Finding the resources to make your ideas happen

Whether it's a small social evening or a large conference, a one-off project or something you do every semester, most of what an association wants to do needs resources of some kind. Working on fundraising and partnerships is about finding those resources, and about teaming up with others to reach further than you could on your own.

You work with fundraising and partnerships whenever you need resources to make something happen that you can't provide or produce yourselves. That might be a conference with speakers and catering, a stand at a festival, a campaign that needs printed materials, or a series of workshops that needs a venue and equipment.

Co-financing for your work and activities can be money, but just as often it's things: a venue, equipment, food and drink, knowledge, a network, or the reach to get your message out. And there is support to be found both for the everyday running of your association, such as food and drink for meetings or trips and experiences for your members and volunteers, and for the activities you create for others, such as events, workshops, conferences, or prizes for a competition.

Grants and partnerships are two different things. A grant is given because your work can help the funder fulfil its own purpose: you're not just asking for money, you're offering a way to achieve something the funder explicitly cares about. A partnership is an exchange, where a company or organisation contributes money, time or goods in return for something it values, such as visibility, sales, or contact with your members or community.

What extra resources make possible

Funding and good partners tend to benefit two groups at once: the people who take part in what you do, and the members and volunteers who make it happen.

• Room to plan ahead. With some money secured, you don't have to live from one event to the next. You can make an annual budget that covers the things you always do, invest in what keeps the association running smoothly (e.g. a website, collaboration software or a regular place to meet), and think further ahead than the next deadline or event.

• Better experiences, for guests and volunteers alike. More resources can mean better food, a better venue, proper equipment, merchandise people actually want to keep, or prizes worth competing for. For participants, that's often the difference between an event they forget and one they tell others about. For your own members and volunteers, it can mean better food at meetings, a trip together or a chance to learn something new, which shows them their effort is valued and motivates them.

• Reaching further. Resources let you do things on a bigger scale and reach people you otherwise couldn't, which in turn builds engagement and support for your cause.

• Support breeds support. Backing from foundations, companies and institutions lends credibility, and makes the next partner or grant easier to secure.

• Several sources give freedom. The more sources your finances rest on, the less you depend on any single funder, and the freer you are to follow your own agenda. Relying on one source, or on one person who holds all the contacts, leaves the association exposed: if the funder changes priorities or that person leaves your association, you can be left with very little.

• Money and partnerships come with commitments. What you deliver, and how you report back, decides whether the door stays open next time. Investing a bit more in the relationship, so both sides genuinely get something out of it, makes it far more likely they'll want to work with you again.

From wish list to thank-you note

In practice, working on fundraising and partnerships usually involves:

• Working out what you need. A rough budget, or simply a list of what you'd like to have and what you can't do without, makes it much clearer what you're actually looking for, and who to reach out to for funding.

• Finding and getting to know potential funders. Foundations, public funds, your university's own funding pools and companies all have different purposes and focus areas, and these change over time. A handful of well-researched applications or a targeted sponsor pitch tends to get more backing than a stack of generic ones sent to everyone.

• Describing your project sharply. What do you want to achieve, for whom, why are you the right people to do it, and how does it fit what the funder or partner cares about?

• Making a financing plan. Combining several sources, such as grants, sponsorships, partnerships, ticket sales or merchandise, and matching them to when the costs actually fall.

• Keeping relationships alive. Regular contact, updates and a proper thank you keep a relationship going. Writing down who you've been in touch with, and what was agreed, means it doesn't disappear with the person who started it.

What it builds on, and where it leads

Fundraising and partnerships draw heavily on work done elsewhere. Firstly, your purpose is what you're really asking people to support, and it points you towards the funders and partners whose priorities genuinely match yours. The work you put into external communications gives you the words to explain what you do to people who have never heard of you, and events give potential partners and sponsors something concrete to see: your work in action. It also builds on leadership and operations: documenting your relationships and following up on your goals is what lets you show funders what their support actually achieved.

In turn, the sponsorships and grants you secure lead straight into finance and legal, where budgets, accounting for grants and invoicing sponsors are handled.