Tips for Using the Internet to Research Grants, Write Proposals, Create E-Commerce Sites, and Other Fund-Raising Resources

Back to Additional Support Materials for Online Volunteers

Some of the most popular Online Volunteering tasks posted to our Online Volunteering service related to researching grants and fundraising resources online. When an agency asks an online volunteer to undertake these kinds of activities, what they are looking for are, usually:

• Corporations and foundations that fund organizations with missions and programs similar to their own agency.
• Awards and fellowships that come with a grant of equipment or finances, that are given in recognition of the type of work the agency does.
• Methods to accept donations online for the agency, either through the agency's own web site, or through a third party web site.
• E-commerce ideas that fit within an agency's mission, such as creating ways for the indigenous people that the agency serves to sell their own native projects online.
  Agencies also often ask for online volunteers to write grant proposals and strategic plans, based on the aforementioned research.

Fund-raising activities are some of the most popular tasks identified for online volunteers, but they can be quite hard to engage in successfully. Online volunteers can feel like they do a tremendous amount of service in this area with very little "return." And, in the end, it is the agency that must follow-up on what an online volunteer discovers and produces -- the agency is who makes the actual contact with those the volunteer identifies and solicits donations online, not the volunteer his or herself. Volunteers recruited through this Online Volunteering service should never be asked to solicit funds on behalf of an organization!

Below is advice for Online Volunteering focused on fund raising for organizations serving communities in developing countries:

First Steps
Before you engage in any online volunteering activity relating to fund-raising, including online research, make sure you read materials available about the agency you are assisting. This includes information on the web, brochures, annual reports, newspaper articles, or internal materials, such as previously-submitted grant proposals.

Then ask the agency for a definition of success: what is their ideal end result they envision because of your service? Make sure it's an expectation you can live up to! If it's not, consider further discussions to define a goal you both feel is attainable and desirable.

Next...

Do not EVER contact any corporation, foundation or other organization unless you have WRITTEN permission to do so from the agency sponsoring this type of opportunity.

If the agency does give you such permission, write a draft of the kind of email you want to send a corporation, foundation or other organization on the agency's behalf, and submit it to the agency for pre-approval.

Ask the agency to identify the largest employers in their area (and, perhaps, their entire country), other than government agencies and NGOs. Use this list to start your research online; check out each company's web site to see if there is grant or corporate volunteering information posted on the site. Pass this information on to the agency you are assisting.

More detailed information...
Grants Research and Proposal Resources
Online Donations
E-Commerce / Online Markets for Indigenous Products
Microfinance