Category Archives: Fundraising

Remembering Rebecca Vermillion Shawver’s Contributions

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Well-known grantwriter and teacher Rebecca (Becki) Vermillion Shawver recently passed away, and I wanted to be sure to share her story and some articles she wrote for CharityChannel. I only worked with Becki a few times but quickly saw that she was obviously a true professional in the field; she will be missed!

Rebecca Vermillion Shawver was the Director of Grant Administration at Brazosport College. She was an active member of the Grant Professionals Association and earned her GPC. Additionally, she was a member of the Council for Resource Development (CRD) for community college fund development professionals. Rebecca was a past CRD Director for Region VI and a past member of the CRD National Board. She presented numerous workshops at multiple regional and national CRD conferences.

A native-born Hoosier, Rebecca continued to serve as a consultant for agencies located in the State of Indiana. Additionally, she was the author of What Funders Want: Developing Evaluation Plans to Support Your K-12 Grant Applications (LRP Publications).

Rebecca was a dedicated volunteer working with the AFS Intercultural Programs. As the Volunteer Chair for the AFS Cradle of Texas Team, she was responsible for implementing and coordinating the AFS high school exchange program in part of Harris and all of Brazoria County, Texas. She hosted 22 exchange students over the past 25 years!

I want to share a few of Rebecca’s outstanding articles, which are among the dozens she authored for CharityChannel: Continue reading →

My latest journal article: “Time to Reclaim Your Power in Funder Relationships”

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If you are involved in grantseeking, you are probably familiar with the Grassroots Fundraising Journal (or should be!). Published by the Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training, the journal contains articles to promote the connection between fundraising, social justice and movement-building.

I have a full-length article in the January-February issue, titled “Time to Reclaim Your Power in Funder Relationships.” The piece reminds us that funders rely on nonprofits to fulfill their missions, and offers tips for interrupting the lopsided power dynamics that often plague those relationships. Check it out here!

(To get you started, I reprinted the first several paragraphs below.)

GRANT FUNDING HAS A LOT TO DO WITH POWER. Who has the money, who gets the money, and what are the dynamics between the two groups?

At first glance, it can definitely appear that foundations and other funders hold all the cards when it comes to their relationships with grantseekers. After all, grantmakers control the funds and seem to have complete discretion over how the money is doled out.

As a grantseeker, you may feel like you’re begging with a virtual tin cup. By accepting this position of powerlessness, you may hope funders take pity on you. Or maybe you will learn to answer their questions with the answers they want to hear. If they visit your organization, you often find yourself bending over backwards to please them. You would never think of biting (or even challenging) the hand that may feed you. Continue reading →

Ask Dalya: ‘We’ vs. ‘You’ in Appeal Letters

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Q: We are writing an appeal letter and we’re trying to figure out what pronouns to use. You see, we’ve taken your advice to heart that we should include our readers in a “conversation on paper.” That means using the words “you” and “your” as much as we can. But sometimes we have to talk about what the organization is doing. It gets confusing. Help!

A: Yes, it can be a bit tricky at times, if you’re not careful.

A simple switch from the “we” of the organization to the “you” of your reader goes like this:

Original: We want to bring native plants back to our community. But we need your help!

Suggested revision: You can help improve our city’s environment by planting and saving native plants. They bring many benefits to our community and help us avoid eco-trouble down the line.

Did you see what I did there? Changing the perspective like that is pretty clear.

But did you also notice that in the suggested revision there’s a “we” also — and it now includes the reader? That second sentence is now talking about “our city’s environment” and “our community”. No longer is it “we” the organization needing “your” help.

The rule of thumb operating here is this: Continue reading →