Assessing Fund Development Capacity in Monterey

All local arts organizations seek financial sustainability. Getting there, however, can be a challenge—even for the most established nonprofits. Community foundations are working to help, and in Monterey County the process begins with a simple but strategic self-assessment tool.

”Our goal is to help arts organizations reflect on their existing strengths, resources and readiness to undertake different fund development strategies,” says Kaki Rusmore, Management Assistance Program Officer at the Community Foundation for Monterey County.

Charting success in three dimensions

Applicants to the Communities Advancing the Arts grant fund of the community foundation receive a ready-to-use tool. This single page was squeezed down from a more complex assessment used in earlier capacity-building efforts. It helps nonprofit leaders think about three essential components in their fund development work.

• Strategy: Considering the optimal mix of revenues by category (earned income, donations, grants, endowment) and by fund source (individuals, businesses, government, foundations); and identifying activities used to generate funds (campaigns, events, donor cultivation, grant proposals)
• Systems: Assessing the organization’s planning process, database management capabilities and ongoing approaches to implementing—and improving—fund development actions
• People: Taking stock of the skills and knowledge of both staff and volunteers related to the roles most essential to fund development, and measuring the extent to which all internal parties are fully on board with fund development efforts

This self-assessment is conducted as part of the application process for first-year funding within a program that spans three years overall. The assessment guides grantees in measuring their strengths and challenges as they develop a proposal for individualized capacity building in fund development. And it’s a critical first step in creating a fund development plan.

”We want to help each nonprofit group identify strategies that would fit with their organization’s mission, audience and future plans,” reports Kaki. ”Once the groups are funded, these initial assessments will be the basis for a more in-depth assessment with a consultant. Based on the full assessments, the groups hold board and staff retreats to discuss and create fund development plans that can be implemented in years two and three.”

This capacity-building program began through Communities Advancing the Arts, a major funding initiative of The James Irvine Foundation.

Check back in December to learn more about how this tool worked for the groups involved.

Filed under: Supporting nonprofits