In How to Land More Corporate Gifts, Frank Monti, a Rhode Island CPA, offers some very sound and creative tips for nonprofit organizations. I especially like his advice to "Look beyond the buck" and his suggestions for increasing donations from a corporation by offering your organization's services and expertise to them.

This material came to my email today in the Wednesday Report, emailed free each week by massnonprofit.org. While the site's primary mission is to provide "news and information about the nonprofit sector in Massachusetts," there's plenty there of use to nonprofit readers in other states.

May is Funding for Health Month at The Foundation Center. Are you seeking up-to-date information on foundation funding in the field of health? Are you a staff member, volunteer, or board member of a nonprofit organization active in a health-related area? Do you want to learn more about the latest trends in giving for health, meet some key grantmakers in the field, or network with colleagues?

Then this month-long event is for you!

At the Foundation Center web site, you'll find a wealth of content (with convenient links) designed to educate and inform nonprofits in the health field. Visit often during the month to take advantage of the full itinerary of events, special features, and links to resources on the web!

Last FUNd Brownbag Lunch before summer recess:

Wednesday, May 10, 2006 – “The New Foundation Center Website,” with Virginia E. Palmer, Grants Specialist, Dayton Metro Library. In celebration of its 50th anniversary the Foundation Center has embarked on a bold new strategic plan, “Building for Philanthropy’s Future: Next-Generation Services for the Field,” to address challenges facing the philanthropic sector in the 21st century. A new visual brand, tagline—Knowledge to build on—and web site create a fresh platform for extending the breadth and accessibility of its information, research, and educational services to its varied stakeholders. Join us for a cybertour of the new website and one last chance to network with nonprofit colleagues before FUNd takes a summer vacation!

Networking will begin at 11:45am, announcements and introductions at 12:10, and the speaker at 12:20, all in the Auditorium on the second floor of the Main Library. As usual, you’re invited to bring your own lunch and we’ll serve beverages and dessert. Please register by calling the Information Services Desk at 937-227-9500, ext. 251, or emailing me at vpalmer@daytonmetrolibrary.org.

As one of more than 240 Cooperating Collections designated by The Foundation Center, Dayton Metro Library’s Grants Information Center (GIC) provides print and electronic resources useful to staff, board members, volunteers, friends, and funders of nonprofit organizations. Supplemental programming and outreach activities connect the collection with the community of grantseekers and grantmakers at the local, state, regional, and national levels.

The basis for the collection is the Core List for Cooperating Collections, shipped automatically to the Library throughout the year by The Foundation Center. The major print items in this collection include:

Foundation Directory; Foundation Directory, Part 2; Foundation Directory, Supplement
Guide to U. S. Foundations, Their Trustees, Officers, and Donors
National Guide to Corporate Giving
Foundation 1000
Guide to Funding for International and Foreign Programs
National Guide to Funding for the Environment and Animal Welfare
National Guide to Funding in Arts and Culture
Foundation Center’s Guide to Proposal Writing

Foundation Center's Guide to Winning Proposals; Guide to Winning Proposals II
Foundation Fundamentals

These items are the core of the GIC Reference Collection and are supplemented by titles purchased from other vendors, such as The Taft Group; Research Grants Guides, Inc.; Oryx Press, etc. Most of these items are directories of potential funding sources for nonprofit organizations. Grantseekers can search electronically for potential funders using FC Search: The Foundation Center’s Database on CD-ROM, also provided as part of the Cooperating Collection subscription. FC Search is available in the Magazine Room, along with several periodicals from the field of philanthropy, such as The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Foundation News & Commentary, Grassroots Fundraising Journal, Nonprofit Management and Leadership, and NonProfit Times.

In the summer of 2004, books of interest to the nonprofit community were gathered from throughout the library collection to become the circulating segment of the Grants Information Center. Coming predominantly from the Dewey classes 361 (general social problems & welfare) and 658 (general management), these materials cover such topics as:

Board development
Fund raising
Legal and tax information
Marketing and public relations
Nonprofit management and evaluation
Proposal writing
Volunteers

The Grants Information Center has a presence on Dayton Metro Library’s website at: www.daytonmetrolibrary.org/default/Subjects/SubjectGuide.cfm?Subject=grantsvep_a.

A free, 3-hour orientation to the Grants Information Center is presented once a month, covering: what you need to have in place before you seek a grant, what you need to know about the world of philanthropy, how you identify funding partners, and how you can use Dayton Metro Library’s Grants Information Center for your grantseeking efforts. A nonprofit networking brownbag lunch is held on the second Wednesday of February, March, April, May, September, October, and November, and occasional stand-alone workshops are held at the Library or at an off-site location. The Grants Specialist regularly participates in professional organizations of grantseekers and grantmakers, and, in 2004, became a member of the Advisory Board of The Foundation Center-Cleveland.