Fundraising

The main focus of the outreach team is raise funds for AguaClara's ongoing research and work.  Fundraising serves as the sustenance for the AguaClara Team, and through our work, we have developed relationships with potential donors.  Our relationships are not limited to corporate sponsors: we also seek out and evaluate grants that many aspects of our organization would be qualified to receive. AguaClara is largely funded by private donors, and the fundraising team works specifically to increase the base of potential supporters.

Our Fundraising group works closely with the Public Relations group of Outreach when it comes to seeking potential donors. The Outreach Contact List serves as a database of organizations we are interested in contacting or maintaining contact with. The relationship between P.R. and Fundraising is essential due to the fact that many donors come from potential P.R. contacts and vise versa.

The fundraising group pursues its goals by investigating and authoring grant applications. This team also develops Grant Writing Guidelines in order to facilitate the efforts of future Fundraising members. The grants of most interest to the Fundraising group are currently listed on the Grant Short List, which is updated frequently as grants are found or submitted. For more general information please visit our main Grants page.

You can find further information on the work of the Fundraising and Public Relations teams on the Outreach Resources page.

In Fall 2010, fundraising was not worked on as extensively as possible, with most of the team's focus going towards PR materials and events. However, some fundraising events were formed, including Gift Fairs and the concert at the Nines. Also, some contacts were developed, including the Pillsbury Institute.

Summary of Fundraising Strategy

Full strategy

1. Contacts: Exploring personal and professional contacts to benefit AguaClara
2. Affiliates/partners: Forging long-lasting bonds with other groups that can provide guidance for AguaClara
3. Corporate sponsors: Speaking with companies that are also passionate about sustainable development for sponsorship opportunities
4. Grants: Applying for privately and public grants to fund research
   

Note: Send finished grant proposals to Monroe; he must personally submit them through Cornell's system. Outreach does all of the leg work and writing, but when you are done please do not submit them yourselves--schedule a meeting with Monroe!