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2008 AAVSO Fundraising Strategy Report: Engaging Community and Expanding Support

This report outlines the comprehensive fundraising strategies implemented by AAVSO in Fall 2008. Key initiatives included outreach to current and past donors, establishing recognition programs like the Argelander Society, and enhancing donor cultivation through personalized communication. Major fundraising efforts integrated educational outreach via the Mentor Program and the Writers Bureau, targeting wider audiences. The report details collaboration with foundations for grants, improvement of online giving platforms, and aims to create a culture of fundraising awareness. Total contributions reached $90,945.34 with a focus on sustaining memberships.

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2008 AAVSO Fundraising Strategy Report: Engaging Community and Expanding Support

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  1. AAVSO Fundraising Report Mike Simonsen Fall 2008

  2. The Plan • Reach out and touch our friends first • Council, past council members • Current donors • Past donors • General membership • New members • Data users • Friends and family - First pass 2008 done • Foundations - Baby steps • Corporate sponsors - In development

  3. Set up recognition programs • Annual benefactors list • Establish club levels • Recognize lifelong benefactors • Set up appropriate mechanisms for sending timely thank you letters to donors

  4. Argelander Society • Wall of fame in the HQ lobby now has this portrait and plaque • This will go a long way to keeping one of our most important donors, Tom Williams, happy.

  5. Update website Simplify online giving form Phone survey Written donor survey Publicize the case for support- through newsletter articles, website Create benefactor newsletter ‘Inner Sanctum’ 3 issues published in 2008 Create a culture of fundraising awareness Make the case for support

  6. Donor Cultivation • Impressed on new members the need for support • Impressed on current members the need for support • Convinced several members to increase or continue support in spite of plans not to • Modest increase in the number of sustaining memberships to 132 from 127 • Secured a bequest to AAVSO for a minimum of $20,000.00 through the mentor program

  7. A Key to Future Fundraising Success Education and Outreach • Mentor Program- 40 students, 30 mentors, dramatically increased activity, very successful • Writers Bureau- Now reaching potentially 9-10K readers each month, including the BAAVSS! • Speakers Bureau- 18 speakers, few talks given, new PPT for epsilon Aurigae to tie into IYA2009 • VSA (formerly known as HOA)- online content ready, grants pending for porting software to Java

  8. IYA 2009 • NSF grant submitted by Aaron for eps Aur $400,000.00 • A plan, B plan, C plan based on funding • I’ve identified several other foundations who may fund parts of the plan • Ten star training program charts done • Observing manual in progress

  9. Grants Submitted • Ford Motor Foundation • $35,000.00 for administration of the Writers Bureau • American Honda • $35,000.00 for Vstar software conversion • Rockwell Automation • $35,000.00 for Vstar software conversion

  10. Potential programs that need to be developed to apply for grants • Olin Eggen card archive • Finding archival visual observations at major observatories • Digitizing the old journal PEP observations of variable stars • Daytime telescope pilot system. Small telescope, neutral density filter, CCD camera to look at bright stars • Chandra, XMM, Swift, etc. star tracker data • Palomar-Quest survey • Clearing house for amateur exoplanet observations • Clearing house for amateur spectroscopy observations • Research on availability of array detectors for NIR observations; extension of our SSP-4 activity.

  11. Corporate Sponsorship Program

  12. Progress Evaluation • Initial plan realized (see report from April 2008) • To Do List done except… • 2 Direct Mail Campaigns • Not cost effective without expanding the mailing list considerably • Writers Bureau was not in the plan • IYA was not defined in the plan

  13. The Numbers • Predicted $88,000.00 with Margaret Doleman’s next 24K gift • Unofficial goal was $100,000.00 first year • Total contributions- includes gifts, grants, Amazon dollars and ‘sustaining’ memberships • $90,945.34 • Without Margaret Doleman’s second 24K gift.

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