Please pass this invitation on to others who might need help.

The students have several assignments each year in which they provide services for real non-profit groups as clients or partners. If you (or someone you know) might be interested in partnering with the students on one or more projects this semester, please read on.

Fundraising student projects needing partners for January to April 2010:

Here are the specific assignments the students must work on with partners in the next few weeks. If one or more of these fit your needs, you can register online for help.

Course: Fund 502 Trends in the Non-Profit Environment

Students need client/partner groups right away for three assignments:

SURVEY: Students will develop and conduct a survey to the trial stage. The survey can be on a topic of your choice. It could seek insights from donors or fundraisers, act as an involvement device in a direct mail campaign, evaluate feedback from a nonprofit group's clients on a project, or develop research on any other topic, with any audience. Students must complete their work by March 15, 2010

TRENDS RESEARCH: Students will research current trends in fundraising, volunteer management or related fields that will have value to non-profit groups or donors. Note: this is not prospect research on specific donors. The emphasis is on trends, comparing data from three or more similar sources. Ideally the students will use primary sources (such as data from your donor files, or newly compiled from interviews, surveys or tests). Students must complete their work by April 19.

ADVOCACY CAMPAIGN: The client for this project must be a Canadian registered charity. Students will develop an advocacy campaign plan to demand a change (or stop a change) in Canadian laws or policies that could be implemented by a Canadian charity without endangering its charitable status. Note: the focus is on the strategy. Students will not be creating the specific materials or executing the plan. Students must complete their work by April 19.

Course: Fund 515 Institutional Giving and Sponsorship

Do you want students to create a grant proposal for you?

CREATE A GRANT PROPOSAL: This assignment has four parts.

Part one: Identify, research and profile one specific institutional prospect for a grant application. This could be a company, a foundation, a government department, or another organization, but not a major individual donor. Students must complete their work by February 11.

Part two: Develop recognition opportunities that a corporate funder could get from a non-profit organization (NPO) for giving a grant. The funder must be a corporation or corporate foundation, not a foundation or government department, or major donor, as they treat recognition differently. Students must complete their work by Feb. 25.

Part three: Using contacts to influence a grantor: The students will write a memo outlining how the non-profit group's board, staff and volunteer leaders can use relationship-based fundraising to increase their chances to get grants. They will outline specific steps to discover and mobilize contacts who might improve access to funders, including cultivating relationships before applying, following up after a proposal is sent, and stewardship after the funder decides. Personal relationships between influential NPO leaders and funders can improve the odds of getting support. A written submission by itself is not usually as effective as the appropriate use of personal contacts. Students must complete their work by March 18.

Part four: Write the grant proposal to one specific institutional donor, including evaluation of the project's outcomes and impacts. The finished, written document should be ready to submit to a grantor. Students must complete their work by April 15.

Course: Fund 519 Direct Marketing

Do you want students to create a direct mail campaign for you?

CREATE A DIRECT MAIL CAMPAIGN: The client must be a non-profit organization that wants a direct mail package. If the quality is good, the client should plan to arrange final production and mail the package out. It is best if this mailing is scheduled for the fall. This mailing is for individual donors, NOT companies, foundations or or other organizations. (If that's what you need see grants, above). It could be to acquire new donors, get additional donations from current donors, or increase the giving level from current supporters. Students must complete their work by April 12. This assignment has four parts.

Part one: Create the concept document or creative brief. This is the basic agreement about the direct marketing project. The students will meet with the client to discuss their needs and goals. Based on this, the student will develop the concept for the proposed direct marketing campaign. The student will create a memo to the appropriate manager at the non-profit group (explaining the concept, and seeking approval to continue. The rest of the assignments in this course will be based on this document. This memo must provide enough information so that the manager (and anyone else who must be consulted about this conceptual stage) can approve the concept and sign off. Students must complete their work by Feb. 1.

Part two: Based on your creative brief for your direct mail campaign, create three variations for the exterior envelope, reply form, and reply envelope. Students must complete their work by March 1.

Part three: Develop a direct mail fundraising letter and support material. Students must complete their work by March 29.

Part four: Develop a production plan for the campaign, including:

Test plan: Chose two significantly different elements and describe the test necessary to evaluate which works better, including the method to measure the results of the test.

Intake system: Outline the intake system to handle incoming donations smoothly.

Telephone campaign: Explain how a telephone campaign might be tied into this direct mail plan to increase results.

Online and direct mail mutual support: Explain how the non-profit group could use their website and email to support the direct mail campaign, and, vice versa

Production specifications

Work plan and schedule

Budget

Details on each of these projects and how to register your interest can be found at http://mail.humber.ca/~Ken.Wyman/

Please read the full descriptions online before registering to determine if your needs are a suitable match for the projects. You must commit to providing time and information to the students or this will not work.

If you are interested, please post your needs online. That is far more effective than responding to me by email, phone, fax, mail or meeting in person.

Frequently Asked Questions:

When do you need to respond?

You are more likely to capture the students' interest if you respond early. Students choose their project partners on a first-come first-serve basis. Respond as soon as possible -- well before Feb. 1st. After that some opportunities may still remain.

The students have to choose their non-profit clients and gather background information quickly so all the work can be done well before the 15 week semester ends on April 30.

With 39 students in the program, we are only looking for a limited number of clients. Please understand that with just a few teams and many possible partners, we may not be able to help everyone.

How do you attract students?

When you register, give an exciting description of your organization. Students are attracted to organizations that are able to offer lots of information, ample time to answer their questions. Even more attractive are networking opportunities and mentorship. They appreciate recognition and letters of reference, too. Other incentives include the potential for internships or employment. While no payment is required, if you have the option of offering financial compensation, perhaps as an honorarium, that is sure to interest the students. You can also create an award or make a contribution to the scholarship fund if you wish.

Can you apply for more than one project?

You can work with students on one, several, or all of these projects. If you requested help in previous years - whether or not you were selected - you are welcome to apply again.

How do projects get selected?

The students select their own clients/partners based on the information you submit. Faculty do not act as match-makers to coordinate which students work with which non-profit groups.

Is this an internship?

This is not an internship. These are just a few of about 30 homework assignments the students will work on for the nine courses they are taking in the next 15 weeks. They still must spend 25 hours a week in the classroom, spread over four days a week.

Will the work be of good quality?

I think you'll be impressed by how capable and knowledgeable the students are. You can view their bios at http://humberfundraising2010.pbworks.com/

As the professor in this course I will check all their work to maintain quality control. After the students submit their projects I will grade them and provide feedback to the students. The students will then make any necessary changes and submit the final work to you for your consideration. Please allow at least 2 to 4 weeks after the listed deadline date before you receive your final copy. We ask you to share comments with the students and us.

Some of these are group assignments, so you would be working with a team, usually of 3 or 4 students. In other cases you will be working with only one student.

Do you have to be in Toronto?

You do not need to be in the Toronto area to be a partner/client. The students can interact with you by email and phone. Students from across Canada would welcome projects in their home areas. Projects can be outside Canada as well.

Do you have to be a registered charity?

Most of the projects are designed for non-profit groups whether or not they are registered charities. On one or two, as noted above, the client must be a registered charity. On several of the projects it might be possible to work with a consultant that works in the sector, a corporate donor, a foundation, a government department, a service club, a religious group, or other kinds of organizations.

How do you register your interest?

Details on how to register your interest can be found at http://mail.humber.ca/~Ken.Wyman/

What if none of these projects fit your needs?

If you'd like help on a different project that doesn't match these, you can invite the students to volunteer (or you can hire students part-time) even though it will not be one of their school assignments. The new grads and alumni are also available for employment. Please email me with volunteer opportunities or job notices and I'll forward them.

The Fundraising class is not looking for any more special events as class projects at this time.

BACKGROUND ON THE FUNDRAISING PROGRAM

The Humber Post-Graduate Fundraising and Volunteer Management Program covers annual and capital campaigns, grant writing, donor research, major individual donors, prospect research, donor relationship management / stewardship, planned giving, direct marketing, sponsorship, project management, financial management, volunteer coordination, The Raiser's Edge and Income Manager software, special events, ethics, charity tax law, and just about every conceivable form of fundraising. You can find more about the fundraising program at www.humber.ca/fundraising

I hope one or more of these projects may fit your needs. If not, perhaps the summer internship or the assignments in the fall semester will. We will contact you about those at the appropriate time -- however if you received a forwarded copy of this message, not one directly from Ken Wyman, please contact me to add your name to the email list for future opportunities.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Best wishes for your ongoing success,

Ken

Professor Ken Wyman CFRE

Coordinator, Postgraduate Fundraising & Volunteer Management Program

Humber College - Lakeshore Campus

3199 Lake Shore Blvd. West, Room F102

Toronto, ON  M8V 1K8 Canada

Tel:  416.675.6622 x 3013

Fax: 416.251.3797

Email: ken.wyman@humber.ca