Difference between revisions of "Meta Fund Raising"
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[[Category:Fundraising]] | [[Category:Fundraising]] | ||
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Latest revision as of 16:00, 4 June 2009
Meta Fund Raising (and Resource Wrangling?)
INTRODUCTION TO FREEGEEK FUNDING META PROCESS (FMP)
In the beginning there was fund raising, and it was good. Now we have a fund raising working group, and the group is giving birth to itself as an integrated part of the larger Free Geek operation. When there is birth, there are questions like “Why am I here?” “What is my purpose?” “How should I be day to day?” “How will I affect others around me, and those who come after me?”
On this page, the fund raising working group is addressing the questions:
- Q: What should-be the big picture around funding and at Free Geek?
- Q: What does a fund raising process need to achieve?
- Q: What are funds? Is this more "resource wrangling" than grant writing?
What should the fund raising process look like?
- The fund raising process should include a formally recognized process for establishing formal agreement that pursuing a particular resource is a Free Geek priority.
- (from random referrals to council approval)
- A formally recognized process for fund-raising should include a strong coordination function, that is, it must keep others in the loop, other FG people, working groups, and other organizations.
- Example 1: coordinating with budget writers; Bean Counters so their documents are available and make fund raising easy.
- Example 2: coordinate with council and then the board, by advocating for clarity on long range programmatic planning.
- A formally recognized process for fund-raising should be a working part of strategic planning.
- A funding Meta Process needs to show where long term planning fits in.
- For example: Which planning documents best represent the current consensus of long range thinking?
- +Long Range Planning category on the wiki Long Term Planning
- +Vision Statement for 2010 Vision Statement
- A funding Meta Process must also show how it uses those documents.
- A formally recognized process for fund-raising should prevent losing accomplished work when a volunteer or staff person leaves a project
- (Question: How to do this simply? RT, open wikis, secure wikis and more?)
- The formally recognized process for fund-raising should be easy, so good projects don't get unnecessarily bogged down.
- The formally recognized process for fund-raising should provide guidance for plugging people into tasks that fit both their interests, and the needs of FreeGeek as a whole.
- The formally recognized process for fund-raising should provide guidance for sorting through “great opportunities” to separate the “wheat from the chaff.”
- (see Grant Writing Triage)
- The formally recognized process for fund-raising should provide guidance on prioritizing staff and volunteer time in real time.
- Remember that almost every step in a fund raising process is reiterative. That is, each circle of activity loops around over and over. Establishing priorities <---> finding resource opportunities, like requests for grant proposals, or new recycling income streams among others <---> researching new relationships, arranging collaborations, and finally writing formal proposals <---> tracking proposal processes <---> keeping funders informed with newsletters and informal meetings, or at least filling out reports <---> generating new resource options, and like that...
- The formally recognized process for fund-raising should provide records about contacts with funders and other organizations related to specific grants.
- (For example, we need to know when we first heard about or made contact with a funder, then when recommendations are followed and promises are made.)
- The formally recognized process for fund-raising should provide actual time-lines for particular efforts.
- (This might be a mixture of RT and wiki documentation).
- Time-lines are needed for both the formally recognized process for fund-raising, and for individual resource requests.
- When developing timelines, contrasting colors can be used to show contact information, RFP (request for proposals) deadlines, milestones in FreeGeek's strategic plans and refinements on FreeGeek's visions of the future.
- proposal1: each resource development project gets a ticket?
- proposal2: RT tickets are projects with owners, for example, creating a triage format is a project. It has a “wrangler” or owner. Another task-project is keeping the grant opportunities list up to date.
Fund Raising Process
ADD MORE PAGES SUPPORTING FUNDRAISING FOR FREEGEEK!
- fundraising: This is a fundraising overview from a board member; a push for coordinated long term planning and resource overview
- Long Term Planning: This is a list of planning documents from projects across Free Geek Portland; a good place to get an overview of projects and a good place to see where we need to get up to date. (Question: Is this the set of Free Geek documents that would best seed a comprehensive plan?) These documents could/should have sections added on future intentions; possible future directions, with likely outcomes, recommended next steps, etc.
You probably know of more wiki pages that are crucial for understanding fund raising at FreeGeek. Add them in! Or maybe some of these shouldn't be there. Edit them out! Here's what we found in a random search.