Hi All -

Welcome to the official Atlantic Chapter's Fundraising Committee Listserve.

Feel free to send any fundraising related emails to:

Apologies that it's taken me a while to get this all put together and in doing more to get our committee going. But, wanting to get us in gear for the rest of the year and a plan heading into 2025.

In that vein, I had a really good conversation with Sarah Leighton in the Chapter Fundraising team. See below information she sent regarding a fundraising bootcamp. I want to see if folks would be interested in attending this - it would be for 5 weeks (one meeting a week for five weeks, starting Sept 9th and run through the week of Oct 7th.

This is something I did last year and I found it truly informative. There are two different sessions - one for beginners, and one for more intermediate/advanced folks. See a bunch of info below.

Sarah did say that if folks from our Chapter can't make it, she would be still willing to meet with us in the Chapter and get us on track for entering 2025.

So my questions for you all - would you be willing to attend, if you're able. And if not able, but still interested, how do we want to coordinate with Sarah?

I will circle back with you all individually, but wanted to reach out.

Appreciate you all!

From: Sarah Leighton <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, Jul 15, 2024 at 10:48 AM
Subject: [SIERRACLUB-CHAPTER-FUNDRAISING] Registration now open - fundraising plan boot camp!

Hi fundraisers,

Registration is now open for this year’s new and improved fundraising plan boot camp! Over the course of 5 weeks, Chapter Fundraising will help you complete a fundraising plan for your chapter using this template.

You asked and we listened! Based on the feedback from last year’s boot camp we’ve implemented several improvements including grouping participants by skill level, providing more support on budgeting and spending more time on talking through fundraising activities that your chapter may want to implement. Plus, you will receive three (beginner, intermediate, and advanced) completed activity sections to use as an example for your chapter (or to use in its entirety!).

Schedule:

The boot camp will begin the week of September 9th and run through the week of October 7th. While this boot camp is only 5 weeks long, it will require 1 hour per week of meeting time and 1-3 hours of work in between meetings.

Session Options:

This year there will be two different sessions - beginner & intermediate/advanced. The beginner session will take place on Mondays at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT and the intermediate/advanced session will take place on Tuesdays at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT.

The intermediate/advanced session will complete this entire fundraising plan template while the beginner session will focus on steps 3, 4, and 6 of the template.

Registration:

To sign up, please complete this form by Friday, August 23rd. Registration is required for each individual participating (not one per chapter).

FAQ:

Which session should I join? Beginner or intermediate/advanced?

The beginner session is best for individuals or chapters that are just starting out with fundraising. For example, the chapter may participate only in the joint mailed appeal program but do no other activities. The beginner group will spend more time defining terms and explaining how fundraising works.

The intermediate/advanced session is for individuals or chapters who already have raised money using multiple tactics such as mailed appeals, email appeals, grants and/or individual major gift solicitation. This group will focus on creating a comprehensive fundraising plan. Less time will be spent on more “basic” fundraising practices such as mailed appeals and more time will be spent on individual solicitation strategies.

What if I’m new to fundraising but my chapter is advanced? Where should I register?

If you are a beginner we recommend you register for the beginner session as the intermediate/advanced sessions may move too quickly. However, if your chapter is more advanced we recommend having another person from your chapter who has participated in fundraising attend the intermediate/advanced session. In general, chapters with more than one attendee did best in last year’s boot camp.

I would like to join the beginner session while another member of my chapter would like to join the Intermediate/Advanced. Is this ok?

Yes! If there is more than one person at your chapter who would like to participate, feel free to register at whichever session you feel most accurately matches your skill level. We encourage you to meet with the other members of your chapter between sessions to make sure you have a cohesive plan. Keep in mind that you may be covering different material on different days.

What should I do if I’m still unsure which session to join?

We are happy to help you decide which session is right for you. Just reach out to Sarah at [log in to unmask].

Will there be office hours?

Yes, we will block off the hour after each session. If this doesn’t work for you, please reach out to Sarah at [log in to unmask] to schedule a time that works for you.

Can staff and volunteers attend?

Yes! This opportunity is for both staff and volunteers and the chapters that were most successful last year had at least one staff member and volunteer participate.

What if I miss a session?

There will not be makeup sessions available – but some sessions will be recorded. If you are unable to attend a session you may also ask questions about the previous session during office hours or by scheduling a time with Sarah at [log in to unmask].

What if I attended last year?

Fundraising plans are living documents that should be updated yearly! Attending last year means you have a great foundation for next year’s fundraising plan. Even if you’ve attended in the past you are encouraged to attend again this year.

Last year I had a hard time with the budget section, what support will be available for me to complete it this year?

This year, we have partnered with Chapter Finance to offer a budgeting session to help with step one of the fundraising plan. This optional (but encouraged) session will take place on Thursday, September 5th at 3 p.m. ET/1 2p.m. PT. Please note, the budgeting section (step 1) will not be covered for the beginner group.