Center For NonProfit Success

Winning proposals: a tour of four successful case studies

Even when you understand the principles of effective proposal writing, it can still be challenging to understand why a certain proposal stands out above the others. In this session, we will take you on a tour of four winners so that you can learn what makes a proposal truly fundable:

The session will provide an advanced analysis of tone, writing style and format, and includes a discussion of the following topics:

Building the case for support: how to make a favorable impression from the outset
Sustainability: giving funders the comfort they need that you will be around after they leave
Testimonials: using the power of stories to create a strong impression
Project outcomes: describing outcomes in a way that the funder can immediately understand them
Project budgets: avoiding the pitfalls that bedevil this section of the proposal
Sources of support: what is the funder looking for here, and what if you don't have them?

This session is intended as a follow-on to the first session on proposal writing.

Speakers for this session:

Michael Barnard

Chief Executive Officer

Desert Samaritans for the Elderly

Michael has served in his current position since 2006. He has always worn multiple hats, leading smaller organizations, and also serving as the development department. He has developed excellent relationships with a variety of funders, including foundations, government agencies and corporations, and routinely brings together educational institutions, government agencies and community based organizations. Prior to his current position, Michael was Executive Director of the Joslyn Senior Center in Palm Desert for six years and was Marketing and Development Director of the Mizell Senior Center in Palm Springs. He received his B.A. degree from San Diego State University.

John Drew

Managing Director

Drew & Associates

John is an author, teacher and speaker on grant-writing and fund-raising. Combining his market research skills with fundraising expertise, John has helped turn around some of the Southland’s most famous charities including the Museum of Latin American Art, the Friends of the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, Opera Pacific, the Los Angeles Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Walking Shield American Indian Society. John has taught at Cornell University, Hope International University, University of Oregon, and Williams College in Massachusetts. His consulting firm provides its clients with writing talent, proven grant research skills, and the opportunity to work with a political scientist trained in survey research, program evaluation, and statistical analysis. John and his wife Patricia have lived in Laguna Niguel, California since 2003.

Los Angeles Fundraising Summit

A relationship approach to fundraising
Nonprofit fundraising has become highly specialized, and each segment of your donor market requires a different set of relationship management skills. Whether you are reaching out to private foundations, wealthy individuals or your own members, you need to understand who they give to, and why. The Los Angeles Summit focuses on the relationship aspects of fundraising, and offers you several ways to enhance your relationship management skills:

Day One:
In the morning, listen to a panel of private, corporate and community grantmakers who will openly discuss their philosophy on grantmaking, how they operate, and most important, how you can build a more successful relationship with the grantmaking community. In the afternoon, participate in seminars led by experienced grant seekers who have successfully secured many foundation grants, and have built successful relationships with the grantmaking community.

Day Two:
Attend a series of fundraising seminars covering the hottest areas of fundraising (capital campaigns, major gifts, annual giving campaigns, and many more). Panels of experts will discuss the latest developments in these fields, and then enter into a dialogue with the participants that addresses their most pressing questions.

WHY ATTEND THE FUNDRAISING SUMMIT?
Fundraising is primarily a relationship business, and with increasing pressures facing all nonprofit professionals to build key relationships, it is becoming more important, though much more difficult to meet people face-to-face. Our innovative Summit format provides the most efficient and cost effective use of time away from the office by enabling attendees to interact with experts in the field, as well as other nonprofit leaders.

CAN ONE ATTEND SPECIFIC SESSIONS ONLY?
We understand the demands that are placed on you and on your time. That’s why you can attend only the seminars that are of interest to you. Come for the day or stop by for a couple of hours. You pay for only the seminars you wish to attend and only for the information relevant to you. It’s a novel approach to learning that allows you to get exactly what you’re looking for in a short amount of time.

WHAT IS THE FORMAT OF THE SEMINARS?
Each seminar features a panel of 3-4 experts who will give a short overview of the key developments in that field. After that , we will move into a moderated discussion to explore what these developments mean for nonprofit organizations. During the seminar, panelists will engage with the audience in an interactive manner to ensure the real-world implications of these developments emerge, and the session will end with a summary of practical next steps.

HOW IS THE SUMMIT DIFFERENT FROM OTHER EDUCATIONAL EVENTS?
The Summit offers a unique format to help you accomplish the following:

Build relationships: to ensure maximum exposure to the experts and other nonprofit leaders, each seminar offers structured networking before the session starts
Hear different perspectives: the experts are drawn from different sectors of the nonprofit community to ensure cross-pollination of ideas and practices
Provide a global view: speakers give an overview of key issues so that you can eliminate any gaps in your understanding of the subject
Drill down to the specifics: speakers will also focus on providing specific answers to real-world questions that are common to most attendees
Obtain information you can use: the emphasis in all sessions is on avoiding theoretical discussions in favor of practical tools and techniques that nonprofit leaders can actually use

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SUMMIT?
The Summit is organized by the Center for Nonprofit Success, a nonprofit organization that specializes in bringing highly relevant information that nonprofit leaders need to run their organizations successfully. We developed the Fundraising Summit series as a follow-on to the Nonprofit Success Forum, a highly successful educational series on grantmaking that has been taking place around the country for the past two years. The Fundraising Summit drills down into specific areas of fundraising to give nonproft leaders cutting edge tools and techniques.

HOW DO I REGISTER FOR THE SUMMIT?
Simply click on the seminars listed below to learn more about the topics that will be covered in each seminar. Then select only those seminars that you wish to attend.

Location/Directions

The Summit will take place at the Golden Eagle building, which is located in the center of the Cal State Los Angeles Campus. The plenary session will take place in the Golden Eagle Ballroom which is located on the third floor. The Golden Eagle building is easy to reach by public or private transportation. The full address of the university is 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90032

Public Transportation
The Golden Eagle building is accessible by Metrolink or Bus.

Metrolink: The Metrolink station is called Cal State LA and is located at the south end of campus below the MTA busway. The San Bernardino line is the route to CSULA and has stations in San Bernardio, Rialto, Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Montclair, Claremont, Pomona North, Covina, Baldwin Park, and El Monte.

Metro Bus Line: To find the bus lines that go to CSULA from your location, please go to www.Metro.net and put in the address you are coming from with the destination of CSULA. It will give you a list of all the bus routes to campus from your location.

Directions by Car

From Westside (approximately 30 to 45 minutes):
If traveling from Westside take the 10 (Santa Monica/San Bernardino) Freeway east. After the downtown interchange, you will see signs announcing the 710 Freeway. You will not be taking the 710, BUT when you see the signs, you must make your way to the extreme right lane to exit at Eastern Ave. The Eastern Ave. exit is about 500 yards before the 710. After exiting at Eastern Ave., make a left turn at the stoplight. Take the bridge across the freeway and continue straight on to the campus, crossing State University Drive. Go past the stop sign at Campus Road (about 300 yards from University Drive), to Paseo Rancho Castilla (PRC), the western edge of campus and continue north on PRC. Make a right onto Circle Drive for Parking Structure C (across from the Luckman Complex). If it is full, parking is available in Lot 5 next to parking structure C.

From Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)/ Long Beach - (approx. 30 minutes):
If traveling from LAX: take the 105 (Anderson) Freeway to the 710 (Long Beach) Freeway north. If traveling from the Long Beach area: take the 710 (Long Beach) Freeway north. Go to the end of the 710, and make a left (west) onto Valley Blvd. Continue to Mariondale; make a left on Mariondale. Proceed to traffic light. To reach Parking Structure C, make a right onto Paseo Ranch Castilla (PRC) and continue on toward the south end of campus; the parking structure will be to your left (enter on Circle Drive), across from the Luckman Complex. ). If it is full, parking is available in Lot 5 next to parking structure C.

From Orange County (approx. 1 to 1 1/2 hour - San Diego approx. 2 to 2 1/2 hours):
If traveling from Orange Country take the 5 Freeway north to the 710 Freeway north. Go to the end of the 710, and make a left (west) onto Valley Blvd. Continue to Mariondale; make a left on Mariondale. Proceed to traffic light. To reach Parking Structure C, make a right onto Paseo Ranch Castilla (PRC) and continue on toward the south end of campus; the parking structure will be to your left (enter on Circle Drive), across from the Luckman Complex. If it is full, parking is available in Lot 5 next to parking structure C.

From Pasadena (approx. 25-35 minutes):
If traveling from Pasadena using surface streets, take Los Robles Ave. south (becomes Atlantic Blvd.) Follow Atlantic to Valley Blvd., and make a right (west) on Valley. Or take surface streets to Fremont Ave. south; make right (west) onto Valley. Continue to Mariondale; make a left onto Mariondale and continue to traffic light. To reach Parking Structure C, make a right onto Paseo Ranch Castilla (PRC) and continue on toward the south end of campus; the parking structure will be to your left (enter on Circle Drive), across from the Luckman Complex. If it is full, parking is available in Lot 5 next to parking structure C.

From Pasadena using the freeway, take the 110 south to the 5 south to the 10 (San Bernardino Freeway east. Watch for signs announcing the 710 Freeway. You will not be taking the 710, BUT, when you see the signs, you must make your way to the extreme right lane to exit at Eastern Ave. The Eastern Ave. exit is about 500 yards before the 710. After exiting at Eastern Ave., make a left turn at the stoplight. Take the bridge across the freeway, and continue straight onto the campus, crossing State University Drive. Go past the stop sign at Campus Road (about 300 yards from University Drive), and you are on Paseo Rancho Castilla (PRC), the western edge of campus. Continue north on PRC. Make a right onto Circle Drive for Parking Structure C (across from the Luckman Complex). If it is full, parking is available in Lot 5 next to parking structure C.

From Burbank (approx. 45 minutes to 1 hour):
If traveling from Burbank take the 5 Freeway south to the 10 (San Bernardino) Freeway east. (Take the exit to the 10 Freeway towards San Bernardino that is on your left. Merge onto the 10 Freeway going east). Watch for signs announcing the 710 freeway. You will not be taking the 710, BUT, when you see the signs you must make your way to the extreme right lane to exit at Eastern Ave. The Eastern Ave. exit is about 500 yards before the 710. After exiting at Eastern Ave., make a left turn at the stoplight. Take the bridge across the freeway, and continue straight onto the campus, crossing State University Drive. Go past the stop sign at Campus Road (about 300 yards from University Drive), and you are on Paseo Rancho Castilla (PRC), the western edge of campus. Continue north on PRC. Make a right onto Circle Drive for Parking Structure C (across from the Luckman Complex). If it is full, parking is available in Lot 5 next to parking structure C.

From San Bernardino (approx. 1 1/2 hour)
If traveling from San Bernardino take the 10 Freeway (San Bernardino) west; exit at Fremont Ave. Make an immediate left at the stop sign on Hellman Ave. Continue on Hellman, which becomes Paseo Rancho Castilla (PRC), continue toward the south end of campus on PRC. The Parking Structure C will be to your left, across from the Luckman Complex. Enter on Circle Drive. If it is full, parking is available in Lot 5 next to parking structure C.

Parking at the The Golden Eagle
Visitor parking is located in Parking Structure C or in Lot 5 behind it. Parking costs $6.00 per day. Exact change is required at the electronic parking kiosk. To get from Parking Structure C or Lot 5 to the Golden Eagle building you need to walk through Luckman Theatre Complex. The Golden Eagle building is straight behind the Luckman Theatre Complex.

Hotel Accommodations
Most hotels near the Summit venue are within the $159-$269 per night range. The following hotels are within a five-mile radius of the hotel.
1.    Kyoto Grand Hotel and Gardens    BOOK NOW      4.14 miles from venue
2.    Hilton Los Angeles San Gabriel    BOOK NOW       4.15 miles from venue
3.    Doubletree Hotel LA/Commerce   BOOK NOW       4.19 miles from venue
4.    Crowne Plaza Hotel LA Commerce Casino         BOOK NOW       4.68 miles from venue

Register Now

Register Now

Register Now

One-on-one mentoring

Click on any seminar title or the arrow on the right side to learn more about that seminar

Register Now