I’d strongly suggest creating a summary and linking to the full post as a Google doc or something. At present, the length will put off potential donors from even reading it.
Key questions to address in a summary:
Why are you the BEST opportunity to donate to within this cause area?
Why has EAIF decided to terminate your funding? If they think it’s not cost-effective enough, why are they wrong?
What are you going to accomplish with the money?
Why should prospective donors believe you can execute?
FWIW, my gut tells me that this is likely a good use of funding. The team seems dedicated, willing to work for cheap, and sufficiently proactive to make a good go of it.
To provide more context on why EAIF decided to terminate our funding:
EAIF told EA PH in August 2023 that they were very funding-constrained and are unable to fund projects that they would have funded in the past. They said if the funding context were different, they would conduct a deeper evaluation of the work EA PH did over the grant period. However, they didn’t expect to offer an additional grant even after a deeper evaluation, so they did not do a deeper evaluation. Given this and the new funding landscape, EA PH’s co-founders (Brian and Tanya) understood this decision and saw the need to rethink EA PH’s future and hire new directors that could lead and improve EA PH. With our new team and strategy, we expect to do impactful and cost-effective work. Moreover, we’re fundraising for salaries that are 40% lower per hour compared to EA PH’s previous salaries given the new funding landscape.
To quickly respond to your other points:
EA Philippines boasts a track record of community growth and tangible impact, including the establishment of student chapters, successful conferences, and numerous EA-aligned projects and organizations. Because of this, EA Philippines has demonstrated our capacity to effectively utilize funding to drive meaningful change and sustain impactful initiatives in both the Philippines and Southeast Asia. We believe we are well-positioned to execute our goals of introducing new members to EA, building skills and confidence, and providing in-depth knowledge and career preparation. We’ve detailed some of our arguments for this in the briefer above.
Thank you again, John, for your comment—this gave us a meaningful opportunity to reflect on how we can effectively communicate our goals as an organization. :)
I’d strongly suggest creating a summary and linking to the full post as a Google doc or something. At present, the length will put off potential donors from even reading it.
Key questions to address in a summary:
Why are you the BEST opportunity to donate to within this cause area?
Why has EAIF decided to terminate your funding? If they think it’s not cost-effective enough, why are they wrong?
What are you going to accomplish with the money?
Why should prospective donors believe you can execute?
FWIW, my gut tells me that this is likely a good use of funding. The team seems dedicated, willing to work for cheap, and sufficiently proactive to make a good go of it.
Hi John,
Thank you for your suggestion on adding a briefer at the beginning of our post. We’ve incorporated your suggestion. Our briefer can be accessed here https://bit.ly/EAPHStrategyFundraisingBriefer2024
To provide more context on why EAIF decided to terminate our funding:
EAIF told EA PH in August 2023 that they were very funding-constrained and are unable to fund projects that they would have funded in the past. They said if the funding context were different, they would conduct a deeper evaluation of the work EA PH did over the grant period. However, they didn’t expect to offer an additional grant even after a deeper evaluation, so they did not do a deeper evaluation. Given this and the new funding landscape, EA PH’s co-founders (Brian and Tanya) understood this decision and saw the need to rethink EA PH’s future and hire new directors that could lead and improve EA PH. With our new team and strategy, we expect to do impactful and cost-effective work. Moreover, we’re fundraising for salaries that are 40% lower per hour compared to EA PH’s previous salaries given the new funding landscape.
To quickly respond to your other points:
EA Philippines boasts a track record of community growth and tangible impact, including the establishment of student chapters, successful conferences, and numerous EA-aligned projects and organizations. Because of this, EA Philippines has demonstrated our capacity to effectively utilize funding to drive meaningful change and sustain impactful initiatives in both the Philippines and Southeast Asia. We believe we are well-positioned to execute our goals of introducing new members to EA, building skills and confidence, and providing in-depth knowledge and career preparation. We’ve detailed some of our arguments for this in the briefer above.
Thank you again, John, for your comment—this gave us a meaningful opportunity to reflect on how we can effectively communicate our goals as an organization. :)