What's New at the Learning Centre This Month ...
What we're talking about... Our Stakeholders
Whether we are engaged in strategic or operational planning, fund development planning or communication planning the value our organization brings to our stakeholders should be foremost in our minds. Who are our stakeholders? They represent a pretty diverse group - including those who are impacted by our programs & services and those who are invested in our organization. What value does our organization bring to our stakeholders? After all we are not in the business of keeping our organizations doors open - we're in the impact business! Looking at our stakeholders needs and wants flips our planning from our strategies to our impact - from what we want to deliver to what is important in making a difference. In our last strategic planning session lead by Marjory Gaouette, Director of Programs and Karen Moore, Manager of Training & Development at FRL we identified our stakeholders and what value they bring to our organizations. We invite you to complete the suggested activities and template… Read more.
Personal Philanthropy Plans
A personal philanthropy plan is a statement to yourself about the kind of life you want to live and the kind of community you want to help build. Surprisingly, there is a big gap between what we believe and what we do. Somehow in between paying bills and buying chocolate bars at the door we have lost sight of the consequence of our gifts. They can truly impact our communities and contribute to the social change we want to see. A definition of philanthropy is as simple as contributing your resources to make a difference. It’s about giving. Most philanthropist are not wealthy, they are everyday people. If you have volunteered your time at your child’s school, bought a raffle ticket or donated to a friend’s favourite charity you are already a giver. ...Develop your own personal philanthropy plan using these steps and template... Read more.
What is the difference between Philanthropy, Fund Development and Fundraising?
A topic of hot discussion during our RDO Learning sessions this month. What most of us realized is that we had never made a distinction between philanthropy and fundraising. Often interchanging the words and meanings. Here's what we've come up with:
Philanthropy is giving to the common good to improve the quality of life for rural citizens.
Fund development is planning for the resources to achieve your goals.
Fundraising is the tools and techniques of raising money.
Checklist for Effective and Strategic Fund Development
There are very few organizations that got started without having a vision - in fact I would say that is how most of us get started. We were part of a passionate group of people who saw a need in our community and responded with an idea. We gained support from community members we attracted to our issue through our ability to articulate our vision for a different future. We became focused on delivering a program in our community, gaining the support of an initial funder and off we were to becoming a nonprofit organization. Most of us didn't even think about a strategic or fund development plan until our initial funding was almost gone. All organizations need a fund development plan - even if it is a simple one - but how are we going to make that happen when we are too busy delivering our programs and running special events to keep us going for another month?
Our Rural Development Officers have been using a Checklist for Effective and Strategic Fund Development as a tool to help organizations take a step back from fundraising and reflect on where they are as an organization and what they really need the money to do. It's easy to get caught up in the day to day fundraising and lose site of our long term organizational goals. This is a great place to start any fund development planning!
Questions
This months Community Advisor is available to answer any questions you may have
on this months featured topic. Complete the form with your contact information,
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