Financing CE Solutions

Public Funding Assistance

Private Funding Assistance

Ten Grantwriting Tips

Fundraising Event Tips

Fundraising Brainstorming Session

People often assume that civic entrepreneurs are wealthy individuals. Actually, most of them come equipped with only a good idea and some hope. At the outset, their financial options appear limited. They often have minimal exposure to fundraising strategies or grant-writing assistance and seldom can they rely on a rich relative for start-up capital.

So how is it possible for their ideas to succeed? Aren't large sums of money needed to tackle any social problem? With the federal government spending billions every year, what would possess someone, without a lot of money, to think they could even make a dent?

Yet looking at it another way, money is never the most important ingredient in solving a social problem. Since changing the lives of people is the primary focus, any problem first requires that caring people be part of the cure. Confronting challenges like orphaned children or juvenile violence requires human interaction as much as it requires money. Civic entrepreneurs know that money is an important part of the solution, but they also know that just throwing money at the problem is ineffective and shortchanges human dignity.

Surprisingly, it doesn't take millions or even tens of thousands to launch most CE ideas. Ninety per cent of them start out on a shoestring and grow from there. Most civic entrepreneurs recruit and attract large numbers of local volunteers to keep costs low. Eventually, however, they will need monetary resources to expand and grow.

There are many alternatives for financing CE ideas from both the private and public sectors in today's economy .... yet it appears that most of them have never been explored by the majority of civic entrepreneurs.

While some CE's do rely upon government grants, many prefer to rely strictly upon private sources. Often, they are concerned that public funding may eventually dry up or they are overwhelmed by the thought of more paperwork. Many are committed to maintaining a high degree of autonomy in how they run their programs. As a result, they've harnassed private revenue streams by equipping themselves with networking skills and determination along with a strong passion for their cause. It's a formula that apparently works because it has resulted in tens of thousands, and even millions, of dollars from previously untapped sources!

At the same time, public sector dollars may also attract private resources. As seed money for start-up or equipment investment, public funds can hold growth possibilities for certain CE initiatives. For example, high cost housing initiatives have been helped significantly during start-up by special government grant and loan programs. Some faith-based groups have also discovered that Charitable Choice funding is an attractive alternative to their private donation funding.

Click on the public, private, and grant tips links on this page to learn more about financial assistance organizations that can help to expand your social solution.

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