“Far and away the best prize that life offers
is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”
- Theodore Roosevelt
PA 631 Fundraising and Volunteer Administration
University of Southern Indiana, Department of Political Science and Public Administration
COURSE SYLLABUS
Spring 2015
Class Time: T 6:00-8:45 PM
Office: 3rd Floor Liberal Arts Building
Instructor: Trent Engbers, Ph.D.
Mailbox: LA 3062
E-mail: taengbers@usi.edu
Classroom: LA 1003
Phone: 477-1432 (Home)
Phone: 465-1130 (Office)
Office Hours: T/TH 1:30-2:30; W 5-6
I am of the tradition that office hours are an antiquated concept. My preference would be to be more widely
available to you. Please feel free to reach out at any time to schedule a meeting. My goal is to be very flexible
in making myself available to you.
Course Description:
An analysis of fundraising strategies and the management of volunteers in government agencies and
nonprofit organizations. This course teaches students the theories and techniques of resource development. This
includes the best practice of volunteer management. Fundraising topics will include the fundraising tradition in
the U.S., principal donor types, theories of donor behavior, and the organizational, legal and ethical contexts of
fundraising. Students learn basic fundraising tools, including planning, grant writing, special events, major
gifts, planned giving, and capital campaigns. Students work as volunteer consultants with nonprofit partners to
analyze their current fundraising strategies and materials and help them develop new ones.
Course Objectives:
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
1. Follow appropriate ethical practices in fundraising.
2. Develop tools useful in screening and placing volunteers
3. Conduct a fundraising assessment
4. Identify different sources of funds and use the sources that are most useful for a given nonprofit
organization.
5. Implement and evaluate a wide range of fundraising strategies
6. Design an effective fundraising plan.
Required Texts/ Materials:
1. Temple, Sieler and Aldrich (2011). Achieving Excellence in Fundraising. (3rd Ed.) San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
2. Association of Fundraising Professionals Code of Ethics:
http://www.afpnet.org/files/ContentDocuments/CodeOfEthicsLong.pdf
3. Additional readings as assigned
1
Blackboard:
I encourage you to use blackboard to share and collaborate with your classmates. I will use it to post required
readings not found in the textbook. I will also use the grade book function to communicate with you some but
not all of your grades. Class announcements will also be distributed through blackboard. All assignments should
be submitted to me in hardcopy and questions should be directed to me through phone (preferred) or e-mail.
Classmates:
I encourage you to take time during the first class to gather the names and phone numbers of at least two of you
classmates and write them below. If you miss class, this should be your first step in catching up. Though I am
happy to sit down with you and reteach the information AFTER you have received notes from a classmate.
Class Policies:
1. Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated. These infractions found in the Statement of Student
Rights and Responsibilities. If I determine that you have violated the universities standards of academic
honesty. Your name will be forwarded on to the Provosts Office and you will receive a 0 on the
assignment with no opportunity to redo it. Copying without citation any portion of your work from other
students work, the internet, or textbooks and the use of electronic devices for storing information to be
used in a dishonest way are particularly serious offenses. This does not preclude you from working with
others to discuss your projects and course material. Two common problems include:
*Working together (which is encouraged) and submitting answers with identical or near identical
answers (which is cheating) & Coping from the internet without citation.
2. Laptops and Electronic Devices: In Spring 2010, The Department of Political Science and Public
Administration passed a classroom ban on laptops, cell phones, and other electronic devices. All
electronic devices must be turned off and stowed in your backpack or briefcase at the start of class,
unless approved for a scheduled class activity. In exceptional circumstances, you may leave your cell
phone set to “vibrate” during class. However, you must clear this with your instructor prior to the
beginning of class. There are few things that I found more rude than ringing cell phones. If you cell
phone rings during class, you will be asked to leave for the remainder of class.
3. Late assignments will be penalized one letter grade per business day (10%) unless given PRIOR
approval by the instructor for extenuating circumstances.
4. Attendance is not required but it is difficult to do well without attending.
5. There will be no incomplete grades except under extraordinary circumstances with the appropriate
documentation, in accordance with the University of Southern Indiana Academic Handbook.
6. Final Grades: In accordance with graduate school policy, you must earn a C or better to pass this course.
7. If you have a disability for which you may require academic accommodations for this class, please
register with Disability Resources (DR) as soon as possible. Students who have or who receive an
accommodation letter from DR are encouraged to meet privately with course faculty to discuss the
provisions of those accommodations as early in the semester as possible. To qualify for accommodation
assistance, students must first register to use the disability resources in DR, Orr Center Rm. 095, 812464-1961 http://www.usi.edu/disabilities. To help ensure that accommodations will be available when
needed, students are encouraged to meet with course faculty at least 7 days prior to the actual need for
the accommodation.
2
8. Course Evaluations: Course evaluations are an integral part of the teaching and learning process. At the
University of Southern Indiana, course evaluations are used for many purposes. These purposes include
curriculum and assignment review, course structure changes, changes in instructional delivery as well as
the university’s evaluation of, and continuous improvement efforts for, faculty and faculty development
initiatives. Please complete the course evaluations for this course with care, thought and attention
toward the improvement of the class, the faculty and the university community overall.
9. Grades posted on blackboard are not the official records of your grades, but can be used to confirm that
the grade that I hand back to you matches the grade in my personal grade book. Please save all
assignments in case there is a discrepancy.
10. This syllabus is our contract and will only be changed with explicit consent of the majority of students.
Assignments/ Grading:
Course grades will be assigned based upon the following distribution:

Class Participation
+

Reading Memo and Response Prompts
20%

Ethics Case Analysis
15%

Volunteer Management Assignment
15%

Fundraising Plan
50%
Reading Memos
(Estimated length 1 ½ -2 single space pages)
Once during the semester, you will be assigned a class to write a memo and lead the course discussion. Your
memo should highlight the main points of that week’s reading, but more important should integrate the readings
for that week into an original argument. What do you agree with? With what do you disagree? What are the
implications of the assigned readings for that week? The purpose of this memo is to prompt discussion and
debate among your classmates, so the more thought provoking the better. You need to post your memo to
blackboard by 5:00 PM on the Saturday before the assigned class. You will then be responsible for leading the
class discussion for a portion of the class period. For whatever reason, if you must miss class on the day you
are assigned to do a presentation, you must contact me 12 hours before the scheduled presentation. Failure to do
so will result in a zero for the entire assignment.
Reading Memo Responses
(Estimated length ½ page)
One or two of your classmates will post a reflection on Blackboard on the Saturday before class. You should
read these reflection memos and respond on blackboard with a half page response by Monday at noon. This
response is an opportunity for you to agree/disagree/offer an alternative opinion. It is also an opportunity to
demonstrate that you have read the readings. These responses will help guide our class discussion so should be
given some thought. You will do this FIVE times over the course of the semester.
Ethics Case Study
Ethics assignment: Choose a partner. Each of you should write a letter to “Ask the Nonprofit Ethicist,”
describing an ethical dilemma. You should then share your questions and then both of you will answer each
3
question (the question you asked and the question that your partner asked). The format can follow the format of
the columns (e.g. https://nonprofitquarterly.org/opinion/the-ethicist.html), except you should give a longer
answer, and you should cite the AFP code, which the columns do not do. The length should be 2-3 pages (single
spaced pages)
Make sure you cite the appropriate standards and guidelines from the Association of Fundraising Professionals
Code of Ethical Principles and Standards. This assignment counts as 15% of your final grade.
In grading this, I will be looking at four criteria:
1. Did you come up with a real ethical dilemma – a question for which there isn’t an obvious answer?
2. Is the answer well thought out? Did you look at the dilemma from more than one side, and consider
a range of perspectives and solutions? Do you explain how one could practically carry out your
solution?
3. Did you refer to one or more rules within the AFP Code, and explain specifically how those rules
applied to your question?
4. Is the writing clear and well-organized?
If you’re not sure about some aspect of this assignment, feel free to e-mail me.
Volunteer Assignment: Think of an agency for which you have worked or would like to work. Choose 2 of
the following volunteer management assignments to complete for this agency.
Job Description: What is a pressing need that could be met by volunteers for that agency. Develop a
job description for that position. This assignment includes two components. The first component is the job
description itself. It should minimally include qualifications, responsibilities, working conditions, expectations
about hours and length of service, training requirements, supervision, information about contact with clients and
other volunteers, and contact information for questions. The second portion should include a 1 page summary of
how you would use the job description. Consider how it might be used for recruitment, as a volunteer contract
and with supervision and evaluation.
Application: Design a volunteer application. Keep in mind that a good volunteer application serves two
purposes: 1) assists with screening and 2) helps place volunteers in the appropriate volunteer role. The
application should minimally include personal contact information for the applicant, but more importantly
should be carefully tailored to a specific agency’s volunteer needs. Like with the job description, you should
accompany your application form with a 1 page summary that explains how you will use the application.
Consequently, you will need to be specific about what types of screening you will use and how the form helps
achieve these and what the volunteer needs are and how the form will help place volunteers in the appropriate
role. One strategy to place volunteers is to ask them where they want to go. I would encourage you to move
beyond this to consider what characteristics make a person successful in each volunteer role.
Volunteer Recognition: Develop a volunteer recognition and retention program. The program should
pay attention to different types of volunteers (episodic, long term, service, policy, etc). Consider which
strategies are most likely to appeal to which types of volunteers. Develop a minimum of 4 or 5 strategies that
you will utilize. Describe the strategies in depth and be sure that you are considering recognition in its broadest
possible context (e.g. for example some volunteers may not want to be publically recognized but rather receive
increasing levels of responsibility). In the course of the program design, be sure to explain your rational for the
choices that you have made.
4
Evaluation: Develop an employee evaluation. This is an evaluation that you can use to evaluate an
employees impact AND performance. To this end, the evaluation should be somewhat tailored to a specific
type of volunteer. The best volunteer evaluations are formative (as opposed to summative), so design the
evaluation in such a way that it might be used to improve performance. Think about both goals and
competencies as well as volunteer satisfaction as reasonable aspects of a volunteer to be evaluated. The
evaluation should be accompanied by a 1 page summary that explains how you would use the evaluation. You
might think about the who, what, when, where and why of evaluation in this discussion.
Fundraising Portfolio
Students (working in teams) will be required to undertake a minimum of nine of the 14 portfolio assignments
listed below in collaboration with one of the many nonprofits that have expressed an interest in partnering with
students in this class on the assignments. That means the executive directors and/or board presidents have
agreed to (a) cooperate with you, (b) make relevant information available (see the Appendix) in a timely manner
so that you can carry out the assignments (recognizing that some information may be too sensitive to share), and
(c) provide feedback on the utility of the portfolio that you develop.
Alternatively, the assignments may be completed for a nonprofit you already have a well-established
relationship with and that agrees to collaborate with you in completing the assignments as outlined in the
Appendix. Please adhere by these guidelines and do not contact other nonprofits on your own without prior
approval.
Complete all required assignments (#1, #2, #3), at least three (preferably all) of the high priority assignments
(#4, #8, #9, #13, #14), and one or more of the optional assignments, for a total of nine assignments. You may
complete more than nine assignments, in which case only the top nine will count towards the course grade. The
final draft of this assignment will count toward 50% of your final grade. You will be given a chance to evaluate
your group so each individual score may vary.
Summary Descriptions
1. Prepare a revenues profile and a philanthropic gift profile for the organization and explain how and why they
differ from comparative statistics. Required.
2. Review the organization's mission statement in terms of how well the organization's values are represented
(or write such a mission statement if none is available) and identify its constituency groups. Required.
3. Revise or write a case statement for the organization's annual fund. Required.
4. Construct a gift range chart for the annual fund goal. If possible, prepare an analysis of the actual gift size
distribution for the annual fund. High Priority.
5. Assess the role of the organization's board in fund development. High Priority.
6. Write a letter of inquiry to a foundation or corporation that is a valid prospective donor to the organization,
making the case for support for the organization. Optional.
7. Based on #6 above, prepare a 5-10 minute presentation to the grants committee to the respective foundation
or corporation, making the case for support. Optional.
5
8. Revise or write a direct mail letter (for purposes of donor acquisition, gift renewal or gift upgrade) asking for
gifts to the organization. Optional.
9. Write a plan for how the organization can expand its donor base and attract new donors. High Priority.
10. Assess how the organization seeks to retain and develop its base of current donors - how it renews donors
and asks for increased gifts; what it does to solicit major gifts and planned gifts. High Priority.
11. Develop a solicitation plan for a prospective major donor to the organization. Optional.
12. Complete a "test for readiness" for a capital campaign for the organization and an assessment of its
readiness to start such a campaign (or, if the organization has completed a capital campaign within the past 15
months, prepare an analysis of the results based on the "test for readiness" elements). Optional.
13. Evaluate the organization's planned giving program in terms of effectiveness and opportunities for
expansion or improvement (or design a start-up planned giving program for the organization, if no plan is in
place). Optional.
14. Undertake a fundraising budget analysis to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of at least one component
of the organization's fundraising effort. High Priority.
15. Develop a donor management software analysis for your organization. Optional.
6
Date
Topic
13-Jan
Introduction
to Service
Learning/
Fundraising
Actors
Guest
Speaker
None
Readings Due
Assignments
Due
AEF 24, 25, 27
Review information available at Board Source:
http://www.boardsource.org/
IS Panel on the Nonprofit Sector, Principles for Good
Governance and Ethical Practice (pp. 13-19). Available online
at:
www.independentsector.org/uploads/Accountability_Docu
ments/Principles_for_Good_Governance_and_Ethical_Practi
ce.pdf
20-Jan
27-Jan
3-Feb
Introduction
to
Professional
Fundraising
Ethics/Legal
Issues
Types of
Donors
None
Lindahl, W. E. (2010). Principles of Fundraising: Theory and
Practice. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Pages
191-237.
AEF Chapters 1-5
TechSoup: For a comparison chart of donor databases, see
http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/databases/page59
61.cfm.
Jean Blanton
– Ziemer
Stayman
Weitzel &
Shoulders
Jane Michele
McClure –
Habitat for
Humanity
Pursue Giving USA and Blackbaud Index of Charitable Giving
(see overview and selected industries, available online at
www.blackbaud.com/bb/index/blackbaud-index.aspx).
AEF Chapters 35-36
Read prior to class and bring a copy of the following articles
to class:
Association of Fundraising Professionals Code of Ethics, online at
http://www.afpnet.org/files/ContentDocuments/CodeOfEthi
csLong.pdf
IS Panel on the Nonprofit Sector, Principles for Good
Governance and Ethical Practice (skim the rest). Available
online at:
www.independentsector.org/uploads/Accountability_Docu
ments/Principles_for_Good_Governance_and_Ethical_Practi
ce.pdf
AEF Chapters 12-13
Walker, J. I. (2012). A Fundriasing Guide for Nonprofit Board
Members. Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons. Pg 241-251
Fundraising
Plan 1, 2, and
3
Lindahl, W. E. (2010). Principles of Fundraising: Theory and
7
Practice. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Pages
21-45.
The Center on Philathropy (2009). Understanding Donor’s
Motivation.
http://www.philanthropy.iupui.edu/research/docs/2009CCS
_FinalReport.pdf (Study the executive summary in depth and
skim the rest).
Leonhardt, David. 2008. “What Makes People Give?” New
York Times, March 9, 2008.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/magazine/09Psychol
ogy-t.html?pagewanted=all
10Feb
Annual Fund/
Direct Mail
TBD
Van Slyke and Brooks, “Why Do People Give?” American
Review of Public Administration 35 (3):199-222 (2005):
(http://www.philanthropy.iupui.edu/Millennium/usefulInfor
mation/Why%20Do%20People%20Give%20%20September%202005.pdf
AEF Chapters 6, 18-20, 22
Ethics
Assignment
Fundraising Effectiveness Project, report, “Plugging the
Leaks: Losses Now Outpacing Gains in Latest FEP Study.”
Read the following page and download the full report if you
are interested:
www.afpnet.org/Audiences/ReportsResearchDetail.cfm?Ite
mNumber=4559.
The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, The
American Express Charitable Gift Survey (2007):
http://www.philanthropy.iupui.edu/Research/giving_volunt
eering_research.aspx
17Feb
Major
Donors/
Prospect
Management
Andrea
Gentry – USI
Foundation
• Blackbaud Index of Charitable Giving (see selected
vehicles):
Main page: www.blackbaud.com/bb/index/blackbaudindex.aspx).
Article on vehicles:
https://www.blackbaud.com/files/resources/downloads/Wh
itePaper_MultiChannelGivingAnalysis.pdf
AEF Chapters 7, 11, 23, 30
Schervish & Havens, “The Mind of the Millionaire: Findings
from a National Survey of Wealth with Responsibility.” New
Directions in Philanthropic Fundraising 32 (Summer, 2001):
7-21:
http://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/research_sites/cwp/
pdf/mompub1.pdf
8
Schervish: “Inclination, Obligation and Association.” (Critical
Issues, Ch. 8, 110-138):
http://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/research_sites/cwp/
pdf/inclination.pdf
24Feb
3-Mar
Capital
Campaigns
Planned
Giving
TBD
Scott Wylie,
Vanderburgh
County
Community
Foundation
10Mar
17Mar
Spring Break
No Class
Special Events
Fundraising
TBD
24Mar
31Mar
Assessment
Day
Grant Writing
No Class
TBD
Schaff, T & Schaff, D (1999). The Fundraising Planner. San
Fransisco: Jossey-Bass. Pg 78-91.
AEF Chapter 8
Klein, K. 2011. Fundraising for Social Change. San Fransico:
Jossey-Bass. Pg 317-339.
AEF Chapter 9
Fundraising
Plan 3 Parts
Rooney and Tempel: “Repeal of the Estate Tax and Its
Impact on Philanthropy” Nonprofit Management &
Leadership 12 (2, 2001): 193-211:
http://www.uifoundation.org/btdc/resources/estate-tax.pdf
Planned Giving Design Center, review descriptions of
various instruments available at
www.pgdc.com/pgdc/technical-report (Be familiar with the
different instruments and their uses.
No Class
AEF Chapter 21
Ciconte, B.L. & Jacob, J. G. (2009). Fundraising Basics.
Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett: Pg 265-315
No Class
Foundation Center Proposal Writing Short Course:
http://foundationcenter.org/getstarted/tutorials/shortcours
e/index.html
Foundation Center Proposal Budgeting Basics:
http://foundationcenter.org/getstarted/tutorials/prop_budg
t/index.html
7-Apr
Volunteer
Management
Trends, Types,
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance – Developing and
Writing Grant Proposals:
https://www.cfda.gov/index?static=grants&s=generalinfo&
mode=list&tab=list&tabmode=list
Baranyi, E. E. (2011). Volunteerism and Charitable Giving
among the Millennial Generation: How to Attract and Retain
Millennials.
Fundraising
Last 3 Parts
Culp III, K., & Nolan, M. (2000). Trends Impacting Volunteer
Administrators in the Next Ten Years. Journal of Volunteer
9
Administration, 19(1), 10-19.
Clary, E. G., Snyder, M., & Stukas, A. A. (1996). Volunteers'
motivations: Findings from a national survey. Nonprofit and
Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 25(4), 485-505.
Herman, R. D., & Renz, D. O. (2000). Board practices of
especially effective and less effective local nonprofit
organizations. The American Review of Public
Administration, 30(2), 146-160.
14Apr
Bussell, H., & Forbes, D. (2002). Understanding the
volunteer market: The what, where, who and why of
volunteering. International Journal of Nonprofit and
Voluntary Sector Marketing, 7(3), 244-257.
Graff, L. (2000) “It's Never Over: Ongoing Screening of
Volunteers and Paid Staff” e-Volunteerism: The Electronic
Journal of the Volunteer Community. 1(1).
Volunteer
Management
Systems and
Processes and
Liability
Safrit, R. D. & Merrilll, M. (1998). “Assessing the Impact of
Volunteer Programs.”The Journal of Volunteer
Administration
, 16(4): 5-10.
Hager, M. A. (2004). Volunteer management practices and
retention of volunteers.
http://www.urban.org/publications/411005.html.
Hobson, C. J., Rominger, A., Malec, K., Hobson, C. L., &
Evans, K. (1997). Volunteer-friendliness of nonprofit
agencies: Definition, conceptual model, and applications.
Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, 4(4), 27-41.
Webster, M. W., & Whitman, J. (2008). Who's lending a
hand? A national survey of nonprofit volunteer screening
practices. The National Center for Victims of Crime,
Washington, DC (2008, April).
21Apr
Workshop Day
28Apr
Bringing it all
together Resource
Management
Final
Presentations
5-May
Depending on the class
Group
Presentation
s
Mostly Final
Fundraising
Plan
Volunteer
Management
Assignment
Final
Fundraising
Plan
10