This course will provide participants with all they need to know to become effective fundraisers. It will be of interest to anybody who works in organisations that do not have professional fundraisers on their staff. Participants do not need to be specialist fundraisers to use the techniques explored on the course. Indeed, it is designed for those who have to take responsibility for raising funds while doing many other things.
The course is one of an integrated collection of courses developed by Fahamu in conjunction with the University of Oxford. All effective organisations have a cause: they want to make a difference to the world around them. To do that, they need funds. Developing staff members’ capacity to fundraise can make an organisation’s mission statement a reality.
Fundraising is not just about writing proposals or collecting money. It is about winning hearts and minds. It is about building a constituency of supporters for a cause. It is about learning to communicate effectively with the public and developing a network of enthusiastic and committed supporters.
The course is divided into two parts: public fundraising and institutional fundraising. The public fundraising module describes how to build a constituency in an organisation’s local community and raise funds from individuals. The institutional fundraising module looks at managing relationships with donor organisations and how to manage fundraising activities efficiently.
Each course includes practical exercises and assignments that help participants learn new skills and develop material they can use in their fundraising work. There will be opportunities to practise preparing budgets and doing logical framework analysis.
Course contents
1 Public fundraising
- Mobilising support as well as funds for a cause
- Getting local people involved
- Organising local fundraising events
- Getting support from local companies
- Getting support ‘in kind’
- Raising money from diaspora communities
- Generating income
- Developing a fundraising strategy
- Communicating effectively
- Managing donors.
2 Institutional fundraising
- Effectively describing an organisation to funders
- Managing successful approaches to a limited range of funders
- Producing project proposals that follow a logical structure
- Producing a well-structured description of a project which links inputs of resources to outputs and outcomes
- Devising and implementing a 'core funding strategy'
- Making the best use of colleagues to help with fundraising
- Making the best use of the beneficiaries, volunteers and supporters
- Knowing when to adapt projects for funders without compromising an organisation’s core objectives
- Building and maintaining relationships with funders
- Establishing and maintaining an effective paper-based record-keeping system
- Identifying potential funders
- Developing a fundraising plan.
By the end of the course
Participants will be able to:
- Raise much needed funds for their cause
- Build a constituency in support of their cause
- Improve their chances of getting support from major funders, trusts and foundations
- Manage their relationships with funders much more effectively
- Prioritise their time and energy, so that they are doing sufficient fundraising to get the funds that they need for their work.
Course benefits
Every participant will be provided with course materials including a course CDROM, which contains a comprehensive library of all relevant documents, as well as useful website addresses. A resources section on the CDROM provides a glossary of frequently used terms, a list of recommended books, copies of documents, links to relevant websites and other useful resources.
Every participant who successfully completes a course will be awarded a certificate from the University of Oxford and Fahamu.
Audience
This course is suitable for anyone who would like to become an effective fundraiser. It is particularly appropriate for people who work in organisations that do not have professional fundraisers on their staff.
Course length
Residential course: 2 weeks
Distance learning course (1–2 hours/day): 8 weeks
Tuition fee
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