By Reeva Kulkarni | Associate Consultant
Fundraising Bootcamp (October 2nd and 3rd 2019)
Atma conducted an intensive 2-day training workshop for 39 participants (mostly leaders of NGOs and fundraising associates on their team) on various themes in the area of fundraising. Beginning with the mindsets required for fundraising, we took the participants through sessions on strategic decision making for fundraising, prioritisation of fundraising effort, researching potential donors, story telling for communicating impact, smart budgeting for fundraising and making effective elevator pitches.
A common refrain heard from NGOs is that they are unable to understand what donors are looking for. To address this and to facilitate a discussion between NGOs and people who are often on the other side of funding decisions, Atma brought together a panel of leading funders for a panel discussion followed by audience Q&A. They fielded questions around what funders look for when choosing the NGOs they wish to work with, why there is a considerable lead time between initiating a conversation with a funder to the realisation of funds, how to build a relationship with a funder that could be more than transactional, and many others. The session was very well received and the participants found great value in hearing from the panel.
Demo Days (October and November 2019)
Over the last year, a number of our partner NGOs shared that in all their experience pitching to donors, whether or not a proposal converted to funding, they did not receive any feedback from the donors about what worked and what they need to do differently. Atma conceptualised Demo Days as a simulation of real-life pitches where our partner NGOs could practice their pitch in a low stress environment and receive feedback from donors. The pitches were judged by panelists with significant fundraising / grant-making experience.
The NGOs found the feedback shared extremely valuable and appreciated the chance to learn how they can put their best foot forward as they seek support for the work they do. Atma Consultants are now working with the partner NGOs to incorporate the feedback received and refine the pitches and presentations.
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
