Grants and fundraising/Fundraising
This is a learning project to study fundraising, how it is done and how it is tracked.
Funding is the lifeblood of any venture -- without some money, there is no way to pay for lights and heat that allow a meeting space to be used.
Most modern funding takes the form of project funding -- money given for a certain project with a certain duration. Some organizations are endowments, whereby a large amount of money is invested, and the earnings that money makes is used to run the yearly "operating" budget.
Types of Funding/Fundraising[edit | edit source]
Initially, we are going to look into the area of grant funding, where a funding agency requires a proposal to affect a certain well-defined set of goals.
Later on, we could review the process of formal fundraising, whereby entities raise small amounts of money by public appeal.
Motivation for fundraising: Vision[edit | edit source]
To effectively raise funds, organizations need a vision of what the purpose for the funds will be. Often this is a project scope, but many times it can be the sole purpose for an organization. With a vision, the organization requiring funding can field a budget and build a proposal which can be submitted to various funding agencies.
Ideas for Grants[edit | edit source]
Video (in conjunctions with Wikinews) - This is the current focus. Hoping to incorporate this as an "outreach" proposal.
Writing bounties of some sort
Study of how a large Internet site deploys software (MediaWiki for Wikimedia projects)
U.S. Grants[edit | edit source]
- $2 Million Digital Media and Learning Competition
- Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA)
- Advanced Learning Technologies (ALT) Grants
- A wiki grant for 300K
- Scionline.org's government grant to run their site info
- Grants by Category
- Science and Technology Grants.
- Art Grants
- Community Development Grants
- Other Grants
- Energy Grants
- Education Grants
- Business and Commerce Grants
- Agricultural Grants
Canadian Grants[edit | edit source]
WMF grant links and groups[edit | edit source]
- Wikimedia Meta Grant Department
- Wikimedia Grants Page - Access by Permission Only
There is also an IRC channel dedicated to Wikimedia fundraising at: #wikimedia-fundraising (on Freenode)
Proposal Development[edit | edit source]
Steps to follow:
- Write for Application forms and guides
- Call a past grantee
- Call a past reviewer
- Contact the program officer
State the problem you are addressing, and how the project will meet the grantor's objectives with regards to this project.
See also[edit | edit source]
Resources for writing grants[edit | edit source]
- Resources for writing grants for JISC - some useful analyses of previous grants, and thing to keep in mind for putting together a successful bid
External links[edit | edit source]
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - committed to raising the high school graduation rate and helping students get ready for college and work.
- Richard Lounsbery Foundation - has in the past supported the Wikimedia Foundation; supports elementary and secondary science and math education.
- MacArthur Foundation - Digital Media, Learning and Education.
- Nolo Guide to Non-Profits.
- National Endowment for Humanities digital projects
- KLD Research & Analytics "...the leading authority on social research and indexes for institutional investors." See w:Amy Domini
- Fundable
- NASA Cash Prize Competitions
- Cambrian House - Crowd sourcing and eventually micro-funding
- Google Grants