Comprehension

Refer closely to Text 1 and answer the questions:

1. What organizations need donations and memberships fees?

2. What term is used to determine fund-raising and membership aspect of public relations?

3. How do public relations practitioners raise funds?

4. Why is development a part of public relations?

Vocabulary

1. Find in Text 1 equivalents for the following Russian words and phrases:

некоммерческая организация; денежный взнос; полагаться на что-либо; профилактика заболеваний; день открытых дверей; бывшие студенты.

2. Give Russian equivalents for the following words and phrases:

revenues; citizen action group; to solicit; telethon; celebrity auction.

3. Match 1 – 5 with a – e to form expressions from Text 1.

broadcasting membership professional arts trade

organization association station group fee

Give their Russian equivalents.

4. Match up the words on the left with the definitions on the right.

fundraising lifeblood celebrity prospect membership

the state of being a member of a club, group, organization, or system and receiving the advantages of belonging to their group; collecting money for a specific purpose; a famous person, especially someone in the entertainment business; a person that has a good chance of success in the future; the most important thing needed by an organization, relationship etc. to continue to exit or develop successfully.

Text Discussion

1. Discuss the importance of fundraising and membership for nonprofit organizations.

2. Think of examples of fund-raising campaigns in your region. Analyze the results of these campaigns.

Over to you

Read some useful information for fundraising in Text 1A. Then discuss in small groups what qualities fund-raisers should possess. Do you think you can make a good fund-raiser?

Text 1A

FundRaising

1. Obtain tax-exempt status. There will be attorneys in your area who will do this for you on an in-kind basis.

2. There is always competition with other worthy projects. Present your case with facts, benefits, and reasons for giving.

3. Project confidence in the fund-raising organization by having community leaders head the campaign. This encourages donors to give with the knowledge that their gift will be used wisely and effectively.

4. Personal contacts – eyeball to eyeball – have never been challenged as the best way to approach prospective donors.

5. Leadership gifts are important. Go after the biggest donors first. Send the right person at the right time to the right prospect for the right amount.

6. Maximize what your organization does with donations. Minimize expenses.

7. Canvass your population. Address any audience that will sit still – women's clubs, veterans' organizations, civic clubs, church and synagogue groups, library groups. Stay with your audience, but lead them in your presentation.

8. Accept cash, checks or pledges. Ninety percent of the people who make pledges honor them. In-kind gifts are appropriate, as are memorials and endowments.

9. Remember: Leadership is the key!

10. Finally – DON'T FORGET TO SAY THANK YOU to both workers and donors!

Complete Text 2 using the words in the box.

target money strategy property business disapproval costs program resources charities methods

text 2

charities and fund-raising

Effective charitable work depends on securing adequate(1) ...… . In many cases this depends on effective fund-raising. As fund-raising is one of the principal influences on the public’s perception of charity, the (2) ...… used and the integrity of the fund-raisers are crucial to public confidence. It is very important that trustees manage and control fund-raising effectively, efficiently, and economically. The highest standards need to be adopted and systems for protecting the (3) ...… raised need to be put into place.

A professional fund-raiser is any person who carries on a fund-raising (4) ...… for gain which is wholly or primarily engaged in soliciting or otherwise procuring money or other (5) …... for charitable purposes.

The choice of fund-raising methods is a matter for trustees to decide. However, charities need to be alert and sensitive to public opinion and criticism. Fund-raising methods which meet with (6) ...… can damage the charity and reduce public confidence in the sector as a whole.

It is essential to spend time before undertaking any fund-raising exercise to develop a (7) ...: some forms of fund-raising can be costly and it is important to be sure that the costs will be justified in terms of a realistic return. The strategy will need to cover the following points.

• The need for funds – are funds required for a special project or part of the charity’s rolling (8) …... of work? How much is needed? Would it be possible to collaborate with other charities operating in the same field to meet the need?

• Possible sources of funding – for example, grants from local or central Government, grant-making (9) ...… or companies.

• The resources available to support fund-raising – fund-raising costs money. (10) ...… can range from producing appeal literature to employing a professional fund-raiser and organizing fund-raising events.

• The proportion of gross receipts which will be left after fund-raising costs have been met. We strongly recommend that trustees agree, in advance, the likely proportion of the gross receipts which will be spent on the costs of fund-raising. Actual performance needs to be monitored against that (11) ...… and the trustees should satisfy themselves that the expenditure is justified.

Read Text 3. Karen Lovett, a fund-raiser, gives practical advice to beginners in fundraising.

text 3

Fund Raising Public Relations

So, you have a new organization set up to help with a wonderful needy cause. Think you can just sit back and wait on the money to come rolling in to help provide the financial support your group needs? Don’t count on it. With just the sheer number of organizations in the world today, the competition for donations can be a nightmare.

Sure you probably think your cause is much more needy than someone else’s cause. The trick comes in convincing the person that has the funds to donate that your cause is the one that they should be supporting. Just because a cause is genuine is no guarantee that people will be lining up to shove checks in your direction. You have to go out and search for the people that will believe in your cause enough to loosen up their purse strings.

You don’t have to rush out and pay some big expensive public relations firm to handle the publicity either though. Of course, if you have the funds or contacts to make use of such a firm, then, don’t let me stop you. Don’t feel that you must have someone like that in order to have a successful fund raising campaign.

A successful fund raising campaign isn’t something you can do overnight. It takes time and energy to build it up from the bottom. Not only do you have to plan for it, but you also have to actively work at it. Hey, nobody said that it would be easy. If they did, you shouldn’t have listened to them. After all, how many times have you had money just handed to you for no reason?

There you have the most important question of your fund raising campaign. It is even more important than how much money you need. Why should anyone give your organization money? Why should they care about your organization’s cause of choice? Are you getting the word out about your cause in a positive manner? Are you merely begging for money, or are you showing them why you need the money and how it will be spent?

Don’t take it for granted that everyone wants to donate money to your organization. Treat it like a business advertising campaign. Go out there and actively search out ways to get the publicity your fundraising campaign needs and deserves. That is the key to making sure that your financial goals are met. If they don’t know about your organization or believe in your cause, why should they hand over their hard-earned money to you?

Show them how important the cause is. Show them how much your need their help. Show them how they can help. Be respectful of their decision whether they help or not. Above all, show appreciation to those that decide to help further your cause. It may not be a big donation, but even pennies add up in the end. The important part is that they believe in your organization and your cause enough to help.

1. Match 1 – 5 with a – e to form expressions from Text 3.

needy financial fundraising hard-earned sheer

money support campaign number cause

2. Now match the expressions to these equivalent expressions.

1. a large quantity of something;

2. what you earn by working hard;

3. a need which is to be met;

4. donations that you make to some organization, group etc.;

5. a series of actions intended to collect money to achieve a particular result.

3. Find in Text 3 equivalents for the following Russian words and phrases:

конкуренция; ночной кошмар; убеждать; выстраиваться в очередь; быстро; просить денег; заслуживать.

4. Give Russian equivalents for the following words and phrases:

to shove checks in someone’s direction; to loosen up one’s purse strings; to build something up from the bottom; to have money handed for no reason; to take for granted; to show appreciation.

5. According to Text 3 are the following statements true or false? If they are false, say why.

1. If you have a good reason, you won’t have any problems with fundraising.

2. Nowadays competition for donations is decreasing.

3. One of the main tasks of a fund raiser is to look for the right people who are ready to donate.

4. A successful fund-raising campaign is not easy to organize.

5. The most important question of fund-raising is the amount of money necessary to meet your need.

6. Publicity is one of the tools in fundraising.

7. Public relations fund-raisers have to use a lot of time and energy to persuade donors to support their ideas.