Approximately six months ago, RAMP contracted with M+R Strategic Services to provide training, coaching, and technical assistance to the CAFA network of coalitions around sustainability.  Although sustainability is a much larger issue than fundraising, this was the focus of much of the work since many of the CAFA coalitions were nearing the end of several years of significant grant funding from The California Endowment.  During the past six months, coalitions have worked exceptionally hard to confront sustainability and funding issues head-on, make difficult but necessary decisions, and craft actionable strategic plans.  There have been many challenges and struggles, not the least of which is the difficult economic climate across the country and particularly in California.  The work is not nearly done – in fact, many of the coalitions are moving into a critical period of time for their sustainability work, armed with the information and tools to reach their goals.

 Sustainability generally and funding specifically are issues with which many coalitions and organizations across multiple advocacy movements grapple, but all too often the struggle comes too late to be successful.  Particularly when an organization has been solely funded by grant funding for a period of time, the day to day work to achieve grant-funded goals and objectives takes precedence and sustainability and fundraising are not addressed.  Typically, the organization does not start discussing its sustainability and funding issues until the grant funding is nearing an end.  Too many movements have seen their progress slowed or even halted due to funding crises that occur because fundraising and sustainability are not addressed fully or soon enough.

Recognizing this issue, RAMP hired M+R to assist the CAFA coalitions in addressing sustainability and funding while there was ample time to be successful in planning for their future.  Diane Pickles of M+R has conducted three in-person training sessions, three “distance learning” sessions via webinar, and one-on-one coaching and technical assistance sessions with the CAFA coalitions.  In addition, Diane has created and disseminated a toolkit of worksheets, information, and other resources to assist the coalitions in their planning and implementation of fundraising strategies.  The training and coaching has focused on diversifying funding sources and securing unrestricted funds.  Among the action steps the coalitions have been coached through are the following:

• Conducting strategic planning processes to narrow and refine goals;
• Identifying specific fundraising monetary goals;
• Building sustainability teams;
• Crafting bare-bones budgets and “triage” budgets;
• Building fundraising and development plans;
• Identifying funding prospects across multiple venues;
• Planning fundraising events.

A great deal of time and energy has also gone into working with the coalitions to create strategies for linking their advocacy activities with their fundraising in order to leverage success and build power simultaneously in both areas.  For example, rather than conducting events as “stand-alone” fundraisers, coalitions have been encouraged to plan events that achieve both an educational/advocacy goal and raise money at the same time.  Whether it be organizational sponsorships, ticket sales, or individual donations, nearly every educational or advocacy community event can incorporate a fundraising component.

There are many challenges the coalitions have encountered as they work to launch fundraising and development campaigns.  While two of the largest challenges are fairly obvious – a poor economy and lack of time and resources to devote to fundraising, there is another common barrier that is less tangible but is perhaps the biggest challenge of all.  This is the struggle to shift the coalition’s culture from a grant-funded entity to a fundraising entity.  This is not an easy feat for many reasons, not the least of which is that coalition members represent their own organizations and cannot, therefore, fundraise directly for the coalition.  Perhaps most significant, however, is that it is just not easy or simple to make fundraising a major priority within a coalition that has never conducted any fundraising at all.  Attempting to go from zero to sixty in a mere six months has been a significant struggle for many of the CAFA coalitions, and they are to be commended for embracing that challenge.

Several coalitions are already seeing significant successes.  These successes include the development of strategic plans with refined, specific advocacy goals, creating diverse funding prospect lists, and planning fundraising events.  Other coalitions are beginning to craft well-thought out “exit strategies” for transitioning off important work to other entities and making plans to scale back or complete their work as a funded coalition.  The next several months will be critically important to all of the coalitions, whether they are actively fundraising, transitioning off their work, or finding ways to continue on without formal funding.  Additional training and coaching will be available from M+R Strategic Services to the coalitions as they embark upon this work.  In particular, M+R will be working with a task force of coalition coordinators interested in working together to create a template for an asthma advocacy fundraising event that will be conducted in several geographic areas.

It should be noted here that the coalitions have demonstrated exceptional resilience and dedication in continuing to work hard and achieve policy, advocacy, and educational successes in the midst of uncertain futures.  While it would be understandable that some of the work might slow or even cease in the midst of such uncertainty, the coalitions have never wavered from their commitment to asthma prevention in California.

 Click here to see previous coalition spotlights