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Many of the most reliable, sustainable and fruitful sources of financial support for bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations come from your backyard.

How can you turn your members and supporters into major donors? How can you incorporate planned gifts into your organization’s fundraising plan, and protect yourself from potentially harmful gifts? How can you use events and rides as sustainable sources of income? How can you tap into community foundations and get government and business support through sponsorships?

Part three of Alliance’s Guide to Fundraising series explores each of these funding sources and shares tips and examples from Alliance member organizations and nonprofit fundraising experts. The strategies within this guide will help you successfully maximize local resources and support your efforts to increase biking and walking in your community.

This guide is supplemented with two upcoming mutual aid calls:

• Sponsorships are Partnerships: Working with Corporations (Jan. 16 at 2:00 p.m. EST) Join this call to learn about corporate giving and how to develop partnerships with corporations in your community. You will hear from Alliance leaders and experts about the trends in corporate giving, how to approach local businesses for sponsorships and support, and tips for cultivating and maintaining partnerships. Panelists include Jay Ferm from Planet Bike, Marilyn Hoyt from the Foundation Center and Amanda White from the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin. Register here
• Approaching and Working with Your Local Foundations (Feb. 20 at 2:00 p.m. EST) Most cities and regions have foundations that fund local projects. However, community and family foundations often exist under the radar and do not accept unsolicited requests for funding. All of the speakers on this call are foundation staff and will provide suggestions for how to maximize the funding resources in your own community and develop relationships with local foundations. Panelists include Patricia Pasqual, Director of the D.C. office of the Foundation Center, Janis Foster Richardson, Executive Director of Grassroots Grantmaking, and a foundation grant officer. Register here

This guide builds upon the foundation of Part 1: Creating and Implementing an Effective Fundraising Plan and Part 2: Anatomy of a Winning Proposal. Members, click here to visit the Resource Library and check out these guides.

Don’t underestimate what the power of cultivating local supporters can do for your advocacy efforts; Alliance members exist and thrive because of the communities they operate in.

The Guide to Fundraising series is meant to evolve with your feedback. If you would like us to include examples, tips or resources to continue to improve and develop these publications, please don’t hesitate to contact Brighid O’Keane at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).