Fundraising is the lifeblood that sustains non-profits, charities, and humanitarian organizations in their efforts to make the world a better place. And, while some organizations have successfully managed to cultivate a reliable network of donors, many aid-sector actors still need assistance to find and secure new sources of income. This is precisely why DevelopmentAid has been around for over 17 years, providing access to the world’s most comprehensive databases of funding opportunities.
Perhaps the most sustainable fundraising strategy for organizations is to make sure that their funding sources are as diverse as possible. Whether that’s money from grants, income from public tenders, or qualifying for government programs, a well-balanced spread of different income streams ensures that your organization can concentrate on implementing its mission.
However, maintaining a diverse range of funding sources can prove to be a real challenge for many organizations. Issues such as fierce competition, limited in-house staff capacity to conduct research, and a lack of timely access to donor announcements can seriously hamper the ability to implement a fundraising strategy.
In this article, we demonstrate how a DevelopmentAid membership and the smart use of its powerful databases can turn your NGO, charity, or humanitarian organization into a fundraising powerhouse without having to dedicate all your valuable in-house staff to the task.
Unlocking a world of funding organizations
For more than 17 years, DevelopmentAid has been the world leader in providing information services to organizations working in the field of sustainable development. As such, we created specialized databases to quickly locate suitable funding opportunities and enable the ability to apply for these with only a minimal amount of effort required.
The Foundations Database
The first DevelopmentAid database that many NGOs, charities, and humanitarian organizations turn to is the Foundations database. This contains detailed information of nearly 12,000 non-profit and civic organizations that offer grants, tenders, and jobs across 84 different specialty sectors.
Members can access a foundation’s full profile, and its extensive grant portfolio, as well as analytical information on funding trends (sectors, regions, etc.)
The Foundations database allows you to search by:
- the name of the foundation
- the legal residence of the foundation
- the sector(s) it specializes in
- non-profit and/or legal status
- the number of people it employs
- the geographical area(s) of expertise,
- previous experience working with multilateral institutions such as development banks.
The Grants Database
The other extremely useful DevelopmentAid database that savvy NGOs, charities, and humanitarian organizations use to identify potential funding sources is the Grants database.
The Grants database has over 100,000 records of current and previously awarded grants from governments, organizations, and multilateral institutions all over the world. Much like the Foundations database, there is a wide variety of search filters you can use to find grants:
- by geographical location
- by status
- by funding entity,
- by eligible applicant types
- by sector
- and many other criteria
By studying previously awarded grants as well as those currently being open and forecasted, your organization can gain a tremendous advantage in strategically planning for future grants from the same donor. Likewise, all posted grants in the database have a link to the submission requirement information, including eligibility conditions and whether documents such as a letter of inquiry are needed.
Additionally, our AI-generated Quick Summary helps you quickly understand complex grant documentation and supporting materials.
One of the best features of the Grants database is the ability to create alerts so that you are instantly notified when a new grant is published that meets your criteria or when there has been a change in status for a grant your organization has already applied for.
Staying one step ahead of the competition
In an ideal world, every worthwhile NGO, charity, and humanitarian organization would receive all the funding it needs. But we all know that there is a lot of competition out there with thousands of organizations chasing after what can often feel like a dwindling number of donors.
This is why the DevelopmentAid platform, and its comprehensive databases of available funding opportunities, is such an invaluable resource for non-profit organizations. The two databases are updated in real-time with the latest grants and funding opportunities, as well as information about status changes to existing grants, tenders, and jobs.
Nowhere else will you find the most complete information on foundations and grants available 24/7 at your fingertips.
DevelopmentAid members can also create customized alerts so that you are immediately notified when a suitable funding opportunity that meets your needs and qualifications becomes available. This information ensures that you’re among the first in line to apply for grants and other sources of funding when they’re published. Instead of having to dedicate staff resources to actively monitor the publication of new grants, your organization can employ a more proactive strategy by responding when suitable opportunities become available.
Lastly, the extensive archive of information, previously awarded grants, and experience is an invaluable aid when your organization is crafting a proposal for a currently available opportunity.
Empowering your team with research-driven fundraising
It is no secret that every organization has to find a narrow balance between how much money and staffing resources to allocate toward administrative needs and how much to allocate toward implementing the mission. One of the greatest advantages of having access to the DevelopmentAid platform is how it can help you to augment your internal capacity by building capabilities in a cost-effective and productive way.
Your program development team will be able to better focus on the mission at hand when they can rely on in-house staff being able to secure a reliable mix of income sources for minimal effort and expense. The DevelopmentAid platform is designed for small, agile in-house teams to quickly and easily identify suitable fundraising sources and then apply for funding using a focused strategy that is strengthened by a wealth of research data.
The potential return on investment from a DevelopmentAid membership is, therefore, almost limitless. A small, dedicated team can use the custom alert features as well as the extensive database of available opportunities to identify grants and other funding opportunities, making fundraising for your organization an efficient and productive process. Likewise, having all of the relevant information about eligibility requirements and submission procedures greatly reduces the likelihood of human error or missing out on opportunities due to incorrectly formatted applications.
Transforming fundraising from guesswork to strategy
The days of cold calling, door-to-door fundraising drives, and depending on workplace appeals are mostly over and have been replaced by data-driven, highly targeted fundraising strategies that use online resources to maximize your organization’s chances of securing long-term access to a diverse range of income sources.
As the premier information portal in the sustainable development space, DevelopmentAid is uniquely positioned to assist NGOs, charities, and humanitarian organizations to diversify their funding sources and build a long-term and effective strategy to capitalize on their mission to leave the world a better place than how they found it.
Log in to your DevelopmentAid member account and begin exploring today.
If you’d like to become a member and learn more about how a DevelopmentAid membership can improve your organization’s fundraising capabilities, contact us at any convenient time.
