If you wish to ask someone for money, you must state your case by telling your story. This is true if you are offering dental services or busking in the mall. In our community we do the same thing. While I reject utterly any assertion that it is humiliating to present a case for support, it can help to have some knowledge or experience.
For those running a micro event or group, it is understandable that your expertise or interest lies in helping others or performing, and so the paperwork can seem confronting or appear to ‘get in the way’ of the cause. Many people claim they are just not good at fundraising. If I ask you about what you wish to achieve or why you got into this, however, you can move me to tears. So you need to marry your passion to people who share it.
Luckily there are people out there who will care about what is important to you and want to help support you to do it. For those running charitable foundations or government grants, however, it is more and more important not to waste funds or give when there is a good chance the money might be misused. Hence the forms. On the other hand, people running foundations and grant-making bodies are usually wonderful individuals whose life work is to fund things. They or their staff will help applicants to make strong submissions or explain why they are not the best organisation for that particular cause. Some bodies, like the City of Glen Eira, even run free workshops to help newbies with what they need to do or get hold of to make a successful pitch.
The best site for matching you to people and places who want the same outcome you do is:
www.philanthropy.org.au
I take the point from a previous article that the author feels “that the more cultural events we add the more time we spend reinventing the wheel from festival protocols to risk management plans.” As a public service to the Jewish community, it would be helpful (and incredibly low cost) if some of the typical forms or basic templates for documents could be kept on the Lamm library or even the J-Seek website(s) so that new and emerging festival directors or philanthropists could see if there is a sample to guide them. If there is, great. If there isn’t, write one, and add it after you have used it.
What I mean by a template is examples of checklists for “what goes into a business plan” or “Steps to turn a group of friends into an association who can run things and ask for help.”, or, as previously referred to, a sample risk management plan for a public event. This kind of collaboration is pain-free and appreciated by both other fund seekers and by donors, who relish evidence of cooperation.
So to kick things off, this is the link for step by step instructions to become an incorporated association in Victoria, Australia:
https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/clubs-and-not-for-profits/incorporated-associations/become-an-incorporated-association
I hope many of our micro groups band together on this in a spirit of friendship and mutual support. A resource bank could only enhance our community by encouraging more art, comedy, music, food and support for those in need.
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