Online Grantseeker Toolkit

Our online Grantseeker Toolkit® was developed to increase the capacity, sophistication and success of organizations and their constituencies to raise more money, diversify funding, and become more efficient. This resource is designed for larger organizations and associations with memberships and/or chapters around the country. To talk to someone at RMA about developing this type of web site for your organzation, please call us at 303-355-2919 or email us at toolkit@richardmale.com

Included in the web site are the following customizable components:

Database – We develop a database of regional and national funders who have a history of funding organizations like yours. Within the database we cover a wide variety of funding sources including private foundations, government, philanthropic trusts, corporations, and faith based funding sources.

Corporate Sponsorship - This is one of the most talked about and least understood concepts in resource development today. Corporate giving has experienced dramatic changes during the past 10 years, and organizations need to know how to develop ‘strategic partnerships’ with corporations if they want to receive significant dollars. Included in this section of the web site will be:

Templates on corporate sponsorship
Templates on gift acceptance policies
Sample sponsorship packages
Corporate giving, strategic partnerships, underwriting and sponsorships
Product donations – listing of key companies
Key corporations that provide matching grants
Primary funding sources supporting technology needs
Key sources on researching corporations on the web

Donor Solicitation/Prospect Research - Over 85 percent of all private philanthropic donations comes from individuals. It is clear to RMA that all nonprofit organizations need to be diversifying their funding sources using small and major donor strategies. In addition, many organizations that have repeated donations from individuals may want to look at planned giving as part of their overall development strategies. Included in this section of the web site will be:

• Strategic techniques of individual giving
• Sample small and large donor solicitation letters
• Successful direct mail letters
• Designing overall strategy for individual giving
• Basics of planned giving
• Prospect research
• Key web sites to research individual donors

Templates - Nonprofits are constantly asking for various templates on grant proposals, LOIs (letters of inquiry), direct mail letters, etc. We will provide these templates on the web site. The organizations can then tailor them to fit their specific needs. These templates will save hundreds of hours, and thousands of dollars on lawyers and consultants who would simply pull templates together and charge large fees. The templates will be organized in the following categories:

Legal - by-laws, articles of incorporation, tax-exempt 990 filings, personnel policies, employment and termination agreements, and confidentiality agreements
Organizational development/human resources - job descriptions for executive director, board of directors, board president; organizational charts; life cycles of nonprofit organizations; and personnel policies
Fundraising - overall fundraising plans, tips on fundraising; trends in government, corporate, foundation, philanthropic trust, and faith-based giving, etc.

Funding alerts - This will be a weekly service that will provide philanthropic news to all of your constituents. It will also include funding alerts and profiles concerning specific funding sources that are looking to support environmental issues, causes, and organizations. In addition we will be adding two new funding profiles each week to the database.

Training sessions – Although we have not discussed how this section fits into the overall strategic directions of DFN, we want to explore a training component as part of this web package. We have experience conducting regular one-hour on-line training sessions on a monthly and quarterly basis. We would like to have the opportunity to conduct these types of training sessions with your constituency. We would conduct surveys to determine the training needs and priorities of DFN constituents and then experienced trainers would be retained to conduct the sessions. The following are examples of the sessions we could offer:

Raising major gift dollars
Prospect research on the Internet
Involving your board in resource development
Art and politics of grants
Going after the corporations – big time
Raising dollars from national foundations
Other topics will be determined by your constituency
Setting up a development department
Strategic planning


Advice Column – This will be an advice center where people can ask questions on-line, by telephone or even via fax. Within 48 hours this person will receive a personal answer by e-mail. This section of the web site will also feature ‘user-friendly’ practical articles on fundraising, legal issues, human resources, governance, and leadership.