THE FUNDRAISING PROJECT
OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION EXCHANGE

Resource Development Consulting Services

Follow this link for "Diversifying Your Funding: MIE Custom Resource Development Support"

First, Two Words About Our Philosophy: Capacity Building
The consulting services offered through the Fundraising Project of Management Information Exchange (MIE) are designed with one thought in mind: to build the capacity of your program to organize your resource development activities so that you can better serve low-income persons in your community.

Thinking About Starting A Private Bar, Capital Or Endowment Campaign?
We can help you assess local support for a campaign. MIE will meet with members of your board and staff, interview local bar and community leaders, and submit a written report assessing the potential and recommending strategies for a campaign in your service area.

Would You Like Help Organizing That First Campaign?
We can help you plan and develop the critical first year of your campaign. By bringing to bear the experience developed in dozens of campaigns throughout the country, we can help get that initial campaign off to a good start. Some of the ways we can help include:

· Interviewing local leaders to develop support for your campaign;
· Helping you to set realistic campaign goals and to identify key potential donors and lead gifts;
· Helping you develop effective campaign materials;
· Meeting with key firms, organizations, and individuals;
· Organizing and developing campaign structure and strategies;
· Troubleshooting and problem-solving along the way; and
· Evaluating the success of your campaign.

How About Raising Your Current Campaign To Another Level?
Is your campaign stagnant or does it need to grow to another level? We can meet with your campaign, bar and community leadership, as well as current and potential donors, to gauge the potential for increased support, help you devise new campaign approaches, and provide a fresh and seasoned perspective on your campaign.

Is It Time To Engage In Serious Resource Development Planning?
We can help you assess the potential for increasing support from the whole range of governmental and private resources available in your state. This can be particularly valuable as part of your state planning process, or if your program has been recently reconfigured. A resource development planning effort will:

·Identify how overall funding for legal services within a state might be increased with private, state, local government, foundation and corporate resources;
·Suggest how successful fundraising efforts might be expanded or replicated throughout the state;
·Recommend ways to address funding disparities among regions of a state; and
· Identify how new collaborative fundraising ventures might be organized.

Some of the areas typically explored in this kind of project are: opportunities for state appropriations or fees; support for new initiatives such as creation of self-help centers, preventative legal education projects, or legal hotlines; and replication of successful approaches from other parts of the country, such as cy pres awards and corporate fundraising.

Can You Use Training In Fundraising For Your Board And Staff?
We can provide basic, intermediate or advanced training in fundraising for your board of directors, campaign leadership and staff. Training topics may include:

· The role of the board of directors in fundraising;
· Planning and implementing effective fundraising strategies;
· Successfully raising funds from foundation and corporate resources;
· How to ask for major gifts;
· Evaluating your current fundraising program; and
· Organizing or revitalizing a private bar campaign.

Do You Have A New Fundraiser On Your Staff?
We can provide mentoring and training for your new fundraising staff whether he or she is new to legal services, or an experienced staff member who is new to fundraising. We will help your new fundraiser learn about the range of development strategies being employed around the country, get to know resource persons and programs, and develop a work plan for their first year.

What Will We Pay For MIE's Fundraising Consulting Services?
Costs depend on a variety of factors, but an initial campaign assessment generally costs about $3,500, while help with the first year of a campaign runs between $15,000 and $18,000. Training is usually billed at $1,000 per day. These fees are based on MIE's standard charge of $90 per hour for MIE subscribers. Costs are higher for non-subscribers.

A Few Concluding Words
MIE is the only organization in the country that specializes in helping legal services programs raise money. And, while MIE brings experience and knowledge gained through working with dozens of legal services programs across the country to your program, we also recognize that your program and community has their own unique history, circumstances, culture, and norms. We know that any project must consider the availability of staff and volunteer time and resources. In short, we expect to tailor our work in whatever way best meets the needs of your program.

What Have Legal Services Programs Said about the Work of MIE's Fundraising Project?

"Your extensive experience with private bar campaigns was invaluable to us. The feasibility studies you conducted laid the foundation for successful campaigns and identified co-chairs and committee members for our campaigns. You worked well with our volunteers, and they respected your advice on campaign strategy issues. With the help of MIE's consulting services, we raised over $800,000 in our campaigns in the first three years."
-Linda Zazove, Deputy Director, Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation

"The Statewide Assessment Project you did for us in Georgia was incredibly useful. It was particularly helpful to have an outside consultant with your obvious expertise provide us with a detailed assessment of realistic strategies for increasing resources. The professional manner you demonstrated in interviewing potential donors and funders added greatly to the value of your work."
-Steven Gottlieb, Executive Director, Atlanta Legal Aid Society

"The critical component of our legal aid campaign came from your action plan which called for targeting corporations, foundations and the bar. The concept was brilliant and incredibly successful. We raised just over one million dollars in a three year period. You were instrumental to our success during implementation of the plan, especially when working with large potential donors."
-Jack Brown, Jones Givens Gotcher & Bogan, Tulsa, OK

"MIE's Fundraising Project got us started on what turned out to be a $4 million capital and endowment fundraising campaign. You met with leaders in the legal community , and helped motivate past and present Board members to believe that a major fundraising campaign would be possible. Without the Fundraising Project's help, we might never have had the confidence to try. Thanks for everything."
-Mary Asbury, Executive Director, Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati.

"MIE's Fundraising Project is a wonderful resource for programs seeking to expand their own resources. Our program had been receiving between $5,000 and $17,000 per year from our annual fundraising drive. Enter MIE and its time-tested fundraising techniques and within a year, we had raised over $120,000. More importantly, however, are the contacts we developed with local law firms, corporations and judges. Our program is more visible to the community than we had been prior to the campaign. This has translated in direct benefits for our clients."
-Charles Greenfield, Executive Director, Legal Services of Northern Virginia

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