Fundraising

Financial sustainability can feel like a mountain to climb, but it is a key component of any UWC short course, and fundraising often forms a part of this. Sometimes it's large as with EU funding, for example, and sometimes it's lots of smaller donations.

Fundraising can be difficult, and some people train for years to become good at 'making the ask' to potential donors. In the UWC short courses spirit of sharing resources and knowledge, UWC International has pulled together the knowledge of these trained fundraising professionals to create a fundraising toolkit, which includes:

  • Overarching fundraising hints and tips
  • Advice for creating a strategy before you make your ask
  • Advice for creating a Case for Support
  • A pitch example, and
  • Fact and data sheets on the UWC movement

Fundraising Hints and Tips

Below are a series of hints and tips to consider before you get started.

What to Fundraise for

There are various budget items which can be fundraised, not only scholarships for participants. Think about asking wealthy individuals, foundations, corporations and trade organisations, and/or governments and institutions for sponsorship (in kind or monetary) or donations (monetary) to cover:

  • staff/facilitator stipend/salary
  • transportation
  • venue costs
  • accommodation
  • food and drinks
  • IT and telecoms
  • promotion and materials
  • participant scholarships

Where Prospects can be Found

The best prospects have affinity with UWC’s mission and values; are excited about UWC’s impact; have the ability and propensity to give; and are known to UWC or to someone we know.

Prospects can be:

  • UWC alumni, parents and existing members and supporters
  • Friends of friends of friends
  • Rich lists (vs) giving lists
  • Online databases
  • General media
  • Specialist philanthropic press
  • Through NC patrons/trustees
  • Networking events

Researching Prospects

Research your prospects as much as possible before making the ask. For individuals, this includes:

  • Personal information, family, background
  • Career, education
  • Board memberships, other roles/connections
  • Personal/social relationships
  • Assets
  • Interests
  • Charities supported, past donations, amounts
  • Reputation, news articles

And for companies, foundations and the public sector, this includes:

  • Priority CSR / funding / philanthropic / sponsorship / policy areas
  • Available budgets and expenditure timelines
  • Application process and timelines
  • Formal and informal decision-making processes
  • Use resonant language/jargon in your application
      • Important: plan for intense reporting to this kind of donor

Priorities to Consider

Here are some key things to consider before making the ask:

  • Maximise time by focusing on a smaller number of most promising prospective donors for large gifts
  • Access NC members’ networks of wealthy, influential people
  • Leverage powerful alumni impact stories from your country
  • Legal registration is (almost always) essential. Tax benefits to donors can be a plus.

Online Training

Free online training in fundraising can be accessed here (a selection of free online Fundraising courses and MOOCs from top universities and colleges) and here ('Fundraising for the Not-for-Profit' course).

Fundraising Protocol and Gift Acceptance Code

To help avoid fundraising disputes among UWC entities, below are the UWC fundraising protocols and gift acceptance code of conduct which you should read and follow.

Fundraising Protocols Solicitation.pdf
UWC Gift Acceptance Code.pdf

Making the Ask Strategy

As the saying goes, 'if you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail'. To avoid this, the two below documents form a strategy for approaching a potential donor, and have been developed to allow you to think through the ask ahead of time and prepare.

UWC Guide to Fundraising from Individuals.pdf
UWC making the ask strategy sheet_Advice and Guidelines.doc

Case for Support

A case for a potential donor to support your cause gives a structured approach, outlines who you are and what you wish to achieve, and aligns all of your team members so they can approach potential donors with a common understanding. Below are guidelines to help you with developing a case for support.

Guidelines for Developing a Case for Support.pdf

Below is an example of a case for support, a fundraising brochure, developed by the organiser of the International Biosphere Stewardship Program 2019. It features the profiles of outstanding applicants who need sponsorship to attend the course, including details of what applicants themselves are doing to raise funds to cover their own course fee. This is a great resource, and really impressed our fundraising experts here at UWC International! Think about creating your own case for support in this way.

Students needing sponsorship opt.pdf

Pitch Example

Below is an example pitch to a potential donor which you can download to your Drive and edit accordingly.

UWC Short Courses_Pitch Example_January 2018

Fundraising Letter Templates for Participants

Below is a template that you can share with your participants which they can use to fundraise for their short course expenses.

Short Course Fundraising Letter Template.docx

The Facts

Presenting a donor with impressive facts about UWC can help to support your personalised words. Below is the 'State of UWC' paper, published in October 2018, and a UWC Fact sheet, both of which you can save to your Drive and distribute along with your funding proposals.

201810 Shared Paper M_ State of UWC Oct 2018.pdf
UWC Factsheet.pdf

Below you can find a list of funding and grant opportunities.

Funding and Grant Opportunities - Short Courses

GoFundMe is a great space for fundraising especially for charities and organisations. The only thing that you will need to do is visit the website and start your fundraising campaign. Good luck!!!