g. Fundraising: a few ideas

The following comments on fundraising are broken down into these subsections:

A Few Introductory Observations
Identifying Potential Funders
Drafting Fundraising Documents
Approaching Funders
Approaching Sponsors

A Few Introductory Observations
C Start fundraising efforts, especially research into potential funders, as early as possible. Many funders have review procedures that take months, and actual disbursement can take even longer. In addition, some funders consider applications only once or twice a year, and it is essential not to miss those deadlines.
C Fundraising for a project like this can often resemble a young person's search for a job. In the latter case, the catch-22 reads: "No experience, no job. But, if you haven't had a job yet, you don't have any experience. Sorry." And in the world of fundraising: "If you haven't secured partial funding yet, we can't help you out. We can give you funding once you've found some funding. Good luck."

Just as the key for the young person is that first job, securing the support of that first funder is crucial for a Scenarios-type fundraising effort. Our experience tells us that once that first funder commits, the snowball effect kicks in straight away.

Strategically, this means that one might be well-advised early on to place a (non-exclusive) premium on specificity rather than on breadth in shaping the fundraising campaign. That is to say, it could prove beneficial at the outset to devote a great deal of energy into securing the commitment of two or three funders that one considers particularly good bets, even if the amount of funding that they might provide is relatively small.

Identifying Potential Funders
C As soon as the general contours of the project have been established, draft long lists of potential funders, potential commercial sponsors, and influential individuals who might lend a hand to efforts to secure funding. These lists can be drafted through a process of face-to-face and electronic brainstorming. Find out if you or your project partners have any contacts that could facilitate your efforts: just the name of the relevant individual in a structure or the opportunity to say you were referred to them by someone they know, can be an enormous help.
C Remember that Scenarios-type projects include a number of diverse elements, each of which may appeal to a different kind of funder. Do not limit the funding hunt to those bodies that support HIV-related activities. Rather, broaden the search to include funders interested in the following:

C Training/capacity building of grass-roots structures
C Youth
C Women
C The region in which the project is being conducted
C Research
If the project involves comparative studies incorporating analytical results from other Scenarios-type projects elsewhere in the world, remember to consider funders interested in activities carried out on an international level.

C The arts/cinema production.
The audio-visual products of 3,000 Scenarios Against a Virus and Scenarios from the Sahel, are valued not only as public health resources, but also as art films.

C Poverty reduction.
Devastation caused by AIDS contributes to the impoverishment of families and communities and can reverse hard-earned advances in the fight against poverty.

C Public Health
C Adolescent reproductive health
C HIV/AIDS prevention
C Support for people living with HIV/AIDS

Drafting Fundraising Documents
C Please remember that the potential objectives and outputs described in this document could provide you with lots of arguments that might be incorporated into fundraising documents and with firepower for presentations to funders.
C Fundraising documents should not be generic, with the same document sent to all funders. Rather, tailor the fundraising documents to the funder in question. Take time to research their priorities in depth _ the Internet is an invaluable resource in this regard.
C For each funder, draft two documents, with two different audiences in mind.

a) One document, which for a Scenarios-type project is likely to be around ten pages long, should contain a comprehensive overview of the proposed project. This would be for the specialist at the funding organization whose job it is to take a close look at proposals. That person might have the title of Program Officer.

This document should be designed to provide detailed information about what is proposed, and also to convince the Program Officer that the proposal is worth supporting.

There is a good chance that a face-to-face meeting at the offices of the funding organization would be with this kind of official, perhaps with him or her alone. However, it is commonly the case that the Program Officer will not have full decision-making powers when it comes to granting funds or not. That decision-making power is generally in the hands of individuals or committees who probably do not have time to examine the longer funding document closely.

The interface between the structure seeking funding and the decision makers in a given organization may well be this Program Officer, acting on your behalf and in your absence. The Program Officer probably will not have large amounts of time to explain the details of a proposal to a busy boss or a committee that is dealing with scores of documents. It is essential that the he or she be armed with just the right arguments to ensure that the proposal is not sold short when it is presented to the decision-makers. This is the raison d'être of the second document.

b) The second document (an _Executive Summary_) should be brief and in bullet form. It should be directly targeted to the organization in question; the language included in it should be such that the funder immediately recognizes that the project meshes with the stated objectives of his or her organization.

This document should be drafted in such a way that the Program Officer can photocopy it as is for her or his boss and/or for the members of a committee and walk them through the proposal in a clear, five-minute presentation _ using your words and your arguments.

This second document enormously simplifies the life of the Program Officer, the boss, and the members of a committee.

All the while, the longer document is available to answer any questions anyone may have. To facilitate the on-the-spot use of the longer document, it is preferable that the two documents should include identical headings and follow the same outline.

The shorter document is also a valuable tool for the structure seeking funding, as it can be used as the basis of exploratory presentations to funders. Depending on the setting, it can be presented on transparencies.

Funding documents and presentations include both basic project information and arguments that are designed to convince people, to sell the idea. The latter can and should be constantly improved.

From early on in the process, develop and regularly update a file of "firepower" -- convincing arguments that can be used to render a funding document more vibrant and persuasive, or to sway a visibly skeptical funding officer. "Firepower" can include things such as relevant statistics, quotes, and anecdotes.

Presentations to funders are excellent opportunities to refine one's arguments. Look upon such presentations just like the pre-testing of films; take note of comments, looks of skepticism, acknowledgment of particularly powerful or unclear points, questions_. Afterwards, just like a scriptwriter, go back and improve the screenplay.

C Devote plenty of time and attention to the development of a project logo. Try to come up with a logo that appeals strongly to the many different groups that will be exposed to it: the project team, funders, young people considering whether or not to participate in the project, cinema and television audiences_. And pre-test it to death. The logo should be simple, clear, and easily reproducible. The themes of HIV/AIDS (red ribbon) and cinema (film, camera, fonts that have cinema associations) lend themselves well to simple, dynamic and appealing logos. Try and develop the logo as early as you can as it lends the project identity, presence and a sense of professionalism. This is key to encouraging funders, celebrities, opinion leaders and other partners on board.
Approaching Funders
C A few years ago, a US-based friend of ours who specializes in fundraising gave us some simple advice that has become a central tenet of our own fundraising philosophy. She said, "When approaching potential funders, don't ask them for their money; get them on board."

Officers at funding agencies are often specialists with considerable experience in the field. By viewing them exclusively as conduits to money, one could be missing out on a golden opportunity to gain the long-term substantive support of committed specialists.

We have come to learn that many individuals who occupy important posts at funding agencies received their current positions because of their outstanding performance working in the field, at local level. Many of them long for opportunities to be engaged in practical, non-bureaucratic dialogue once again.

In short, funding officers should be viewed as potential partners in a far greater sense than simply as those who sign checks. Of course, all due respect must be paid to the severe constraints on their own time that they face.

C It is an unfortunate fact that some people's motivation to fight HIV has little to do with public health matters and everything to do with their own bank accounts. Many funders have been burned by investing in groups that had no intention of investing in the well-being of their communities.

Scenarios-type projects, especially because of the audio-visual production and distribution elements, might at first glance generate the skepticism of potential funders who suspect that commercial gain is the primary objective.

It is important to emphasize explicitly, in funding documents and in project presentations, that the project is non-profit.

C Different funders have different procedures. In some cases, seeking funding is an anonymous process of completing applications and submitting them before the deadline. Whatever the procedure, it_s always good to establish telephone contact, to give your application a voice, a personality. And don_t imagine that you have to speak to the boss: never underestimate secretaries as a source of information and support.

If at all possible, arrange to see potential funders face-to-face. Our experience has
been that personal discussions with funders dramatically enhance a dossier's
prospects for success.
Trips to see potential funders can be combined with other important project-related activities. Certain key fundraising cities (New York, Geneva, Washington) are also excellent locations for discussions with specialists on monitoring/evaluation, research, audio-visual distribution, and other elements. Plan multiple-use fundraising trips.

Approaching Sponsors (i.e. companies as opposed to non-commercial funding bodies)
C Sponsors could be called upon to provide financial assistance or (more likely) support in-kind for a number of different elements of a Scenarios-type project, including:

Prizes for the contest winners
Travel, lodging and food costs associated with the selection process and/or film production
Materials/services required for actual film production and post-production
Broadcasting of the films

C Sustainable partnership is always founded on win-win situations, ones where everyone stands to gain. As with all prospective partners, it is important to identify what sponsors stand to gain from involvement and approach them with this in mind.

Larger companies will sometimes have a charitable contributions department with a budget that needs to be spent within a defined period. Companies may recognize that contributing to a project in the vicinity of their headquarters or factory is also likely to benefit their own workforce and their families. Contributing to charitable initiatives also helps their public image in the community.

In the case of a Scenarios-type project, another argument that can potentially be mobilized with potential sponsors has to do with brand visibility, primarily among young people. By investing in a project of this kind, a company might see their name and/or logo in the following places:

Project T-shirts (worn by young people across the project zone)
Contest materials (participants will be spending hours referring to the document)
Project posters (displayed in the course of the contest)
Project banners (to be used at press conferences, film production sites_)
Film credits
Media coverage: articles, radio shows_

Depending on the scale of your project, this level of visibility could potentially be a financial asset. But it is one that carries risks that must be very carefully assessed. It would be disastrous for your project if, through the prominence given to commercial sponsors, it came to be perceived as a commercial venture. You could stand to lose the support of a wide range of partners whose commitment is founded on the project_s non-commercial nature and image.

It is perfectly possible to express gratitude to commercial sponsors _ and give them visibility _ without compromising the project image in any way. You will need to come to a decision on just how you will go about doing this.

In addition, you will need to reassure potential sponsors about exactly how their name will be used. You may find that they prefer their contribution to be played down. Depending on who they are, they may, for example, be happy for it to appear in the credits of a film about abstinence, but more reluctant if the film is about condom use. You should also give careful consideration to which companies you want to be associated with.

Although the process is highly energy- and labor-intensive, it is usually well worth the investment and can have long-term repercussions: relationships established with sponsors can be mobilized again in the future by your own or partner organizations. In a context of dwindling resources, traditional funding organizations look very favorably on efforts to engage new financial partners, thus lessening the financial burden on themselves.

C The Scenarios from the Sahel team is presently researching the concept of product placement (in Scenarios films) as a means to secure sponsor support.

(Please also see "Monitoring/Evaluation" below.)