Fundraising Process Overview

Main resources & infrastructure for fundraising

Airtable Database

Google Shared Drive

Our Airtable databse is accompanied by a Fundraising Shared Drive.

Google structure principles for fundraising

1. Once an organization reaches the "in research" phase, the organization has to have two things on Google: 1x folder and 1x factsheet

2. The organization's folder in the Fundraising Drive is the main folder for that organization. All fundraising-related documents need to be saved or linked via a shortcut in this folder. There might be exceptions if a previous non-financial partner is becoming a financial donor but generally, we want to avoid having information spread across 5 different shared drives.

OLD:

In the G-Drive you’ll find supporting information for the Leads we are currently working on. And any additional info saved from past research and leads that were not successful. Check these folders out for lots of helpful information.

Generally, we can think of our donors as three buckets.

1. Current donors - those that have given funding to us in the past two years and we have a current and active relationship with them

2. Leads & Research - here are organizations that we are in the process of determining if they would support us. Will include any ideas and contacts to be explored.

3. Past Donors/Closed Leads - those that do not align with the oikos mission and have been closed. Be aware of the orgs that are interested to work with us in the future but just not right now and keep developing a relationship with these

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Fundraising process steps👣

Researching Leads

Getting started will involve you researching and finding out information related to the many potential organizations and foundations that we can apply for.

1. Check Airtable

2. Check Google Drive

3. Check Salesforce

4. Research on their website

5. Research via LinkedIn and Google

6. Check if there is already shared networks and partners

Reaching out for a first connection and/or more information

Preparing an official donation outreach

Resources to link: Outreach Template Pitch Presentation Annual Report Program specific marketing materials

Inspiration documents from previous grants

Lead stages defined

LEAD STAGE	Description / definition	Steps to take
New	Any organization someone in the team got to know about They haven’t been researched yet on whether or not they could be fitting to oikos for our fundraising purposes They don’t necessarily have an owner/host	Add the organization to the Airtable via this form
In research	We switch from “new” to “in research” if someone in the team decides to pick up this organization and dive further into it A host/owner is added to the organization This stage is before a decision is taken to either select them for fundraising or archive them	Google Make sure there is a Google folder for the organization in the correct lead stage folder on Google Drive. Use existing organization folders or create a new one if necessary. Ensure there is a main document (factsheet/ongoing notes) for the organization. If none exists yet, use this template to document your research and add it to the folder. Airtable Update the lead stage and further information for Airtable via this form
Selected for fundraising	YAYY - Our initial research showed that the organization seems to to be a fit. The host who researched the organization either decides for themselves or consults the team to select the organization for a fundraising approach (and not to archive them)
Outreach/application preparation	We are starting to prepare reaching out to this organization or preparing a grant application (in case of a foundation)
In conversations	We are in conversations with the organization, maybe have a first call with them (more applicable for businesses/potential sponsors)
Applied/funding requested	We have officially applied for a grant or requested funding and are waiting for a response
Donation confirmed	SUCCESS - Our application/request was successful and the organization confirmed a donation

Special case: Archiving an organization

There are several points in time and reasons to archive an organization

Common reasons to discontinue a lead and archive them:

1. We realize ourselves the organization is not a fit. It may be their strategic focus, funding criteria, regional focus etc. that is not fitting to oikos International. This realization can happen at any time during the process, ideally we should notice during the "in research" phase, though it can also happen "in conversations" with them or anywhere in between.

2. The organization doesn't see the fit

3. During the "In research" phase, we realize it will not be worth it to put more time and energy in this lead. We archive the organization.

How to update a lead stage?