Sourcing funds is a constant challenge for many of our community groups. Particularly if groups have facilities they need to maintain or staff they need to pay, as the costs can be significant and are ongoing.
And we can’t afford to rely on just one or two income sources, as it exposes the group to significant risk if one of them ceases to be available for some reason.
Depending on the amount of funds your group needs, a variety of options may be appropriate:
Fundraising activities – trivia nights, raffles, sausage sizzles at Bunnings, making cookbooks, bulb drives – the list is endless! Check out www.fundraisingdirectory.com.au for lots more ideas.
Grants – all levels of government have grants available and many councils also have a grants officer who can assist you to find grants; if your group has a state or national peak body speak to them about grant opportunities they know of for your sector; Our Community’s monthly Funding Centre newsletter (see www.fundingcentre.com.au) highlights state and national grants currently open; and some corporates, such as banks and telcos for example, have grant programs.
Sponsorship – find a business that has similar values and priorities to your group, and develop a mutually beneficial sponsorship relationship with them.
Philanthropy – donations and bequests from businesses/families/individuals – Philanthropy Australia www.philanthropy.org.au is the national peak body for philanthropy and has lots of useful information on their website, and securing a patron for your organisation can help open doors into the philanthropic sector too.
Crowdfunding – this innovative approach to raising money involves posting your project on a website such as www.pozible.com where people (from all over the world!) will see it, hopefully, think it is a great idea, and potentially contribute some money towards helping you reach your funding target.
At the end of the day, for our groups to remain financially sustainable we increasingly need to ‘think outside the square’ for new and creative ways to generate the funds we need to do the work we do. And most importantly remember not to have ‘all your eggs in the one basket’ when it comes to how we bring that money in!
You can download this Blog Post as a tip sheet by clicking here:Tip Sheet_ Sourcing Funds May 7, 2015
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