Not for Profits Urged to be ‘Clearer on Outcomes’

Not for Profit organisations need to use a strong business case, rather than relying on emotional appeal, to attract philanthropic funding, according to charitable trust managers, Perpetual.

Announcing the distribution of $9.1 million of funds to 166 projects, Andrew Thomas, General Manager of Philanthropy at Perpetual, says competition for funding is growing consistently and Not for Profits need to be clearer on outcomes to attract funding.

More than 1,100 Not for Profits applied for funds as part of Perpetual’s annual funding round, with Perpetual recently announcing 166 projects would share in $9.1 million in funding from its charitable trusts.

The more than 1,100 NFPs that applied for funding from charitable trusts managed by Perpetual were assessed against the parameters of strategy, outcomes, capability and leadership. Successful recipients varied in size, from local organisations with $30,000 annual revenue, through to multi-million dollar national community groups.

Andrew Thomas says competition for funding is growing consistently, and to successfully compete for funding, NFPs need to become more business-minded in their applications.

Thomas says organisations that are successful in receiving philanthropic funds are the ones able to outline a business case based on outcomes, rather than relying on emotional appeal.

He says funding applications are not about writing a donor appeal letter; they need to be tailored and link the money invested to defined community outcomes.

According to Thomas, arts/cutlure and environmental organisations were the sectors most able to strongly articulate community outcomes in the 2011 funding round, something he says that could be attributed to the experience in these sectors of pitching for corporate sponsorship, using hard facts.

Thomas says NFPs that applied to Perpetual were good at outlining their niche and plans for collaboration, but often struggled to demonstrate their efficiency, effectiveness and risk management. This doesn’t mean organisations aren’t effective - they just aren’t good at communicating it on paper.

Overall, Perpetual’s 2011 Funding Round delivered $9.1 million in funding to 166 organisations across Australia in areas such as arts and culture, health, conservation and environment, social welfare, education and medical research.

Information on applications for Perpetual’s 2012 funding round will be available in late 2011 at www.perpetual.com.au/fundinground. Organisations can also register to receive updates at this address.