September 2010
A Sneak Peek at Two New Classes Offered in 2011
by Sharon C. Gherman, AFE, President/CEO
Our clients have requested training and technical assistance to create a viable long-term funding plan and to effectively manage the grants they receive, and as a result, Funding Exchange has added two new classes to our training roster for 2011.
Sustainable Pathways: Developing a Financially Healthy Organization© and After the Award: Grants Management and Administration© accomplish these goals. Together with Funding Exchange’s Grantwriting Intensive©, the trio of trainings provides an excellent foundation for creating a financially stable organization.
Funding Exchange staff offers continued support to all students via phone and e-mail after the end of class.
The Three-Legged Stool of Sustainability
A plan to create a thriving nonprofit organization
Leg 1: Sustainable Pathways: Developing a Financially Healthy Organization©
-Presented as a two-day class or six webinar sessions/$1500 per team
-Includes one copy of Sustainable Pathways handbook and CD per team
Sustainable Pathways training creates the overall financial plan upon which the other trainings will be based. Teams of three people from the organization examine and analyze their current budget; determine what the budget of a healthy organization should look like; learn about the eight different methods of fundraising; and determine which methods are the best fit for their organization.
Using this information, teams are guided through the process of creating one- and two-year plans to reach financial health. Teams leave the training with an overall understanding of what financial health for their organization looks like; one- and two-year plans in place; tasks assigned to specific individuals and scheduled on a calendar; and a written summary and report of their work suitable for presentation to a Board of Directors.
Leg 2: Grantwriting Intensive – Learn by Doing©
-Presented as a five-day class, maximum of 12 students/$999 per person
-Includes one copy of The Art of Grantwriting: Communicating Your Vision to Funders and a temporary membership to GrantStation.com
The Grantwriting Intensive prepares your organization to jump-start a successful grants program (grants are one of the eight methods of fundraising). As they study, students choose a grantmaker and write a simple proposal during class according to the foundation’s instructions.
Students learn to find and screen potential grantmakers; write a persuasive proposal; organizing your work to make grantwriting faster and easier; planning projects; and creating an evaluation plan. Students’ specific organizational projects are used as examples throughout the class, and students learn about grantwriting for a variety of project types in the class through exposure to other students’ projects.
The Grantwriting Intensive is offered in a face-to-face format only due to the high degree of one-on-one mentoring.
Leg 3: After the Award: Grants Management and Administration©
-Presented as a two-day class or six webinar sessions/$350 per person
-Includes one copy of We Got the Grant! Now What? a Grants Management Guide per student
After the Award training ensures your organization is prepared to comply with grant requirements, and teaches how to leverage current grants into future funding.
Students learn what regulations and guidelines govern government and private grants; how to prepare program and fiscal grant reports; and how to make data gathering easier and more effective. Students learn to prepare for a grant audit; troubleshoot grant projects; manage project staff to comply with regulations; and complete grant administration in a way to encourage the grantmaker to fund future project proposals from your organization.
The Three-Legged Stool of Sustainability Package
Note to Foundations: This package is an excellent, reasonably-priced investment for a foundation to make in their grantees, ensuring that each organization has a viable overall funding plan in place and has a good understanding of how to manage the investment you have made in them. Contact us for more details.
We recommend the Three-Legged Stool of Sustainability package for every nonprofit organization:
A team of three attend Sustainable Pathways training: $1,500
Two staff attend a Grantwriting Intensive: 1,998
Two staff attend After the Award training: 700
Total Cost: $4,198
Discounts are available to foundations or umbrella organizations interested in purchasing multiple packages, and to organizations purchasing the Organizational Sustainability Plan, above. Contact us for more details.
