Monetarism in Economics Development

Monetarism is directly linked with economist Milton Friedman, who argued, dependent on the amount concept of cash, that the federal government must maintain the money supply relatively constant, expanding it slightly every year largely to allow for the organic progress of the economy.

Monetarism is actually an economic idea that says that the source of cash in an economy is actually the main driver of economic development. As the accessibility of cash in societies increases, aggregate need for goods as well as services goes up. A growth in aggregate demand really encourages job development that brings down the speed of unemployment and influences economic development. Nevertheless, in the long-range, the growing need will ultimately be bigger compared to supply, creating a disequilibrium in the marketplaces. The shortage the result of a higher need than supply is going to force costs to go up, leading to inflation.

Monetary policy, an economic device used in monetarism, is actually applied to change interest rates to manage the money supply. When interest rates are improved, individuals have much more of an incentive to conserve than to invest, therefore, contracting or reducing the money supply. On the flip side, when interest rates are actually lowered observing an expansionary monetary system, the expense of borrowing decreases that means folks are able to borrow even more and invest more, therefore, revitalizing the economy.

Because of the inflationary consequences which could be brought about by too much expansion of the cash source, Milton Friedman, whose job formulated the concept of monetarism, asserted that monetary policy must be performed by focusing on the growth rate of the cash source to keep economic and price stability. In the book, A Monetary History of the United States 1867 - 1960, Friedman proposed a fixed growth rate known as Friedman's k percent rule, which recommended that money supply must develop at a continuous yearly speed tied to the nominal GDP growth as well as conveyed as a fixed percent per year. By doing this, cash supply are going to be likely to get moderately, companies will have the ability to count on the changes to the cash supply each year and also strategy accordingly, the economy will develop at a constant speed, and inflation is going to be maintained at levels that are low.

Central to monetarism is actually the Quantity Theory of money, that says that the cash supply multiplied by the speed at what some money is actually spent per year equals the nominal expenditures in the economy.

Monetarist theorists observe velocity as frequent, implying that the some money supply is actually the main element of Economic growth or GDP growth. Economic development is actually a characteristic of economic activity as well as inflation. If velocity is actually predictable and constant, subsequently an increase (or perhaps decrease) in money will result in an increase (or perhaps decrease) in possibly the price or quantity of goods and services sold. An increase in cost levels denotes that the quantity of goods and services sold created will continue to be constant, while a growth in the amount of goods produced implies that the typical price level is going to be fairly constant. Based on monetarism, variants in the some money supply will affect cost levels over the economic and long-term output in the short term. A shift in the cash supply, consequently, will immediately determine employment, production, and prices.

The perspective that velocity is actually regular serves like a bone of contention to Keynesian's, who think that velocity shouldn't be regular since the economy is actually subject and volatile to regular instability. Keynesian economics states that aggregate need is actually the answer to economic development and also supports some activity of central banks to inject more cash into the economy to boost interest. As reported previously, this runs contrary to monetarist idea and that asserts that such actions can lead to inflation.

Proponents of monetarism think that managing an economy through fiscal policy is actually a bad decision. Increased government intervention interferes with the functions of a completely free market economy as well as may lead to big deficits, improved sovereign debt, and also greater interest rates, that would ultimately force the economy into a state of destabilization.

Monetarism had the heyday of it in the first 1980s when economists, investors and governments eagerly jumped at each brand new money supply statistic. In the many years that followed, nonetheless, monetarism fell out of favor with economists, as well as the link between various methods of inflation and money supply proved to be much less distinct than almost all monetarist theories had recommended. Many central banks now have stopped establishing monetary targets. 

Strongly Job Search Techniques "That Don't Work"

Frequently know when you've simply made an enormous error in your job application. You skip to attach your CV. You send the incorrect version. You address the resume cover letter to Mr. Chris Smith, then find out there's a solid possibility Chris is a girl. But other times, you possess no notion you may actually think you're doing all the things right. Actually, there are a few regular job search methods that applicants employ over and over since they believe they work perfectly. In fact, though, these very same approaches might be standing in the path of you and that great interview. To ensure you possess the very best probabilities of inching better to your desire job, here are four regular blunders and very much more successful methods to try preferably.

1. Applying to as many Jobs as possibly.

Persons frequently think that the job search is a quantities game. The extra resumes you send, the even more likely it'll be that somebody will contact you back, right? Not actually. Since applying to hundreds of jobs involves you're most likely not taking the time to really investigate the organization and position, customize each request appropriately, and touch base to recent employees who may have the ability to give you insider details.

Likewise, applicants sometimes consider that applying to innumerable positions at the exact organization ups their probabilities of getting called back for one of these people. In fact, although this sends one of 3 messages: That you're not convinced what you want, that you're needy and you'll take whatever, or that you don't possess a solid understanding on what every job requires. In any circumstance, not a good thing.

How to Fix this? Quality instead of quantity. Rather than applying to every single semi important job within a 70 mile radius, begin your search by putting together a concise list of ideal firms and learning anything you can regarding them. When they have opportunities that fit your skill set, consider the time to cautiously build your application modifying your CV bullets to display precisely how your knowledge aligns, composing a tailor made cover letter, and requesting your new connections if they possess guidance for standing out. Yes, this strategy takes even more time and strength than submitting your same CV at over and over, but your probabilities of scoring a job interview will be substantially, much bigger.

2. Applying ASAP.

OK, so you've simplified your list of corporations, and one of them just published a role that's precisely according with your skill set. Amazing, so you crank out all the things as fast as feasible and hit send seeking to be the 1st request the employing manager views. Not only will you demonstrate just how thrilled you are regarding the job, yet probably the team will like your application so very much they won't require to interview any individual else. News flash: This almost never does you any favors.

How to Fix this? Give it a Day or So.

9 times out of 10, managers have to throw out the applications they obtain within just the first hour of publishing a position since they're unfinished. When you're concentrated on velocity over anything else, it's easy to lose the information getting names correct, counting additional components, and so on. It's considerably better to provide your self a day or 2 to compose, edit, and change your elements, make sure you've covered everything required, and have somebody else look them over. And, once again, total reward if you get guidance from a recent employee. A outstanding application will be considerably better than a not truly there but prompt one, each time.

3. Emailing Your CV to People Unrequested.

Let's return to all those persons who work at your dream corporations for an instant. Meeting them and making their radar: Very good. Requesting their advice on doing the job there: Also fantastic. Sending them your CV unrequested with a note that says, Here's my CV allow me to know if you know of nearly anything I'd be a fit for! Very bad idea! Sure, in a few cases, you may get successful, but commonly only in the off chance that the organization is employing for a role that matches your precise skills. But this move can also be interpreted as you requesting your good new contact, who's previously been useful in talking to you regarding the organization, to do the effort for you critiquing your CV, looking at to see if any available positions are a match, and forwarding along your data.

How to Fix this?: Apply Normally, Then Allow Your Contact Be aware of.

Yes, you may and ought to ask your contact for guidance before you apply. And then if, in the course of action, he or she provides to pass your cv or a suggestion along, that's great. But by no means make this presumption. Consider those suggestions you've discovered and then do the very difficult work, just like any other applicant would do. Take a look at a company's jobs page, discover your dream position, then send an application by way of all the needed parts.Best position of jobs.

Grow Your Business With Intelligent Automation

The business world is a struggle for businesses in any industry. Technology, including intelligent automation, is continually evolving. Businesses must change with it in order to be competitive and successful in our current macroeconomic world. The use of intelligent automation tools can help grow your business and improve how your business operates, reducing your operating costs while improving your production time.

Reducing Human Error

One of the most important benefits that intelligent automation brings to any business is the reduction of human error in the work place. People are naturally affected by their daily lives and outside influences. If a worker, for example, came into work tired or unwell, his or her job performance will likely suffer, the risk of human error becoming greater. Automation software cannot be affected by time of day, mood, lack of sleep, etc., allowing it to be completely consistent in performing the task it was programmed to do.

Additionally, humans need to be taught new tasks and require practice in order to master them, robotic process automation can be updated and perform the tasks instantly.

In terms of business benefits, utilizing intelligent automation tools ensures performance consistency that will ultimately improve the overall quality of work, also allowing human workers to focus on higher priority and more important issues that require critical thinking.

Keeping Jobs Local

Employers have often ventured overseas to hire workers in other countries who can then perform basic tasks at a reduced wage, when compared to local employees. The bottom line can be better for these employers in the short-term, though working with outsourced employees means sending money overseas and trying to manage workers on another continent. Typically, over the long-term businesses that outsource overseas can experience unforeseen issues and costs due to the complications with depending on a foreign workforce.

With outsourced jobs being performed by intelligent automation tools businesses can focus on hiring skilled workers from the local market for the upper levels of the workforce.

Return on Investment

Perhaps the most intimidating factor in implementing intelligent automation within your business is the upfront cost. Putting money into something new is not a leap everyone wants to make. Intelligent automation, however, is not a gamble. Research shows that companies who use are able to automate around half of their tasks, increasing process time by fifty percent. Completing tasks more quickly means companies can take on more tasks without spending additional time on them. Depending on the industry, having jobs done quickly can mean increased revenue.

If performing redundant tasks quickly and accurately will not improve your company's revenue, just simply utilizing automation tools certainly will. Such tools do not need pay, employee benefits, and can work overtime, the return of investment becomes apparent when considering all the expenses intelligent automation does not require.

Intelligent automation tools offer businesses unparalleled levels of productivity, efficiency, and value. Companies will want to avoid the risk of falling behind by adapting with the modern technology, the advantages of utilizing intelligent automation tools can lead companies to developing new business strategies they could have never even possibly conceived of previously.

Best Commercial Upholstery to Boost Your Business

The Start year with a fresh start. It's time to make new plans for your business and possibly a revamped new look. In many cases your office furniture may tend to look dull and dreary after a few years of constant use. The chair itself may be in good condition namely the cushioning and structure but the material may lack luster or be tattered and torn. This is no way to present your business to customers.

When your furniture reaches this point it may be time to reupholster it. There's no need to discard of the chairs that served your business so well, a simple overhaul with new material can make all the difference.

If you have a set of lounge chairs in the waiting room of your office, you can elect to reupholster it with the new material that matches your company colours. This is the most popular reason why businesses reupholster their furniture. It makes a big impression on the customer when your brand image is incorporated in all aspects of your office and furniture. It creates a complete corporate image that the customer can identify. This unity in the corporate image can influence the customer's buying decision.

If you manage a restaurant then it is certain that the restaurant chairs get used every day. This daily use leads to eventual wear and tear of the material. Consider the type and co lour of material that would complement your restaurant's ambience then have the restaurant chairs reupholstered. Your customers will notice the change and will appreciate that the furniture is renewed therefore they will come back again.

Your staff may be sitting on office chairs every day and the material is starting to wear. It doesn't look as good as it did when you first bought it. Don't fret. You don't have to go shopping for costly office chairs again. You can take the office chair to a furniture upholsterer who will recommend the ideal material suitable for daily use. It will be your choice as to what colour you prefer. Preferably select a colour that is in keeping with the office decor or your corporate image. Comfortable office chairs and a pleasant office environment can boost the productivity of your staff members.

Commercial upholstery for your old furniture can give it a brand new look without the costly funding. A small change in the appearance of your business can give it the boost you need and success.

Ethical Technology Advocate :Future Job

Ethical Technology Advocates are going to be mankind 's go between with a wave of robots and artificial intelligence programs which will be helping to operate our complex and connected community by 2025.

Certainly one of their crucial tasks is to negotiate the delicate relationship of ours with the robots by setting up the ethical and moral regulations to which the devices - as well as the makers of theirs - operate simply exist.

The role of theirs is going to be essential in making sure that not one of the nightmares of ours about robot world domination by chance come true. As Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, claims,' The many critical next step in our goal of AI would be to agree on an empathic and ethical framework for its design.'

This can be 1 of our most pressing concerns as the robot revolution unfolds, says robotic as well as artist Alexander Reben - who has developed the very first robot that could decide whether or not to inflict pain on a man.

'I've demonstrated that a dangerous robot is able to really exist,' he says.' So we are going to need folks who can confront the fears of ours about AI getting out of control.'

Other Ethical Technology Advocates are going to work as coaches to robots, indicating their machine pupils how to recognize the subtle nuances of daily speech as well as behaviour which will enable them to have interaction reliably - and easily - with their human bosses and colleagues.

As Fernando Pereira, distinguished researcher in healthy language knowledge at Google, claims,' There are a lot of ambiguities in the manner in which humans talk and act that call for a human level of common sense, and many years of instruction from our friends and families, to realize.

'An AI will be totally lost in coping with each one of these subtleties unless it's a human instructor to give it a varied and rich very power to resolve problems.'

It is going to be these human coaches that enable robots to take care of us safely. Robot nurses are going to need to understand our grandfather 's sarcastic feeling of humor for treating him appropriately.

Ashleigh Rhea Gonzales, researcher in NLP new developments as well as software system enhancement at Volumes Research, thinks a creative arts training will provide these employees the critical thinking and decision making skills needed to shape business and federal policy around the launch of AI and robots.

'Technical skills like coding are helpful, but having plenty of business sense for creating AI and robot treatments with a client 's best interests and requirements in your mind is vital,' she states.

An Ethical Technology Advocate's communication abilities are going to be critical in choosing fails or perhaps whether the robot revolution succeeds. It is going to be the job of theirs to convince a sceptical public which the march of the devices is in their greatest interest while as entire middle management and semi skilled work groups are made obsolete by automation.

'If the public opinion is the fact that the designers behind this particular technology are reckless, we are never ever likely to see completely autonomous devices in the marketplace,' affirms Gonzales.

'Without solid communicators handling development, advertising as well as damage control when something fails, the robots will in essence fade from popularity.In ethical technology.

Seven Ways to Prepare Your Data Center for a Natural Disaster

You  wants to think about a disaster crippling or even destroying their data center. But even as hurricane season has ended for Atlantic and Gulf Coast states, wildfires are raging in Southern California. Earthquakes are an ever-present danger. Disaster planning is moving higher up in the priority list for many data center managers.

Disaster recovery (DR) planning typically focuses on data protection and application availability. Most organizations consider the information maintained on servers and storage devices to be infinitely more valuable than the technology itself. However, DR plans should also include provisions for protecting equipment from physical damage.

Location: Ideally, data centers would be located in a geographic area that's not prone to natural disaster. That's seldom possible, so organizations must do the best they can to isolate it from any disaster that does occur. That means locating the room in an interior room or at least as far away from windows as possible. In areas where hurricanes and tornadoes are the greatest threat, an underground location may be the best option (unless flooding is a problem). In earthquake zones, it's critical to select a well-constructed building that's compliant with the latest codes.

Backup Power: Power outages are a leading cause of equipment downtime, and UPS failure is the No. 1 cause of unplanned equipment outages. UPS should be carefully selected, implemented and maintained to ensure a steady supply of conditioned power with a regulated voltage level.

Fire Suppression: Many data centers rely on conventional sprinkler systems, but water can destroy equipment and cause other problems as well. A better approach is to employ a dry "pre-action" system that will extinguish most fires before the sprinkler system is activated. Modern fire-suppression systems use halo-carbons, which remove heat from fires, or inert gases, which deprive them of oxygen. Both can provide excellent fire suppression if the system is properly designed, installed and tested. The fire alarm should also be tested - if it is faulty, the fire-suppression system might not be activated.

Flood Control: If the data room is located in a flood-prone area, a pumping system should be installed. The system should activate automatically and be connected to generator power so that it continues operation if the electric grid goes down.

Earthquake Protection: In earthquake-prone areas, it's important to select racks and cabinets that are rated to withstand seismic activity. These units typically have special mounting brackets to attach them securely to the floor.

Flexible Processes: Data center personnel should understand their responsibilities and be thoroughly trained in DR procedures. Equipment should be monitored by at least one person at all times. Run-books should be kept up-to-date so that equipment can be recovered or reconfigured quickly in an emergency. DR processes should also be well-documented but flexibility is important. Personnel should feel empowered to make decisions and improvise based upon the situation at hand.

Test: In most organizations, the DR plan is seldom, if ever tested. The plan should be tested at least twice a year and updated as the environment and business priorities change.

These seven steps can help build design a flexible and resilient data center infrastructure and select systems that will protect your valuable equipment and efficiency.

Why Is It Important For Organisations? How Is Team Building

Team building. Despite the fact numerous team building books are published every year, building strong teams continues to be one of the major concerns of all the organizations. Every year organizations spend several thousands inviting resources and experts in this field to train their workforce to strengthen the team spirit within the organization. If this is your concern too, then you are not alone.

When you are working on your skills and goals for creating exceptional teams either by deriving the wisdom from team building books or by attending relevant seminars, you should focus on creating a positive work culture. The question however is why should organizations focus on this factor and on creating a positive work culture when they are actually supposed to be focusing on production, marketing and sales?

The answer is very simple businesses processes such as production, marketing and sales do not happen by themselves but they are outcomes of people's efforts. Inevitably, we have groups of people working on these processes. If these people do not work united as a team then they would be undoing each other's efforts and thereby becoming a self-defeating group.

Team building should therefore be the primary focus of organizations. Further goals could be achieved only after this primary goal is realized and until then, no organization could actually achieve optimal performance levels.

Thankfully today we have access to numerous studies that help managers and team leaders with insights on building teams. Many team building books that elaborately discuss this topic come as resource manuals for the leaders. So if you are struggling to create a positive work culture or build strong teams, you need not despair because you will never run short of resources. You will find all the resources you need online as well as offline.

Once you manage to build a strong team, all the other goals that directly affect the bottom line of your business could be achieved more easily. You will also have a more positive profit-and-loss graph once you have a strong team. When your team is working in tandem operating with a single goal in mind, you can achieve any goal, including the most challenging goals.

It is not without reason companies invest heavily on team building and on creating a positive work culture. You just need to imitate the top organizations in any industry on this goal of building a healthy team and a positive work culture. Benefits of peoples.

Strongly Six Ways to Make Your Online Public Relations Drive "SEO"

You are missing out big on the brand visibility opportunities that PR in this digital age comes with. Of course, times have changed. The old tactics of traditional public relations that find expression in strategic event coordination, crisis communication, reputations management, trade shows, sponsorship opportunities, outreach, distribution of press releases and leveraging on traditional media (Radio, TV, Newspapers) -- have now given way to more digital approaches.

The strategies applicable to both old and digital PR converge at the point where connections are built and managed. However digital PR comes with the added benefits of Search Engine optimization and link building across the Internet while also providing measurable and tangible results and insights and producing easily shareable content.

Why Should Online PR be integrated with SEO?

SEO and PR work together in more ways than one. First, creating premium quality content can earn you backlinks to your site. Then the more media coverage your brand receives, the more link back to your site you will get. Lastly, with excellent PR process, you get to build greater connections with influencers in your industry thereby getting more links from blogs and social media posts, leading to an increase in SEO.

Because the realm of online PR is more specified than that of traditional, it will help grow your brand visibility and patronage online. However, the integration between SEO and PR becomes a lot stronger when executed strategically.

Here are 6 top ways to drive search engine optimization with Online PR.

1. Unify your goals across SEO, PR and other Marketing efforts

Each of these marketing concepts has their unique workability styles, yet their aim is the same. While SEO leverages on digital channels to connect with customers and generate more leads, PR relies heavily on media relations to generate more media coverage of the brand. In the end, their target is to reach customers - and that's the part you should focus on the most. Only then can you harness the capabilities of the different channels.

2. Use data gotten from researching both SEO and PR to create an overall persona.

While SEO relies on audience research to create a brand personality, PR focuses on Media research to find out the kind of publications that appeal to a brands target audience and search for reporters that cover topics relevant to the brand. Combining both results will create a strong, unified persona.

3. Coordinate Content and Keyword across all digital channels to project a unified brand identity.

All your social media and blog posts, e-books, newsletters, landing pages, video ads, media messages and press releases should project the image your brand is trying to communicate.

4. Use your PR Expertise as a Guide in Crafting Content.

With proper research, PR experts get data on the kind of content their audience will find consumable, valuable and shareable. Let this expertise guide you in creating high-quality, SEO content. While SEO professionals are creating high ranking content, incorporating the most appropriate keywords and sharing them across social media channels, PR experts on the hand should be busy pitching this content and drawing as much attention as possible to it from high-quality links.

5. PR can Leverage on SEO keyword strategy

The keywords used in press releases can trigger reporters to use those targeted keywords when describing a brand, thus increasing the likelihood a business appears in searches for those specified terms.

PR needs to harness and extend SEO keyword strategy - for example, keywords and keyword phrases should appear in critical statements, press releases, media interview, FAQ documents, Social media bios, Website Meta titles and descriptions and website copy.

6. Connect with high-end influencers in your industry

Influencer marketing is non-negotiable in integrating SEO and PR efforts for your site. Connecting with influencers can earn you high-quality link backs from the media, other businesses, and pages with high traffic. Establishing connections with these influencers increases the chances that they will share your content with their audience and even link back to your site, making such content more visible, linked to and of course share.

SEO is a crucial aspect of building a sustainable online presence, but it performs better when it joins forces with PR to create strong results, A link back from Forbes for instance, even if it's a text link carries a heavier weight than mere blog comments. So you should focus on creating high quality, shareable content. You also want to make your content is adequately and proportionally stuffed with keywords added to the fact that they have to be relevant to a target and  attract audience 

What A Reason And Why You Need to Stop Having Networking Conversations

Colleague of mine recently flew to another country to attend a sizable social event, which was meant to be fun. At this particular function, there were many people she knew. At one point, a successful entrepreneur came up to her and started a networking conversation after quick pleasantries that lasted less than a minute.

"Do you happen to know anyone who might be interested in our service?"

"I know you've started to develop contacts in Europe. Did you know that our company has done excellent work overseas?

My colleague told me that she tried to end the conversation as quickly as possible, after being confused as to why the entrepreneur would be bringing up business at a social affair in such a way. There's a time and place for everything, and this place was not the time for networking conversations out of the blue.

Some people think networking is a waste of time and they don't do much of it. Then you have other people who believe that every moment is the right time to be selling.

Networking is an art

The reality is that networking is an art. The reason why my colleague was immediately turned off to the approach by the entrepreneur, despite the fact that she appreciated and liked his work, was because she didn't want to be sold to--particularly at a social function!

Access matters

Networking has to happen in the right place and at the right moment. It's not about meeting just anyone and blathering on about your successes and what you're looking to achieve. It's about getting in front of the right people to provide value to those people and also figure out a win/win.

The right people

My colleague was not one of the right people for the entrepreneur and his industry. She did not have any contacts in that industry, and as the entrepreneur began to pitch his business and successes, my colleague wondered why she was being pitched at a party on a topic and industry she barely knew.

Strategic networking

As I said, there are people out there who believe that networking is a waste of time, and to a certain extent, that's true. The reason for it is simple: people do what the entrepreneur did. They are not strategic about their networking. They talk to people just to talk and then wonder why they come away with nothing. To be successful at networking:

Be smart about the people you want to speak to and figure out how to get access to them. The reality is that you don't want to talk to everyone about your business. You just want to talk to the right people. A couple of years ago, a piece was written in Harvard Business Review about networking, and a story was related about Davos. The author wrote about an exceptional networked who said that most of what happened in Davos anyone can research or discover for him or herself. However, the most outstanding value of Davos was the access to the right people and the development and deepening of relationships.

Don't look for quick results in networking. People can become disillusioned with networking because they think they are not getting the results they want. Did the entrepreneur believe that the conversation he had with my colleague would land him a new deal? I think that deep down, he knew that wouldn't happen. The best networking comes from developing solid relationships with the right people that create winning opportunities and situations for both parties. The best networking is indeed a very strategic endeavor.

Sometimes the best opportunities arise from people that are not your closest supporters. One of the best sales experiences I had was sitting face to face with someone and engaging with someone on a personal level as we came up with ideas. The conversation ended up turning into a significant six-figure deal, but it came from a relationship which was not yet warm. I knew this person a little bit, but there were a freshness and dynamism to the relatively new relationship. Often, it makes sense to consider networking with people. Increase relationship.

Mostly Five Tips for Buyers for an Effective Product Sourcing

Whether you are a seasoned buyer or new to the industry, your biggest secret to success lies in an effective sourcing. It is nothing but choosing and buying the right products for your brand from designers, manufacturers, and wholesalers, merchandising them in an attractive way and satisfying your customers' demands. This helps you in maximizing your sales and meeting your business goals. But, sourcing can be a challenge at times because you might encounter some challenges during the whole process. Like procurement of the best merchandise, costs involved and quality of the products, and many others.

So, here are 5 essential tips that will help you enhance your skills for an effective product sourcing:

1. Be a Good Researcher

To become a successful buyer, you need to be a good researcher. Since every project calls for a different strategy you need to put those extra efforts in learning and becoming more knowledgeable. This means researching what your target customers are looking for, from where you can get the best deals on the products for your store, and creating marketing strategies say, by partnering with local businesses.

2. Keep Yourself Organized

Sourcing is not a cake-walk, it is a serious business. You will have to deal with a lot of things like gathering relevant information and implementing on the tasks that are required to connect the right products with the right customers. For this you need to stay organized and build a system which will help you keep a track of line sheets, contacts, etc.

3. Stay Updated with the Latest Information


This is applicable to every industry. To be successful in a job or business, you always have to stay updated with the latest information. So, as a buyer make a habit of reading blogs and articles relevant to your business. You can also attend seminars, conferences, and trade shows to get deeper insights and increase your knowledge bank.

4. Focus on Building Stronger Relationships

The success of your business depends on the power of your connections and how strong your relationships are with people you are associated for your business. Look for ways which will help you build better and long term relations. Meet them in person and try to stay connected even after a project gets over.

5. Ensure Great Quality Products and Control Over the Costs Involved

Quality matters the most to customers and to win them, you need to maintain it. No matter what your line of business is, you should focus on offering the best quality products. And this is possible only by forming healthy relationships with designers and manufacturers. It will give you a chance to assess the products yourself and stay abreast of the money you are spending, ensuring timely delivery and good quality for your products and satisfy.

A Successfully Navigate the Big Interview

The reason that people have a lot of fear and anxiety before and during an interview is because of what the interview could mean for that person. An interview is an opportunity for a better job or a better life; performing well in this interview could mean a world of difference. The fear of failure causes the anxiety that we all have experienced at one point in time. The opportunity was only obtained through work and effort that has accumulated. Whether that hard work was in college, an entry-level position, or a position that you have had for a while, a lot of time and dedication has landed you an opportunity for a new position or promotion. There is a lot riding on this interview. I want to give you some helpful tips that helped me to get many different offers for companies in a multitude of different industries. My hope is that these helpful tips will help you be successful in landing the job in your chosen field.

When it comes to an interview, there is no such thing as over-prepared. Preparedness helps to drive away anxiety and stress. It is easy to speak with confidence if you truly know what you are speaking about. With the age of technology, it is easy to see what kind of background your interviewer has. Take a look at the individuals LinkedIn profile. With this information, you should be able to relate to the individual that you are meeting with and create meaningful, professional conversation. Also make sure to take a look at the job description as well as individuals who hold that position in the company. If you look at multiple different profiles of people who are in this position, you will start to see trends in experience which the recruiters and interviewers are looking for in you. After looking at the position and profiles, read about the company history as well as people who have changed the industry in which you are entering. For example before my interview with a major transportation company, I looked into some of the challenges that the company had overcome. I had read an article about a government regulation that was mandating Electronic Driver Logs which caused a decrease in revenue for transportation companies. I developed questions based on this knowledge which showed that I was knowledgeable about the industry and showed that I was prepared for the interview. They told me that I was hired before I left the building. Preparedness goes a long way into making an impression on the people with whom you are meeting.

Once you are in the interview, ensure that your attire is appropriate. Dress for the job that you want. It is better to be over dressed than to be under dressed. First impressions take 20 seconds. 5 of those seconds are looking at your attire and shaking your hand. Being dressed correctly is crucial!

After preparing and making your first impressions, now comes the showcase of your accomplishments, knowledge, and personality. Your preparedness for this meeting will make or break you. Know what accomplishments to talk about and what strengths to demonstrate. When questions are posed to you, do not just answer with your opinion; relate your opinion to a scenario or accomplishment. An example is as follows: "Do you work better as an individual or as a team member?" "Personally, I work better as a team member. When I served in the U.S. Military, I was part of a cyber law team. We were able to accomplish many different tasks because of how we encouraged each other. I was eventually promoted to Squad Leader because I encouraged my comrades daily. I received an accommodation medal for leading multiple successful missions as team member." Notice how the example ended with a tie back to the original question. It is easy to get lost in your story and not make the connection back to what was originally asked. But if you can clearly define the relevance, you will be successful in highlighting why you would be the best candidate.

After you complete your interview, giving hand written thank you notes will make you memorable. When I finished college, I gave out thank you notes to every interview that I did in person. I had 22 offers and about half of them mentioned the thank you notes. Few candidates hand write thank you notes. If you do, even if you had an average interview you will stick out and be remembered.

How Using a Printed Circuit Board Assembly Service and what are the benefits?

You are the process of creating a printed circuit board for a small business can be a time-consuming process. A great way to simplify the process and get the relevant parts ready for manufacturing is to use a professional service. This can help to not only create the clean and efficient board, but also save time and help to detect manufacturing issues as soon as possible. Let's take a look at a few of the benefits of using a professional service:

High-quality

A major benefit of using this type of service is the ability to create a high-quality board with soldering at an expert level. Many of the professional boards make use of the most impressive silk-screening methods, solder resist and laminates. A professional service is most effective with setups that have a lot of surface mounted components. The ability to use automated placement of the components will lead to a higher degree of accuracy and less risk of producing a defective board. Also, with the tiny components that are located very close together, the latest machines are the most reliable option for the precise solder joints.

Save time

The ability to use a professional service will save a lot of time for any company looking to create a prototype for a new product. If self-building the printed circuit built it will be necessary to get in touch with multiple parts supplies and an assembly house. The extra time-saving from outsourcing can be put to use elsewhere, which is especially helpful in a company with only a few employees.

Detect problems

A professional service will be very effective at detecting any errors that may appear in the process of creating the printed circuit board. The ability to create a prototype is a useful way to know if there will likely by any errors with the product or manufacturing. Any errors detected early can help to save a lot of wasted time, effort and resources. Also, once the defects are discovered, it will be possible to learn from these mistakes and create future projects with better design practices.

Manufacturing costs

The option to use a professional service will help with calculating the costs for the different stages of the manufacturing process. Once the prototype has been built and the design and layout is confirmed for future production, it will be possible to get a quote for a small or high volume production run to match the specific need. Possibility high production.

Discuss To Nonprofit Fundraising

Introduction

Nonprofit fundraising is a complicated topic and a critical function. Nonprofits are in a unique position from businesses in that they cannot price their products and services to, well, make a profit. Operating budgets must be conceived from other sources than program revenues.

This is a guide focused on fundraising for nonprofits. It will discuss the following major topics:

1. Crafting a nonprofit fundraising strategy

2. Optimizing your organization

3. Kick starting your donor development

4. Developing your marketing campaign

5. Leveraging grants and other funding opportunities

Before we begin, here is a brief background on funding.

How are nonprofits funded?

The following categories make up the bulk of funding for nonprofits:

• Fees for Goods/Services from Private Sources - this is driven largely by hospitals and higher-education nonprofits who charge fees for services, tuition, etc.
• Fees for Goods/Services from Government Sources - includes things like Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements
• Government Grants - cash awarded to organizations with varying stipulations attached
• Private Contributions - charitable donations and grants from private individuals, corporations, etc.
• Investment Income - endowments make up a significant portion of income, especially among foundations

Where do donations come from?

Private contributions make up the largest portion of non-program-related revenue streams for nonprofits. These donations totaled $373.25 billion in 2015.

Of this amount, 71% came from individuals, while the rest came from foundation grants, bequests and other corporate philanthropy.

While this represents enormous potential, it brings even more enormous challenges for nonprofits looking to focus marketing and fundraising strategies on specific channels. The need for personal touch with most individual donors makes it hard to scale funding strategies focused on individual donors.

Craft the perfect nonprofit fundraising strategy

Any successful initiative requires a plan. To maximize your organization's potential, it is important to understand where you are today and define specific paths to where you need to be in the future. A useful strategic plan for your fundraising function will provide a sense of direction for your organization and outline measurable goals to assess progress.

1. Establish a vision

The first thing you want to do is create an ideal version of your organization. Leslie Allen from Front Range Source published a good guide on the topic where she suggests you ask yourself the following questions:

A bit of administrative work should also be done now... specifically setting a budget for how much you wish to spend on this nonprofit fundraising strategy and an implementation timeline that you wish to achieve your goals by.

2. Understand your current state

Describe your organization as it exists today. This will form the foundation for which your strategy will be executed against.

You should take inventory of all the different funding sources you currently use and have used in the past. Try to rank and prioritize the effectiveness and quantity of funds raised from each one. Take note of what's worked in the past and what hasn't.

Take an external perspective if possible. If you can afford to audit your organization, do it. If not, be as unbiased as possible in determining how effective your organization performs in this area, and compare it to other organizations. Use either current employees or colleagues from outside the organization to get a picture of how other nonprofits perform.

Understand your strengths and weaknesses! If you are too overly funded by a specific source-let's say a specific government grant that comes in each year and funds 90% of your budget-you need to address this. Like any business overly concentrated on one customer, you run the risk of being shut down, should the government grant stop.

Don't limit yourself to single or few funding sources whenever possible. Make your organization invulnerable to things you can't control.

3. Envision your future state

Use the answers produced in your vision creation to help craft your future state. Where the vision phase is about creating conceptual ideals for what your organization should look like, this phase should be about quantifying them.

Decide exactly what you want to concentrate on. If you decided that a focused nonprofit fundraising strategy was the way to go, make sure to document why it is the best course and what the benefits of this choice will be.

The result of this phase should be a set of goals that you want your organization to achieve.

4. Perform a gap analysis

By quantifying your future state and documenting where you stand today, your next step is to perform a gap analysis. It is critical to understand where all the major gaps are in your organization.

If you have 90% of your revenue coming from one government grant and your future state involves diversifying your revenue streams, then obviously here is a major gap in your strategy.

Always know your organization's vulnerabilities. Prioritize what you think are the most critical gaps and areas that could produce the most impact full change if they are closed.

5. Connect the dots

The final step requires determining exactly what actions need to be done to achieve your desired state.

Break up the goals into key initiatives. You should ideally come up with a list of projects that can be executed on, each with different rankings for cost, effort, time, and impact.

Create a matrix that assesses each project against these four dimensions and rank the projects according to your priorities. If your strategy needs to be completed quickly with less regard to cost, then rank projects requiring less time higher. If you want the biggest impact of your initiatives, then rank those ones higher, with the understanding it might take longer and cost more than other projects.

Always understand the project management triangle of cost vs. scope vs. time. Any strategic decision will be based on these three constraints. Any change to one constraint necessitates a change in the others. Or else quality suffers.

Be sure to get all the right stakeholders involved in this priority setting process to make sure your strategic alignment matches your organization's vision and your board's idea of what needs to be done.

Optimize your organization for change

A common mistake among nonprofits is the lack of a single person who oversees the entire "money function" of the organization. It isn't enough to have an individual who manages only government contracts, or only individual donors - you absolutely must have someone who oversees all cash flows into the organization.

Development director office

To ensure you hire or promote from within the right candidate for the job, you must be able to offer enough of a salary to entice someone to stay and grow the organization. Check competitive rates of not only nonprofit development directors, but also nonprofit CFOs, for-profit CFOs, etc.

It may be painful trying to come up with the money to pay someone to do this job-which is typically lower than executive director or other high-ranking positions in your organization-but it's worth it.

You're paying for people who spend 100% of their time focused on money. And in a few years' time, they should be paying their own salaries with the work they've done to increase your organization's capacity.

Build a business environment that enables development.

Beyond just funding the salary of your rock-star fundraiser, it is important to give this person authority over creating a team and office within your organization. By choosing the right person, you can ensure that they know exactly how many staff they need and what roles they need to hire to perform specific tasks (marketing plans, technology upgrades, cold calling, etc.).

Additionally, you must budget for costs like software, computer upgrades, marketing collateral, association dues, professional development, and so forth.

You want to create an environment that enables development success. In this way, you help retain top talent that can executive on longer-term strategies that have the highest potential for organizational growth.

Bottom line - You want to hire the right person who will help grow your organization. They need to have the keys to the kingdom when it comes to seeing how all money flows in and out. They need the ability to propose and set a budget and to executive on their strategies.

Bonus tip - leverage volunteers.

Use unpaid help to support your efforts in reaching out to people. Especially for organizations with slim staff and budgets, this can be an effective tool. Tap into your alumni pool and other partners/alliances you may have formed in the past.

Volunteers can be especially useful when promoting events, selling tickets, or soliciting sponsorships.

Engage with your board

Your board of trustees ultimately sets the direction and vision for your organization. As a result, we need to spend some significant time making sure everyone is aligned with what we are trying to accomplish with fundraising.

The role of the board typically changes based on the size of the organization-smaller organizations have board members that typically take a more operational and hands-on approach, while larger organizations may have board members more focused on governance issues.

Regardless of the size of your nonprofit, it is critical to make sure everyone understands the importance of philanthropy and can agree on a high-level strategy for accomplishing the mission.

Have an open conversation about what role board members can play in nonprofit fundraising. Beyond agreeing on strategies, this can be an extremely beneficial task in helping to grow and retain donors. For example, a simple thank-you goes a long way. A fundraising study performed by Cygnus found that when donors got a thank-you call from board members within days of making a gift:

• 93% said they would definitely or probably give again
• 84% said they would make a larger gift
• 74% said they would continue giving indefinitely

Find ways to engage donors. Use board members for this purpose. Their clout alone brings great respect to the people who donate to the organization. This should be used to your advantage.

Just as important as engaging board members with donors, is keeping donors engaged in the strategy. Present strategy proposals and work in their feedback. This ensures alignment and sense of purpose with board members.

Keep everyone involved in the budget setting process so they know a strategy goes beyond simple concepts and pipe dreams. The board needs to know that fundraising is staff driven and presenting a simple projection of anticipated costs and revenue with a strategy can go a long way in helping drive change.

Most importantly - realize when you have good board members and do everything you can to retain them. Keep them motivated. Listen to what they say. Their contacts and knowledge go a long way toward helping drive your strategy, so realize what you have while you have it and don't risk losing good board members to greener pastures.

Measuring and communicating impact

After staff and board considerations, the next big item to prepare for is impact measurement. You need to be able to communicate your story with words and numbers.

Nonprofit fundraising is much more than asking for donations. It includes everything before and after this step... from searching for supporters to expressing gratitude and measuring impact. Measuring impact helps you do two things:

1. Evaluate fundraising campaign effectiveness
2. Demonstrate your program's effectiveness and help tell a story that will attract future funding

Your programs already exist to further your organization's mission. And for programs that do it well, there should be data that prove it. Make sure to have the systems in place to capture the results of your programs' efforts. (Note: systems don't need to be complicated... they can simply be processes used to document results of activities.)

Use your mission to determine a set of outcomes you wish to achieve. Then work backwards to determine the activities you can perform to get there.

For more information check out Whole Whale's guide on measuring nonprofit impact.

Once you've set up your impact measurement processes, find ways to communicate your results on your website. This may come in the form of dashboards, case studies, personal stories, etc. Be sure to consistently update your content to not only keep things fresh, but communicate your continued success.

If a donor visits your site and sees overwhelming evidence of the good things you're doing, he will be more likely to buy into your cause and believe that his donations are being well spent.

How much do you spend on fundraising?

CharityWatch analyzes the effectiveness of nonprofits across a wide range of statistics. One particular interesting number is the "Cost to Raise $100." Exactly how it sounds, this reflects how much it costs a charity to bring in $100 of public donations.

On this basis, a nonprofit is considered highly efficient if its cost to raise $100 is $25 or less.

Practically speaking, determine how much you want to raise with your nonprofit fundraising strategy or even a specific campaign. Start with a 4:1 ratio to get to the $25 mark and go from there. If you wanted to raise $5,000,000, you would start your budget at $1,250,000. Adjust from there.

Kick start your donor development

Now the section that probably brought most of you here... actual donor development.

You have your organization set up for success. You have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish. Your board is behind you and you have the right staff to tackle the job. Now how do you actually find funding?

Prospecting and donor research

Many experts like to talk about a fundraising pyramid. A strong general fund of small donors supports a smaller core of mid-level gifts on top of which is a few major donors for your organization.

You want to maximize each level of this pyramid and continuously work on moving people upward.

The first step is to create a list of prospects. The most common prospecting strategies combine the following approaches:

• Direct mail or email
• Brainstorming of prospects (using board members and staff alike)
• Prospect research (databases full of free or purchasable contact lists)

Donors give for their own reasons, not yours. When assessing your current prospect pool and searching for more, evaluate the following characteristics of each prospect:

• Longevity - How long has this person been giving? Should they possibly move up the pyramid if they've been here a while?
• Cumulative giving - Are prospects donating in lump sums or giving multiple times per year? Look for the latter as good opportunities to move up the pyramid.
• Engagement - Look for people who are reading your newsletters, responding to your calls, reaching out about your organization... these are the types you want to move up the pyramid.

Leverage Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems

When you begin a prospect gathering mission, it couldn't hurt to start by scrubbing your current database (whether its paper files or an Excel workbook or an entire donor management system). It is good to get a clear idea of everyone you have previously had relationships to understand your likelihood of using these people as a base for your new strategy or as referrals to new candidates.

Once you have a baseline of prospects, decide if you should leverage more advanced technology for your nonprofit fundraising efforts.

The benefits of a formal CRM system are enormous for all types of organizations. With the proper system in place, your organization has the ability to record all communications with donors and prospects, track their personal characteristics, create easy email campaigns, find volunteers, and so on.

Especially useful are these systems' abilities to report on progress during campaigns and analyze the demographics of donors and prospects. You can run reports that help determine which people in which locations to target for each specific kind of outreach. This helps when trying to nail down a specific donor outreach campaign.

Tech Soup has a breakdown of 8 top CRM systems for nonprofits as well. Perform a similar analysis to this when evaluating software for your organization.

Ensure donors keep giving

You have two major goals with donor development:

1. Make sure current donors keep giving.
2. Try to move donors up to mid-level and major gift level status.

Some useful tips for maintaining and improving donor relationships range from simple thank-you notes to community recognition to providing access to special information or services.

Personal touch goes a long way in cultivating relationships with donors. Invite people individually to events or conference calls you may have. Point out donors who have given in a monthly newsletter. Everyone enjoys a little recognition, especially if they are intent on furthering their own missions of giving.

More tactically, you can use donor surveys and other donor-directed communications to try to get a feel for how they perceive your organization to be doing. Gear your marketing collateral to them based on specific programs and results that you're achieving.

While you're publishing data and other marketing collateral for wider consumption, try to focus specific pieces to donors only to let them see inside the progress you're really making as an organization. You can use a more friendly and informal tone when communicating with current donors, to help aid in the relationship building process.

Hold special events just for donors. Have a social where donors can meet one another and discuss their own missions and visions for what they want to achieve. Everybody appreciates being connected with more people who can help their cause... so use this avenue intelligently to help boost relationships among your community.

Work the pyramid

Asking for more money is never easy, especially if you fear losing a relationship with a person who has given faithfully to your organization for many years.

But you must overcome this fear and ask for more money.

Why would someone consider giving you more money?

First, they must believe in your mission. It must support something they find dear to them. So, communicate your mission accurately and descriptively.

Second, they must believe in your team and that you will use their money wisely. No, they don't expect a return on their investment, but with the thousands of nonprofits out there competing for their dollars, they have plenty of options to choose from when giving to a charity.

Most importantly, donors increase their gifts when asked to. Unless you ask, they'll likely continue giving the standard amount-which is fine-but we're trying to build a fundraising strategy for growth.

Key takeaway - You should aim as high as possible when placing prospects in your donor pyramid. The bigger you make the mid-level and high-level sections, the better off your organization will be. You can count on these larger donations on a more regular basis, which can be used a springboard for future growth.

Develop an impeccable marketing campaign

There are many different tools you can leverage and approaches you can take to boost your nonprofit fundraising strategy.

Major types of communication

The basic types of marketing channels are generally known. You can communicate direct via email, phone call or personal visit. You can communicate to a broader scale with public speaking, newsletters, website content, advertising etc. The main thing to know is what you're trying to accomplish with each type of communication.

You're not going to get a major donation from sending out a newsletter-you might, but this type of communication is generally geared to higher-volume, lower-dollar amounts.

You're typically going to want to use more mass communication methods for filling your pipeline and those earlier-stage types of activities. More direct personal touch is required to close most deals, especially when more money is on the line.

When to use each approach

A good approach uses a mix of all the techniques discussed above. There will be times you want to target individuals and times you'll want to target groups.

Direct Mail/Email

This method can be used whether you're reaching out to an individual or your entire prospect list. Be sure to use mail over email if you plan to have a later-in-the-process "sales" discussion with a prospect as physical mail has a more personal touch.

Use this technique when you want to connect directly with individuals. Be sure to use personal touch to make the recipient feel that this note has more value than the other things that end up in the trash. Also include a call to action-conversion rates skyrocket by simply including an option to act on your message.

Advertising

Use this technique when you want to reach out to more than just your immediate community. This can be through printed newspapers and periodicals, on the radio or through television or other forms of media.

Make sure you know the expected return on investment before planning any fundraising dollars to this method, but realize it can pay off especially if you want to educate the masses or get your brand and mission out there.

Internet Marketing

A much cheaper form of marketing your brand, the use of social media platforms and other online communities allows you to connect with the largest number of potential donors for the lowest overall cost.

Besides simply promoting your content or brand, you can include calls to action like "donate now" on a nonprofit Facebook page. The Internet was made to reach people quickly and cheaply. Use it to your advantage.

Special Promotions

Host an event that brings together different people in your community and use the platform to raise funds. Everyone likes to be connected to like-minded individuals. By creating somewhat regular events that accomplish this, you can provide spikes in your donation intake at certain times of the year.

An annual appeal may work here. Market the opportunity as an annual or monthly gathering, and give people a reason to attend. The key here is to make sure you don't overdo it. Don't host too many events or the idea of a special promotion loses its luster. Why would a donor attend your annual appeal if you actually had weekly appeals? No luster.

Public Relations

When you host an event or produce a new piece of useful content, create a press release to announce it to your community. Like advertising, this has the opportunity of reaching a large number of people.

Just keep in mind that you will get more press coverage in an area if you can show that your news directly impacts the community.

Additional methods for nonprofit fundraising success

Of note are co branding and affinity marketing. Up to 6% of all product launches rely on some form of co branding. Get your name attached to others who support similar causes. You shouldn't see other organizations as merely competitors... but rather as potential complements to your strategy.

Work with partners to build a whole that's greater than the sum of the parts. Unlock hidden potential by partnering with the right affiliates to help extend your reach beyond your immediate community.

What about crowdfunding?

In a society that's continuing to be more interested in social impact, this is a potentially huge area to raise funds.

Think of Kick starter. Anyone can promote any cause and collect money from anyone around the world. All they need to do is connect to an investor's sense of purpose.

Be aware there are fees attached! If using a public platform, understand the costs associated. Take the time to compare different platforms and factor in the cost to raise money with any effort placed on a platform.

Also be aware of nonprofit fundraising laws! With the internet it is much easier to raise money from people in multiple states, even if you operate in just one. Many states require nonprofits to register in order to conduct fundraising within their jurisdiction-this may apply to more states than intended if you plan to raise funds online. The National Association of State Charity Officials published a guide for social media and internet solicitation.

That being said, there are definitely opportunities to use crowdfunding to your advantage.

Craft the right story

There are many ways to get a person to be interested in your organization. Most include connecting with their individual sense of purpose. You need them to feel the pain you're trying to solve.

You might think you don't have all the right details for a truly compelling story, but you're wrong!

Beth Kanter outlines four classic story lines that work well when soliciting donors:

1. Overcoming the monster - Talk about some form of adversity your organization is tackling. Are 99% of kids in your region on subsidized school lunch programs? Okay... tell that story.
2. Rags to riches - Use your actual clients or service recipients as a catalyst. Explain the poor circumstances that led to them using your organization, and the 180 degree turnaround you helped them achieve. Don't be afraid to get detailed in describing the low point.
3. Quest - Everyone loves a good quest story. We're on a quest to a completely carbon neutral society. Where do we stand on that long journey? What are you doing about it?
4. Tragedy - Some events have the ability to appeal to the masses. Think of the recent devastating earthquakes across southern U.S. and Puerto Rico. Tell that story. Make people feel compelled to do something for all those suffering.

Leverage grants and other funding opportunities

While donors may make up a good core of your fundraising strategy, there are often overlooked free dollars out there that you may qualify for without realizing. It is important to understand where these areas of opportunity are and to always incorporate grants and other free money into your fundraising plans.

Master grant research

There are growing numbers of online sources that can be used for free (or at reasonable costs) to help in your prospect search. Download the free premium edition of this guide to see a list of the top sources and some of their details and how best to use each one.

Write a killer proposal

Finding the right grant for your organization is only half the battle.

How do you now secure the funding?

If you've never written a grant proposal before, check out Grant Space's free introductory grant-writing class. It can be done online or in person and should help provide a baseline for writing a good proposal.

GrantSpace also includes a repository of sample documents. This ranges from proposals to letters of inquiry to cover letters to budgets.

Key things to consider...

Do your homework! If you find a grant and it has a request for proposals (RFP), then it should have all the guidelines for you to consider. Read the document carefully. Understand any deadlines, if there is a letter of intent due before the application, the ceiling amount for funding, etc.

Then go to the funder's website and see what other types of organizations are typically funded. Visit their websites and see the kinds of programs they offer. Does your organization seem to fit this mold? Write your proposal keeping in mind what types of programs worked in the past for this funder.

Start planning. If you agree your organization is a good fit for the grant, meet with your team and start outlining what needs to be done. If a letter of intent (LOI) is required, use it to your advantage. This is your one- or two-page pitch to the funder to show why you're a great fit for them. If the funder likes you, they will ask you to submit a full proposal. This is potentially a huge time saver, if in fact you are not a realistic recipient for this grant.

Reach out to the funder's program officer. They're generally very friendly people and a simple conversation can go a long way. Either you briefly discuss your idea and it's not a fit, and you've saved yourself the time and effort putting together a full proposal.

Or you're a great fit, you hit it off with the funder, and you've started a great relationship together, essentially completing the first stage of the application process.

This could lead to many years of future funding. Don't overlook this useful step! Try to build a relationship with the funder before you've formally applied for funding.

When you finally start your proposal, you should have all the information you need to be confident that you will win the award. It should be 5-15 pages long and cover things such as a summary of your program, background and needs, goals, evaluation process, budget, timeline, and any partnerships you are planning to leverage.

Remember to answer every part of every question!

RFPs can be very long and tedious, but any excuse to dismiss an applicant is usually enough to throw the proposal in the trash. Don't risk this. Don't worry about fluffy language... get straight to the point. Feel free to leverage content from previous proposals, as often the same questions are asked in RFPs.

Submit your proposal and be confident you will win. If not, you move on. There are plenty of other grant opportunities out there... see the previous section...

The grant-writing process

If you've been following all the steps outlined in this guide, the actual grant-writing process will be the least stressful part. You've already got the foundation for sustained excellence engrained in your organization.