Fundraising Strategy
Below you will find a summary of our fundraising efforts in each of the areas of concentration. You will also find an explanation of Microfinance as well as the benefits it may hold for AguaClara.
Corporate Fundraising
Starting in Fall 2009, corporate fundraising was a new area of focus for the outreach team. An initial list of prospective companies has been compiled and stored in the Outreach folder of the documents section in the aguaclara gmail account. This spreadsheet will help record and monitor our progress. To avoid redundancy and make the process more seamless for future outreach teams, please keep detailed notes of interactions and update contact information as you go on the prospect spreadsheet in the AguaClara gmail account.
Two brief points about fundraising from corporations. First, identify your target with a purpose in mind, in other words think about out why a company would want to support AguaClara or how they might benefit from helping us. You could randomly pick out some fortune 500 companies, but spending some time researching and answering these questions will help you be more effective. Second, fundraising is about developing relationships. Sending a letter is simply the beginning. Most of the work is in the follow up, which can be a slow, arduous and even frustrating process. The powerpoint on corporate fundraising has more information. Of course, clear any company with Monroe prior to initiating contact.
In Fall 2010, limited success was achieved in corporate sponsorship research. The team ran into some difficulties because we do not have 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. In the future, asking for specific donations may be more effective as some companies may be more inclined to donate materials rather than money.
Grants
Finding and applying to grants are a key function of the AguaClara Outreach Team. Below are links to a database and a summary of grant applications that have been completed. Attached to the grant application page are those specific applications we have submitted.
As members of such a unique organization, we must look into a wider gamut of grants. We look for grants that we can tailor to any of the many facets of the project. For our current efforts in creating a series of generic grants for future use, please look at the Grant Text Modules.
We search for potential grants using a variety of websites such as:
A Grant Short List has been created, as well as a more comprehensive Grant Database, showcasing the most current grant applications that the team is working on.
Aside from ensuring that the grants we seek are in accordance with AguaClara's ethical code, the Outreach team has also written guidelines for grant writing, facilitating the grant writing process for future Outreach members.
Contacts
The Outreach Team is actively involved in developing relationships with potential donors as well as finding contacts within funding agencies that can advocate for AguaClara within their respective organizations. These organization contacts can yield potential sources of funding as well as opportunities for a press release.
For a complete list of organizations and individuals we have contacted as well as examples of letters we have written to them, please refer to the Outreach Contacts and Outreach Contact Letters page. These letters are valuable resources to team members as they provide guidelines for the level of professionalism expected in all AguaClara correspondences.
Microfinance
Even though the potential applications of Microcredit to fund the building, maintaining and commercializing Aguaclara plants is immense the difficulties associated with organizing a community of people to apply for Microcredit, the time between application for funding and receiving the money and the size of funding provided by the Microcredit organizations is a barrier. After deliberation in class for now we have decided to put a hold on further exploration of Microcredit as a funding option and focus more on traditional funding sources like Grants (as of Spring 2010). More information about microcredit and Agua Clara can be found on the Microfinance page.