May 2008

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Sharon's Desk:
Funding Exchange Philosophy

by Sharon Charnell Gherman, AFE President/CEO

As you’ll notice from browsing through the Funding Exchange’s website, we’ve been busy since acquiring AFE in January. Now that the ‘alligators’ from the transition are beginning to subside, I’d like to share with you how some of the recent changes at AFE can benefit you and your organization.

Fundraising Assistance and More

AFE has always been about top-quality assistance with your development needs, particularly in the area of grants, and that hasn’t changed. This is still an area of particular expertise for us, and we hope you’ll call AFE first when you want a grant proposal written or need help locating or raising funds for your project.

But as a community development professional, I felt as though we were missing something by not offering more. What about making organizations stronger internally? What about flexing with the changing internal needs of organizations as well as the external development climate?  What about sustaining great programs beyond the end of grant funding?

Our answer to those questions has been to reorganize AFE’s services into a ‘modular’ format, and to add additional services that round out AFE’s ability to help you develop your organization.

Modular Services

To use our services, you don’t need to purchase a membership or buy a ‘package’ when you only need assistance in one area . You, the client, have complete flexibility to choose only the services you need at the time, with complete flexibility to alter those choices at any time. You pay only for the services you need, and our expertise ensures that you spend as little as possible to achieve quality results.

Planning/ Consulting		Research		Writing/ Editing		Evaluation		Training
Meeting Facilitation		FIDO Report		Letter of Interest		Evaluation Planning		Grantwriting Workshop
Project Planning		Funding Search		Concept Paper		Evaluation Instrument Design		Grantwriting Intensive Class - 5 days
Strategic Planning		Funding Strategy Report		Case for Support		Evaluation Analysis		Boundaries in Business
Community Development Planning				Corporate or Foundation Proposal				Conflict Mediation Training
Purchase PlanningTemplates				State Proposal				Handling Difficult People
				Federal Proposal
				Edit your Proposal
				Review a Denied Proposal and Make Recommendations

How It Works

Here’s an example: Let’s assume you recently lost your development specialist, the person responsible to seek grant funding for your organization.

While you advertise and hire another specialist, AFE can insure that all your development efforts are continued uninterrupted by continuing that person’s funding research, proposal writing, and grant reporting.

If you hire an inexperienced person into the position, AFE can train them in grant writing, funding research, and grants management and mentor them during the first few months of their work. While your new employee gains experience and confidence, you may choose to have AFE complete any federal or state proposals due while the new specialist gains experience on simpler foundation proposals.

Once the new specialist has gained the skills they need to handle all the organization’s regular development needs, you may choose to use AFE’s services only sporadically:

• When two or more large proposals are due at the same time, AFE can write one
• When an external evaluation is required on a large proposal, AFE can plan and complete the evaluation – with Alaska-based evaluators experienced in creating successful Alaska programs
• To write a concept paper for a new program that can be used by your development specialist to seek funding
• To facilitate a long-term planning session
• To analyze your organizational goals and make step-by-step recommendations for achieving them

In short, the addition of community development services makes it possible for AFE to comprehensively assist you strengthen your organization. We can help ensure that your good work will continue uninterrupted regardless of changing conditions inside or outside your organization.  Contact me at sharon@funding-exchange.org  to consider how AFE can help you reach your goals.