Destination: Journey

Well, it certainly has been a while since I’ve posted anything online, even on Twitter. I manage to post a few photos and see a few Live News Feeds on Facebook. But these days I’ve been living much more in the physical world without much connection to the virtual one.

But I have been saving a few things top post. One of them is this great article from CharityVillage. I’ve just posted the first couple of paragraphs below, but I highly recommend that you check out the full article.

Fundraising Q & A
By Cynthia J. Armour, CFRE
October 26, 2009

The question:
I want to ensure our grant proposal to a foundation makes it through the initial screening process and gets real consideration. How do I make that happen?

Cynthia’s Response:

Great question! Last month we spoke about getting the “corporate ear”…let’s now examine charitable foundations, the only source of funds that are mandated to disperse money. All others (individuals, businesses, service clubs, churches, etc.) are supporting charities voluntarily. Some of these donors actually choose to set up a foundation to ensure their support remains relatively balanced, despite hiccups in the economy. However, given last year’s significant market crash, even those foundations are suffering; many have had to seriously re-evaluate their donations budget.

In 1988, I was recruited to Trent University as the foundation fundraiser. Trent was building its environmental sciences facility, automating the library, expanding the Native studies program, and engaging donors to invest in an exciting future. Google’s inventors were probably still in high school! The best information available was the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy’s (now, Imagine Canada) Directory to Foundations. This guide still exists and remains a reference that summarizes (in searchable form) the T3010s that registered charities have to submit to Canada Revenue Agency within six months of their fiscal year end.

Check out the rest of the article here.