Karen Dublin is the Director of GRACE, Inc., and a consultant and trainer for nonprofit organizations, ministries and individuals. She teaches business planning and grant writing.

Luke: Are you involved with fundraising right now? If so, what do you do? If not, what is your background with fundraising and what do you do now? Don’t hold back. We want to hear everything.

Karen: I’m involved with a number of different fundraising activities:

• Grant Writing.  At the present time my involvement with fundraising includes grant writing and grant research. I work with nonprofit organizations and individuals to help them raise funds for their organizations through grant writing.
• House Parties.  I also help them with different fundraising ideas such as hosting house parties where they have another organization to serve as host, invite community representatives, friends, and partners, provide food and entertainment for attendees and then allow the host to invite participants to donate to the organization. Sometimes there will be a silent auction set up where the organization would have hand crafted gifts on display and allow attendees to bid on them with the highest bidder winning the gift.
• Marketplace Initiatives.  Provide a marketplace venue where participants are given the opportunity to purchase a table, sell their wares (crafts, baked goods, etc.). I’ve done an initiative known as Craft Across Cultures where we brought together people from different cultures to sell hand crafted jewelry, baked goods, pillows, handmade clothing, homemade candies, etc.
• Grant Writing Workshops.  Host workshops and bring in experienced grantwriters to teach participants how to write grants. Develop teams that can work together across organizations to develop and submit grant proposals for each other. Numerous workshops can be held to engage people in community in participating.

Luke: What was the reason you first got involved with fundraising and how did you get involved?

Karen: I got involved in fundraising through my volunteer work in the community where I live. I was approached by a college professor who was interested in working in our community and bringing her students to learn about the culture. She started teaching me how to write grants and then started registering me to take grant writing training at the Foundation Center in Atlanta.

Luke: Is there a specific type of fundraising that you excel at? Don’t be modest.

Karen: I really don’t try to be the expert but after I find out what the gifts, talents, and skills are of the people that I am working with then I help them to design a fundraiser based on what they like to do. For example, I live in a community where we have alot of cooks so we design fundraisers around cooking. We have had fish frys and pancake breakfasts, banquets, etc.

Luke: What has been the most successful fundraiser you’ve been involved with? Why was it so successful?

Karen: The grant writing workshop was very successful because the attendance was very good and we raised over $5,000. We had people to start networking with each other and they started forming their own teams to do even greater works in the community.

Luke: What has been the most enjoyable fundraiser you’ve been involved with and what made it fun?

Karen: Craft Across Cultures was fun because we had Afrikaans, Hispanic, African American, Caucasian, and Asians working together. We also had people from the same ethnicity yet from different states. We had a great turnout and everyone had fun.

Luke: Have you been involved with fundraisers or do you have knowledge of fundraisers that flopped? Why didn’t they work?

Karen: I have worked with fundraisers that flopped because of the location. If you have a fundraiser make sure that it is accessible. They also don’t work if they aren’t well advertised. Advertisement truly pays off.

Luke: Is there a particular strategy that has worked over and over for you?

Karen: No, because I engage the participants in the fundraising strategy. It has worked better when the participants have input into the planning process.

Luke: What do you think is the key to motivating volunteers to support a fundraiser?

Karen: Volunteers are great, especially those that have an interest in what you are doing. It doesn’t hurt to screen your volunteers to assure that they are going to be committed to the mission.

Luke: How do you promote your fundraisers?

Karen: Newspapers, mass email marketing (Vertical Response) and social network marketing.

Luke: Have you developed a unique fundraising idea? What is it?

Karen: The Marketplace Impact Project has been unique in bringing together fledgling small businesses to share their business ideas with others. It gives people the opportunity to sell their wares, recruit others to become business owners and provide networking opportunities.

Luke: Out of the 1000s that are available, what are some of your favorite fundraising ideas?

Karen: Selling cookies is my favorite.

Luke: Where do you look for inspiration when you have a fundraising challenge ahead of you?

Karen: Whenever I have a challenge, I usually pray.

Luke: What, in your opinion, is the greatest challenge when staging small fundraising events?

Karen: Keeping everyone committed.

Luke: What, in your opinion, is the greatest challenge when staging big fundraising events?

Karen: Again, keeping everyone committed.

Luke: It’s especially challenging right now to raise money because of the state of the global economy. People are tapped out and don’t have as much money to give. How does someone looking to fundraise overcome this?

Karen: I know of a person asking all of his friends on Facebook to give $2.50 to a cause. He raised $8,000. In light of this present economy there are still those that will give to help others.

Luke: How can a small organization fundraise effectively without having any money on hand?

Karen: Start locally by writing letters to your local bank, city/county government, corporations and solicit funds from them for your initiative. Sometimes there are discretionary funds available. If your mission is identified and you have a strategic plan in hand then you can also contact foundations and write a letter of intent asking for discretionary funds. If your mission fits what they will fund you may be able to get as much as $10,000 the first time.

Luke: Why do you think you are so successful at fundraising? Don’t hold back. Our readers want to know.

Karen: I am not always successful and I don’t look at that as being an issue. One thing I don’t do is give up. If something does not work then I continue until I find what does and then I stick with it.

Luke: Was fundraising once harder for you than it is now? What changed?

Karen: Fundraising is not easy. It takes commitment, focus and tenacity. The changes that I have seen over the past year is that things are not as easy to obtain as before. That does not deter me, I just look for other avenues.

Luke: If a group or individual were taking on a fundraising project for the first time, what advice would you give them?

Karen: I would tell them to make sure they have a plan, a budget and the people to help carry out the plan. They will need a plan because it will serve as a road map that others can follow. They will need a budget so that they will know exactly how much it will cost to accomplish their task. They will need people to help get the job done.

Luke: If you were going to hire a fundraising professional, in your opinion, what talents or traits would it be most important to look for?

Karen: That they listen to the people they are working with and take their thoughts and ideas into consideration.

Luke: What one thing is essential to the success of any fundraiser?

Karen: Tenacity!

Luke: If you could only pass along one fundraising tip to our audience, what would it be?

Karen: Be creative. Find out what gifts, talents and resources are in the people that you are working with.

Luke: Thanks, Karen!

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Interview with a Fundraising Expert: Karen Dublin, Director of GRACE, Inc., 5.0 out of 5 based on 1 rating

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