Resource Development in Nonprofit Organizations
Political Science 531
Spring
2004
Tuesday
6-8:45
LH
110
Instructor:
Stephen Meinhold, Ph.D.
Office: Lakeside Hall 261
Office Hours: By appointment
Phone: 962.3223
Email: meinholds@uncw.edu
Course
Description: Introduction to various resources important to nonprofit
organizations including financial support, volunteers, and community awareness,
and to the wide range of organization activities utilized for acquisition and
maintenance of these resources.
Texts:
1. Kelly, Kathleen S. 1998. Effective
Fund-Raising Management. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates (order
online from commercial retailer)
2. A variety of
free web based readings and handouts.
Assignments:
1. Development job vacancy essay and interview development
officer.
2. Nonprofit development scandal essay.
3. Philanthropic behavior essay.
4. Nonprofit organization description essay.
5. Nonprofit organization development essay.
6. Solicitation letters.
7. Cultivation strategy.
8. Nonprofit grant opportunity—problem—need essay.
9. Foundation Profile
10. Identification of funding sources to match problem.
11. Program statement essay.
12. Budged development project.
13. Grant proposal and presentation.
Grading:
Assignments 1-12 are worth 10 points each. The grant proposal and presentation are
worth 150 points combined. Total points
for the course = 270. A = 270-243, B = 242-216, C = 215-189, D = 188-162, F =
< 161.
Course Schedule:
Week 1 (January 13): Course Introduction
Week 2 (January 20): America’s Nonprofit Sector
Readings:
Kelly,
Chapters 1 and 2
Indepndent
Sector. “Report on Giving and Volunteering in the U.S. 2001” read the Key
Findings section, PDF on the right side.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1889carnegie.html
Michael S. Joyce. “What charities got done
when no one was looking.” http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/magazines/2000-03/joyce.html
Lamar Alexander. “What's Wrong with American Giving and How to Fix It:
A call for less government and more civic entrepreneurs.” http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/magazines/1997/1.3/alexander.html
Assignments:
Part
1: Identify a job development vacancy.
Write a one page application letter for this position stating why you
are interested in the job and how you can contribute to the organizations
goals. (10 points)
Part
2: Interview a professional development person employed by a nonprofit
organization. Write a two-page essay
describing the organization and summarizing the your conversation. Do research about the organization and
person you plan to interview before you call or arrive. Plan to ask the following questions (at a
minimum):
1.
How long have they been in the development field?
2.
What are the three most important qualities of a good development person for a
nonprofit organization?
3.
What is a typical day like?
4.
Where is their position in the organizations management structure? (10 points)
Week 3 (January 27): Resources 1: Donors I
Kelly, Chapter 15.
Charles T. Clotfelter. 1997. “The Economics of Giving.” http://www.pubpol.duke.edu/people/faculty/clotfelter/giving.pdf
Assignment:
Research a nonprofit organization that has recently been
involved in a scandal regarding stewardship of donors’ contributions. Write a two-page essay describing the
scandal and how the organization dealt with it. Be prepared to make a 5-minute presentation on your essay in
class during Week 4. (20 points)
Week 4 (February 3): Resources (continued) Individual Donors II:
Generosity v. Altruism (comparative
study) http://users.du.se/~kpa/Karen%20Wright.pdf
"Inclination, Obligation, and
Association: What We Know and What We Need to Learn about Donor
Motivation."
Paul G. Schervish. In Critical Issues in Fund Raising, edited by Dwight F.
Burlingame. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1997. 110-138.
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/gsas/swri/documents/Inclination&Obligation.pdf
"Social Participation and
Charitable Giving: A Multivariate Analysis."
Paul G. Schervish and John J. Havens. Voluntas: International Journal of
Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 8, no. 3 (1997): 235-260. (Republished
here by kind permission of Voluntas.) http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/gsas/swri/documents/sp.pdf
"The Modern Medici: Patterns,
Motivations, and Giving Strategies of the Wealthy."
Paul G. Schervish. Paper presented on the panel, "The New
Philanthropists," at the inaugural forum, "What is 'New' About New
Philanthropy," of the University of Southern California Nonprofit Studies
Center. Los Angeles, January 20, 2000
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/gsas/swri/documents/usc.pdf
"The Mind of the Millionaire:
Findings from a National Survey on Wealth with Responsibility."
Paul G. Schervish and John J. Havens. New Directions in Philanthropic
Fundraising, Understanding Donor Dynamics: The Organizational Side of
Charitable Giving. Edited by Eugene R. Tempel. Number 32, Summer 2001, pp.
75-107.
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/gsas/swri/documents/mompub.pdf
Assignments:
Write
a 2-page essay describing your philanthropic behavior or that of a close friend
or family member. Analyze your/their
motivations for giving, when giving began and describe how decisions are made
regarding the timing and magnitude of contributions. Be prepared to present your analysis in class during Week 4. (20 points)
Choose
a local nonprofit organization to profile.
Write a two page essay describing the organizations purpose, history,
organization, board, etc. (20 points)
Week 5 (February 10): Resources 2: Government
Readings:
TBA
Assignments:
Write
a two-page essay describing the development activity of the organization you
profiled in the previous assignment.
Include all development and cultivation strategies used by the
organization. Assess their
effectiveness. (20 points)
Write
a letter asking a donor to the nonprofit organization you profiled asking them
to increase their support for the organization’s general fund from $250 to
$500. (10 points)
Write
a letter asking a potential donor to contribute to a specific goal established
by your nonprofit organization. (10 points)
Week 6 (February 17): Resources 3: Foundations
What is a Foundation? (Council of Foundations) http://www.cof.org/whatis/index.htm
Other
readings TBA.
Assignments:
Develop
a twelve-month cultivation strategy for the donors to the nonprofit
organization you are profiling. The
strategy should be substantially different from the one currently being used by
the organization. (20 points)
Research
a foundation that provides grants to organizations like the one you have chosen
to profile. Write a two-page essay
profiling the foundation, their programs and specific information that might be
helpful to a nonprofit applying for one of their grants. (20 points)
Week 7 (February 24): Annual Giving and Special Events
Readings:
Kelly,
Chapter 11.
Assignment:
Write
a one-page summary of a problem/need/opportunity that your nonprofit
organization could address with the help of a grant. (20 points)
Week 8 (March 2): Capital Campaigns, Major Gifts and Planned Gifts
Readings:
Kelly,
Chapter 12.
Assignments:
Identify
and describe three sources of funding to match the problem/need/opportunity
that you identified for your nonprofit organization. (20 points)
Week 9 (March 9): Spring Break
Week 10 (March 16): Grant Writing 1
Readings:
TBA
Assignments:
Write
three-page essay developing a program to match your organizations needs with
the priorities of one of the sponsors you have identified. Your essay should include a project
overview, program description, objectives planned and measurable outcomes. (20
points)
Prepare
a 2 year budged for your program that you have developed to submit with a
proposal seeking funds from your targeted sponsor. (20 points)
Week 11 (March 23): Grant Writing 2
Readings:
Miller Chapters 7 and 8
Week 12 (March 30): Stewardship I
Readings:
How to Assess Nonprofit Financial Performance http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/hauser/research/finassess.pdf
Other
readings TBA
Week 13 (April 6): Fundraising and the Internet
Readings:
TBA.
Week 14 (April 13): Other Resources: Volunteers and Volunteerism
Readings: TBA
Week 15 (April 20): Grant Proposal Presentations
Assignment:
Final
grant proposal project should be handed in on the day you give your
presentation (150 points – 100 for written proposal and 50 points for your
presentation)