R i v e r N e t w o r k ’ s RIVER FUNDRAISING ALERT Telephone Fundraising Volume 9, No. 1 / Spring 2002

Ask (Skillfully) And You Will Receive:

Using Phone-a-thons to Build Grassroots Support

By Abby Markowitz

(This article is based largely on Abby’s successful experience in the early 90s, raising funds for Maryland Save Our Streams through annual phone-a-thons. In 1992, with the help of more than 80 volunteers, SOS raised over $14,000 in five nights of phoning.)

Probably the least favorite activity for any staff member or volunteer is fundraising. And of all the tasks associated with fundraising, the least favorite is “the ASK”. Most of us would rather do anything—take water quality samples in the pouring rain—than ask people for money.

Foundation grants can help initiate a program or fund special projects. But for many programs, the backbone of support comes from small donations and memberships. What’s more, foundations are more likely to award a grant to an organization that can show evidence of strong grassroots support. If the local community doesn’t support the program, why should a foundation? And the community won’t support the program unless we ask them.

One-on-one communication with folks, whether face-to-face or by phone, is much more intimidating than a direct mail campaign—yet the direct personal approach also yields many more positive responses. Fortunately, there are specific “asking” skills that can be learned, practiced, and used successfully by even the most anxiety-ridden potential fundraiser. After one phone-a-thon, a formerly nervous volunteer caller got so excited about using her new fundraising skills that she recruited two friends to help call the next night.

This article will focus on phone-a-thons, but many of the skills needed to conduct a successful phone-a-thon are easily translated to other types of grassroots fundraising—door-to-door canvasses, house parties, or membership pitches at workshops or events.

One caveat: the article will not cover the myriad of tasks that must be done after you put the pledge forms in the mail. Effective follow-up is critical to all fundraising efforts. However, our emphasis here is on skills associated with “the ask”.

Set an Achievable Goal

It is essential to set a goal for the dollar amount you want to raise, and equally critical for that goal to be realistic. Thankfully, there’s a formula you can use to calculate a realistic goal for a night of phoning.

Let’s say you have eight callers who will each be phoning from 6:30 to 9:00 pm. Figure that about half the people on your calling list won’t be home and that you’ll have some bad numbers (wrong numbers, disconnected, etc.). Once a contact is reached, the average phone conversation will be between 3 and 6 minutes. Allowing time for callers to do paperwork between calls—filling out pledge forms, making notations on calling lists, and so on—let’s estimate that each caller will talk with about 10 people per hour.

10 contacts x 2.5 hours=25 contacts/night/caller

25 contacts x 8 callers=200 total contacts/night

Next you need to determine your “yes” rate: How many of those 200 contacts will pledge money? This will depend on the skill and comfort level of your callers and on how “hot” or “cold” your list is. For “cold” prospects who are unfamiliar with your organization, a normal response rate is 25%. For people with a history of giving to and/or volunteering with your organization, the “yes” rate can be much higher, from 50% to 80%. At Maryland Save Our Streams, when we called people with a giving or volunteer history, we generally estimated a 50% “yes” rate.

200 contacts x 50%=100 people who will pledge money.

Now, estimate the average contribution. Take into account how “hot” your list is, the economic climate, the economic class of those on the list, and historic amounts for your organization. At Maryland Save Our Streams, our basic memberships ranged from $15 to $35. Let’s estimate $20 per pledge.

100 pledges x $20/pledge=$2,000, or $250 for each caller. Obviously, the more skilled your callers are and the “hotter” the list, the more money you will raise.

It is important to work through this formula with your callers at the phone-a-thon. If you walk in and announce, “OK, everyone is going to raise $250 tonight,” you will only add to the anxiety. But if people have an opportunity to help determine the goal, they will have a sense of ownership and see the goal as reasonable and “do-able.”Also, if you set a conservative goal and your callers exceed it, well, you’ve just broken through the “I-can’t-ask-for-money” syndrome.

Train Your Askers

Probably the number one mistake organizations make is not training staff and volunteers in fundraising skills. We wouldn’t dream of sending out volunteer monitors without training, and we shouldn’t expect to do any less for our fundraisers. Many cities and communities have professional funding trainers who may do pro bono or discounted training for your organization. Perhaps you can have one of these professionals train a core of trainers who can then train the larger group of volunteers.

At the phone-a-thon, schedule 30 to 60 minutes for a training session before the volunteers start calling. Here are some points to cover in the training session:

• Anticipate and intercept callers’ fears. The first thing I do at a phone-a-thon training is to have the callers introduce themselves and mention the one thing they are most afraid of. The one that comes up most is the big “R”—rejection.

Then I offer some ways of dealing with these concerns. For example: If you are worried about interrupting people’s dinner, say something like, “I realize you may be eating dinner. Do you have a few minutes?” Most people will be far more receptive if you acknowledge that you are interrupting their routine.

I always tell callers that “no” is not the end of the world. Also, just because someone says no does not mean they will be rude or nasty. Some of my most enjoyable conversations have been with people who couldn’t give but were very supportive.

• Read your “turf” and your audience. Each caller should take a few minutes to review his or her calling list or “turf.” Is it a high-, middle-, or low-income community? Is it a waterfront community or one that has had specific water quality problems? Does your organization’s monitoring program sample water in this community? The answers to these questions will help the caller decide what points to highlight and what amount to ask for.

It is also important to “read” each individual you call. Asking questions such as “Are you familiar with this program?” and “Are you aware of any local water pollution problems?” will help gauge a prospective donor’s level of support. Remember to engage in dialogue, not monologue.

• Be as personal as possible. It is essential for callers to use “us” and “we” when speaking about the organization AND to use their own experience as examples of the good work the organization is doing. If possible, callers who are active in a specific project should be matched with callees who are active in, or interested in, similar projects.

• “Keep It Short and Simple” (KISS). Be brief and concise: Who (we are), What (we want from you tonight), What (we do, in 100 words or less), and Why (it’s important to give). Provide callers with a short script or “rap” as a guide, but emphasize that they should not memorize the script or read it verbatim. The written script should be no more than one side of a page and should outline a couple of program successes that the caller can emphasize.

• Give people a reason to give. The callers are selling both an idea and a product. The idea is the importance of monitoring and improving water quality, or protecting a river by removing a dam, or whatever. The product is a successful program with positive results. Tell people what their support will do and be specific—for example, “A $50 donation will pay for equipment maintenance for an entire year” or “A gift of $100 will allow us to bring one activist to our conference.” Make the economic argument: “Volunteer monitoring costs about one-tenth of what professional monitoring services would cost.”

• Avoid qualifiers like “try” and “maybe.” A common mistake callers make is using qualifiers that weaken the message. You aren’t “trying” to make a difference in water quality. You are making a difference. People aren’t “maybe” helping out with a pledge. They are supporting this work with a donation. If the caller is not confident, don’t expect the prospect to be supportive.

• Listen for three nos. Instruct your callers to listen for three objections or excuses, then politely end the call. A no can be disguised in a number of ways: eating dinner, unemployed, not familiar with the organization, giving the kids a bath. It is important to reassure callers that they have control—they can always hang up. You’d be surprised how many people think they have to stay on the phone and keep talking no matter what.

• Ask for a specific amount. If you don’t name a specific amount, you are likely to get $5 or $10. Also remember that it is easier to go down than to come up. For example, if you ask for $25 and the person says, “Sure, no problem,” you can’t really say, “Well, in that case, can you make it $50?” But if you ask for $50 and the person says, “I can’t afford that,” you can say, “Folks who can’t afford that are shooting for $25 for the year.”

Phone-A-Thon Logistics

Phone-a-thons are usually quite short. For one thing, you don’t want to burn out your callers by expecting them to phone for hours on end, and for another, the calling needs to be done during those limited times when people are most likely to be at home and awake. The best times for phone-a-thons are weeknights (including Sunday night) between 6 and 9 p.m. or Saturday or Sunday afternoons between noon and 5 p.m.

It’s worth making an effort to find one central location with enough phones so everyone can be together. Real estate offices, private schools, and local phone company offices are examples of places that have several phone lines and are often willing to donate space. Recording the amount of money raised on a blackboard or piece of newsprint every half hour or so helps keep up the momentum and build team spirit. Snacks and beverages are a must –it’s no fun to call with a dry mouth!

The more your callers know about the people they are contacting, the better. If possible, use index cards that list name, phone number, address, giving history, volunteer history, and waterway of interest. Sometimes Maryland Save Our Streams callers also bring their personal phone books and call friends, family, and co-workers.

During the training session, explain how to fill out the pledge forms and what kind of notations should be made on the calling lists or cards. Assign one or more volunteers who aren’t on the phones to help with paperwork: recording pledges, stuffing and stamping envelopes. This is the perfect job for volunteers who want to help but can’t bring themselves to call.

Have the trainer, or another experienced person, serve as a “runner,” picking up ledge forms, offering encouragement, and keeping things running smoothly.

Get pledge forms out in the mail as soon as possible. It makes a LOT of difference if you mail them the same night (if your community has a 24-hour post office), or first thing the next morning. People are impressed when a pledge form arrives a day or two after the call.

Have Fun

Yes, fundraising can actually be fun. It’s a good feeling to talk to people who share your concerns and to raise support for a program you believe in. The sense of camaraderie among the callers is one of the greatest rewards. I always tell my callers, “When you leave here tonight, you’ll be thinking you had more fun than you expected. And there will be one less thing in the world that you think you can’t accomplish.”

Reprinted with permission from the Volunteer Monitor, Fall, 1993.More information about the Monitor is available at www.epa.gov\owow\volunteer\vm_index.html.

Abby Markowitz is a trainer and consultant for Tetratech. She can be reached at abby.markowitcz@tetratech.com.

REQUIREMENTS FOR A SUCCESSFUL PHONE-A-THON

While the telephone is a useful fundraising tool for any grassroots nonprofit, phone-a-thons are not suitable for every group. Should you undertake one? Here are some of the factors to consider:

· Telephoning is very time intensive—it requires a lot of hours of preparation, calling time, and follow-up. If you do not have a good corps of volunteers who can be depended upon to carry out much of the work, it may not be cost effective.

· Phone-a-thons require excellent organizing skills—if these are not present, the effort can backfire and alienate volunteers and prospects alike

· Because you will actually reach less than half of your prospects (people not at home, wrong numbers, etc.), you will need a large number (usually several thousand) of prospects (with current telephone numbers) to make a phone-a-thon pay off

· You will need a calling location with multiple phones.

CASE STUDY: Selling Raffle Tickets by Phone

The West Virginia Rivers Coalition (WVRC) holds a raffle each year to raise money for its programs. In 2002, the raffle grossed about $25,600, with approximately $2,000 in costs. The principle method used for selling tickets is a phone-a-thon, staffed largely by volunteers. Here’s some advice from two of the raffle coordinators, Kim McArthur and Carl Bolyard.

Calling Coordinator

Find a very organized and committed person to organize the phone calling. For a number of years, a volunteer did this for the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, but in recent years, the job has become so demanding that a staff person, the WVRC development director, has taken on this task. Several volunteers assist with recruiting callers to staff the telephones.

Site

Pin down a site at least a month before the phone-a-thon. WVRC uses several sites, including the offices of American Rivers, a large national nonprofit located in downtown D.C.; River and Trail Outfitters, a white water company in Harpers Ferry, WV; and their own headquarters in Elkins, WV. This allows calling to occur near a base of volunteer support. Look for a location with numerous phones in one office area. Large nonprofits, colleges and universities, law offices and real estate businesses are all good bets.

Volunteers

Line up volunteers at least a month in advance. WVRC recruits 150-200 volunteers to do 22 nights of calling, with 6-15 callers per night. Kim recommends recruiting twice as many volunteers as you think you will really need, since there is inevitably a pretty high percentage of “no shows”. If everyone DOES actually show up, you can have the extra people do prep paperwork or some other task. Good sources of volunteers are your own membership, high school students, local environmental and recreational groups, and church groups.

The majority of volunteers need to be willing to get on the phone and ask for money. Telephone fundraising is a numbers game, and the most “sells” usually go to the people who make the most calls, so people need to be encouraged to just keep moving through their lists and the tickets will sell themselves. If volunteers are unwilling to make calls, you can ask them to help with other administrative tasks such as preparing the pledge forms and ordering the pizza.

WVRC calls its volunteers a few days before the phone-a-thon to remind them of their commitment, reconfirm the time and place, and give directions. Email is an excellent way to send out the details (parking, show time, and incentive alerts) but a volunteer MUST call people or you will not know how many callers are coming each night.

Calling Lists

WVRC concentrates its calling on members of local paddling clubs. WVRC belongs to 36 paddling clubs and receives their rosters in the mail. The members of these clubs recreate on the rivers that WVRC works to protect and are good “prospects” for the calls. Where possible, WVRC highlights names of people who have bought tickets in previous years. In 2002, the total number of prospects on these 36 lists was close to 7,000. To reduce duplicate solicitations, WVRC cross-checks lists for dupes using several volunteers three weeks before the event.

Note: It is very important to be sensitive to the rules governing the use of lists. Most of the clubs WVRC belongs to are old friends, and are “ok” with a one-time use of their list for this good cause. WVRC sends out a letter to the clubs in advance, offering them an opportunity to buy tickets by mail and advising them of its intention to sell tickets to its members. This gives any clubs who are opposed to the use of their list an opportunity to make their wishes known.

Materials

· Tickets. WVRC uses raffle tickets with a tear-off coupon that callers can tear off and stuff into an envelope and mail to the phone pledgers.

· Pledge forms. The form talks a little about WVRC and its work, and has a place to enter the buyer’s name, address, and phone number, as well as the number of tickets purchased and for what price. This sheet is important because while some people are calling, the paper-pushers can fill out the tickets with the buyers’ names, address envelopes and mail them out. All pledge forms should be copied before the original is mailed out, as you will need a record of what has been sold.You may want to send a reminder letter later (the reminder letter increased revenue about 6% in 2002. It was sent out several months later). Most people who forget to send their money in response to the first letter come through on the second.

· Script. To help callers overcome their inhibitions, WVRC uses a simple script . This helps people get going and get over their nervousness about asking for money. WVRC also suggests having the caller dial a few numbers from their “personal list” to break the ice with a familiar voice. The script introduces the caller and tells in a few brief sentences why they are calling.

Night of the Event

The WVRC coordinator arrives early and has everything the callers will need --pens, phone scripts, tickets, pledge forms, and calling lists—assembled in advance and ready to go. WVRC usually starts calling around 7:00 pm and finishes at 9pm.

WVRC starts off the evening with an orientation for all volunteers. The coordinator explains the process and how to use the pledge forms and the tickets. She gives each caller a list of 20-75 names, introduces the script and may demonstrate a call, or have one of the callers do a roll play. The coordinator also tells the group about any treats or incentives being provided, such as free pizza at the end of the calling, or a free T-shirt for the volunteer who makes the most calls. The object, however, is to get on the phone, so the orientation should be brief…the coordinator can always answer individual questions later.

Once the callers are on the phone and begin making their sales, the coordinator walks around and collects the completed pledge forms. She copies them, and gives the forms to the paper-pushers who prepare the tickets, tear off the stubs, place the tickets in a container for the drawing. These helpers address, stamp and stuff the envelopes with the pledge forms, the stubs, and a reply envelope stamped with the organization’s return address. They also tally the number of tickets sold. If there are no paper-pushers available, the callers can also do this work when they finish their calls.

Tips for the Call

Here are some helpful hints that WVRC has come up with:

· Be gracious, but keep the calls short. To sell the most tickets, dial the most numbers!

· When several family members are listed, ask for the one who canoes or kayaks

· In introducing yourself, say:

- that you are a paddler;

- that you are a volunteer;

- that the raffle prizes are for both paddlers and non-paddlers

- that your time and the prizes are donated, so funds raised go directly to support the work of WVRC

· If they have no questions, ask them to buy TEN tickets

· If you sense hesitation, give them other purchase options

· If they buy,

- confirm the number of tickets bought, the amount they be asked to pay, and their address

- tell them how the drawing works and that they will receive a pledge form and return envelope in the mail

- thank them!

Results

WVRC called about 4,200 of the 7,000 names on their prospect lists. Of these, 1,157 bought tickets, a very high response considering that many of the calls resulted in busy signals, machines, no answers, etc.

Other Benefits

The annual Raffle/Phone-a-Thon is WVRC biggest fundraising event, raising approximately 12% of the organization’s budget. But it has several other benefits as well. If people buy a book of tickets, they become members of the organization. WVRC gains several hundred new members each year in this way. Buyers of a smaller number of tickets are added to the list of membership prospects. The volunteers who do the calling feel very involved in the organization because of their first-hand contact with staff members and may give more generously as a result. Many callers find new contacts to sell tickets to and buy additional tickets themselves when taking part in calling. Hundreds of people who know nothing about WVRC have a personal contact with the organization. Even if they don’t buy tickets, this personal contact will make them more likely to respond to a mail request, or to another call, next time around.

Carl Bolyard is the development director for the West Virginia Rivers Coalition. He can be reached at (304) 637-7201 or cbolyard@westvirginiarivers.org; Kim McArthur is marketing director for Free Range Graphics and can be reached at (202) 234-5613.

Anyone interested in more information about WVRC can visit www.wvrivers.org.

Hot Web Sites

By Nicole Waldheim

Here are just a few of the many websites where you can find out more about telephone fundraising.

Grassroots Fundraising Journal ~ www.chardonpress.com

When entering this site, go to “article archive” on the left hand side toolbar, then select “online article index.” Once in the index, scroll down and you will find the article entitled, Revisiting the Phone-a-thon, by Kim Klein, which is an excellent read. Several other articles are available for purchase.

Mal Warwick & Associates, Inc. ~ www.malwarwick.com

This might be your telephone fundraising headquarters. From the homepage, go directly to the “Site Map,” where you will find publication after publication. Under the section, “Raising money by phone,” there are two articles, 12 ways to combine DM and telephone fundraising and Choosing the right donors to call. They also put out a newsletter entitled, “Successful Direct Mail, Telephone & Online Fundraising,” which you will have to pay for, but there are some good articles for free including, Ten Myths of Telephone Fundraising. There are also a few free chapters online from the book, 999 Tips, Trends, and Guidelines for Successful Direct Mail and Telephone Fundraising.

DEI Worksite ~ http://www.deiworksite.org/download/weingrod.html

This link will bring you directly to an article entitled, “Making Telephone Fundraising Work For You,” by Steve Weingrod. Although the article is targeted towards fundraising for radio stations, there is enough useful information in the text to help anyone involved with telephone fundraising.

Internet Nonprofit Center ~ http://www.nonprofits.org/npofaq/

When you enter this site, go to the section entitled, “Development.” Under this heading, click on the word, “telemarketing,” which will bring you to a page with information and advice about telephone fundraising. The items shown on this online resource come from discussions on email lists, in UseNet, and other sources.

The Management Assistance Program for Nonprofits ~ http://www.mapnp.org/library/mrktng/telemrkt/telemrkt.htm

On the Management Assistance Program for Nonprofits website, there is a free management library with information on everything from fundraising to volunteers. To get to the entire library, visit http://www.mapnp.org/ The link above will bring you directly into the “telemarketing” section. This page offers articles, guidance, and links for telephone fundraising.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy ~ http://philanthropy.com/

You need to be a Chronicle of Philanthropy member to view all this site has to offer, but if you are, visit the home page and click, “Search This Site.” Once there, do a search of all current and archived articles using the word “telemarketing.” You will find about 60 matches, but one of the best is an article entitled, Dialing for Big Dollars: Long Used to Seek Small Donations, the Phone Becomes A Major Gift Tool.

Selected Fundraising Training Opportunities

By Nicole Waldheim

Below is a sampling of some of the fundraising and capacity building trainings available to small nonprofit organizations in upcoming months, including several offered by city-wide or state-wide support organizations like the Donors Forum of Chicago and CompassPoint Nonprofit Services in California. If you are seeking training, be sure to find out about local opportunities available in your city or state. You can find a list of local support organizations by going to www.allianceonline.org, and searching under Service Providers by location and area of expertise.

Center for Nonprofit Management (CNM), 44 Vantage Way, Suite 230, Nashville, TN 37228, (615) 259-0110. For more information on the following workshops, email training@cnm.org or visit www.cnm.org Unless otherwise noted, all classes are held at the offices of CNM in Tennessee.

Annual Giving: April 25, 8:30am-12:00pm

How to Write Winning Grant Proposals: Basic Grant Writing: May 9, 8:30am-3:30pm

Locating Funding Sources for Your Organization: May 17, 8:30am-12:00pm

Conducting a Capital Campaign: May 22, 8:30am-12:00pm

How to Raise the Money You Need: The Fundamentals of Fundraising: June 12, 8:30am-3:30pm

Developing a Dynamic Board: The Key to Nonprofit Effectiveness: June 26, 8:30am-3:30pm

How To Ask for Money: Relational Fundraising: July 9, 8:30am-12:00pm

Major Gifts: July 11, 8:30am-3:30pm

CompassPoint Nonprofit Services (CPNS), 706 Mission St., Fifth Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103, (415) 541-3113. For more information on the following workshops, email workshops@compasspoint.org or visit www.compasspoint.org

SAN FRANCISCO WORKSHOPS

Cultivating a Foundation Without a Development Department: May 14, 9:30am-12:30pm

Managing Staff Turnover and Vacancy: A Discussion Based on Findings from Help Wanted: May 10, 8:30am-10:30pm

The Nuts and Bolts of Fundraising: Two Day Workshop: May 23 & 30, 9:30am-4:30pm

Leading for Change: The CompassPoint Leadership Seminar for New and Emerging Executive Directors: June 14, June 28, July 19 & August 9, 9:30am-2:30pm

Boardroom Dancing: How to Lead and When to Follow: June 18, 9:30am-4:30pm

Earned Income=More Money for your Mission: June 19, 9:00am-12:30pm

Donors Forum of Chicago, 208 South LaSalle, Suite 740, Chicago, IL. 60604, (312)578-0090. For more information or to register for the following training’s, visit www.donorsforum.org

The ABC’s of Proposal Writing: April 30, June 11, June 26, 9:00am-4:30pm

Building Strategic Relationships with Corporations and Foundations: May 1, June 25, July 11, 9:00am-4:30pm

Conducting a Successful Capital Campaign: May 21, 9:00am-4:30pm

Defining and Measuring Success: Outcome Evaluation for Nonprofit Organizations: May 30, June 13, July 12, July 23, 9:30am-4:00pm

Major Gift Fundraising: May 16, July 9, 9:30am-4pm

Securing Support from Individuals: June 4, 9:30am-4:00pm

Fidelity Communications Corporation, 2401 Revere Beach Parkway, Everett, MA 02149, (617) 389-5350, www.myfidcom.com. The following are direct mail fundraising seminars which will assist you in upgrading current donors, re-activating lapsed donors, acquiring new donors and much more.

April 26: Baltimore, MD

April 29: Philadelphia, PA

May 10: New York, NY

May 17: Boston, MA

May 31: Chicago, IL

The Foundation Center, 79 Fifth Avenue/16th Street, New York, NY 10003, (212) 620-4230 or (800) 424-9836. These free training courses are specifically designed for grantseekers—either as representatives of nonprofit organizations or as individuals—who want to enhance their understanding of the grantseeking process and various aspects of funding research. Each course is approximately one hour in length. To register online of for more information, visit http://fdncenter.org

Proposal Writing Seminars:

New York, NY: May 2 & 15, June 4 & 19 Cleveland, OH: April 30 Colorado Springs, CO: May 23 Washington, DC: May 31 San Francisco, CA: June 7 San Antonio, TX: June 26

Securing Your Organization’s Future: Developing a Fundraising Plan:

San Francisco, CA: June 4 New York, NY: May 16 Cleveland, OH: May 30 Washington, DC: June 14

The Foundation Center’s Proposal Budgeting Workshop:

New York, NY: June 5 Cleveland, OH: May 1 Atlanta, GA: May 22

Grantseeking on the Web Hands-on Introductory Training Course:

Washington, DC: May 8, June 13 San Francisco, CA: May 13, June 18 New York, NY: May 21, June 20 Cleveland, OH: May 31

The Grantsmanship Center, 1125 W. Sixth Street, Fifth Floor, PO Box 17220, Los Angeles, CA 90017, (213)482-9860. TGCI workshops are designed to teach practical skills. They train people in the skills that are indispensable to organizational planning and funding. Designed for both novice and experienced grantseekers, these workshops cover all aspects of searching for grants, writing grant proposals, and negotiating with funding sources. For more information, email norton@tgci.com or visit www.tgci.com

May 6-10: Denver, CO; Dallas, TX; Altoona, PA

May 13-17: Los Angeles, CA; Santa Fe, NM; Fife, WA; Bath, NY; Huntsville, AL

May 20-24: Caldwell, ID; Vancouver, WA; Charlotte, NC

June 10-14: Montgomery, AL; Wausau, WI; Little Rock, AR

June 17-21: Salt Lake City, UT; Ukiah, CA; Port Angeles, WA

June 24-28: Los Angeles, CA; Syracuse, NY; Knoxville, TN

July 8-12: San Diego, CA; Stamford, CT; Lufkin, TX; Rochester, NH

July 22-26: Kona, HI; Rocky Mount, VA; Boston, MA; Shakopee, MN; Glen Ridge, NJ

July 29-Aug 2: Cleveland, OH; Atlanta, GA

Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training (GIFT), 3035 Vallejo St., #4, Denver, CO 80211, (303) 445-6361. The next Fundraising Action Training for 2002 will be in Montreal on June 14 & 15. The training will cover the basics of grassroots fundraising including where money comes from, who gives, who gets, the principles of fundraising and creating a development plan. The training is from 9am to 5pm, both days. For further details on the training or to register, visit www.grassrootsinstitute.org

Institute of Cultural Affairs, 2000 P St., NW Suite 303, Washington, DC, (202) 828-1008, www.ica-usa.org is offering workshops on Group Facilitation Methods as well as Facilitating Conciliation: Beyond Conflict Resolution. The former, offered on June 4-5, will give you a structured process to plan and facilitate meaningful exchanges. The latter, offered on July 9-10, will offer alternatives to the adversarial approach of dealing with disputes.

Institute for Conservation Leadership (ICL), 6930 Carroll Ave. Ste. 420, Takoma Park, MD 20912, (301) 270-2900. For more information about programs and workshops, visit http://www.icl.org/programs-workshops.shtml

Advocacy Executive Director Leadership Program: This program will kick-off on Saturday, June 1 and continue through June 5 at the Wilder Forest Retreat Center near Minneapolis. The "Advocacy ED Program" is specially tailored to meet the needs of those ED's who work under the special pressures of advocacy and lobbying work. Many of these ED's have risen to their positions as activists, without formal training in organizational management. Topics will include leadership styles, avoiding burnout, fundraising, financial management, diversity in the workplace, planning, staff and volunteer management and effective board relations. The program is supported by the Beldon Fund, and preference will be given to applicants from Beldon's key states -- Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Florida. There will also be slots for applicants from other states. If have questions about eligibility, please contact Baird Straughan.

Institute for Policy Studies, Suite 1020, 733 15^th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005 (202) 234-9382, www.hotsalsa.org offers workshops for organizers and organizations. The Social Action and Leadership School for Activists (SALSA) of the Institute for Policy Studies offers affordable classes to make you and your organization more effective.

April 23: Getting the Most From Your Internship Experience: A Workshop for Interns, Training for Trainers,

April 25: Conflict Management Series: Conflict Management Tools and Techniques

April 29: Starting a Successful Nonprofit Series: Getting Your 501c3 status

April 30: Into to Grant Writing Part 1

May 2: Foundation Fundraising; Conflict Management Series: Nonprofit Conflicts that Require Special Handling

May 6: Starting a Successful Nonprofit Series: Constructing Your Budget

May 7: Intro to Grant Writing Part 2

May 9: Designing a Conflict Management System; Cultivating Major Donors

May 13: Starting a Successful Nonprofit Series: Setting Up Your Books

May 14: Effective Direct Marketing

May 15: Legal Issues in Lobbying & Advocacy for Nonprofits

May 16: Program Planning and Evaluation

May 20: Starting a Successful Nonprofit Series: Raising Seed Money

May 22: Intro to Nonprofit Accounting

May 23: Grassroots Organizing Essentials

Support Center for Nonprofit Management, 305 Seventh Ave., 11^th floor, New York, NY 10001, (212)924-6744. For more information about the following events, email info@supportctr.org or visit www.supportctr.org

Program Evaluation: May 23, 9:30am-4:30pm

Intensive Proposal Development: May 7 & 14, 9:30am-4:30pm

Planned Giving: May 8, 9:30am-2:30pm

Managing the Successful Development Department: April 25, 9:30am-4:30pm

Third Sector New England, 18 Tremont St., Suite 700, Boston, MA 02108 (617) 523-6565, www.tsne.org is sponsoring the 8^th Annual Nonprofit Workout: Knowledge and Skills to Transform Your Organization and Community. The event will be held at the Westin-Waltham-Boston Hotel from May 13^th-May 14^th. A wide range of topics relating to nonprofit management will be addressed. Visit the website or call 1-800-281-7770 to register.

Training Resources for the Environmental Community (TREC), PO Box 1748, Vashon Island, Washington 98070, (202) 463-7800. The following trainings are for environmental communities in the Northwest and Southwest. For more information, email events@trecnw.org or visit www.trecnw.org

Financial Strategies for Tough Times: Kay Sohl, Vancouver, BC, April 24

Getting Major Gifts: Kim Klein and Andrea Seale, Seattle, WA, May 2-3

Fundraising for the Long Haul: Kim Klein, Seattle, WA, May 23-24

Getting the Grant: The Basics of Foundation Fundraising: Stephanie Roth and Andrea Seale, Seattle, WA, June 4 & 5.

Getting Major Gifts: Kim Klein and Andrea Seale, Seattle, WA, June 6-7

Trustee Leadership Development, Inc., 719 Indiana Ave., Suite 370, Indianapolis, IN, (317) 636-0266, www.tld.org. The following are dates and locations for The Inner Work of the Leader: Discovering the Leader Within workshop. They are geared towards volunteers and leaders in every sector with an interest in improving their leadership skills.

May 2-3: Indianapolis, IN

June 27-28: Chicago, IL

July 25-26: Boston, MA

August 8-9: South Bend, IN

Foundation Deadlines for April 30 – July 15, 2002

By Nicole Waldheim

Listed below are proposal deadlines for some funders with an interest in local river and watershed preservation efforts. We have done our best to verify deadlines, but if you are thinking of applying, be sure to double check well before the application is due. Before submitting a proposal to any funder, be sure to obtain their guidelines and read them thoroughly and, if possible, discuss your project with a program officer

Funder	Region	Deadline	Phone	Web Site/E-Mail
The Cricket Foundation	New England	April 30	(617) 570-1130
The Rauch Foundation	Long Island, NY and MD	April 30	(516) 873-9808	info@rauchfoundation.org
Environmental Support Center**	National	May 1	(202) 966-9834	www.envsc.org
Maki Foundation	CO, ID, MT, NM, UT, and WY	May 1	(970) 925-3272
The Mountaineers Foundation	Pacific Northwest	May 1	(206) 689-5691	www.speakeasy.org/~mtnrsfnd
New England Grassroots Environment Fund	CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, and VT	May 1	(802) 223-4622	www.grassrootsfund.org
Bullitt Foundation	Rainforest region of southern AK, ID, western MT, OR, WA, and BC, Canada	May 1	(206) 343-0807	www.bullitt.org
Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts	MA - Franklin, Hampden Counties