Building Relationships with Funders That

You Can Both Feel Good About webinar: FUNDRAISER FOR

THE AFGHAN WOMEN’S PROJECT

Your organization is feeling the economic squeeze. It’d be great if you could broaden your funding base and build relationships with funders who don’t know about your work. All the grant writing books and classes tell you to make contact with funders but you’re thinking, “Yeah right, that’s easier said than done. Half the foundations don’t list a phone number and I’d rather go to the dentist than a networking event.”

You’re clear on how essential your work is to the community, but you keep putting off making cold calls and avoid networking events. You know that you would be more effective if you made those contacts but you’d much rather sit at your desk and write proposals. Or maybe, you just don’t where to start or even how to find their phone number to begin with.

You’ve tried going to a ra-ra training where you leave feeling pumped up but then still don’t follow through. For most of us, making cold calls and introducing ourselves to strangers at events to “sell” something can be downright scary.

What you need

1. Comfort in knowing where and how to make initial contact with funders.



2. “Heart-centered grant writing.” This will give you an approach to cold calls and conversations that feels good and doesn’t impinge on your integrity. We will show you how to contact funders and what to say when you do make contact and leave you both feeling good about the interaction.

What is "heart-centered grant writing?"

Listen to an interview with Jane Hexter
on heart-centered grantwriting.

Heart-centered grant writing is developing a strong alignment between your heart, your organization and your community. When that happens, synchronicity flows and your community thrives. The core of this approach is helping your heart feel the safety and love on which you can base your actions. This is truly healing.

When you write with power from your heart and top it off with a sprinkle of fun you’ve got a recipe for success. The heart-centered approach ensures that when you're slammed up against a deadline (or several) you can feel the depths that support you and help you through those frantic moments.

Without this feeling of home, you can have the best performance in the world, and the most comprehensive knowledge, but you never feel settled and ever truly thrive.

Heart-centered grant writing changes the game entirely. It enables us to create great communities, meet deadlines, remain cheerful, and still live a balanced life.

What You’ll Get

This webinar will provide you with practical tools to experience greater freedom and ease around building relationships with program officers that nurture everyone involved and benefit the community you serve. How would you like to be able to pick up the phone to make cold calls without getting butterflies or go to a networking event and enjoy the experience? That is no small feat for most of us. Ultimately, you will:

• Get better results building relationships with funders so that your work is more fruitful.

• Build relationships with funders that you don’t already have so that you broaden your funding base.

• Open up new funding and partnering opportunities for your organization.

• Enjoy the process of developing personal relationships with funders that are full of integrity.

The webinar will cover these topics:

• The myth of what a funder really wants.

• The secret to connecting with funders in a way that feels good to both of you.

• The link between your approach and your community’s success.

• The five elements of successfully building relationships.

My second intention in offering this class is to raise as much money as possible to provide top-notch leadership training for three women from Afghanistan through the Institute for Circlework this fall.

This course is for you if:

• Your board or boss has asked you to broaden your funding base.
• You’re committed to building your organization but contacting program officers looks like a mountain you’d rather not climb.
• You’d like to help the women of Afghanistan and benefit at the same time.

Potential Attendees:

Staff, board and volunteers of all non-profit, government and public organizations interested in grant seeking and fundraising, especially grant writers, social workers, counselors, nurses, educators and clergy from beginner to expert.

How does the webinar work?

It’s pretty simple. You just login to a website and will be able to hear my voice and see the presentation. If you want to ask a question, you’ll need to use a headset or microphone. If you’re travelling or away from a computer, you may call a long-distance telephone number to join in (it’s not toll-free). That’s it. Pretty simple. You can also watch the recording later if you prefer.

When:

Date: Tuesday October 19, 2010

Time: 1pm – 3.00 pm EST
12 – 2.00pm CST
11am – 1.00pm MTN
10am – 12.00am PST

Check here for your time zone

Cost: $99. This includes:

• 2 hour interactive webinar.
  
  
• High-quality mp3 recordings of class cut into tracks available the same day.
  
  
• Qualifies for 1.5 points in Grant Professionals Certification Institute (GPCI) CEU credit.

ALL OF THE PROCEEDS FOR THIS WEBINAR WILL BE DONATED TO THE AFGHAN WOMEN’S PROEJCT TO BRING THREE COURAGEOUS WOMEN FROM AFGHANISTAN TO THE UNITED STATES FOR A LEADERSHIP AND EMPOWERMENT TRAINING THIS FALL.

EXTRA BONUS

To support our work to raise money for the Afghan Women’s Project we have an extra special bonus. Everyone who registers will have their name put in a drawing to win one of two baskets loaded with grant writing goodies donated by top names in our field. So far, baskets include the following and more donations are being sought:

Grant Writing Basket 1:

• An annual membership to the American Association of Grant Professionals valued at $175. Membership includes a host of benefits including a year’s subscription to the Grantstation search engine valued at $599 and to Navigation Search valued at $150.
  
  
  
  

• “Getting Funded” by Susan Howlett and Mary Hall.

• “Grant Writing Beyond the Basics: Proven Strategies Professionals Use to Make Their Proposals Work” by Michael Wells of GrantsNorthWest.

• “Asking," by Jerold Panas donated by Emerson & Church Publishers.

• "Thank You for Submitting Your Proposal: A Foundation Director Reveals What Happens Next" by Martin Teitel donated by www.emersonandchurch.com.

Grantwriting Basket 2:

• An annual subscription to CharityChannel and a free webinar of your choice from CharityUniversity valued at $184.
  
  
  
  
• One week subscription to the Foundation Directory Online Professional (a $45 value) donated by a generous individual.
  
  
• “Getting Funded” by Susan Howlett and Mary Hall.
  
  
• “Grant Writing Beyond the Basics: Understanding Nonprofit Finances” by Michael Wells of GrantsNorthWest.
  
  
• “Grant Writing Beyond the Basics: Successful Program Evaluation” by Michael Wells of GrantsNorthWest.
  
  
• “After the Grant: The Non-Profit’s Guide to Good Stewardship” Foundation Center Fundraising Guide donated by book contributor John Hicks.
  
  
• "How to Raise $1 Million (or More!) in Ten Bite-Sized Steps," by Andrea Kihlstedt donated by Emerson & Church Publishers.

100% Satisfaction Guarantee – with 2 questions asked.

We are in business to create a better world by providing excellent grant trainings. If you fully participate in the course and feel that it was not a sound investment of your time and money simply give us a call and we will give you a 100% refund. My only questions will be

1) What was your experience?

2) How can we do better? That’s it.

Why I am Supporting the Afghan Women’s Project

I am deeply committed to helping empower women both at home and abroad. When women thrive, their children and their communities do too. I volunteer with the Institute for Circlework based in Ithaca, New York that teaches Circlework: "the art of using circle gatherings to create a field of love powerful enough to heal us and our communities." The Institute works with women in Israel and Palestine to promote healing and peace through their leadership.

Three courageous women from Afghanistan have asked if they could come to our annual Institute for Circlework Leadership Training this fall. You may have read the TIME magazine article about women’s rights in Afghanistan. You may have heard of heard about women being stoned as punishment for trying to leave abusive relationships and felt deep anger or despondency. There are things we can do to show these women they are not alone. We do care about their well-being and their children’s well-being.

The women who want to come to the U.S. for training are leaders working on a daily basis with women’s groups throughout their country. They were instrumental in ensuring that women were represented in the Peace Jirga held in Afghanistan in June.

We are working to raise $15,000 to bring them here knowing that they will positively influence the men and women that they are working with in their country. Offering this seminar as a fundraiser is my contribution to this effort. All of the proceeds for this webinar will be donated to bring these women to the United States for leadership and empowerment training so that they will be a positive force in the peace process.