The Oklahoma Eagle Newswire
TULSA, Okla. — Former Mayor Kathy Taylor will be featured as the guest speaker at the upcoming Open House + Patron Party event for the new Tulsa startup WRITE ON FUNDRAISING on Thursday, October 18.
The event is a celebration of the fledgling company’s recent fundraising campaign success with Kiva, a microlending program brought to Tulsa by the Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation just last year. Nonprofit and community leaders are invited to attend the intimate gathering and learn about WRITE ON FUNDRAISING’s innovative and somewhat provocative philanthropic ideals and services.
Hosted jointly by Premium Brands Wine and Spirits and Tulsa Hills Wine and Cigar Cellar, the event will begin at 7pm in the Tulsa Hills Shopping Center, 7422 S. Olympia, Tulsa, Okla. 74132. Guests are asked to RSVP to the event at Facebook.com/writeonfundraising.
With more than $32 million raised in the past ten years, Tulsa fundraiser Lindsay Jordan, MNM, CFRE, recently launched her national fundraising firm with the intention of sharing Tulsa’s philanthropic spirit and resources with nonprofits throughout the country.
“Tulsa is fortunate to be home to so many top-notch organizations,” said Jordan, “and that is due in large part to our giving community and highly experienced nonprofit workforce. We have access to resources that many communities do not, and it’s time to share those gifts.”
WRITE ON FUNDRAISING is a national network of philanthropic advisers helping nonprofits fundraise through expert-level grant writing, policy design, research and evaluation, and campaign development services, headquartered in Tulsa, Okla. Their mission is to help nonprofits grow funding capacity and achieve sustainability while championing talented fundraisers and advocating for cultures of philanthropy.
While Jordan’s vision is to expand to national markets, she isn’t overlooking local nonprofits that need help fundraising.
“According to Charity Navigator, more than 66% of nonprofits raise less than $1 million every year,” said Jordan, referring to the national watchdog organization for nonprofits. “That means that some of our favorite organizations, those that accomplish some of the most important work in our community, are just barely getting by. We can change that.”
The company’s disruptive philosophies around sustainable and decentralized fundraising have caught the attention of some of Tulsa’s most notable philanthropists. In early September, WRITE ON FUNDRAISING earned the endorsement of the Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation and Kiva. Partnerships with Tulsa SCORE, Tulsa Tech, and 36 Degrees North followed.
What are these philosophies? One is simply giving nonprofits access to expensive grant databases for free.
“It is outrageous that the very resources nonprofits need to win grants are priced in a way that they can’t afford,” said Jordan. “So, we offer the information in these databases to our clients free of charge.”
The idea of “decentralized fundraising,” a term coined by Jordan, is also raising eyebrows in the nonprofit community.
“In the nonprofit world, we’ve heard about the importance of creating cultures of philanthropy for a long time,” said Jordan. “Decentralized fundraising refers to the policies and relationships that can usher in that kind of radical change, and something we can offer to nonprofits at very competitive rates.”
Representing nearly $400 billion in annual revenue, charitable giving continues to be at an all-time high. Giving by individuals, corporations, and foundations all grew in 2016, with foundation giving growing for the sixth consecutive year since the Great Recession.
Nonprofit and community leaders are invited to attend WRITE ON FUNDRAISING’s upcoming Open House + Patron Party to learn more about how the company can help nonprofits fundraise, or visit their website at www.writeonfundraising.com.
