Synod publishes fund-raising manual for charities
2.11.2016
Tatyana Zvereva, Head of the Special Projects portal, Miloserdie.ru, is the author of a new manual entitled “Fundraising for beginners: ways of looking for funding for charity projects”. In using this publication, NGO leaders and their staff will be able to learn the basics of fundraising activities, as well as gaining an understanding of how church and secular charities operate.
The manual has been published as part of “The ABC of Compassion” series run by the Synodal Department for Charity and explains how new fundraisers can organise the financing of their projects from scratch with donations. The publication reviews various fundraising methods, together with the ethical, legal and economic principles involved in collecting donations, as well as ways of working with different philanthropists, Government organisations and the media. It also contains examples of current practice followed by both church and secular charities which can help newcomers to fundraising avoid mistakes in differentiating between the two in their work.
“NGO members need to understand one important thing. Even if his or her role is not directly related to fundraising, they should nevertheless still get involved in trying to raise money for their organisation by contacting a potential philanthropist. They could meet a potential benefactor at any time. The ability of NGO staff to provide the right amount of information and in the proper manner, as well as them being clear on the basic rules governing donations, will have a direct bearing on whether a philanthropist decides to make a financial contribution”, said Zvereva.
The manual consists of 10 chapters with each one devoted to a particular fundraising aspect, e.g. networking and an ability to tell people about your work, working with major private and corporate philanthropists, attracting large-scale donations, acquiring grants and subsidies, ways of raising funds and the technologies involved, e.g. IT, dealing with the media, together with the legal and financial rules involved when collecting donations.
There have been other publications in “The ABC of Compassion” series such as a “Handbook for the homeless”, “100 phrases in Russian Sign Language: a phrasebook for the clergy”, and “How to make churches accessible to all: technical standards and architectural considerations”. All this material is free to download from the “Methods” section on the Synodal Department for Charity’s website (www.diaconia.ru/books).
