“According to Lama Zopa Rinpoche,” says Nick Ribush, “we are here to offer ultimate happiness, the greatest possible benefit, to all sentient beings: liberation and enlightenment. One of the ways we do this in the FPMT is by creating the conditions necessary for Dharma to be taught and practiced.” And for this, of course, money is needed. During the past five years, as the FPMT’s only full-time fundraiser, Nick Ribush raised US$1 million for Wisdom Publications, the publishing company that he started at Kopan Monastery in 1976. Nick left Wisdom in May and is now heading a new FPMT project, the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. He offered his advice on fundraising at the meeting of FPMT managers, the CPMT, in Italy last year.

What makes a good fundraiser? A good fundraiser has lots of energy, is well organized and has excellent people skills, that is, is a warm person who makes friends easily. People give to people they like. And, as the teachings say, the best way to be liked is to have a good heart.

You need to have enthusiastic perseverance, be patient and not at all deterred by refusal. If you hate being rejected or can’t take no for an answer, don’t become a fundraiser. You have to keep trying; great results sometimes come out of the blue from the most unexpected quarters.

Have the right motivation: The more convinced you are that asking for money is a highly beneficial Dharma activity, the closer you’ll come to having a perfect Mahayana motivation. This is crucial. If you feel guilty or apologetic about asking, check your motivation.

You’re actually the bearer of good tidings. According to the lam-rim, the giving of Dharma is the highest form of giving, so we are really offering a great opportunity when we ask someone to help the center teach Dharma for the sake of all sentient beings. When we ask with this motivation, we are generating bodhichitta, the seed of enlightenment, within our own minds. Getting others to help, to create merit, is the action of a bodhisattva. It’s our job.

Karma: However, the most important factor that determines your success or failure is karma. If you the fundraiser, your center, the FPMT, or whoever else might benefit from a particular donation has not created the cause for it, you won’t get it. Therefore, if we want our efforts to bear fruit, we must create the appropriate cause–that is, we must give.

Therefore, plan for generous giving in your budget – as much as your treasurer will allow. Decide each year what free teachings you can offer the Sangha. Participate in the FPMT’s international fundraising events, such as the Repaying the Kindness at Saka Dawa Fund. If we all work together, we can create vast amounts of merit and build this fund into something that helps us all. By participating in cooperative ventures, each center creates the cause for success in its own fundraising efforts.

Get involved in community and charitable activities. Support freedom for Tibet and keep a high profile at rallies. Help organize visits of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to your country. Along with merit, these activities create the conditions for your fundraising efforts to bear fruit.

And you should be a full-time fundraiser, although sometimes it is good to hire a professional fundraiser or grant writer. Professionals usually take a percentage of what they raise, but the expense may be worthwhile if they expand your pool of donors.

Approach fundraising systematically, thoughtfully and as a business: Develop a business plan with a budget, clearly defined targets, a projected (and later actual) cash flow and a realistic strategy of reaching out. Measure your progress carefully. Equip yourself with whatever tools you’ll need; you can’t do it without a computer. The program you use should allow you to keep complete benefactor records, maintain your mailing list, and have a spreadsheet to keep track of your budget, expenses, targets, donations and so forth.

Become familiar with the legal aspects of fundraising and always keep your center director apprised of what you’re doing. Register according to the laws of your country as a nonprofit organization, charitable trust, religious association, or educational institute so that your center becomes an attractive recipient for gifts or grants. This sort of status makes it easier for individuals to contribute, and many trusts and organizations can give only to such organizations. You’re limiting your options if you’re eligible but don’t register.

Keep immaculate records. Absolutely consult your center’s accountant. Find out what receipts you have to issue and when, and what they must say. If you get this wrong, you may get into trouble with the authorities or have to return money, and will almost certainly face high legal or accounting fees.

Professional image: Get the help of a good graphic artist. The sooner you can present a professional image, the better. That doesn’t mean expensive. At first, avoid expensive at all costs; later, special occasions may demand it, but never be extravagant. Most of the people you’re trying to reach will be put off by ostentation.

Make a fundraising kit containing information about the history of the FPMT and the center, copies of your center brochure and Mandala, the projects you’re raising funds for and how much you need for each, and anything else you feel is relevant, such as photocopies of newspaper articles about your center, or an excerpt from a teaching.

You might want to create a one-page fundraising document explaining why the center exists, whom it serves, how it helps, what are its immediate, one-year, five-year, and remote goals. Describe what benefits accrue to the various levels of contributor. Use the kit in personal interviews or mail it out.

Get your center online: Get a CompuServe email account so you can network with other FPMT fundraisers and advertise your center and its programs on the many Buddhist and Tibet-related electronic bulletin boards around the world. Check into getting a homepage about your center on the Internet. A non-profit organization or a knowledgeable student may be able to help you get set up.

Keep your eyes open for, collect and analyze any helpful fundraising or other materials that come your way; they can stimulate your imagination, which is the only thing holding you back. Many large organizations have spent huge amounts of money developing and distributing fundraising materials. Once you’ve trained your eye, you’ll find something you can use in most other organizations’ strategies and appeals. Read books and articles; go to conferences and seminars.

Government programs and grants: Go to your local library and find out about government programs and grants that might be available to you, especially if your center is a hospice, a leprosy center, or something similar. Research foundation directories describe the objectives of grant-making foundations and list how much they gave to who (look under “philanthropy”). There are also magazines and journals published for fundraisers that contain lots of useful information and show you how real fundraisers think!

Three ways of asking: There are three main ways of asking people for money. In ascending order of efficiency, they are: by mail, by telephone and in person.

Donations by mail: You can send someone a mass mailing, your fundraising kit, or a personal letter, but it’s easy for that person to ignore it. Nevertheless, mailings and an excellent mailing list are an indispensable part of fundraising. Continually develop your list, analyze it, keep it clean. Categorize your constituents. Use your word processor’s mail-merge feature. For important mailings or acquiring new donors, try renting other lists, either directly from the owner or through a list broker.

Any well-done direct mail campaign will fertilize the ground and at least pay for itself, and direct mail is probably the best way of finding first-time contributors and building your donor list. People who give once are more likely to give again. People who give again may become regular donors. Regular donors are your best source of major donors and people likely to be interested in planned, or deferred, giving.

Once a thoughtfully managed direct mail campaign has become established, it serves as a predictable, dependable, durable and growing source of steady income for the center. Regular mailings increase awareness of your center. You may want to approach potential new donors and established givers differently in your mailings.

You can also raise capital funds by direct mail. Find the total amount you need and break it down into realistic amounts from the largest to the smallest. If your predictions are accurate, you can identify which category of donation is behind schedule and focus attention on it.

Build excitement among your members by tracking the campaign’s progress on a highly visible barometer in your gompa or near the center’s entrance.

Phoning for funds: It’s harder for someone to turn you down if you call them. If possible, learn about telemarketing techniques before you start, even if you won’t use most of them and have to tailor the rest to Dharma situations.

Most people I’ve met don’t like being pressured. Again, it’s unlikely you’ll get any major donations over the phone alone.

The best use of the phone is to stay in touch with benefactors or to follow up letters or mailings. Call major donors regularly. A mailing followed by a phone call can be quite effective.

Asking in person: Your best chance of receiving a significant gift comes from a one-on-one meeting with a sympathetic individual. Once you have met such a rare and precious one, cultivate the relationship carefully.

Know how much you’re going to ask for. Do your research in advance and figure out the right amount to ask of this person, at this time, for this project.

Always be positive and patient. Don’t focus on the problems or the money but on the result; this is Vajra fundraising. Point out the benefits of giving, how the center benefits them and the community and what their donation will help the center achieve. Don’t rush an appeal or appear desperate. Panic makes benefactors nervous. Gloom and doom (“the center will fail unless you send $1,000!”), or rationalizations, guilt and fear will not raise money. People don’t want to put money into such a risky proposition. You must be confident and the center must appear substantial.

Let potential donors know what tokens of thanks they’ll get, such as free or lifetime center memberships, greater access to the teacher or facilities, or front row seats at special teachings or events.

Thank your benefactors promptly and in writing, and do whatever you said you’d do. Be friendly and stay in touch regularly. Thank them in your newsletter (unless they want to be anonymous), perhaps mentioning the project and the amount they donated.

Be clear about what you want: Usually it’s better to ask for restricted funds – donations to be used for a particular project or need. General, or unrestricted funds are just as important as large gifts; they can be raised through memberships, direct mail, donations at the door and appears after a course.

You need to establish a strong flow of general funds, especially from regular members and more committed supporters.

Always go to your previous donors first: You are more likely to get a donation from someone who has given before than from someone who never has. While doing this, you must also continuously broaden your base of support.  Many donors will drop off your list each year, so you have to keep reaching out.

Quarterly fundraising newsletter: Once you have fifty or a hundred benefactors, you might want to consider publishing a quarterly newsletter. Start by making a list of all previous donors, with the amounts they have given. Arrange the list geographically (you should plan to travel!). Obviously, local supporters are the best prospects, but involve all your benefactors somehow or other.

Divide your donor list according to the amount people give, decide how to handle each group and keep a profile of each significant benefactor. You should know better than the donors themselves what they have done for the center, how much they have ever given, when their last donation was, how much it was, what it was for, and the status of the project they donated towards. Know their personal details as well.

Corporate sponsors: Center students who own businesses may want to become corporate sponsors. Some businesses will match charitable donations made by any of their employees. Find donors willing to issue matching grant challenges, where they offer a donation if you reach some particular goal.

Plan to spend a significant proportion of your time seeking out new contacts. Talk to other local Dharma centers. Find out the names of Dharma benefactors and gradually try to meet them. Network.

Form a Friends of Your Center Club for those satisfied individuals who have benefited from the center’s courses or retreats. Collect information about them before they leave; ask if they’d like to become a Friend, which would entail a yearly pledge, an offer to raise money for you, or whatever else you can come up with. Everybody has something they can do; make a plan, put it into action and follow through.

Planned giving: Investigate options for planned giving, such as wills, estate plans, bequests, legacies and life insurance policies with the center as beneficiary. Such gifts are likely to come from committed members.

Fundraising events: Organize events of varying sizes. Major events involving celebrities and large halls can make money and raise the center’s visibility as well. Launch a capital campaign with a party for your supporters. Have volunteers organize small events like raffles or sales of donated goods. These are worth doing for the camaraderie as well as the money they bring in. Host dinners for small groups of benefactors, for example, or establish some kind of club for those who donate more than a certain amount.

Goods or services: Reach out to people who can’t contribute time or money, but might offer other goods and services. Lama Yeshe used to say that people want to help, but since they don’t have psychic powers, they need to be told how they can.

Wish of the month club: Lama Yeshe would exhort us to post wish lists in the center’s entrance hall. Establish a Wish of the Month Club, featuring different items each month. Changing your appeals attracts people of varying interests. Once you’ve caught their attention, remember who they are. Set up a table near the wish list with center brochures, copies of Mandala, educational literature for newcomers and current fundraising materials. Make the area peaceful and spacious so that whoever comes in immediately feels a good vibration.

The FPMT as an organization could establish a fundraising advisory board, fundraisers’ association and fundraising headquarters. The board would comprise center fundraisers and professional volunteers, and be available for consultation on and help with centers’ fundraising plans. The association could organize workshops and an annual meeting of FPMT fundraisers, perhaps at CPMT meetings.

The headquarters could keep records of center appeals and materials, with their successes and failures: an historical and practical archive. This information, as well as Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice on the benefits of building statues and stupas, for example, could be made available on computer discs to center fundraisers.

We could also publish a regular fundraising section in Mandala, get customized FPMT fundraising software, make an instructional fundraising video for use in FPMT centers, and ask Rinpoche to give further teachings on all aspects of giving.

Fundraising adviser: We could ask Central Office to provide a fundraising adviser to come to centers and help them with campaigns. A percentage of the identifiable results could be returned to Central Office. Success in this endeavor would ensure that the center, our administration and the entire organization prosper.

Dedicate the merits: Dharma donations given with Mahayana motivation are precious. They belong to all sentient beings. We are responsible for ensuring that they are spent exactly as the donors intended, and not wasted. Dedicate the benefactors’ merits and your own in the widest way possible, meditating on the emptiness of it all.