Press Release Details

Contact:
Steve Lew, CompassPoint
415.541.9000 x330 SteveL@CompassPoint.org
Kim Klein, Grassroots Fundraising Journal
510.596.8160 Kim@GrassrootsFundraising.org

CompassPoint Nonprofit Services and the Grassroots Fundraising Journal are proud to announce The Fundraising Academy for Communites of Color, a comprehensive fundraising training program designed to build the sustainability of organizations based in communities of color, and to diversify the philanthropic and fundraising fields. The Fundraising Academy strives to address the economic, educational, and psycho-social obstacles that tend to block people of color from successful careers in fundraising and organizations of color from implementing successful strategies for contributed dollars. The Fundraising Academy will accept applications for its inaugural class in January 2004. The Academy is also the basis for research into the development function in nonprofits serving communities of color; a full report is slated for publication in the spring of 2005.

"The Fundraising Academy meets an incredibly important need," commented Kim Klein, co-publisher of the Grassroots Fundraising Journal and an internationally known fundraiser, trainer and author, "Grassroots organizations in communities of color have not been able to develop skilled fundraisers in the numbers required." Steve Lew of CompassPoint and the Fundraising Academy Director, agreed: “To be sustainable and strong, people of color organizations need to be skilled at raising funds in many different ways. The Fundraising Academy’s approach is to work closely with individuals already doing fundraising in such organizations—strengthening their skills as well as institutionalizing a fundraising strategy within the organization.”

The Fundraising Academy for Communities of Color will focus on individuals working in an organization identified with a community of color who have fundraising responsibilities in their organizations. Applicants can have a wide variety of titles—from executive director to clinic director to administrative assistant. Participants will receive seven months of intensive training along with regular coaching sessions. The Academy will also foster the development of participant’s professional network by presenting opportunities to meet fundraising leaders of color and influential individuals in philanthropy.

“The W. K. Kellogg Foundation is privileged to provide funding for this innovative and exciting project,” said Alandra Washington of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. “Both CompassPoint and the Grassroots Fundraising Journal are top-notch organizations in fundraising training and they bring a strong orientation towards community-based organizations of color to this work. We are privileged to partner with them on such a critical project”.

Funded by the Innovation Fund of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Fundraising Academy is a joint project of CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, the nation’s premier consulting & training firm focused exclusively on the nonprofit sector, and the Grassroots Fundraising Journal, an Oakland based nonprofit focused on developing fundraising strategies for grassroot organizations. The Fundraising Academy contains a seven month long training and coaching component that will be delivered in conjunction with the Bay Area Black United Fund (BABUF), Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training (GIFT), the Multicultural Alliance of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Golden Gate Chapter, the National Community Development Institute and Northern California Grantmakers.

The Fundraising Academy project team is led by Kim Klein, Steve Lew, Jan Masaoka, Stephanie Roth, and Sabrina Smith. Advisors to the Fundraising Academy include: Dr. Woody Carter of the Bay Area Black United Fund (BABUF), Lupe Gallegos Diaz and Vena Ford with the Multicultural Alliance of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Priscilla Hung of the Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training (GIFT), Dahnesh Medora of the National Community Development Institute and C.J. Callen of Northern California Grantmakers.

About CompassPoint Nonprofit Services

With offices in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services is a nonprofit consulting and training organization. Through a broad range of services including consulting, research, information dissemination, workshops, and conferences, CompassPoint strives to provide the best management tools and concepts to help nonprofits better serve their communities. For more information, visit http://www.compasspoint.org/ or call 415.541.9000 in San Francisco or 415.541.9505 in San Jose.

Grassroots Fundraising Journal

Grassroots Fundraising Journal helps nonprofit organizations learn how to raise more money to support their important work. Published bi-monthly, the Grassroots Fundraising Journal offers practical, how-to instruction on fundraising strategies such as: direct mail, special events, major gift campaigns, and phone-a-thons, as well as tools to help you build a board of directors that is willing to raise money, choose a database to track donors, manage your time effectively, and ultimately develop a successful fundraising program. For more information, visit http://www.grassrootsfundraising.org.