Developing your grant and fundraising staff

JulieAssel

What methods do you use to encourage growth in your grants and development/fundraising staff?

AlyseBraaten

I believe the most important step I took (and now incorporate into professional growth for those that report to me) is understanding your community. Even staff that grew up in the community they are serving will hold biases and lenses based on their experiences. Mapping the data of your community and spending time with it can greatly broaden the perspective and effectiveness of staff. It is also a very friendly way to introduce people to using data in decision making, storytelling, and a host of other ways. Somehow it's less intimidating when the data is about the community you love and care about.

[Deleted User]

Not specific to development/fundraising, but the State of Montana has an awesome program for small organizations to help off-set professional development/'training costs called the Incumbent Worker Training program through the MT Dept of Labor and Industry. Your organization (for profit and nonprofit are eligible) must have less than 50 employees and the employee needs to have been at the org at least 6 months to be eligible. You can get up to $2,000 as a full time employee. There is a match requirement, but these funds can help your internal funds go much further. You can find more info here:

https://wsd.dli.mt.gov/employers/incumbent-worker-training-program/

In my previous role I took on all the bookkeeping for a small nonprofit and this was an invaluable resource for me to get training on all things nonprofit accounting!

JulieAssel

@AlyseBraaten - Ooo, I really like this idea! I'm definitely incorporating it into our professional development plans here!

JulieAssel

@ElsieThomson - Awesome! I wish all states would do that!

NatalieRingenberg

When I was first hired on as a Fund Development Coordinator & Grant Writer my manager enrolled me in a 3 day Grant Writing Workshop with OneOC https://oneoc.org/. They are based in Orange County, CA and provide a range of services to nonprofits. This was a great experience and I learned valuable new information on how to effectively write compelling grants, how to develop a master narrative that can be used as a template for grant proposals, and how to effectively search for grants opportunities. The course was taught by two expert Grant Writers wo both had valuable insight based on personal experience. This workshop provided a strong foundation for me as I navigated the grant writing space.

JulieAssel

Natalie,

My employer did something similar, but it wasn't right away because we had to get the budget approved for it. I did a week long training from The Foundation Center. I have also done a series of trainings from a group called Resource Associates that were about a week long in total. I love it when the trainers are experienced grant professionals themselves.

HollySpitz

From an Accounting/Leadership lens, I have always subscribed to the newsletters and blogs from regional accounting firms. My two favorite resources are from Moss and Adams and BDO. They both have great NPO webinars, blogs and guides.

Moss and Adams: https://www.mossadams.com/industries/not-for-profit

BDO: https://www.bdo.com/resource-centers/institute-for-nonprofit-excellence

[Deleted User]

@ElsieThomson when I was in my role as a nonprofit Executive, I used the Incumbent Worker Training program a few years to help pay for learning and training. It was easy and so appreciated! If you're not in the state of Montana it would be worth a call to your State or Local Dept. of Labor office! We used the program to help pay for training and learning for a number of staff.