get a grant that focuses on building out your marketing team, but you really need a comprehensive database that tracks client success before implementing additional outreach? All of this is to say -- create a framework and game plan before you even begin to look for funding. Do a SWOT analysis, it will help you frame your priorities. Build your Appeal Network Out: Once you have your framework and have conceptualized priorities, appeal to funders that are already in your network. Get referrals from current foundation funders, let them know your capacity-building needs. Even if they only fund program-specific projects, funders have a network; they talk to each other. Leverage your connections to gain additional leads on potential partners and funding sources. Prospecting tools like Instrumentl or Candid help, but nothing is as good as a recommendation from someone who already believes in your work. Scaffold Funding Phases: Think in long-term solutions once you have your priorities, create a timeline that allows for continuous growth. You’ve prioritized your capacity-development focus areas for the next 6 months, what are your plans and needs to accomplish those goals in the next 18 months or the next 3 years? Think about your grant writing needs, there are funds for that; leadership and management trainings, there are funds for that; growing your board….there are funds for that! Separate your strategic growth points into milestones and fundraise around those buckets of work— this goes not only for programmatic goals but also for your institutional structure and scaling efforts. Managing finances, updated website design, evaluation strategy, and data collection are all examples of building blocks that are critical to programmatic growth because they amplify the might of your organization. Without people power, and solid tools, nonprofits can face barriers to growing beyond the shoestring budget. Funders that distribute capacity-building grants recognize that organizations need to develop competent management systems in addition to programming and services. Ensure that your organization is researching general operating and capacity-development funding opportunities concurrently with program-specific support. Remember, every nonprofit with a $50 million budget, used to be a much smaller one. Every grant is an opportunity for your organization to expand its network and scale one more ring of growth. Clear direction, well-equipped staff with effective tools, and pursuit of strategic funding will help you climb that ladder. Building a legacy that stands the test of time is difficult. On average, US-based nonprofits have expenses of less than $1 million; and the majority of those focus on youth, education, community development, or human services at large. For every ‘powerhouse’ nonprofit (with budgets in the billions) there are thousands of grassroots organizations with expenses under that $1M mark. It is a tough market out there; institutional support is competitive and setting your organization up for success is key. The previous posts touched on the types of institutional support available, and how to best communicate your mission and solutions to funders based on their preferred tones. Now, let’s dive deeper into how to further position your organization for capacity-building success so that your organization can grow effectively and sustainably. One cornerstone of strong organizational growth is strategically increasing capacity. Successful programmatic implementation is the vehicle that drives your mission and vision, but the institutional support of an organization is equally as important. In addition to program support funding opportunities, there are funders such as the Annie E. Casey Foundation (who work primarily to strengthen organizations that support children and families) or The David and Lucile Packard Foundation (which focuses on nonprofit leadership & governance at large) that directly support the capacity-building efforts of nonprofits or general funds. Capacity Development grants in a nutshell are funds used specifically to build resources and tools that help your organization strengthen its infrastructure; whereas general operating funds can be used for anything your organization needs (programmatic, capital, or capacity-development). Learn a little more about why capacity-building grants are game-changing opportunities here. Three Tips to Keep in Mind when Applying for Capacity-building Grants: Develop a Framework: Create a Strength Weakness Opportunities and Threat (SWOT) analysis of your nonprofit systems and structures before looking for funding. This is important for two reasons: Prioritization of Requests. You need to have a comprehensive understanding of your immediate growth needs, and what could wait for later. For example, is it more important that you build out a finance department to better track expenses and reporting; or is a software or database that helps you streamline your communication with community stakeholders and track data the top priority? Don’t Set Yourself Up to Chase Funding: Without a comprehensive SWOT analysis of your organization, you may be inclined to pursue funding based regardless of what your key needs are. By applying for open opportunities that do not necessarily align with your priorities, you end up chasing funding without responding to your organization’s needs. Often developing nonprofits will try and apply for any and everything, but what happens when you get a grant that focuses on building out your marketing team, but you really need a comprehensive database that tracks client success before implementing additional outreach? All of this is to say -- create a framework and game plan before you even begin to look for funding. Do a SWOT analysis, it will help you frame your priorities. Build your Appeal Network Out: Once you have your framework and have conceptualized priorities, appeal to funders that are already in your network. Get referrals from current foundation funders, let them know your capacity-building needs. Even if they only fund program-specific projects, funders have a network; they talk to each other. Leverage your connections to gain additional leads on potential partners and funding sources. Prospecting tools like Instrumentl or Candid help, but nothing is as good as a recommendation from someone who already believes in your work. Scaffold Funding Phases: Think in long-term solutions once you have your priorities, create a timeline that allows for continuous growth. You’ve prioritized your capacity-development focus areas for the next 6 months, what are your plans and needs to accomplish those goals in the next 18 months or the next 3 years? Think about your grant writing needs, there are funds for that; leadership and management trainings, there are funds for that; growing your board….there are funds for that! Separate your strategic growth points into milestones and fundraise around those buckets of work— this goes not only for programmatic goals but also for your institutional structure and scaling efforts. Managing finances, updated website design, evaluation strategy, and data collection are all examples of building blocks that are critical to programmatic growth because they amplify the might of your organization. Without people power, and solid tools, nonprofits can face barriers to growing beyond the shoestring budget. Funders that distribute capacity-building grants recognize that organizations need to develop competent management systems in addition to programming and services. Ensure that your organization is researching general operating and capacity-development funding opportunities concurrently with program-specific support. Remember, every nonprofit with a $50 million budget, used to be a much smaller one. Every grant is an opportunity for your organization to expand its network and scale one more ring of growth. Clear direction, well-equipped staff with effective tools, and pursuit of strategic funding will help you climb that ladder. Building a legacy that stands the test of time is difficult. On average, US-based nonprofits have expenses of less than $1 million; and the majority of those focus on youth, education, community development, or human services at large. For every ‘powerhouse’ nonprofit (with budgets in the billions) there are thousands of grassroots organizations with expenses under that $1M mark. It is a tough market out there; institutional support is competitive and setting your organization up for success is key. The previous posts touched on the types of institutional support available, and how to best communicate your mission and solutions to funders based on their preferred tones. Now, let’s dive deeper into how to further position your organization for capacity-building success so that your organization can grow effectively and sustainably. One cornerstone of strong organizational growth is strategically increasing capacity. Successful programmatic implementation is the vehicle that drives your mission and vision, but the institutional support of an organization is equally as important. In addition to program support funding opportunities, there are funders such as the Annie E. Casey Foundation (who work primarily to strengthen organizations that support children and families) or The David and Lucile Packard Foundation (which focuses on nonprofit leadership & governance at large) that directly support the capacity-building efforts of nonprofits or general funds. Capacity Development grants in a nutshell are funds used specifically to build resources and tools that help your organization strengthen its infrastructure; whereas general operating funds can be used for anything your organization needs (programmatic, capital, or capacity-development). Learn a little more about why capacity-building grants are game-changing opportunities here. Three Tips to Keep in Mind when Applying for Capacity-building Grants: Develop a Framework: Create a Strength Weakness Opportunities and Threat (SWOT) analysis of your nonprofit systems and structures before looking for funding. This is important for two reasons: Prioritization of Requests. You need to have a comprehensive understanding of your immediate growth needs, and what could wait for later. For example, is it more important that you build out a finance department to better track expenses and reporting; or is a software or database that helps you streamline your communication with community stakeholders and track data the top priority? Don’t Set Yourself Up to Chase Funding: Without a comprehensive SWOT analysis of your organization, you may be inclined to pursue funding based regardless of what your key needs are. By applying for open opportunities that do not necessarily align with your priorities, you end up chasing funding without responding to your organization’s needs. Often developing nonprofits will try and apply for any and everything, but what happens when you get a grant that focuses on building out your marketing team, but you really need a comprehensive database that tracks client success before implementing additional outreach? All of this is to say -- create a framework and game plan before you even begin to look for funding. Do a SWOT analysis, it will help you frame your priorities. Build your Appeal Network Out: Once you have your framework and have conceptualized priorities, appeal to funders that are already in your network. Get referrals from current foundation funders, let them know your capacity-building needs. Even if they only fund program-specific projects, funders have a network; they talk to each other. Leverage your connections to gain additional leads on potential partners and funding sources. Prospecting tools like Instrumentl or Candid help, but nothing is as good as a recommendation from someone who already believes in your work. Scaffold Funding Phases: Think in long-term solutions once you have your priorities, create a timeline that allows for continuous growth. You’ve prioritized your capacity-development focus areas for the next 6 months, what are your plans and needs to accomplish those goals in the next 18 months or the next 3 years? Think about your grant writing needs, there are funds for that; leadership and management trainings, there are funds for that; growing your board….there are funds for that! Separate your strategic growth points into milestones and fundraise around those buckets of work— this goes not only for programmatic goals but also for your institutional structure and scaling efforts. Managing finances, updated website design, evaluation strategy, and data collection are all examples of building blocks that are critical to programmatic growth because they amplify the might of your organization. Without people power, and solid tools, nonprofits can face barriers to growing beyond the shoestring budget. Funders that distribute capacity-building grants recognize that organizations need to develop competent management systems in addition to programming and services. Ensure that your organization is researching general operating and capacity-development funding opportunities concurrently with program-specific support. Remember, every nonprofit with a $50 million budget, used to be a much smaller one. Every grant is an opportunity for your organization to expand its network and scale one more ring of growth. Clear direction, well-equipped staff with effective tools, and pursuit of strategic funding will help you climb that ladder. Building a legacy that stands the test of time is difficult. On average, US-based nonprofits have expenses of less than $1 million; and the majority of those focus on youth, education, community development, or human services at large. For every ‘powerhouse’ nonprofit (with budgets in the billions) there are thousands of grassroots organizations with expenses under that $1M mark. It is a tough market out there; institutional support is competitive and setting your organization up for success is key. The previous posts touched on the types of institutional support available, and how to best communicate your mission and solutions to funders based on their preferred tones. Now, let’s dive deeper into how to further position your organization for capacity-building success so that your organization can grow effectively and sustainably. One cornerstone of strong organizational growth is strategically increasing capacity. Successful programmatic implementation is the vehicle that drives your mission and vision, but the institutional support of an organization is equally as important. In addition to program support funding opportunities, there are funders such as the Annie E. Casey Foundation (who work primarily to strengthen organizations that support children and families) or The David and Lucile Packard Foundation (which focuses on nonprofit leadership & governance at large) that directly support the capacity-building efforts of nonprofits or general funds. Capacity Development grants in a nutshell are funds used specifically to build resources and tools that help your organization strengthen its infrastructure; whereas general operating funds can be used for anything your organization needs (programmatic, capital, or capacity-development). Learn a little more about why capacity-building grants are game-changing opportunities here. Three Tips to Keep in Mind when Applying for Capacity-building Grants: Develop a Framework: Create a Strength Weakness Opportunities and Threat (SWOT) analysis of your nonprofit systems and structures before looking for funding. This is important for two reasons: Prioritization of Requests. You need to have a comprehensive understanding of your immediate growth needs, and what could wait for later. For example, is it more important that you build out a finance department to better track expenses and reporting; or is a software or database that helps you streamline your communication with community stakeholders and track data the top priority? Don’t Set Yourself Up to Chase Funding: Without a comprehensive SWOT analysis of your organization, you may be inclined to pursue funding based regardless of what your key needs are. By applying for open opportunities that do not necessarily align with your priorities, you end up chasing funding without responding to your organization’s needs. Often developing nonprofits will try and apply for any and everything, but what happens when you get a grant that focuses on building out your marketing team, but you really need a comprehensive database that tracks client success before implementing additional outreach? All of this is to say -- create a framework and game plan before you even begin to look for funding. Do a SWOT analysis, it will help you frame your priorities. Build your Appeal Network Out: Once you have your framework and have conceptualized priorities, appeal to funders that are already in your network. Get referrals from current foundation funders, let them know your capacity-building needs. Even if they only fund program-specific projects, funders have a network; they talk to each other. Leverage your connections to gain additional leads on potential partners and funding sources. Prospecting tools like Instrumentl or Candid help, but nothing is as good as a recommendation from someone who already believes in your work. Scaffold Funding Phases: Think in long-term solutions once you have your priorities, create a timeline that allows for continuous growth. You’ve prioritized your capacity-development focus areas for the next 6 months, what are your plans and needs to accomplish those goals in the next 18 months or the next 3 years? Think about your grant writing needs, there are funds for that; leadership and management trainings, there are funds for that; growing your board….there are funds for that! Separate your strategic growth points into milestones and fundraise around those buckets of work— this goes not only for programmatic goals but also for your institutional structure and scaling efforts. Managing finances, updated website design, evaluation strategy, and data collection are all examples of building blocks that are critical to programmatic growth because they amplify the might of your organization. Without people power, and solid tools, nonprofits can face barriers to growing beyond the shoestring budget. Funders that distribute capacity-building grants recognize that organizations need to develop competent management systems in addition to programming and services. Ensure that your organization is researching general operating and capacity-development funding opportunities concurrently with program-specific support. Remember, every nonprofit with a $50 million budget, used to be a much smaller one. Every grant is an opportunity for your organization to expand its network and scale one more ring of growth. Clear direction, well-equipped staff with effective tools, and pursuit of strategic funding will help you climb that ladder. Building a legacy that stands the test of time is difficult. On average, US-based nonprofits have expenses of less than $1 million; and the majority of those focus on youth, education, community development, or human services at large. For every ‘powerhouse’ nonprofit (with budgets in the billions) there are thousands of grassroots organizations with expenses under that $1M mark. It is a tough market out there; institutional support is competitive and setting your organization up for success is key. The previous posts touched on the types of institutional support available, and how to best communicate your mission and solutions to funders based on their preferred tones. Now, let’s dive deeper into how to further position your organization for capacity-building success so that your organization can grow effectively and sustainably. One cornerstone of strong organizational growth is strategically increasing capacity. Successful programmatic implementation is the vehicle that drives your mission and vision, but the institutional support of an organization is equally as important. In addition to program support funding opportunities, there are funders such as the Annie E. Casey Foundation (who work primarily to strengthen organizations that support children and families) or The David and Lucile Packard Foundation (which focuses on nonprofit leadership & governance at large) that directly support the capacity-building efforts of nonprofits or general funds. Capacity Development grants in a nutshell are funds used specifically to build resources and tools that help your organization strengthen its infrastructure; whereas general operating funds can be used for anything your organization needs (programmatic, capital, or capacity-development). Learn a little more about why capacity-building grants are game-changing opportunities here. Three Tips to Keep in Mind when Applying for Capacity-building Grants: Develop a Framework: Create a Strength Weakness Opportunities and Threat (SWOT) analysis of your nonprofit systems and structures before looking for funding. This is important for two reasons: Prioritization of Requests. You need to have a comprehensive understanding of your immediate growth needs, and what could wait for later. For example, is it more important that you build out a finance department to better track expenses and reporting; or is a software or database that helps you streamline your communication with community stakeholders and track data the top priority? Don’t Set Yourself Up to Chase Funding: Without a comprehensive SWOT analysis of your organization, you may be inclined to pursue funding based regardless of what your key needs are. By applying for open opportunities that do not necessarily align with your priorities, you end up chasing funding without responding to your organization’s needs. Often developing nonprofits will try and apply for any and everything, but what happens when you get a grant that focuses on building out your marketing team, but you really need a comprehensive database that tracks client success before implementing additional outreach? All of this is to say -- create a framework and game plan before you even begin to look for funding. Do a SWOT analysis, it will help you frame your priorities. Build your Appeal Network Out: Once you have your framework and have conceptualized priorities, appeal to funders that are already in your network. Get referrals from current foundation funders, let them know your capacity-building needs. Even if they only fund program-specific projects, funders have a network; they talk to each other. Leverage your connections to gain additional leads on potential partners and funding sources. Prospecting tools like Instrumentl or Candid help, but nothing is as good as a recommendation from someone who already believes in your work. Scaffold Funding Phases: Think in long-term solutions once you have your priorities, create a timeline that allows for continuous growth. You’ve prioritized your capacity-development focus areas for the next 6 months, what are your plans and needs to accomplish those goals in the next 18 months or the next 3 years? Think about your grant writing needs, there are funds for that; leadership and management trainings, there are funds for that; growing your board….there are funds for that! Separate your strategic growth points into milestones and fundraise around those buckets of work— this goes not only for programmatic goals but also for your institutional structure and scaling efforts. Managing finances, updated website design, evaluation strategy, and data collection are all examples of building blocks that are critical to programmatic growth because they amplify the might of your organization. Without people power, and solid tools, nonprofits can face barriers to growing beyond the shoestring budget. Funders that distribute capacity-building grants recognize that organizations need to develop competent management systems in addition to programming and services. Ensure that your organization is researching general operating and capacity-development funding opportunities concurrently with program-specific support. Remember, every nonprofit with a $50 million budget, used to be a much smaller one. Every grant is an opportunity for your organization to expand its network and scale one more ring of growth. Clear direction, well-equipped staff with effective tools, and pursuit of strategic funding will help you climb that ladder. Building a legacy that stands the test of time is difficult. On average, US-based nonprofits have expenses of less than $1 million; and the majority of those focus on youth, education, community development, or human services at large. For every ‘powerhouse’ nonprofit (with budgets in the billions) there are thousands of grassroots organizations with expenses under that $1M mark. It is a tough market out there; institutional support is competitive and setting your organization up for success is key. The previous posts touched on the types of institutional support available, and how to best communicate your mission and solutions to funders based on their preferred tones. Now, let’s dive deeper into how to further position your organization for capacity-building success so that your organization can grow effectively and sustainably. One cornerstone of strong organizational growth is strategically increasing capacity. Successful programmatic implementation is the vehicle that drives your mission and vision, but the institutional support of an organization is equally as important. In addition to program support funding opportunities, there are funders such as the Annie E. Casey Foundation (who work primarily to strengthen organizations that support children and families) or The David and Lucile Packard Foundation (which focuses on nonprofit leadership & governance at large) that directly support the capacity-building efforts of nonprofits or general funds. Capacity Development grants in a nutshell are funds used specifically to build resources and tools that help your organization strengthen its infrastructure; whereas general operating funds can be used for anything your organization needs (programmatic, capital, or capacity-development). Learn a little more about why capacity-building grants are game-changing opportunities here. Three Tips to Keep in Mind when Applying for Capacity-building Grants: Develop a Framework: Create a Strength Weakness Opportunities and Threat (SWOT) analysis of your nonprofit systems and structures before looking for funding. This is important for two reasons: Prioritization of Requests. You need to have a comprehensive understanding of your immediate growth needs, and what could wait for later. For example, is it more important that you build out a finance department to better track expenses and reporting; or is a software or database that helps you streamline your communication with community stakeholders and track data the top priority? Don’t Set Yourself Up to Chase Funding: Without a comprehensive SWOT analysis of your organization, you may be inclined to pursue funding based regardless of what your key needs are. By applying for open opportunities that do not necessarily align with your priorities, you end up chasing funding without responding to your organization’s needs. Often developing nonprofits will try and apply for any and everything, but what happens when you get a grant that focuses on building out your marketing team, but you really need a comprehensive database that tracks client success before implementing additional outreach? All of this is to say -- create a framework and game plan before you even begin to look for funding. Do a SWOT analysis, it will help you frame your priorities. Build your Appeal Network Out: Once you have your framework and have conceptualized priorities, appeal to funders that are already in your network. Get referrals from current foundation funders, let them know your capacity-building needs. Even if they only fund program-specific projects, funders have a network; they talk to each other. Leverage your connections to gain additional leads on potential partners and funding sources. Prospecting tools like Instrumentl or Candid help, but nothing is as good as a recommendation from someone who already believes in your work. Scaffold Funding Phases: Think in long-term solutions once you have your priorities, create a timeline that allows for continuous growth. You’ve prioritized your capacity-development focus areas for the next 6 months, what are your plans and needs to accomplish those goals in the next 18 months or the next 3 years? Think about your grant writing needs, there are funds for that; leadership and management trainings, there are funds for that; growing your board….there are funds for that! Separate your strategic growth points into milestones and fundraise around those buckets of work— this goes not only for programmatic goals but also for your institutional structure and scaling efforts. Managing finances, updated website design, evaluation strategy, and data collection are all examples of building blocks that are critical to programmatic growth because they amplify the might of your organization. Without people power, and solid tools, nonprofits can face barriers to growing beyond the shoestring budget. Funders that distribute capacity-building grants recognize that organizations need to develop competent management systems in addition to programming and services. Ensure that your organization is researching general operating and capacity-development funding opportunities concurrently with program-specific support. Remember, every nonprofit with a $50 million budget, used to be a much smaller one. Every grant is an opportunity for your organization to expand its network and scale one more ring of growth. Clear direction, well-equipped staff with effective tools, and pursuit of strategic funding will help you climb that ladder. Building a legacy that stands the test of time is difficult. On average, US-based nonprofits have expenses of less than $1 million; and the majority of those focus on youth, education, community development, or human services at large. For every ‘powerhouse’ nonprofit (with budgets in the billions) there are thousands of grassroots organizations with expenses under that $1M mark. It is a tough market out there; institutional support is competitive and setting your organization up for success is key. The previous posts touched on the types of institutional support available, and how to best communicate your mission and solutions to funders based on their preferred tones. Now, let’s dive deeper into how to further position your organization for capacity-building success so that your organization can grow effectively and sustainably. One cornerstone of strong organizational growth is strategically increasing capacity. Successful programmatic implementation is the vehicle that drives your mission and vision, but the institutional support of an organization is equally as important. In addition to program support funding opportunities, there are funders such as the Annie E. Casey Foundation (who work primarily to strengthen organizations that support children and families) or The David and Lucile Packard Foundation (which focuses on nonprofit leadership & governance at large) that directly support the capacity-building efforts of nonprofits or general funds. Capacity Development grants in a nutshell are funds used specifically to build resources and tools that help your organization strengthen its infrastructure; whereas general operating funds can be used for anything your organization needs (programmatic, capital, or capacity-development). Learn a little more about why capacity-building grants are game-changing opportunities here. Three Tips to Keep in Mind when Applying for Capacity-building Grants: Develop a Framework: Create a Strength Weakness Opportunities and Threat (SWOT) analysis of your nonprofit systems and structures before looking for funding. This is important for two reasons: Prioritization of Requests. You need to have a comprehensive understanding of your immediate growth needs, and what could wait for later. For example, is it more important that you build out a finance department to better track expenses and reporting; or is a software or database that helps you streamline your communication with community stakeholders and track data the top priority? Don’t Set Yourself Up to Chase Funding: Without a comprehensive SWOT analysis of your organization, you may be inclined to pursue funding based regardless of what your key needs are. By applying for open opportunities that do not necessarily align with your priorities, you end up chasing funding without responding to your organization’s needs. Often developing nonprofits will try and apply for any and everything, but what happens when you get a grant that focuses on building out your marketing team, but you really need a comprehensive database that tracks client success before implementing additional outreach? All of this is to say -- create a framework and game plan before you even begin to look for funding. Do a SWOT analysis, it will help you frame your priorities. Build your Appeal Network Out: Once you have your framework and have conceptualized priorities, appeal to funders that are already in your network. Get referrals from current foundation funders, let them know your capacity-building needs. Even if they only fund program-specific projects, funders have a network; they talk to each other. Leverage your connections to gain additional leads on potential partners and funding sources. Prospecting tools like Instrumentl or Candid help, but nothing is as good as a recommendation from someone who already believes in your work. Scaffold Funding Phases: Think in long-term solutions once you have your priorities, create a timeline that allows for continuous growth. You’ve prioritized your capacity-development focus areas for the next 6 months, what are your plans and needs to accomplish those goals in the next 18 months or the next 3 years? Think about your grant writing needs, there are funds for that; leadership and management trainings, there are funds for that; growing your board….there are funds for that! Separate your strategic growth points into milestones and fundraise around those buckets of work— this goes not only for programmatic goals but also for your institutional structure and scaling efforts. Managing finances, updated website design, evaluation strategy, and data collection are all examples of building blocks that are critical to programmatic growth because they amplify the might of your organization. Without people power, and solid tools, nonprofits can face barriers to growing beyond the shoestring budget. Funders that distribute capacity-building grants recognize that organizations need to develop competent management systems in addition to programming and services. Ensure that your organization is researching general operating and capacity-development funding opportunities concurrently with program-specific support. Remember, every nonprofit with a $50 million budget, used to be a much smaller one. Every grant is an opportunity for your organization to expand its network and scale one more ring of growth. Clear direction, well-equipped staff with effective tools, and pursuit of strategic funding will help you climb that ladder. Building a legacy that stands the test of time is difficult. On average, US-based nonprofits have expenses of less than $1 million; and the majority of those focus on youth, education, community development, or human services at large. For every ‘powerhouse’ nonprofit (with budgets in the billions) there are thousands of grassroots organizations with expenses under that $1M mark. It is a tough market out there; institutional support is competitive and setting your organization up for success is key. The previous posts touched on the types of institutional support available, and how to best communicate your mission and solutions to funders based on their preferred tones. Now, let’s dive deeper into how to further position your organization for capacity-building success so that your organization can grow effectively and sustainably. One cornerstone of strong organizational growth is strategically increasing capacity. Successful programmatic implementation is the vehicle that drives your mission and vision, but the institutional support of an organization is equally as important. In addition to program support funding opportunities, there are funders such as the Annie E. Casey Foundation (who work primarily to strengthen organizations that support children and families) or The David and Lucile Packard Foundation (which focuses on nonprofit leadership & governance at large) that directly support the capacity-building efforts of nonprofits or general funds. Capacity Development grants in a nutshell are funds used specifically to build resources and tools that help your organization strengthen its infrastructure; whereas general operating funds can be used for anything your organization needs (programmatic, capital, or capacity-development). Learn a little more about why capacity-building grants are game-changing opportunities here. Three Tips to Keep in Mind when Applying for Capacity-building Grants: Develop a Framework: Create a Strength Weakness Opportunities and Threat (SWOT) analysis of your nonprofit systems and structures before looking for funding. This is important for two reasons: Prioritization of Requests. You need to have a comprehensive understanding of your immediate growth needs, and what could wait for later. For example, is it more important that you build out a finance department to better track expenses and reporting; or is a software or database that helps you streamline your communication with community stakeholders and track data the top priority? Don’t Set Yourself Up to Chase Funding: Without a comprehensive SWOT analysis of your organization, you may be inclined to pursue funding based regardless of what your key needs are. By applying for open opportunities that do not necessarily align with your priorities, you end up chasing funding without responding to your organization’s needs. Often developing nonprofits will try and apply for any and everything, but what happens when you get a grant that focuses on building out your marketing team, but you really need a comprehensive database that tracks client success before implementing additional outreach? All of this is to say -- create a framework and game plan before you even begin to look for funding. Do a SWOT analysis, it will help you frame your priorities. Build your Appeal Network Out: Once you have your framework and have conceptualized priorities, appeal to funders that are already in your network. Get referrals from current foundation funders, let them know your capacity-building needs. Even if they only fund program-specific projects, funders have a network; they talk to each other. Leverage your connections to gain additional leads on potential partners and funding sources. Prospecting tools like Instrumentl or Candid help, but nothing is as good as a recommendation from someone who already believes in your work. Scaffold Funding Phases: Think in long-term solutions once you have your priorities, create a timeline that allows for continuous growth. You’ve prioritized your capacity-development focus areas for the next 6 months, what are your plans and needs to accomplish those goals in the next 18 months or the next 3 years? Think about your grant writing needs, there are funds for that; leadership and management trainings, there are funds for that; growing your board….there are funds for that! Separate your strategic growth points into milestones and fundraise around those buckets of work— this goes not only for programmatic goals but also for your institutional structure and scaling efforts. Managing finances, updated website design, evaluation strategy, and data collection are all examples of building blocks that are critical to programmatic growth because they amplify the might of your organization. Without people power, and solid tools, nonprofits can face barriers to growing beyond the shoestring budget. Funders that distribute capacity-building grants recognize that organizations need to develop competent management systems in addition to programming and services. Ensure that your organization is researching general operating and capacity-development funding opportunities concurrently with program-specific support. Remember, every nonprofit with a $50 million budget, used to be a much smaller one. Every grant is an opportunity for your organization to expand its network and scale one more ring of growth. Clear direction, well-equipped staff with effective tools, and pursuit of strategic funding will help you climb that ladder.

In the previous post, we touched on how capacity-building grants are identified and developed in an effort to better position organizations for growth. Now, we’ll review the power of capacity-building grants and the impact they can have on an organization’s development.There are three main types of capacity-building efforts: People-Power Building: the implementation of training and development programming which strengthens the knowledge and skill of an organization’s staff and the recruitment of people (volunteers, staff, and board members) that can further an organization's capacity. Organizational & Structural: the approach of blending supporting the overall organization’s communication and inter-departmental collaboration with systems and best-practice procedures. Equipment & Materials: gaining the tools, and physical resources necessary (anywhere from databases to smart devices) to ensure the efficacy of the organizations’ programming and services. To better illustrate how capacity-building grants can support an organization’s strengthening and scale, let's look at two example organizations whose capacity-building process touches on core aspects of the three main categories of capacity-building. ABC Youth Network ABC Youth Network is a west-coast based nonprofit that formed in 2003. For the past 5 years, they maintained an average annual budget of $3 million, relying heavily on board-driven individual contributions--with less than 10% of the budget coming from institutional funds. Community-focused, it has historically had an active board representative of its focus population. However, the board, the majority of whom have been with the organization for over 15 years, are transitioning out due to retirement, relocation, etc. Additionally, senior leadership has decided to launch a new program, which will require increased funds (30% over their budget), far beyond the current individual donor-driven network they maintain. Senior Leadership knows something has to change. They begin with an analysis of their current assets and the highest needs. Individual fundraising has always worked for them, but they need to grow and scale—they apply to several foundations outlining their need for a fundraising specialist who can develop their institutional giving program and support their board development. ABC Youth Network is awarded two grants—one takes the form of a $300,000 two-year grant restricted to their development needs. With these funds, they are able to hire a Development Director and Grant Writer, who are able to secure additional funds in an effort to launch the expansion project from other institutional donors. The second capacity-grant they were awarded is an in-kind grant, which provides the nonprofit with a consultant, free of charge, who builds a board-member recruitment and retention program. This board advancement opportunity acts with dual purpose, raising the organization's profile, and generating a new, stronger network, for the organization to leverage for additional resources. In less than 9 months, they have grown their budget over 35% through institutional support alone. Overall, these capacity-building grants catalyzed ABC Youth Network’s ability to diversify its funding streams, scale its organization’s programming, and build a pathway to sustainable funding. Veterans Today Org Veterans Today Org started in 2015 in the founders’ home. They used whatever resources available (from borrowed clipboards to found pens)—operating with a barebones budget and scarce materials. As they grew out of the home and into an office, and eventually into a multi-suite space to support the scale of supportive programming, they continued to use the same paper filing, excel sheets, and materials. Despite growing from a budget of $100,000 to over 1 million, Veterans Today Org was not prioritizing their data collection and evaluation methods. Client tracking was done with historical data often secured through informal conversations, and there was no comprehensive system for tracking the progress the clients and the organization was making. In the previous post, we touched on how capacity-building grants are identified and developed in an effort to better position organizations for growth. Now, we’ll review the power of capacity-building grants and the impact they can have on an organization’s development.There are three main types of capacity-building efforts: People-Power Building: the implementation of training and development programming which strengthens the knowledge and skill of an organization’s staff and the recruitment of people (volunteers, staff, and board members) that can further an organization's capacity. Organizational & Structural: the approach of blending supporting the overall organization’s communication and inter-departmental collaboration with systems and best-practice procedures. Equipment & Materials: gaining the tools, and physical resources necessary (anywhere from databases to smart devices) to ensure the efficacy of the organizations’ programming and services. To better illustrate how capacity-building grants can support an organization’s strengthening and scale, let's look at two example organizations whose capacity-building process touches on core aspects of the three main categories of capacity-building. ABC Youth Network ABC Youth Network is a west-coast based nonprofit that formed in 2003. For the past 5 years, they maintained an average annual budget of $3 million, relying heavily on board-driven individual contributions--with less than 10% of the budget coming from institutional funds. Community-focused, it has historically had an active board representative of its focus population. However, the board, the majority of whom have been with the organization for over 15 years, are transitioning out due to retirement, relocation, etc. Additionally, senior leadership has decided to launch a new program, which will require increased funds (30% over their budget), far beyond the current individual donor-driven network they maintain. Senior Leadership knows something has to change. They begin with an analysis of their current assets and the highest needs. Individual fundraising has always worked for them, but they need to grow and scale—they apply to several foundations outlining their need for a fundraising specialist who can develop their institutional giving program and support their board development. ABC Youth Network is awarded two grants—one takes the form of a $300,000 two-year grant restricted to their development needs. With these funds, they are able to hire a Development Director and Grant Writer, who are able to secure additional funds in an effort to launch the expansion project from other institutional donors. The second capacity-grant they were awarded is an in-kind grant, which provides the nonprofit with a consultant, free of charge, who builds a board-member recruitment and retention program. This board advancement opportunity acts with dual purpose, raising the organization's profile, and generating a new, stronger network, for the organization to leverage for additional resources. In less than 9 months, they have grown their budget over 35% through institutional support alone. Overall, these capacity-building grants catalyzed ABC Youth Network’s ability to diversify its funding streams, scale its organization’s programming, and build a pathway to sustainable funding. Veterans Today Org Veterans Today Org started in 2015 in the founders’ home. They used whatever resources available (from borrowed clipboards to found pens)—operating with a barebones budget and scarce materials. As they grew out of the home and into an office, and eventually into a multi-suite space to support the scale of supportive programming, they continued to use the same paper filing, excel sheets, and materials. Despite growing from a budget of $100,000 to over 1 million, Veterans Today Org was not prioritizing their data collection and evaluation methods. Client tracking was done with historical data often secured through informal conversations, and there was no comprehensive system for tracking the progress the clients and the organization was making. In the previous post, we touched on how capacity-building grants are identified and developed in an effort to better position organizations for growth. Now, we’ll review the power of capacity-building grants and the impact they can have on an organization’s development.There are three main types of capacity-building efforts: People-Power Building: the implementation of training and development programming which strengthens the knowledge and skill of an organization’s staff and the recruitment of people (volunteers, staff, and board members) that can further an organization's capacity. Organizational & Structural: the approach of blending supporting the overall organization’s communication and inter-departmental collaboration with systems and best-practice procedures. Equipment & Materials: gaining the tools, and physical resources necessary (anywhere from databases to smart devices) to ensure the efficacy of the organizations’ programming and services. To better illustrate how capacity-building grants can support an organization’s strengthening and scale, let's look at two example organizations whose capacity-building process touches on core aspects of the three main categories of capacity-building. ABC Youth Network ABC Youth Network is a west-coast based nonprofit that formed in 2003. For the past 5 years, they maintained an average annual budget of $3 million, relying heavily on board-driven individual contributions--with less than 10% of the budget coming from institutional funds. Community-focused, it has historically had an active board representative of its focus population. However, the board, the majority of whom have been with the organization for over 15 years, are transitioning out due to retirement, relocation, etc. Additionally, senior leadership has decided to launch a new program, which will require increased funds (30% over their budget), far beyond the current individual donor-driven network they maintain. Senior Leadership knows something has to change. They begin with an analysis of their current assets and the highest needs. Individual fundraising has always worked for them, but they need to grow and scale—they apply to several foundations outlining their need for a fundraising specialist who can develop their institutional giving program and support their board development. ABC Youth Network is awarded two grants—one takes the form of a $300,000 two-year grant restricted to their development needs. With these funds, they are able to hire a Development Director and Grant Writer, who are able to secure additional funds in an effort to launch the expansion project from other institutional donors. The second capacity-grant they were awarded is an in-kind grant, which provides the nonprofit with a consultant, free of charge, who builds a board-member recruitment and retention program. This board advancement opportunity acts with dual purpose, raising the organization's profile, and generating a new, stronger network, for the organization to leverage for additional resources. In less than 9 months, they have grown their budget over 35% through institutional support alone. Overall, these capacity-building grants catalyzed ABC Youth Network’s ability to diversify its funding streams, scale its organization’s programming, and build a pathway to sustainable funding. Veterans Today Org Veterans Today Org started in 2015 in the founders’ home. They used whatever resources available (from borrowed clipboards to found pens)—operating with a barebones budget and scarce materials. As they grew out of the home and into an office, and eventually into a multi-suite space to support the scale of supportive programming, they continued to use the same paper filing, excel sheets, and materials. Despite growing from a budget of $100,000 to over 1 million, Veterans Today Org was not prioritizing their data collection and evaluation methods. Client tracking was done with historical data often secured through informal conversations, and there was no comprehensive system for tracking the progress the clients and the organization was making. In the previous post, we touched on how capacity-building grants are identified and developed in an effort to better position organizations for growth. Now, we’ll review the power of capacity-building grants and the impact they can have on an organization’s development.There are three main types of capacity-building efforts: People-Power Building: the implementation of training and development programming which strengthens the knowledge and skill of an organization’s staff and the recruitment of people (volunteers, staff, and board members) that can further an organization's capacity. Organizational & Structural: the approach of blending supporting the overall organization’s communication and inter-departmental collaboration with systems and best-practice procedures. Equipment & Materials: gaining the tools, and physical resources necessary (anywhere from databases to smart devices) to ensure the efficacy of the organizations’ programming and services. To better illustrate how capacity-building grants can support an organization’s strengthening and scale, let's look at two example organizations whose capacity-building process touches on core aspects of the three main categories of capacity-building. ABC Youth Network ABC Youth Network is a west-coast based nonprofit that formed in 2003. For the past 5 years, they maintained an average annual budget of $3 million, relying heavily on board-driven individual contributions--with less than 10% of the budget coming from institutional funds. Community-focused, it has historically had an active board representative of its focus population. However, the board, the majority of whom have been with the organization for over 15 years, are transitioning out due to retirement, relocation, etc. Additionally, senior leadership has decided to launch a new program, which will require increased funds (30% over their budget), far beyond the current individual donor-driven network they maintain. Senior Leadership knows something has to change. They begin with an analysis of their current assets and the highest needs. Individual fundraising has always worked for them, but they need to grow and scale—they apply to several foundations outlining their need for a fundraising specialist who can develop their institutional giving program and support their board development. ABC Youth Network is awarded two grants—one takes the form of a $300,000 two-year grant restricted to their development needs. With these funds, they are able to hire a Development Director and Grant Writer, who are able to secure additional funds in an effort to launch the expansion project from other institutional donors. The second capacity-grant they were awarded is an in-kind grant, which provides the nonprofit with a consultant, free of charge, who builds a board-member recruitment and retention program. This board advancement opportunity acts with dual purpose, raising the organization's profile, and generating a new, stronger network, for the organization to leverage for additional resources. In less than 9 months, they have grown their budget over 35% through institutional support alone. Overall, these capacity-building grants catalyzed ABC Youth Network’s ability to diversify its funding streams, scale its organization’s programming, and build a pathway to sustainable funding. Veterans Today Org Veterans Today Org started in 2015 in the founders’ home. They used whatever resources available (from borrowed clipboards to found pens)—operating with a barebones budget and scarce materials. As they grew out of the home and into an office, and eventually into a multi-suite space to support the scale of supportive programming, they continued to use the same paper filing, excel sheets, and materials. Despite growing from a budget of $100,000 to over 1 million, Veterans Today Org was not prioritizing their data collection and evaluation methods. Client tracking was done with historical data often secured through informal conversations, and there was no comprehensive system for tracking the progress the clients and the organization was making. In the previous post, we touched on how capacity-building grants are identified and developed in an effort to better position organizations for growth. Now, we’ll review the power of capacity-building grants and the impact they can have on an organization’s development.There are three main types of capacity-building efforts: People-Power Building: the implementation of training and development programming which strengthens the knowledge and skill of an organization’s staff and the recruitment of people (volunteers, staff, and board members) that can further an organization's capacity. Organizational & Structural: the approach of blending supporting the overall organization’s communication and inter-departmental collaboration with systems and best-practice procedures. Equipment & Materials: gaining the tools, and physical resources necessary (anywhere from databases to smart devices) to ensure the efficacy of the organizations’ programming and services. To better illustrate how capacity-building grants can support an organization’s strengthening and scale, let's look at two example organizations whose capacity-building process touches on core aspects of the three main categories of capacity-building. ABC Youth Network ABC Youth Network is a west-coast based nonprofit that formed in 2003. For the past 5 years, they maintained an average annual budget of $3 million, relying heavily on board-driven individual contributions--with less than 10% of the budget coming from institutional funds. Community-focused, it has historically had an active board representative of its focus population. However, the board, the majority of whom have been with the organization for over 15 years, are transitioning out due to retirement, relocation, etc. Additionally, senior leadership has decided to launch a new program, which will require increased funds (30% over their budget), far beyond the current individual donor-driven network they maintain. Senior Leadership knows something has to change. They begin with an analysis of their current assets and the highest needs. Individual fundraising has always worked for them, but they need to grow and scale—they apply to several foundations outlining their need for a fundraising specialist who can develop their institutional giving program and support their board development. ABC Youth Network is awarded two grants—one takes the form of a $300,000 two-year grant restricted to their development needs. With these funds, they are able to hire a Development Director and Grant Writer, who are able to secure additional funds in an effort to launch the expansion project from other institutional donors. The second capacity-grant they were awarded is an in-kind grant, which provides the nonprofit with a consultant, free of charge, who builds a board-member recruitment and retention program. This board advancement opportunity acts with dual purpose, raising the organization's profile, and generating a new, stronger network, for the organization to leverage for additional resources. In less than 9 months, they have grown their budget over 35% through institutional support alone. Overall, these capacity-building grants catalyzed ABC Youth Network’s ability to diversify its funding streams, scale its organization’s programming, and build a pathway to sustainable funding. Veterans Today Org Veterans Today Org started in 2015 in the founders’ home. They used whatever resources available (from borrowed clipboards to found pens)—operating with a barebones budget and scarce materials. As they grew out of the home and into an office, and eventually into a multi-suite space to support the scale of supportive programming, they continued to use the same paper filing, excel sheets, and materials. Despite growing from a budget of $100,000 to over 1 million, Veterans Today Org was not prioritizing their data collection and evaluation methods. Client tracking was done with historical data often secured through informal conversations, and there was no comprehensive system for tracking the progress the clients and the organization was making. In the previous post, we touched on how capacity-building grants are identified and developed in an effort to better position organizations for growth. Now, we’ll review the power of capacity-building grants and the impact they can have on an organization’s development.There are three main types of capacity-building efforts: People-Power Building: the implementation of training and development programming which strengthens the knowledge and skill of an organization’s staff and the recruitment of people (volunteers, staff, and board members) that can further an organization's capacity. Organizational & Structural: the approach of blending supporting the overall organization’s communication and inter-departmental collaboration with systems and best-practice procedures. Equipment & Materials: gaining the tools, and physical resources necessary (anywhere from databases to smart devices) to ensure the efficacy of the organizations’ programming and services. To better illustrate how capacity-building grants can support an organization’s strengthening and scale, let's look at two example organizations whose capacity-building process touches on core aspects of the three main categories of capacity-building. ABC Youth Network ABC Youth Network is a west-coast based nonprofit that formed in 2003. For the past 5 years, they maintained an average annual budget of $3 million, relying heavily on board-driven individual contributions--with less than 10% of the budget coming from institutional funds. Community-focused, it has historically had an active board representative of its focus population. However, the board, the majority of whom have been with the organization for over 15 years, are transitioning out due to retirement, relocation, etc. Additionally, senior leadership has decided to launch a new program, which will require increased funds (30% over their budget), far beyond the current individual donor-driven network they maintain. Senior Leadership knows something has to change. They begin with an analysis of their current assets and the highest needs. Individual fundraising has always worked for them, but they need to grow and scale—they apply to several foundations outlining their need for a fundraising specialist who can develop their institutional giving program and support their board development. ABC Youth Network is awarded two grants—one takes the form of a $300,000 two-year grant restricted to their development needs. With these funds, they are able to hire a Development Director and Grant Writer, who are able to secure additional funds in an effort to launch the expansion project from other institutional donors. The second capacity-grant they were awarded is an in-kind grant, which provides the nonprofit with a consultant, free of charge, who builds a board-member recruitment and retention program. This board advancement opportunity acts with dual purpose, raising the organization's profile, and generating a new, stronger network, for the organization to leverage for additional resources. In less than 9 months, they have grown their budget over 35% through institutional support alone. Overall, these capacity-building grants catalyzed ABC Youth Network’s ability to diversify its funding streams, scale its organization’s programming, and build a pathway to sustainable funding. Veterans Today Org Veterans Today Org started in 2015 in the founders’ home. They used whatever resources available (from borrowed clipboards to found pens)—operating with a barebones budget and scarce materials. As they grew out of the home and into an office, and eventually into a multi-suite space to support the scale of supportive programming, they continued to use the same paper filing, excel sheets, and materials. Despite growing from a budget of $100,000 to over 1 million, Veterans Today Org was not prioritizing their data collection and evaluation methods. Client tracking was done with historical data often secured through informal conversations, and there was no comprehensive system for tracking the progress the clients and the organization was making. In the previous post, we touched on how capacity-building grants are identified and developed in an effort to better position organizations for growth. Now, we’ll review the power of capacity-building grants and the impact they can have on an organization’s development.There are three main types of capacity-building efforts: People-Power Building: the implementation of training and development programming which strengthens the knowledge and skill of an organization’s staff and the recruitment of people (volunteers, staff, and board members) that can further an organization's capacity. Organizational & Structural: the approach of blending supporting the overall organization’s communication and inter-departmental collaboration with systems and best-practice procedures. Equipment & Materials: gaining the tools, and physical resources necessary (anywhere from databases to smart devices) to ensure the efficacy of the organizations’ programming and services. To better illustrate how capacity-building grants can support an organization’s strengthening and scale, let's look at two example organizations whose capacity-building process touches on core aspects of the three main categories of capacity-building. ABC Youth Network ABC Youth Network is a west-coast based nonprofit that formed in 2003. For the past 5 years, they maintained an average annual budget of $3 million, relying heavily on board-driven individual contributions--with less than 10% of the budget coming from institutional funds. Community-focused, it has historically had an active board representative of its focus population. However, the board, the majority of whom have been with the organization for over 15 years, are transitioning out due to retirement, relocation, etc. Additionally, senior leadership has decided to launch a new program, which will require increased funds (30% over their budget), far beyond the current individual donor-driven network they maintain. Senior Leadership knows something has to change. They begin with an analysis of their current assets and the highest needs. Individual fundraising has always worked for them, but they need to grow and scale—they apply to several foundations outlining their need for a fundraising specialist who can develop their institutional giving program and support their board development. ABC Youth Network is awarded two grants—one takes the form of a $300,000 two-year grant restricted to their development needs. With these funds, they are able to hire a Development Director and Grant Writer, who are able to secure additional funds in an effort to launch the expansion project from other institutional donors. The second capacity-grant they were awarded is an in-kind grant, which provides the nonprofit with a consultant, free of charge, who builds a board-member recruitment and retention program. This board advancement opportunity acts with dual purpose, raising the organization's profile, and generating a new, stronger network, for the organization to leverage for additional resources. In less than 9 months, they have grown their budget over 35% through institutional support alone. Overall, these capacity-building grants catalyzed ABC Youth Network’s ability to diversify its funding streams, scale its organization’s programming, and build a pathway to sustainable funding. Veterans Today Org Veterans Today Org started in 2015 in the founders’ home. They used whatever resources available (from borrowed clipboards to found pens)—operating with a barebones budget and scarce materials. As they grew out of the home and into an office, and eventually into a multi-suite space to support the scale of supportive programming, they continued to use the same paper filing, excel sheets, and materials. Despite growing from a budget of $100,000 to over 1 million, Veterans Today Org was not prioritizing their data collection and evaluation methods. Client tracking was done with historical data often secured through informal conversations, and there was no comprehensive system for tracking the progress the clients and the organization was making. In the previous post, we touched on how capacity-building grants are identified and developed in an effort to better position organizations for growth. Now, we’ll review the power of capacity-building grants and the impact they can have on an organization’s development.There are three main types of capacity-building efforts: People-Power Building: the implementation of training and development programming which strengthens the knowledge and skill of an organization’s staff and the recruitment of people (volunteers, staff, and board members) that can further an organization's capacity. Organizational & Structural: the approach of blending supporting the overall organization’s communication and inter-departmental collaboration with systems and best-practice procedures. Equipment & Materials: gaining the tools, and physical resources necessary (anywhere from databases to smart devices) to ensure the efficacy of the organizations’ programming and services. To better illustrate how capacity-building grants can support an organization’s strengthening and scale, let's look at two example organizations whose capacity-building process touches on core aspects of the three main categories of capacity-building. ABC Youth Network ABC Youth Network is a west-coast based nonprofit that formed in 2003. For the past 5 years, they maintained an average annual budget of $3 million, relying heavily on board-driven individual contributions--with less than 10% of the budget coming from institutional funds. Community-focused, it has historically had an active board representative of its focus population. However, the board, the majority of whom have been with the organization for over 15 years, are transitioning out due to retirement, relocation, etc. Additionally, senior leadership has decided to launch a new program, which will require increased funds (30% over their budget), far beyond the current individual donor-driven network they maintain. Senior Leadership knows something has to change. They begin with an analysis of their current assets and the highest needs. Individual fundraising has always worked for them, but they need to grow and scale—they apply to several foundations outlining their need for a fundraising specialist who can develop their institutional giving program and support their board development. ABC Youth Network is awarded two grants—one takes the form of a $300,000 two-year grant restricted to their development needs. With these funds, they are able to hire a Development Director and Grant Writer, who are able to secure additional funds in an effort to launch the expansion project from other institutional donors. The second capacity-grant they were awarded is an in-kind grant, which provides the nonprofit with a consultant, free of charge, who builds a board-member recruitment and retention program. This board advancement opportunity acts with dual purpose, raising the organization's profile, and generating a new, stronger network, for the organization to leverage for additional resources. In less than 9 months, they have grown their budget over 35% through institutional support alone. Overall, these capacity-building grants catalyzed ABC Youth Network’s ability to diversify its funding streams, scale its organization’s programming, and build a pathway to sustainable funding. Veterans Today Org Veterans Today Org started in 2015 in the founders’ home. They used whatever resources available (from borrowed clipboards to found pens)—operating with a barebones budget and scarce materials. As they grew out of the home and into an office, and eventually into a multi-suite space to support the scale of supportive programming, they continued to use the same paper filing, excel sheets, and materials. Despite growing from a budget of $100,000 to over 1 million, Veterans Today Org was not prioritizing their data collection and evaluation methods. Client tracking was done with historical data often secured through informal conversations, and there was no comprehensive system for tracking the progress the clients and the organization was making. In the previous post, we touched on how capacity-building grants are identified and developed in an effort to better position organizations for growth. Now, we’ll review the power of capacity-building grants and the impact they can have on an organization’s development.There are three main types of capacity-building efforts: People-Power Building: the implementation of training and development programming which strengthens the knowledge and skill of an organization’s staff and the recruitment of people (volunteers, staff, and board members) that can further an organization's capacity. Organizational & Structural: the approach of blending supporting the overall organization’s communication and inter-departmental collaboration with systems and best-practice procedures. Equipment & Materials: gaining the tools, and physical resources necessary (anywhere from databases to smart devices) to ensure the efficacy of the organizations’ programming and services. To better illustrate how capacity-building grants can support an organization’s strengthening and scale, let's look at two example organizations whose capacity-building process touches on core aspects of the three main categories of capacity-building. ABC Youth Network ABC Youth Network is a west-coast based nonprofit that formed in 2003. For the past 5 years, they maintained an average annual budget of $3 million, relying heavily on board-driven individual contributions--with less than 10% of the budget coming from institutional funds. Community-focused, it has historically had an active board representative of its focus population. However, the board, the majority of whom have been with the organization for over 15 years, are transitioning out due to retirement, relocation, etc. Additionally, senior leadership has decided to launch a new program, which will require increased funds (30% over their budget), far beyond the current individual donor-driven network they maintain. Senior Leadership knows something has to change. They begin with an analysis of their current assets and the highest needs. Individual fundraising has always worked for them, but they need to grow and scale—they apply to several foundations outlining their need for a fundraising specialist who can develop their institutional giving program and support their board development. ABC Youth Network is awarded two grants—one takes the form of a $300,000 two-year grant restricted to their development needs. With these funds, they are able to hire a Development Director and Grant Writer, who are able to secure additional funds in an effort to launch the expansion project from other institutional donors. The second capacity-grant they were awarded is an in-kind grant, which provides the nonprofit with a consultant, free of charge, who builds a board-member recruitment and retention program. This board advancement opportunity acts with dual purpose, raising the organization's profile, and generating a new, stronger network, for the organization to leverage for additional resources. In less than 9 months, they have grown their budget over 35% through institutional support alone. Overall, these capacity-building grants catalyzed ABC Youth Network’s ability to diversify its funding streams, scale its organization’s programming, and build a pathway to sustainable funding. Veterans Today Org Veterans Today Org started in 2015 in the founders’ home. They used whatever resources available (from borrowed clipboards to found pens)—operating with a barebones budget and scarce materials. As they grew out of the home and into an office, and eventually into a multi-suite space to support the scale of supportive programming, they continued to use the same paper filing, excel sheets, and materials. Despite growing from a budget of $100,000 to over 1 million, Veterans Today Org was not prioritizing their data collection and evaluation methods. Client tracking was done with historical data often secured through informal conversations, and there was no comprehensive system for tracking the progress the clients and the organization was making. In the previous post, we touched on how capacity-building grants are identified and developed in an effort to better position organizations for growth. Now, we’ll review the power of capacity-building grants and the impact they can have on an organization’s development.There are three main types of capacity-building efforts: People-Power Building: the implementation of training and development programming which strengthens the knowledge and skill of an organization’s staff and the recruitment of people (volunteers, staff, and board members) that can further an organization's capacity. Organizational & Structural: the approach of blending supporting the overall organization’s communication and inter-departmental collaboration with systems and best-practice procedures. Equipment & Materials: gaining the tools, and physical resources necessary (anywhere from databases to smart devices) to ensure the efficacy of the organizations’ programming and services. To better illustrate how capacity-building grants can support an organization’s strengthening and scale, let's look at two example organizations whose capacity-building process touches on core aspects of the three main categories of capacity-building. ABC Youth Network ABC Youth Network is a west-coast based nonprofit that formed in 2003. For the past 5 years, they maintained an average annual budget of $3 million, relying heavily on board-driven individual contributions--with less than 10% of the budget coming from institutional funds. Community-focused, it has historically had an active board representative of its focus population. However, the board, the majority of whom have been with the organization for over 15 years, are transitioning out due to retirement, relocation, etc. Additionally, senior leadership has decided to launch a new program, which will require increased funds (30% over their budget), far beyond the current individual donor-driven network they maintain. Senior Leadership knows something has to change. They begin with an analysis of their current assets and the highest needs. Individual fundraising has always worked for them, but they need to grow and scale—they apply to several foundations outlining their need for a fundraising specialist who can develop their institutional giving program and support their board development. ABC Youth Network is awarded two grants—one takes the form of a $300,000 two-year grant restricted to their development needs. With these funds, they are able to hire a Development Director and Grant Writer, who are able to secure additional funds in an effort to launch the expansion project from other institutional donors. The second capacity-grant they were awarded is an in-kind grant, which provides the nonprofit with a consultant, free of charge, who builds a board-member recruitment and retention program. This board advancement opportunity acts with dual purpose, raising the organization's profile, and generating a new, stronger network, for the organization to leverage for additional resources. In less than 9 months, they have grown their budget over 35% through institutional support alone. Overall, these capacity-building grants catalyzed ABC Youth Network’s ability to diversify its funding streams, scale its organization’s programming, and build a pathway to sustainable funding. Veterans Today Org Veterans Today Org started in 2015 in the founders’ home. They used whatever resources available (from borrowed clipboards to found pens)—operating with a barebones budget and scarce materials. As they grew out of the home and into an office, and eventually into a multi-suite space to support the scale of supportive programming, they continued to use the same paper filing, excel sheets, and materials. Despite growing from a budget of $100,000 to over 1 million, Veterans Today Org was not prioritizing their data collection and evaluation methods. Client tracking was done with historical data often secured through informal conversations, and there was no comprehensive system for tracking the progress the clients and the organization was making.