How to Effectively Engage Fathers: The 5th Competency

Funding. Funding. Funding. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about recruitment and retention as being the bane of practitioners’ existence. That’s only half the story. The other half of practitioners’ bane, if you will, is funding fatherhood programs.

This post is the fifth and final in a weekly series in which I highlight the five core competencies you need to effectively engage fathers, and how you can develop each competency with NFI’s Father Engagement Certificate^TM (FEC), an affordable on demand training that will help you develop those competencies.

Click here to read the post on the 1^st competency: How to Create a Father-Friendly Organization

Click here to read the post on the 2^nd competency: How to Design a Best Practice Fatherhood Program

Click here to read the post on the 3^rd competency: How to Think Like a Marketer

Click here to read last week’s post on the 4^th competency: How to Involve Moms 

Fundraising

The key to raising funds to start and maintain a fatherhood program is identifying diverse funding sources and securing funds from those sources that, when combined, provide multiple funding streams. All too often practitioners and organizations rely on one or two funding sources, which places the program at risk when those sources dry up as most eventually do. And all too often they’re involved in “crisis fundraising” that is reactive rather than proactive.

The fifth competency in effectively engaging fathers centers around the development of a well thought out, comprehensive Fund Development Plan for your fatherhood program that involves:

• Identifying and securing of funds for the program.
• How to position the fatherhood program within a larger context (i.e. related issue such as child abuse prevention).

Such a plan: 

• Focuses on activities/tactics for raising funds.
• Answers:
  • How you will identify funding sources?
  • How you will secure funds from sources?
  • Who will help identify and secure funds?

• Limits crisis fundraising by:
  • Identifying opportunities to meet current program needs.
  • Identifying opportunities to meet future program needs.

To create an effective plan, you need to learn how to research, select, and engage (initially and ongoing) individual donors and other funding sources (e.g. family foundations). 

FEC Session 5: How to Develop a Funding Plan for a Fatherhood Program

This session helps you think through how you will fund your fatherhood program, and covers the importance of a Fund Development Plan. You will learn about the nuances of raising funds from individuals and foundations, as well as how to profile, research, select, and engage different types of funders/funding streams. Thinking through your funding options will help you prepare to launch a successful, sustainable fatherhood program.

Don’t delay. Click here to start the process of earning your Father Engagement Certificate^™. 

Do you have a funding plan for your fatherhood program?

Does your plan include current needs and anticipate future needs?

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