Grant Writing Made A Little Easier

Use the same application more than once!

You all know that fundraising is not one of my areas of expertise. However, once in a while I have an entry on this blog because I know that all of you are very interested in this topic and it might keep you coming back. I just learned something as I was doing some research on a different topic so I thought I'd share it it with you.

I know how grant writing is a time consuming, heart wrenching task that you all wish you had to put less time and energy into in order to stay in business. Do you know that there is a common form accepted by over 60 grantmakers - some of which are the large ones that you probably apply to anyway?

Wait it gets even better. About 30 of these organizations also accpet a common report form!

You can get the forms and learn more about this topic at the Council of NJ Grantmakers website. The site includes a list of grantmakers who accept the forms. These streamlined forms were developed to assist in the often time-consuming grant preparation and reporting process.

Check this out today. It may be a great timesaver and an opportunity to apply for a few more grants without having reinvent the wheel.

Council of NJ Grantmakers

Marion Conway Consulting

Benchmarking for Nonprofits - Workshop by Marion

This post is part of my continuing update on conferences and training opportunities. My last public workshop of this calendar year is sponsored by the Volunteer Center of Bergen County and will be held on November 15th in Hackensack. This brand new full day workshop on Benchmarking for Nonprofits is a hands on workshop which includes the outstanding text Benchmarking for Nonprofits: How to Measure, Manage and Improve Performance by Jason Saul. I was a reviewer of the manuscript and I am quoted on the back cover. But guess what - I have never met Jason Saul! My work was through Fieldstone Alliance, the publisher.

Topics will include the five key steps of benchmarking, best practices, forming a benchmarking team, how to measure what matters and the difference between benchmarking and evaluation.

The fee for this course includes continental breakfast, lunch and a copy of the text (a $35 value). It is important to register as far ahead as possible so that you will have the text on the day of the workshop.

Check out the Volunteer Center's website for more information.

Volunteer Center of Bergen County

Marion Conway Consulting

Conference on Philanthropy - AFP-NJ Annual Conference on November 3, 2006

The NJ Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals has an outstanding program at their annual conference. There are morning and afternoon workshops on major and planned giving, marketing strategies, communicating with donors, professional development, annual giving and trends. In addition the Lunch Keynote speaker is Carol Weisman and her topic is "Raising Charitable Children." Carol is well known in the Nonprofit sector and I am personally looking forward to hearing her speak. The whole day is topped off with a reception and dinner.

I highly recommend that you take a look at the program at their website and seriously consider attending. if you see me, make sure you let me know you read about the conference on the blog.


Marion Conway Consulting



AFP - NJ Conference on Philanthropy

Training, Conferences, Webinars. Its important to keep up to date. over the next few days I plan to post information about a variety of upcoming opportunties. Check the technology opportunities below and check back soon for other opporunties all coming up soon.

Five great online seminars online donation, blogging, e-newsletter, content management, constituent database tools are being offered by NTEN and Idealware inpartnership with each other. The NTEN and Idealware Software Series will focus on how to choose the types of software that nonprofits find most important: online donation, blogging, e-newsletter, content management, constituent database tools. The webinars will focus on candid advice, with product comparisons, screenshots, product demos and more.

> Choosing a Blogging Tool: Wed, September 27th
> Getting Started with Online Donations : Wed, October 11
> 10 Common Mistakes When Choosing Donor Databases: Wed, October 25
> Choosing an eNewsletter Tool: Wed, November 1
> Comparing Open Source CMSs: Joomla, Drupal, and Plone: Wed, November 15

All run from 11:00 AM to 12:30PM PST. Each of these sessions are $60 for NTEN members and Idealware eNews subscribers, or $100 for others.


View more information about the series atthe NTEN or Idealware websites.

NTEN Webinars Information

Idealware

Marion Conway Consulting