Every month I email out a newsletter with tips, updates, lessons and upcoming trainings.  Here's a link to the full newsletter.  If you would like for me to email future newsletters to you, please contact me.  Thanks and enjoy!

(photo of a brainstorm listing some possible fundraising strategies)

Earlier in the year, I worked with the leadership at LA Voice and SOAR Charter School to create fund development plans for their organizations.  If you’re organization is about to engage in this very important process, I suggest the following 10 tips:

1. Engage your Board:  Creation of a fund development plan is a great way to get your Board involved with fundraising.  If they help create the fundraising plan, they are more likely to implement it.

2. Decide how much you need to raise:  It’s easier to get folks involved to raise funds to meet a specific goal, rather than just having some vague sense for how much you need to raise.

3. Diversify your funding sources:  Discuss different sources of funding and choose to pursue at least three sources (individuals, foundations, government, corporations, earned-income, etc).

4. Prioritize:  While there are lots of good ideas out there for fundraising, you can’t do them all.  Prioritize strategies your organization has the capacity to do that yield the strongest results.

5. Create a Workplan:  Fill out a workplan that contains the following details:  What action you will take, when will that action occur by (month/year) and who will be responsible for carrying out that action. 

6. Give yourself time:  Putting together a fund development plan can take anywhere from one to three months, depending on how frequently you meet with other folks creating it.

7. Evaluate your past fundraising:  Just because you’ve “always” done some fundraising strategy doesn’t mean you need to keep doing it.  Evaluate past strategies and decide if the benefits outweigh the costs.

8. Learn from this Process:  A fund development planning process gives everyone involved the opportunity to build their capacity as fundraisers (something even veteran fundraisers can use).

9: Don’t forget about your Plan!:  Refer to your fund development plan on at least a monthly basis and make sure the workplan you created from it is integrated into your workplan.

10. Follow-up:  Make sure your Executive Director and at least one board member commit to engaging everyone else in the organization to implement the plan.

If your organization can use the services of an experienced consultant to create your own fund development plan, please contact me. 

Here's a link to another two-page flyer I recently created that describes the fundraising services I provide along with 10 tips for nonprofit fundraising.  Enjoy!

Tomorrow (Thursday, June 24th), I lead another training at the Center for Nonprofit Management and I invite you to attend: 

Photo of checklist from a Board meeting where members
committed to different fundraising activities

This Thursday, June 17th, I'm leading a Building a Fundraising Board of Directors training at the Flintridge Center in Pasadena from 10am to 11:30pm. 

How engaged is your board with fundraising in your organization? This seminar provides an overview of the major elements involved in building and maintaining an effective board of directors. The focus is on maximizing the capabilities of the board and motivating them to take the lead in fundraising. Topics include developing board fundraising policies and structures to ensure active board participation.

Flintridge Retreat Center #117
236 West Mountain Street, 117 Pasadena, CA 91103

Sliding scale: $15-35

To RSVP, visit the Flintridge Center website. 

For more on Board fundraising, check out some of my past blogposts on the subject. 

Five years ago this month, I launched my own consulting practice.   Since then, I’m pleased to report I have consulted for over 40 nonprofit organizations primarily in the areas of facilitation and fundraising. 

I love my work.  I get to work with dynamic leaders working on a variety of issues throughout Southern California.   With each project, I learn about my client’s work to create parks and open space, develop affordable housing, transform streets into bicycle-friendly places, create sustainable communities and so much more.  I also learn more about how to make meetings even more effective and how to engage staff and board members around successful fundraising strategies. 

To celebrate, I plan to hold another happy hour on Tuesday, June 22nd, from 5:30pm to 8:30pm at Silverlake Wine.  As always, my happy hours are places where I invite all of my clients and friends to share a drink and discuss the issues of the day.   I invite you to join us.

We’ll see what the next five years bring.  I hope to serve even more organizations that are working to transform Southern California into a sustainable region.  Thanks for all of your interest and support.

As a consultant, I specialize in providing facilitation and fundraising services.  I recently made some changes to my one page flyers for both of these subjects and would like to share them with you for your review.  Please feel free to forward them on to anyone who you think might be interested in my services, or give me a call if you would like to discuss further. 
Thanks, 
Ron

Here's a link to the facilitation flyer.

Here's a link to the fundraising flyer.

I'm excited to attend a fundraiser for the Liberty Hill Foundation, and invite you to join me.  Below is more information about their signature fundraising event.  I'm pleased to continue serving the Liberty Hill Foundation as a Consultant.  Having led many fundraising trainings for their grantees over the last few years, I'm currently serving as a coach for four of their grantees to build their capacity around board development issues.  Both Liberty Hill and their grantees they fund continue to inspire me with their work for social change in Los Angeles. 

Last night, I attended a high-energy fundraiser for Senator Barbara Boxer that President Obama spoke at.  A diverse crowd packed to hear the President, including my own elected representatives - Council President Eric Garcetti and County Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas. 

I attended to not only support the cause,  but to also experience a major political fundraiser. 

As a Consultant, I’m always curious to learn from events I attend.  Here’s five elements from last night’s event that you may want to replicate if you are planning your own fundraising event: 

1. Feature a keynote speaker that many will fork out the extra bucks to see.

2. Stick to a relatively short program – they kept it to India Arie (who sang some inspirational songs), the chair of the DNC, Senator Boxer and then the President.

3. Their speeches celebrated progress they made while asking people for their ongoing support.

4. They personalized some of the invitations – the invite I received for this event came from my Council Member.

5.  They effectively dealt with challenges as they came up (including some hecklers in the audience that the President very effectively responded to by saying he heard their concerns, was working on it and then went back to his speech - to the applause of his supporters).

And at the end of the day, they raised an estimated $3.5 million dollars!  Even though my contribution was relatively small to the overall amount they raised, it was a gift I needed to give some thought to, and one that I’m glad I made.  

For more tips on planning an effective fundraiser, check out my recent blog post on the topic.

I do the majority of my consulting in Southern California but occasionally work for clients in other places.  Over the last several months, I have worked closely with the leadership of SOAR Charter school in Denver to help launch a new school. 

Before Gianna Cassetta started work to create SOAR Charter School, I worked closely with her and her husband Marc Waxman in Harlem, New York, at Future Leaders Institute Charter School. 

When Gianna called me to ask if I could help them with their new school, I joined the team immediately.  Gianna is an exceptional leader who has recruited a strong Board of Directors to launch a rigorous, progressive school in one of Denver’s lower-income communities.  It’s a model that I would love see replicated in Los Angeles.

Working closely with Gianna and her board, I created a fund development plan which I am now working to implement.  I wrote one grant that’s secured the school $375,000 in support and am also working to help build a base of individual donors to the school.

If you’re interested in learning more, check out the school’s first enewsletter sent out today. 

I’m pleased to serve on the host committee for an upcoming fundraiser for LA StreetsBlog on April 9^th from 6pm to 9pm, and invite you to attend.  Streetsblog is the go to blog in LA to get the latest and greatest on work being done to  transform transportation and the streets in Los Angeles into a more livable/sustainable system.  

I recently led a workshop on planning successful fundraising events at the Center for Nonprofit Management and shared some of the best practices I've learned over the years as a Consultant.  

I'd like to share my top 10 tips with you:

1. Decide your audience: Figure out who you want to attend your event

2. Decide what kind of event to do:  What would your audience be most interested in attending? Make sure your organization has the capacity to do it

3. Give yourself six months to plan the event:  Working backwards from the event date, put all of these things on a calendar

4. Involve your board, staff and volunteers:  Figure all of the various ways you can involve and engage staff, board and volunteers both in the event planning and the event itself.

5. Pick the right location:  Pick a location that is easy for your audience to get to.  Also, pick a venue that’s going to be right for the event your doing. 

6. Aim to raise at least as much as you spend:  While fundraising events accomplish other important things like raising your organization’s profile, you want to earn making at least twice of what you spend

7. Keep the program short: Make sure you have a tight agenda and that you’ve let everyone know how long they have to speak. 45 minutes or less

8. Figure out the pitch beforehand: Figure out who will do this and when they will do it during the event. Practice beforehand.

9. Thank your attendees: Thank them for coming when they arrive, when they leave and afterwards with a letter if you can.Be sure to evaluate afterwards:  Taking time to evaluate will help you with future events 

10. Be sure to evaluate afterwards:  Taking time to evaluate will help you with future events

 Here's a link to my March Newsletter with tips + updates

Over the years, I’ve written several million dollars worth of successful grant proposals as a Consultant, Executive Director and Board Member.  Based on my experience, here are 10 tips for crafting strong grant proposals. 

Before you write any grant proposal, answer the following five questions:

1) What’s the problem? What’s the need in the community you are addressing?

2) What’s your goal? Make sure your goals are concrete and measurable. 

3) What methods will you use to accomplish your goal? What actions will you take? Who will be responsible? When will they happen?

4) How will you know you are successful? What benchmarks and indicators will you use to track your work?

5) What’s it going to cost? You need to develop a basic budget with projected income and expenses.  Be realistic.

In addition, here are some other tips:

6) Read up on your foundation before you apply. Make sure your proposal is a good fit for the funder you approach before you apply.

7) Pitch your idea before you apply. After you’ve researched the funder, call them and ask to take five minutes to run your proposal by them (unless they say don’t call). 

8) Have someone proofread your proposal who isn’t familiar with your work. Having an extra set of eyes can not only correct typos, but it can also let you know if you are clear in what you are proposing.

9) Give yourself time. Don’t wait until the last minute to finish up the proposal because there will likely be mistakes if you rush.

10) Make grant writing one part of a larger fundraising strategy. It’s a super competitive environment right now for raising funds from foundations. Consider also developing a major donor program.

For anyone interested, I’m leading an “Advanced Grantwriting” Workshop at the Center for Nonprofit Mangement on May 27^th from 9:30am to 12:30pm.   Good luck with your fundraising efforts!

I’m excited to attend tonight’s Green LA Fundraiser and encourage you to attend if you support building a strong environmental movement to win campaigns that transform Los Angeles into a sustainable City.

This movement is made up of a lot of smart, talented and committed people – many of whom I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with as a Consultant.   Over the last six months, I have worked extensively with the leadership of the Green LA Coalition and can tell you they have what it takes to affect positive change in Los Angeles.

Here’s more information about the event:

I hope to see you there. 

I'm excited to report one of my past clients, the Bike Kitchen, just launched a fundraising campaign. I'm really impressed with all of their work and just mailed in a check for $100 to help them reach their fundraising goal.  If you ride your bike in Los Angeles, I encourage you to also donate to their campaign so they can continue providing valuable services to the community. For more info and to donate, check out their blog at: http://bicicocina.blogspot.com/. 

Speaking of donations, I'm leading two fundraising workshops later this week.  One on hosting fundraising events this Thursday and another on researching and cultivating a donor base on friday. For more info, check out my calendar. 

Thanks Bike Kitchen!

Here's a link to my February newsletter - enjoy!

I’m excited to be working with the leadership at LA Voice to create a fund development plan.  LA Voice is an interfaith organization engaging congregation members on a number of social change related issues in Los Angeles, including affordable housing, homelessness and health care.  For an inspiring video about the organization’s work, click here.

Over the years, I’ve worked with many organizations to create a fund development plan, including having recently developed a plan for SOAR Charter School.  A fund development plan helps chart a future fundraising course for a nonprofit organization and contains the following: 

• An assessment of the organization’s current fundraising generated from a fundraising audit and leadership survey
• A review of the organizations fundraising materials, including past grant proposals, cover letters and appeal letters
• Development of an overall goal targeting specific strategies to achieve that goal
• A timeline/workplan to implement plan
• A list of possible funding sources
• A staffing plan
• An appendix with additional resources. 

If you or your organization would like more information about how I may be able to assist you with the creation of a fund development plan, please contact me.

I’m very pleased to be working with the leadership at the Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing (SCANPH).   SCANPH creates affordable housing opportunities for low-income people by expanding the knowledge, capacity and influence of the nonprofit development sector.  Over the years, SCANPH has championed affordable housing in Southern California and helped build a strong network of local affordable housing developers that have generated housing that’s affordable.   SCANPH also has some excited plans to green development in the future, which I’m especially excited to see happen. 

I’m working with the organization’s leadership to build their fundraising capacity so that they’re able to bring in the needed resources to do their good work.  I’m excited to attend their upcoming Board meeting in March to work with the entire Board of Directors on engaging in the fundraising process.  For some tips on how to build a fundraising Board of Directors, check out my recent blog post.

Many years ago, I benefitted from the work from an intern while directing the LA County Bicycle Coalition (my intern, Andrew, currently teaches in Mexico City and will someday be the Mayor of Detroit).  I later worked closely with an intern while working for Enterprise Community Partners in New York City (that intern, Matt, is currently in Law School and will someday be the Governor of Florida).   As Principal of my own consulting firm with a lot of work on my plate, I'm once again looking to bring on an intern to help me with my work.  In turn, I look forward to working with whoever I bring on to build their capacity as a leader in the nonprofit sector.  Here's the job description.  Please forward to anyone who you think might be interested:

Intern Job Description

 
Ron Milam Consulting is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Intern.  Ron Milam has 12 years of successful experience in the non-profit sector and has consulted for 40 nonprofit organizations since 2005.  His mission is to provide capacity building support for leaders working to transform Los Angeles into a sustainable region.  Ron specializes in the areas of fundraising, strategic planning and leadership development.  He’s a skilled facilitator, presenter, coach and project manager.   For more info, check out www.ronmilam.com.

This position is ideal for someone wanting to gain real world experience as a consultant working for some of Los Angeles’ leading sustainability oriented nonprofit organizations.  It’s also a good place to build your skills as a leader in the nonprofit sector, particularly as a fundraiser and/or facilitator.  As part of the internship, Ron will identify areas in which the intern wants to build their capacity as a leader and discuss it weekly with the intern.   This part-time position is ideal for current graduate students wanting to gain some real-world experience and additional income on the side.  Specific responsibilities of the intern are as follows:

Fundraising

• Research potential donors for Ron’s clients
• Develop/write/review grant proposals
• Copy-edit proposals Ron develops
• Assist with logistical details of fundraising work Ron does for clients (fundraising assessments, leadership surveys, draft plans, etc.)

Facilitation

• Record notes for meetings Ron facilitates
• Facilitate portions of the agenda
• Assist with logistical details related to meetings Ron facilitates

 Marketing

• Help research and identify new consulting clients
• Assist with social media marketing
• Assist with the development of marketing and training materials
• Data-entry

There may be other projects that come up outside of the areas of facilitation, fundraising and marketing, depending on the needs of Ron Milam and his clients.

Desired Skills and Experience:

• Passion and energy for implementing urban sustainability in Los Angeles
• Experience and/or interest in the nonprofit sector
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Detail-oriented
• Strong leadership ability and an entrepreneurial spirit that thrives in a start-up environment

Compensation:

$15/hour.  Part-time.  Flexible hours.

Application Submission – Deadline February 26^th, 2008:

Please email your cover letter and résumé to rpm@ronmilam.com.

Today is the last day of KCRW’s winter pledge drive. It’s also the last day to listen and learn some really valuable fundraising practices.  As a fundraising consultant, I’ve been listening to their fund drive all week and want to share with you some of the things they do really well that would be valuable to any non-profit organization seeking to raise funds from individual donors through a major donor campaign:

1. They have an overall campaign goal for the amount of money they want to raise.  Not only that, they set goals for each hour and let listeners know the progress they are making towards reaching that goal.  They rally around these goals and folks who donate feel great for their contribution towards that specific goal.  
2. They have clear deadlines – both for the overall campaign and for each hour.  These deadlines give a sense of urgency and compel folks to give.
3. They ask for our support, repeatedly.  If they didn’t ask, most of us wouldn’t just randomly decide to give.
4. They say “thank you” all the time and regularly thank people who have given on air.  “Thank you” are the two most important words in fundraising.
5. They get everyone involved in the fundraising process.  All DJ’s, staff and a bunch of volunteers are involved.  Fundraising works best when all staff and board members are involved in the process.
6. They make a clear case for why their station is valuable, which resonates with its audience. 
7. They stress the individual benefits listeners receive and also throw in some nice give-aways (which were all likely donated from sponsors who wanted to support the fundraising drive and also reach out to a broader audience with their products).
8. They use challenge grants.  When I heard the David Bohnett Foundation would double any gift people made, it inspired me to make another donation.
9. They make giving really easy – it only takes a minute to pledge over the phone or online.
10. They have fun with it.

I encourage you not only to tune in today on their last day to learn some great fundraising practices, but also consider making a gift yourself.  I’m a big fan of “Morning Becomes Eclectic” and “Which Way LA”. 

I'm pleased to report that last week's Fundraising 101 Seminar I led at the Center for Nonprofit Management in Downtown Los Angeles went very well.  For those of you that missed this introductory course, I'm leading another one on  February 5th from 10am to 1pm at the Flintridge Foundation in Pasadena.  Below is the course description.

At today's seminar, we had a great session with lots of participation in the form of discussion, questions and role-playing.  Some memorable points made:

-be sure to thank your donors
-fundraising is an ongoing process
-think of fundraising as an opportunity for a donor to invest in your organization
-engage your Board of Directors in the fundraising process

Folks shared with me after the workshop they learned a great deal and incrased their confidence levels when it comes to fundraising.

Here's the course description:

Course Description
Need to raise funds for your non-profit organization? Where do you begin? What's the secret to success? This workshop will explore the key concepts that underlie the fundraising process, including the development of a case statement, prospecting, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship. You'll have the opportunity to practice what you learn through interactive exercises, such as practicing the art of asking for a major gift. The workshop will also provide a forum for you to discuss any issues you have with fundraising and connect with leaders from other non-profit organizations.

For more info and to register for the next workshop, check out the Flintridge Foundation.

Both the Center for Nonprofit Management and Flintridge Foundation host a number of seminars on a wide-variety of subjects that relate to the nonprofit sector. I encourage you to check out the many resources each offers.

I'm leading another Fundraising 101 Seminar this Wednesday from 9:30am to 12:30am at the Center for Nonprofit Management in Downtown Los Angeles and welcome you to attend.  I'm also leading the same workshop on February 5th from 10am to 1pm at the Flintridge Foundation in Pasadena. 

Here's the course description:

Course Description
Need to raise funds for your non-profit organization? Where do you begin? What's the secret to success? This workshop will explore the key concepts that underlie the fundraising process, including the development of a case statement, prospecting, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship. You'll have the opportunity to practice what you learn through interactive exercises, such as practicing the art of asking for a major gift. The workshop will also provide a forum for you to discuss any issues you have with fundraising and connect with leaders from other non-profit organizations.

For more info and to register, check out the Center for Nonprofit Management.

Here's a link to my most recent email newsletter I sent out.  Enjoy!

Here's a link to my December 2009 Newsletter.  Enjoy!
Happy Holidays,
Ron

I'm staring to plan what trainings I will lead in 2010 and would love to get your input.  Please take a few minutes to fill out my short survey on this.  I really value your input and will do my best to tailor my trainings to your needs. Thanks!

For a listing of the trainings I currently lead, check out my Workshops page.  For a listing of my upcoming tranings, checkout my Calendar page.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Last week, I led another fundraising workshop at the Center for Nonprofit Management focusing on creating a strong successful fund development plan.  We had a really good discussion as I went through the various elements necessary to develop a fundraising strategy that will yield the highest results.  I'm leading several upcoming trainings on fundraising and invite you to attend.

It turns out information regarding fundraising is what local nonprofits need most, according to a recent study by the Center for Nonprofit Management.  Their recent State of the Nonprofit Sector report provides a general overview of what current nonprofits are experiencing given the current economic downtown. 

Roughly half of the consulting work I do deals directly with building my clients capacity to raise money.  I've helped multiple nonprofits, including:

• assessing their fundraising capacity
• creating fund development plans
• researching potential funders
• engaging their boards in fundraising
• writing grant proposals
• coaching executive staff
• providing general and customized trainings

Last week, I led another “Choosing the Right Fundraising Event” seminar at the Center for Nonprofit Management .   As always, we had an engaging conversation about multiple aspects of putting on a successful fundraising event.  Here are 10 quick tips from the seminar:

1.  Give yourself six months to plan a major fundraising event
2.  Engage your board and volunteers early on in the process
3.  Tailor your event to your audience
4.  The space you choose sets the tone for your event
5.  Write a budget and stick to it
6.  Think outside of the box
7.  Have fun
8.  Keep the event program to 45 minutes or less
9.  Thank and follow up with donors that attend
10. Connect fundraising events to other parts of your organization’s fundraising strategy

During our workshop, I also gave participants the opportunity to practice asking for money, which is something you can also do at your event.  We generated a lot of good ideas and based on our discussion, participants had the opportunity to share their successes and challenges with the rest of the group.  They also walked away with a number of articles on the subject. 

I continue to provide a number of capacity building trainings that are open to the public and invite you to attend one of them.  To date, I have the following workshops scheduled and expect to lead several more throughout the year:

·         Hosting a Successful Fundraising Event (3/25)

·         Fundraising 101 (4/2)

·         Winning Campaigns (4/27/-4/29)

·         Introduction to Facilitation (4/28)

·         What’s your Message: Getting Media (5/7)

·         Essentials of Effective Meetings (Date TBD)

In addition to leading trainings that are open to the public, I now also lead customized trainings directly for clients (often for nonprofit staff and Boards of Directors).   Below is a list of trainings I’m able to lead.

 1. Fundraising 101

2. Developing a Strategic Plan

3. Developing a Fundraising Plan

4. Finding Funders: 

5. Tapping into the Wealth of Individuals

6. Crafting a Successful Annual Appeal Letter

7. Introduction to Grant Writing

8. Advanced Grant Writing

9. Hosting a Successful Fundraising Event

10. Building a Strong Board

11. The Art of Cultivation

12. Fundraising Infrastructure

13. Balancing Fundraising with your other Responsibilities

14.  What’s your Message? Getting Media

15. Campaign Planning 101

16. Finding, Engaging and Thanking Volunteers

17. Introduction to Facilitation

18.  Running Effective Meetings

Please contact me if you would like for me to create a customized training for your organization.   I hope to see you at a future training!

Greetings,
Welcome to my new website! In addition to describing the services I provide, background on my experience and my past clients, I’m excited to launch a blog where I will share with you valuable lessons I’ve learned about nonprofit management over the last 11 years.  Every week, my goal is to capture a bit of wisdom I’ve learned that will hopefully be a resource to you and your organization.  Over time, I hope to build an online library that you can access anytime, on a series of different topics.  If there are certain areas you would like for me to address, or questions you have, please email them to me.  If you would like to discuss any of these areas in greater detail, please contact me.  Thanks and keep up the good work!
Cheers,
Ron

The best fundraising advice I ever received was from a seasoned fundraising veteran name Susan.  Shortly after I launched my first nonprofit organization, she said “Your job is to ask.  The person you ask’s job is to decide.  If you don’t do your job and ask, the other person will never have the opportunity to decide.”  The key moment in the fundraising process is the ask.  Get comfortable with it.  Remember, it is your job.  And if you don’t do your job, the person you ask will never do their job – decide on whether or not to give your organization money.