 fundraising fundraising goodpushadmin fri 1042019 1543 fundraising for your skate project so you ve got a great idea for a project that will use skateboarding for social change but you need support to get it off the ground this toolkit will give an overview on fundraising for skate projects whether you re just starting out or are looking to get your organization to the the next level types of funding streams before getting into the how of fundraising we need to know what the options are some of the most common types of funding for nonprofit grassroots skate projects are  crowdfunding online donations  this is one of the quickest ways to get support using one of several lowcost online platforms like these  to collect small donations from friends family and skaters worldwide institutional grants  these are often larger amounts 1000 1 million from foundations development agencies or local councils given in exchange for a significant amount of reporting and other paperwork highly competitive and timeintensive corporate donations  many businesses give a certain amount of profits to charities each year usually there is a geographic or thematic link to the charities they support sponsorships inkind donations  sometimes it s easier to get the equipment or services you need donated than to get money to pay for these things examples include skateboarding equipment construction materials used electronics or drinking water deciding which type of funding streams make the most sense for your project will depend on many different factors such as where your project is based who your project serves and what connections you have almost every project however should aim to get support from multiple funding sources since this will make your project more sustainable and resilient if you lose one of your main donors getting started use your networks  no matter which type of funding you re seeking it s essential to build and use your networks for people to support your work they need to trust you here are some networking tips set aside some time to map out all of your contacts and potential leads who could either fund you or connect you to a funder make a list of potential supporters in the local community and reach out to them regularly local businesses can be great for providing art supplies water or snacks local officials are essential for supporting the running your activities but can help connect you to other important people invite these people to your events to show the impact of your project connect with the skate community locally and worldwide hold local events and publish regular updates on social media tap into nonskateboarding communities most skaters don t have much money so connect to arts or wider sports communities deckaid fundraiser for skateistan in nyc institutional fundraising securing grants from foundations councils and governments requires persistence strong administrative skills and longterm planning here are a few tips for finding and getting grants register your nonprofit as a legal entity if you haven t already this is a minimum requirement for most grants subscribe to online funding portals like fundsforngos which compiles and shares calls for applications worldwide find the websites of funders who are supporting similar youth empowerment projects in your community and see if your project might also fit their funding requirements once you ve found a call for applications that s a good fit try to make contact with the donor before submitting your application be careful though some donors encourage this while others do not invite local foundations council members or other institutional donors to your events this is a great way to build the relationship before focusing on money matters once you ve successfully gotten a grant keep building that relationship you can also ask them for help in connecting with other donors who might be interested to support your work messaging communications your communications is a crucial part of your fundraising and the key is to always tailor your messaging for the specific audience this includes your website social media photos videos and any written documents that you provide to donors what you communicate and the tone that you use should not always be the same for example your social media will likely be more informal and may assume that most followers understand the benefits of skateboarding for youth a grant application on the other hand should use formal language and might need to clearly explain the benefits of skateboarding as well as how your skate project helps address local challenges such as refugee integration or highschool dropout rates communication for fundraising tips create a short written overview of your key communications messages that all your staff volunteers can use to be on the same page including a 30second elevator pitch back up your claims about social change through skateboarding with data and statistics gathered from your project similarly tell real stories of change from your project to inspire people and give an emotional push for them to donate note first check out our child protection toolkit  when talking or writing to a specific donor whether it s an individual business or foundation make a clear link between your activities and their priorities highlight any external recognition of your project such as media coverage and awards online fundraising campaigns whether you have a new project you want to crowdfund for or you re planning an annual funding drive online campaigns are a lowcost way to get the message out to maximize your efforts plan ahead so you can link the campaign with other big projects that you already have in the works such as a film you re planning to release or a new location you want to establish make sure the messaging in all of your online posts newsletter and website links to your campaign and pushes people to donate try to have only one call to action in each social media post or newsletter to avoid overwhelming people be ready with thank you systems for when you do receive donations so your supporters feel happy they donated and that every cent is appreciated next steps as you begin to apply for grants you will notice that there are many documents that they ll request from your organization one common document is a logical framework aka logframe which is a table demonstrating how your activities will built towards a longterm positive impact check out our goodpush monitoring evaluation and learning toolkit to learn more about logframes check out our organizational capacity toolkit to learn about organizational and governance structures which are also frequently requested documentation by institutional donors take a look at the goodpush forum on fundraising  where we regularly post leads on grants and current funding opportunities around the world watch our recent webinar on fundraising for social skate projects  including adapting to covid looking for some ways to raise funding but don t know where to start check out our intro to fundraising for social skate projects and check out the tools to help you keep track of your leads and progress along the way simple report template google doc  goodpush fundraising webinar june 2020  tony hawk foundation skatepark fundraising guide fundsforngos foundation center logframe template and example tools4dev  proposal template tools4dev  donor table template excel  concept note template doc  