Frequently Asked Questions

<body bgcolor="#ffffff" onload="CSScriptInit();" link="#c7004e" topmargin="0" marginheight="0"> <table cool width="536" height="2430" showgridx showgridy gridx="16" gridy="16" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr height="25"> <td width="148" height="25" colspan="3"></td> <td width="12" height="2429" rowspan="11"></td> <td width="375" height="25"></td> <td width="1" height="25"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="25"></td> </tr> <tr height="24"> <td width="148" height="24" colspan="3" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><csobj w="100" h="24" t="Button" ht="images/success_over.gif"><a href="#" onmouseover="return CSIShow(/*CMP*/'button',1)" onmouseout="return CSIShow(/*CMP*/'button',0)" onclick="return CSButtonReturn()"><img src="images/success_main.gif" width="100" height="24" name="button" border="0"></a></csobj></td> <td width="375" height="2404" rowspan="10" align="left" xpos="160" content valign="top" csheight="2404"> <p><i><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times" color="#c7004e">Weve done all of our fundraising in house up until now. How would it be to our advantage to use The Ramona Group?</font></i></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">Contributions are the lifeblood of your non-profit institution. Finding generous donors, convincing them to give, keeping them interested and preserving their goodwill is essential to your organizations survival. If your organization has succeeded at this on its own, congratulations! But if limited staffing, resources and fund-development expertise are preventing your organization from getting and keeping the funding it deserves, The Ramona Group can help.</font></p> <p></p> <p><i><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times" color="#c7004e">What advantage does The Ramona Group offer us?</font></i></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">The Ramona Group puts at your disposal a full-time professional fund-development staff, experienced grant writers and up-to-date national databases at a fraction of what this would cost you to maintain in-house. Were a strategic planning consulting firm that takes action and gets results for non-profit organizations like yours. Well work with your executives and staff to build a strong, efficient fund development program that can bring on the donor support you need. </font></p> <p></p> <p><i><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times" color="#c7004e">How will The Ramona Group find funding for our non-profit?</font></i></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">The Ramona Group finds you the most promising potential donors in the corporate, foundation and government sectors by searching our extensive proprietary database of funding sources. We identify, qualify and do the background research on high-level prospects, then work to match your organization with donors that want to support the objectives of your mission. We share these findings with your executives, board and staff so they can help us identify any links or personal contacts that can smooth the path to these prime prospects. Then we strategize with you to develop a step-by-step action plan for cultivating their support. </font></p> <p></p> <p><i><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times" color="#c7004e">How can The Ramona Group help us gain the support of these potential donors?</font></i></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">Through our effective resear</font><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">ch, youll know that youre on the verge of approaching the strongest potential supporters of your cause. The next step is to create a sound plan for attracting these donors to your organization, and convincing them to supply the funding you need. We understand what motivates corporations, foundations and governments to fund non-profit organizations like yours, and well work with you to develop a strategy to greatly enhance your odds of gaining their support. </font></p> <p></p> <p><i><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times" color="#c7004e">What is the advantage of having The Ramona Group write our grant requests, instead of doing them in-house?</font></i></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">Good grant writing requires a combination of specialized resources that few non-profits have available in-house. Our pool of highly skilled grant writers make it their top priority to research and compose grants that are geared to get results. They begin by preparing a grant blueprint that contains the core information on which all of your grants will be based. Then they do the research necessary to find links between specific grant makers and your organization. Our writers carefully craft each grant to perfectly fit the grant makers guidelines; point out links between the prospect and your organization; and provide distinct, compelling reasons for the grant maker to fund your request.</font></p> <p></p> <p><i><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times" color="#c7004e">What else does The Ramona Group offer to give us an edge in fund raising?</font></i></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">The way you present your non-profit  whether in a brochure, a newsletter or an annual report  can greatly influence your fundraising success. Never underestimate the role of your organizations printed materials. They often make a lasting impression on donors, on which they may even base their decision on whether and how much to give you. Your printed materials neednt be expensive to be effective. The Ramona Groups sophisticated marketing team will work with you to enhance your existing items or develop fresh materials that put your organizations message in the best possible light. </font></p> <p></p> <p><i><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times" color="#c7004e">Who will handle the details of our fund-development campaign?</font></i></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">Our specially qualified staff and dedicated office systems can handle the many details that continually crop up in fund development programs. Were organized to keep track the various tasks, goals and milestones to free you up for controlling the bigger picture. </font></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">Some of the many tasks we can perform on your behalf include:</font></p> <ul> <li><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">Creating a development calendar</font> <li><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">Producing promotional materials and solicitation letters</font> <li><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">Creating and managing a database that includes donation recording keeping</font> <li><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">Tracking the solicitation process</font> <li><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">Encouraging funding renewals</font> <li><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">Researching grants</font> <li><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">Writing grant proposals</font> <li><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">Administering grants</font> <li><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">Seeing to your grant reporting and compliance</font> </ul> <p></p> <p><i><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times" color="#c7004e">How will The Ramona Group help us maintain good relationships with our donors?</font></i></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">Its common for fundraising programs to offer some kind of benefit for donors. If you fail to keep those promises, you could lose your donors goodwill and their financial support. The Ramona Group can see to it that your commitments are fulfilled and your donors are kept satisfied. We keep them apprised of when and how you are meeting these obligations, which in turn keeps them interested, involved and much more likely to contribute to your cause once again.</font></p> <p></p> <p><i><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times" color="#c7004e">How can The Ramona Group help us improve our fundraising in-house?</font></i></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">Wed like to help each of our clients to eventually develop a self-sufficient, internal fund development staff. Working towards that goal, The Ramona Group offers Solicitation Seminars for your board members, staff and volunteers. Well share with them some of the finer points of solicitation management, along with many proven techniques for improving fund raising methods and results.</font></p> <p></p> <p><i><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times" color="#c7004e">How is it more cost-efficient to have The Ramona Group help us with fund development?</font></i></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">Probably more so than with any other type of organization, the stewards of a non-profit must consider cost efficiency. Because fund development is our area of expertise, and we do it for many non-profits at once, we are more efficient and effective and less costly than doing it in-house. You pay only for the specific services youve asked us to provide, so you maintain complete control of your costs. We never take contingency fees, no matter how large the amount of money weve helped you raise. Your donors expect you to use their funding to further the objectives of your non-profits mission and so do we.</font></p> <p></p> <p><i><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times" color="#c7004e">Will The Ramona Group dedicate a staff member to our account?</font></i></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">Absolutely. One person will be dedicated to your account and will coordinate and review all of the materials we produce for your organization. While we may assign some of the legwork of researching and writing grant applications to different individuals within The Ramona Group, you can count on having a Ramona Group staff member who will be familiar with your organization and consistently serve as your contact person.</font></p> <p></p> <p><i><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times" color="#c7004e">Who reviews the grants before they are sent?</font></i></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">You do. We begin by composing your grant template and general application letters specific to your organization. Once your executive director has reviewed and approved them, they become the basis for the grant writing and correspondence well do on your behalf. Before sending out individual grants, we provide your executive director with the finalized grant to review, along with cover letters and forms to sign. No grant will ever leave our offices without your final approval.</font></p> <p></p> <p><i><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times" color="#c7004e">How do we get started?</font></i></p> <p><font face="Times New Roman,Georgia,Times">Call 989-895-0960 today and find out how The Ramona Group will take action to move your non-profit organization from surviving to <i>thriving.</i></font></p> </td> <td width="1" height="24"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="24"></td> </tr> <tr height="24"> <td width="148" height="24" colspan="3" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><csobj w="100" h="24" t="Button" ht="images/grant_over.gif"><a href="grantprocess.html" onmouseover="return CSIShow(/*CMP*/'button2',1)" onmouseout="return CSIShow(/*CMP*/'button2',0)" onclick="return CSButtonReturn()"><img src="images/grant_main.gif" width="100" height="24" name="button2" border="0"></a></csobj></td> <td width="1" height="24"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="24"></td> </tr> <tr height="24"> <td 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