Writing Sample: Nonprofit Development & Finance
By. Rachel Thompson
This is a collection of writing samples from the Hamline University class Nonprofit Development & Fundraising that I took in the Spring of 2014. The sample below includes a letter of inquiry, case for support, and a grant proposal for a fictitious nonprofit: Love for Our Troops. Please contact me for more information on this writing sample or questions about me at thompson.rachelc@gmail.com.
Letter
of Inquiry
RAZimmerman
Foundation
Reid
Zimmerman
1536
Hewitt Ave
St.
Paul, MN
55104
Dear RAZimmerman Foundation,
Love for Our Troops supports our United
States military personnel by making their deployment more comfortable. This year,
with your support we will be able to focus on fifty, previously unsupported,
platoons that are deployed in some of the most remote parts of Afghanistan. We will
do this by sending large care packages to make their platoons feel more like
home. Making this possible will include gaining the funds, not to just purchase
the items to be sent over, but also gaining the funds to cover the shipping
costs of these items.
We recognize that the RAZimmerman
Foundation has often supported American soldiers in the past and Love for Our
Troops will be delighted if you will continue to support these causes. So, with
your permission we will submit a grant application requesting $25,000.
Love for Our Troops started in 2004 with
a single care package to the founder’s son, who was deployed in Afghanistan.
This care package led to many care packages, which led to sending over small
appliances and gaming systems to the founder’s son’s platoon. When the public
found out about all the good that simple care packages could do, people started
donating and joining. Nine years later we have developed two programs: Operation
Home which send over large care packages to platoons from the Love for Our
Troops offices, and Adopt a Soldier which connects civilians with individual
soldiers to make sure the soldiers feel appreciated. The large care packages are
what we will send the nine platoons will sponsor this year. These packages include
small appliances, such as microwaves, entertainment items such as televisions
and gaming devices, and blankets for each soldier. These items make life more
comfortable for the soldiers and remind them that there are people at home who
support them.
Making nine new platoons more home-like
will mean giving about 1,500 soldiers a more comfortable deployment. Supporting
these troops will cost almost $210,000, which is less than $150 per
soldier. Making these barracks more
home-like is not terribly hard. Microwaves, computers, gaming systems, games,
and blankets is all it takes to make a dark, dusty platoon a little brighter. But,
providing these things do come at a cost.
Making soldiers feel appreciated by
making deployment easier is the goal of Love for Our Troops. Making their platoon
feel like home does not take too many things, and can cost less than $150 per
soldier. Providing large care packages to nine platoons stationed in the most
recluse areas of Afghanistan is such as simple way to say ‘Thank You’, and that
is how we want to honor the U.S. Troops.
I will be personally contacting your
offices soon, but if you have any immediate questions do not hesitate to call
(555-555-5555) or email me (rthompson@loveforourtroops.org).
Sincerely,
Rachel
Thompson
CEO, Love for Our Troops
Case
for Support
Love for Our Troops: Case for Support
PFC Thomas,
stationed in Afghanistan, had no family at home and felt like he was facing
deployment alone. He was nine months into his deployment when he first received
a package from Love for Our Troops. Receiving that care package made Thomas
feel appreciated and he started to feel like someone back home cared about him.
When others in his platoon started receiving care packages, his plain,
camp-like platoon started to feel more like home. Love for Our Troops put
smiles on the faces of people 6,000 miles away from home, including the face of
Thomas.
When Anna’s son,
Michael, was deployed, she started sending care packages to him every week and
he shared them with his platoon. When Anna started receiving thank you notes
from other soldiers in Michael’s platoon, she realized there was a need that
she wanted to fill. When the word got out, people enthusiastically started
sending and enquiring through emails asking what could be done to help. Love
for Our Troops started in 2004 with that first care package. After receiving
donations, they were able to send a few microwaves, televisions, and gaming
systems to her son’s platoon.
Love for Our
Troops is dedicated to honoring and supporting the 170,000 soldiers deployed
around the world. To make deployment easier, our goal is to provide three major
outcomes: support systems for soldiers who did not have them at home, providing
large items such as appliances and gaming systems, and providing smaller
comfort items such as microwave meals and personal items. These items boost
soldier morale, with the hopes of promoting devotion to their job and creating
a better environment for the soldiers. Our overall goal is to be able to serve
all military platoons in ways that fit the needs of each individual platoon.
To accomplish
these goals we have developed two programs: Adopt a Soldier and Operation Home.
Adopt a Soldier connects civilians with our troops. Often deployed soldiers do
not have support systems that are able to provide small care packages or
letters from home every month, so our organization works to provide that
experience to make sure soldiers feel that they are appreciated. Operation Home
provides large care packages to platoons to make for an overall better and more
home-like environment. Both monetary and physical item donations are key to
providing this service. Monetary donations help pay for shipping, while
physical item donations get sent to troops. Since Love for Our Troops started
ten years ago, 3,587 soldiers have been ‘adopted,’ and over 22,000 care
packages have been sent. Donors and volunteers help to make our soldiers feel
appreciated and create as many home-like platoons as possible.
United States
soldiers are fighting for our country away from their homes and their families
every day. Love for Our Troops’ goal is to honor and support them by making
their deployment easier. Making individual soldiers feel appreciated and their
platoons feel more like home is such a simple idea, but it takes donors and
volunteers to accomplish this. To be able to honor our U.S. Soldiers we need
your support.
Grant Proposal
November 26, 2013
Reid Zimmerman
RAZimmerman Foundation
1536
Hewitt Ave
St.Paul, MN 55104
Mr. Reid Zimmerman,
Love for Our Troops is
delighted that you will review our grant proposal. The grant will help support
our program: Operation Home.
Operation Home provides
large care packages to platoons stationed in Afghanistan. These care packages
include items such as televisions, gaming systems, microwaves, and blankets.
The care packages are sent to platoons to make the barracks seem more
comfortable and less stressful. Love for Our Troops provides this program to
honor the men and women who put their lives on the line each day.
This year we will send
large care packages to 50 platoons. This will cost approximately $264,000. This
price includes the items that go into the care packages, as well as shipping
and handling fees. We depend on corporations and foundations, such as yours, to
be able to achieve our goals. In the past we have been able to provide up to 35
large care packages a year, but we have really been looking to grow. This year
we are requesting, from you, a grant of $25,000, about a tenth of our total
program budget, to help us reach our goal.
We recognize that you
have supported American Troops in that past and hope that you will continue to
support them.
If you have any
questions, do not hesitate to contact me by calling (555-555-5555)
or emailing (rthompson@loveforourtroops.org). I will contact you to follow up
on the proposal within the next week to see if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Rachel
Thompson
Executive
Director
Love for Our
Troops
Grant
Application Cover Sheet
You
may reproduce this form on your computer
|
Date
of application:
|
November
26, 2013
|
Application
submitted to:
|
RAZimmerman
Foundation
|
Organization Information
|
Love for Our Troops
|
|
||||||||
Name of organization
|
Legal name, if different
|
||||||||
|
1609
Van Buren Ave
|
St.
Paul, MN, 55104
|
||||||||
Address
|
City, State, Zip
|
Employer Identification Number (EIN)
|
|||||||
|
(555)
555-5555
|
|
Loveforourtroops.org
|
|||||||
Phone
|
Fax
|
Web site
|
|||||||
|
Rachel
Thompson
|
Executive
Director
|
(507)
251-2493
|
|
||||||
Name of top paid staff
|
Title
|
Phone
|
E-mail
|
||||||
|
Rachel
Thompson
|
Executive
Director
|
|
|
||||||
Name of contact person regarding this application
|
Title
|
Phone
|
E-mail
|
||||||
Is your organization an IRS 501(c)(3) not-for-profit?
|
X
|
Yes
|
|
No
|
|||||
If no, is your organization a public
agency/unit of government?
|
|
Yes
|
|
No
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||||
Proposal Information
|
Please give a 2-3 sentence summary of request:
We
are requesting a grant of $25,000 to help support our program: Operation
Home. This program provides large care packages containing items that will
make living conditions more comfortable and less stressful to platoons of
deployed United States soldiers.
|
|||||||
|
Population
served:
United
States deployed soldiers
|
Geographic area served:
American military bases in Afghanistan
|
||||||
|
Funds
are being requested for (check one) Note: Please be sure funder provides the type of
support you are requesting.
|
|||||||
|
|
General
operating support
|
|
Start-up
costs
|
|
Capital
|
|
|
|
X
|
Project/program
support
|
|
Technical
assistance
|
|
Other
(list)
|
|
|
|
Project
dates (if applicable):
|
|
|
Fiscal
year end:
|
January 31
|
Budget
|
Dollar
amount requested:
|
$25,000
|
|
Total
annual organization budget:
|
$264,000
|
|
Total
project budget (for support other than general operating):
|
$
|
Authorization
|
Name
and title of top paid staff or board chair:
|
Rachel
Thompson
|
|
Signature
|
Rachel
Thompson
|
Organization Information
Love for Our Troops’
mission is to put smiles on
the faces of those who deserve it most, our United States military personnel.
We honor these soldiers by sending them items that make their living quarters
more comfortable. We do this through 2 programs: Operation Home
which sends large care packages to platoons from the Love for Our Troops
offices, and Adopt a Soldier which connects civilians with individual soldiers
to make sure the soldiers feel appreciated.
In 2004 Anna Johnston sent a care package to her
son, Michael, who was stationed in Afghanistan. When Anna realized how powerful
that care package was and word of her care packages got out, donations of money
and needed items started pouring in. These items and money helped create what
became the first set of large care packages that were sent from the Love for
Our Troops’ offices. Since Love for
Our Troops started ten years ago, 3,587 soldiers have been ‘adopted,’ over
22,000 small care care packages have been sent from civilians, and 335 large
care packages have been sent.
Purpose
of Grant
American Soldiers put their lives on the line every
day. Providing a more comfortable environment for deployed soldiers gives them
a better sense that they are appreciated, boosts their moral, and helps lower
stress. This all promotes dedication and a better working and living
environment within the platoons. Making their barracks less stressful and more
relaxed is not terribly hard. Love for Our Troops provides microwaves,
computers, gaming systems, games, and blankets through our program Operation Home.
These items are all it takes to make a dark, dusty platoon a little brighter
and friendlier.
Through our Operation Home program our goal this
year is to provide 50 platoons stationed in Afghanistan with large care
packages by the 2014 holiday season. These large care packages contain three
microwaves, three computers, two televisions, two X-boxes, two X-box games, and
enough fleece blankets for each soldier. Your grant will enable us to be able
to provide large care packages to 8 platoons.
Love for Our Troops will be able to provide these
care packages by following four steps:
1. Request
In-Kind Donations: Each year we receive approximately one-third of our large
care package items through in-kind donations.
2. Purchase
the Items for the Large Care Packages: Two months after we receive grant
approvals we start purchasing approximately $137,000 in items that will go into
the 50 large care packages.
3. Assemble
the Large Care Packages: Three months after we receive grant approvals our
Program Director and our two part-time staff people organize two volunteer days
to assemble the 50 large care packages.
4. Shipping
of the Care Packages: Three and a half to four months after grant approvals the
care packages are taken to a US Post Office to be shipped to Afghanistan.
Shipping is about 15% of the total cost for the program.
Evaluation
of Success
The success of the Operation Home program is
quantitatively determined by how many barracks we will be able to provide large
care packages for, but ultimately the success will be determined by the
wellbeing of the soldiers that we are able to impact. To assess the wellbeing
of the soldiers we look at both their initial reactions and the long-term
effects on the platoon. We assess their initial reactions in two ways: a survey
that each soldier and platoon leader is asked to fill out and collecting any
other feedback from the soldiers. We often receive thank-you letters and emails
that express how the soldiers feel. The more response we receive generally
means the care packages we sent were better received. Our survey that we ask to
be filled out evaluates how excited each person is about the items in the care
package and if the items seem useful. Then we evaluate the long-term effects of
the care packages about six months later. We look at are the overall happiness
and attitude change of the soldiers as reported by the platoon leaders. We also
send a short form that we ask the soldiers to fill out. In that form we ask the soldiers about their
attitude and the attitude of those around them, if the items we provided are
being used, and if the items we provided made their platoon more comfortable.
We use these responses to make sure that what we are providing is usable,
needed, and adequet. When we receive positive responses from all accounts we
know we are doing a good job, but receiving negative feedback lets us know that
we need to change to better fulfill our mission.
Board
and Staff
Board of Directors
Anna Johnston |
President
Sydney Taylor |
Vice-President
Rod Christian |
Treasurer
Christine Schwier |
Secretary
Megan Johnson | Program
Chair
Carly Richardson |
Finance Chair
Elizabeth Butler |
Growth and Development Chair
Key Staff Descriptions
Executive Director |
Oversees the following staff members and everyday operations of Love for Our
Troops (1.0 FTE) Program and Event Director | In charge of Love for Our Troops’
two programs, hires staff for programs and coordinates fundraising events. (1.0
FTE)
Development Director |
Creates fundraising plan, budget, and oversees fundraising projects. (1.0 FTE)
Marketing and Public
Relations Director | Markets Love for Our Troops to the public, manages the
website, and works with corporations to gain a better relationship (1.0 FTE)
Grant
Writer | Finds and writes grants to apply to support Love for Our Troops (1.0
FTE)
Certified Public
Accountant | In charge of the budget and all other financial aspects of the
organization (.25 FTE)
Project Budget
INCOME
|
Source
|
|
Amount
|
Support
|
|
|
|
Foundations
Cargill Foundation
Newman Foundation
RAZimmerman Foundation
Thompson Foundation
|
|
$125,000
$50,000
$25,000
$25,000
$25,000
|
|
Corporations
Wells Fargo
Wal-Mart
Levi Strauss
Fleet Farm
|
|
$90,000
$30,000
$25,000
$20,000
$15,000
|
|
Individual
contributions
|
|
$50,000
|
|
Fundraising
events and products
|
|
$25,000
|
|
In-kind
support
|
|
$36,000
|
|
|
|
|
|
Revenue
|
|
|
|
Earned
income (t-shirt sales)
|
|
$10,000
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Income
|
|
$336,000
|
EXPENSES
|
Item
|
|
Amount
|
%FT/PT
|
|
Salaries
and wages (breakdown by individual position and indicate full- or part-time.)
|
|
$
|
|
|
Program
and Event Director
$60,000 X 75%
|
|
$45,000
|
75%
|
|
Executive
Director
$70,000 X 50%
|
|
$35,000
|
50%
|
|
Grant
Writer
|
|
$40,000
|
75%
|
|
Development
Director
$60,000 X 75%
|
|
$45,000
|
75%
|
|
Two
unpaid Interns
|
|
|
|
|
SUBTOTAL
|
|
$165,000
|
|
|
Insurance,
benefits and other related taxes
$15.85 USPS insurance X 6 boxes = $95.10
$95.10 X 50 care packages
|
|
$4,755
|
|
|
Supplies
Tape,
boxes, markers to prepare for shipping
|
|
$1,400
|
|
|
Printing
and copying
|
|
$100
|
|
|
Telephone
and fax
|
|
$100
|
|
|
Postage
and delivery
50 care packages X $300 USPS shipping
cost
|
|
$15,000
|
|
|
Other
(specify) Items for Large Care Packages
50 care packages X $2,745
|
|
$137,250
|
|
|
Total Expense
|
|
$323,605
|
|
|
Difference (Income less Expense)
|
|
$12,395
|
|
Goal/Outcome/Objective: Send
50 large care packages to military platoons stationed Afghanistan by the 2014
holiday season.
Impact: 50 less
stressful and more comfortable platoons that promote productiveness, better
mental health, and a sense of appreciation to the men and women serving within
those platoons.
|
Inputs / Budget
|
Tactic/Activity
|
Activity / Process Measure
|
Output / Product Measure
|
|
Grant writer
|
1) Request
in-kind donations
|
This happens all year long
|
Receive (roughly) $36,000 in-kind donations
|
|
Intern staff members (2)
$137,250 for purchase of items
|
2) Purchase
items for 50 large care packages
|
Grant Approval +2months
|
Obtaining of enough items for 50 care packages ($137,250
in purchases)
|
|
Intern staff members (2)
300 boxes
40 rolls of tape
20 markers
|
3) Assemble 50
large care packages
|
Grant Approval +3months
|
50 large care packages are ready for shipping
|
|
Intern staff members (2)
Van
$4,755 insurance
$15,000 Shipping cost
|
4) Ship 50 large
care packages
|
Grant Approval +3.5months
|
50 large care packages are shipped
|
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