Fund Raising
for
Civil Air Patrol Units
Dr. Skip Dotherow
Executive Director, CAP Foundation
Whose job is it?
Everyone can do it!
Squadron fund raising in 2016
First things first!
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There are rules and then there are
REGULATIONS.
Our Regulation is CAP 173-4 (it has been
revised)
From there, we have certain rules that we follow
to insure we do it right. When in doubt, call me.
CAP Regulation 173-4
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CAP is recognized by the IRS as a 501 c 3, non profit organization.
Each subordinate unit is considered a non profit under the CAP NHQ EIN.
No Air Force Involvement- Wear of the AF style uniform in fund raising activities is limited to
CADETS.
Donations of PropertyProperty donated valued in excess of $5000 may not be disposed of within 2 years of receipt
without written permission of NHQ CAP/COO. (IRS issues)
Donors Receipt- gifts of $250.00 or larger
IRS Form 8283- may be requested by donor
Wing Commander is responsible for maintaining control of all CAP fund raising activities
organized within their wings.
Getting Started
Make a list of 10 friends
Make a list of 10 people you
would like to meet in your
town.
Before you try fund raising, you must be actively
engaged in “FRIEND RAISING”.
 Plan a time when you can invite some of your
prospects out to an activity and see for themselves
the type of work you are doing.
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One of the greatest disappointments I face is
when, after I tell them some of the great things
CAP does, is for the audience to say “CAP is
one of the best kept secrets around”.
Yes, I am asking you to “not keep a secret”.
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The squadron is where the “rubber meets the
road in Civil Air Patrol”.
Every week you hold a meeting.
Every meeting has a storyline.
All fund raising starts with a story.
Can you tell me a story about
this?
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Tell the CAP story:
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One of the best things you can do is tell a friend about your
experiences with the Civil Air Patrol. When you come back
from a week long encampment, you have many stories and
generally want to share them with friends. Why not use those
same stories to share with your local car dealer whom you are
asking for a $500.00 gift to support a cadet activity so the
cadets will not have to come up with additional funds. TELL
YOUR STORY
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Everyone likes to see what is going on.
No matter what your unit activity is, make sure
you invite those who you would like to ask for
support from to attend and become a part of the
activity.
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Tie your story to the Long Range Plan of CAP.
75 years of service to our great nation, from
coastal defense to cyber patriot, CAP has been
an integral part of our nation’s defense
infrastructure.
Be sure to include what your unit has done, for
nation and most importantly, the state
Who is your audience?
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Remember when I said make a list of 10 friends
and 10 people you would like to meet?
In every town in America, there are groups of
people who support the youth programs at the
high school, community college, YMCA’s and
Boys and Girls Clubs.
Take a look around, there are your new
prospects!
The Plan
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What are we asking for
and who are we asking?
Can we connect their
support to a direct
community benefit?
Make sure we are asking for something the
prospect can do.
“We would like for you to consider making a gift of $10,000.00 to support 5
cadets from our squadron to attend a flight academy in Kansas. The costs
to attend is $2000.00 each and for these 5, it puts the academy out of reach.”
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One of the most important principles of fund
raising is to be specific in what you are asking
the prospect to give to. Tell them why you are
asking them to support this; “With additional
funding we can offer a second cadet
encampment at a cost that will allow us to have
10 more cadets/seniors participate than we
otherwise will because the cost to attend will be
too high for many of our members to attend.”
Arm yourself with a good story.
If you recall, I said I do not like to hear people tell me what a well kept
secret CAP is…well, I will wager that there are people in your community
who do not know much if anything about your local squadron.. So….
Is there a company in
town known for their
support of the Boys and
Girls Club; is there an
individual who was a CAP
member but is no longer?
Focus on Fit.
What about grant writing?
Don’t be fooled
Foundations gave $48.96 billion in 2013 (15%)
 Corporations gave $17.88 billion in 2013 (5%)
 Individuals gave $204.50 billion in 2013 (72%)
 Bequests for $27.73 billion in 2013 (8%)
 Total giving in 2013 was $335.17 billion
Where should you spend your energy?
Grants are not the easy answer. But they do have a
place in you plan.
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Get to know the people who can make a
grant to your unit.
Most towns have a community foundation, a
good source of funding support.
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Corporations are becoming increasingly focused
about their giving, cutting back on small,
scattered grant making in favor of long-term
partnerships that align with their business and
charitable interests.
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The National Headquarters works with most of
the larger companies in various ways.
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Writing grants is not a hard thing to do, it just
takes time to do the research on the company
you are writing to.
Your focus should be on Youth Activities and
Leadership as key words.
Getting Started
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“ This is a request to the officers of the
Winchester foundation (or corporation) for
consideration of a $2,500.00 grant to our unit to
purchase the uniforms, flags, rifles to equip our
honor guard.
In reviewing this proposal, the officers of the
foundation may wish to note the following
points:
Our cadet honor guard will be available to
perform at city wide events.
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The following pages describe this project and
the impact it will have on the lives of ___ young
men and women who live in :
Be sure to state the impact this will have on the
lives of the cadets, the significance of CAP
programs in building character and citizenship.
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Do not overlook the Combined Federal
Campaign as a source of funding.
Your local United Way is ultimately responsible
for these campaign.
Due to the nature of the CFC, the Friday
seminar will be devoted to CFC grants.
Capt. Jim Mathews will present this.
2015 NATIONAL CONFERENCE
... FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW
Combined Federal
Campaign:
A How-To Guide
&
A Look At Important
Changes for 2016
Capt. Jim Mathews, CAP
NHQ CFC Teammate
james.mathews@vawg.cap.gov
CFC Facts
These are from 2013,
the last year for which
complete data are
available.
CITIZENS SERVING COMMUNITIES
Is CFC Right For Us?
Depends on your locality
It’s as easy (or as hard) as doing your taxes
For most squadrons, even small amounts
are meaningful: $1,301,896 was the
average CFC total in 2013…what’s your
share?
Most Federal workers are naturally inclined
to support the type of work CAP does in
their communities; a natural fit!
CITIZENS SERVING COMMUNITIES
Important 2016 Changes!
Number of local campaigns being
consolidated to 40 from 147
Each local campaign will be organized by
local federal employee volunteers, but
handled by for-profit Outreach
Coordinators
Paper pledge cards will be phased out by
2020; online pledging being encouraged
Universal giving means any fed can give to
any charity in any jurisdiction
CITIZENS SERVING COMMUNITIES
Important 2016 Changes!
A three-part fee will be charged to charities
to participate…more details coming.
From Office of Personnel Mgmt fact-sheet:
 All charities will pay a non-refundable application fee. Those
that are approved may be charged an additional listing fee.
These will help to recover the administrative costs that charities
pay to participate in the CFC. Any additional costs will be
covered through distribution fees, similar to the current process
of deducting campaign costs from charity distributions.
CITIZENS SERVING COMMUNITIES
Key Application Documents
Attachment D – IRS Form 990
“I certify an active and responsible governing body,
whose members have no material conflict of interest
and a majority of whom serves without compensation,
directs the organization named in this application.”
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An IRS Form 990 that does not include a complete list of the officers, Board of
Directors, trustees and key employees, and their compensation, if any, is
incomplete and will result in a denial. Uncompensated members must have a -0in the compensation column.
More than 50% must be uncompensated.
REPEATING: Squadrons, this is your Finance Committee! None are being
compensated! So this is an EASY requirement!
Key Application Documents
Attachment E – 25-word Statement
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A statement in 25 words or less that describes the organization’s program
activities
Do not repeat the organization’s name
Special fonts, capitalization, quotations and underlining are not accepted
Any statements over 25 words will be edited by the LFCC
Thank you for the opportunity to talk a little bit
about the raising of money for our units.
Assignment: : make a list of 10 friends, 10 companies and go and tell your
CAP story.
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Please feel free to contact me:
Dr. James E. Dotherow
Civil Air Patrol Foundation
105 S Hansell St
Maxwell, AFB, AL 36112
334 953 7748 ext 225
Go forth and slay the dragon!
Do not forget to check with your company’s payroll office to see if they
have a corporate giving plan to match your volunteer hours.