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For Jay Mendell's book on overcoming stigma in fund raising, please surf to http://black-sheep-library.com
That's Black Sheep Fundraising: Obtaining Dollars Despite
Stigma and Prejudice toward Abortion, AIDS, Alcoholism, Birth Control, Child
Abuse, Domestic Violence, Drug Abuse, Eating Disorders, Gambling, Homelessness,
Homosexuality, Mental Disorders, Partner Violence,
Sex Education, Teenage Pregnancy, the Unemployed, the Ex-Offenders, the
Illegal Immigrants, the Juvenile Offenders, the Elderly, and Other Outcast
Causes .
Software, hardware, books, and
everything legally free for a nonprofit organization.
Jay Mendell's Frequently
Asked Questions for
Free and Fine for Nonprofits
Software, hardware, books, and
everything legally free for a nonprofit organization are the subject of our Yahoo! group
called grants-central-station. This FAQ page summarizes the best of the best. Subscribe
to our group, please, by
posting to
grants-central-station-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. And please bookmark this
page,
http://GollyGrantsOnline.com/free-and-fine-FAQ.htm
Jay S. Mendell is a professor of nonprofit management, specializing in
fundraising and grantwriting. You can reach him at "MendellJay@gmail.com."
As Jay uses an aggressive spam filter, you MUST please include "FAQ" in your e-mail's subject line, and,
please, UNDER NO
CIRCUMSTANCES should you include the word "free" in the
subject line.
Copyright © 2005 Jay S. Mendell. All rights reserved.
Revised:
07/23/06
What has happened to
the Yahoo! group called grants-central-station?
Who provides the information found here?
Is
there going to be advertising on this FAQ page
? Is there going to be advertising? Is there going to be advertising in the
associated Yahoo! group?
What
if I am looking for a free grantwriter, fundraiser, or other nonprofit consultant?
What
if I want to advertise my own availability as
a grantwriter, fundraiser, or other nonprofit consultant?
Where
can I find free books and tutorials about grantwriting?
Where
can I find free books and tutorials about fundraising?
Where
can I find free material on the art and science of persuasion in grantwriting and consulting?
Where
can I find free material on true storytelling as applied to fundraising?
Where
can I find free donor/prospect/member software?
Where
can I find a free replacement for Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, and Powerpoint?
Where
can I find a free replacement for Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, and Powerpoint?
Where
can I find a free replacement for Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint?
Where
can I find a free vector graphic program?
Where can I find a free bit-map graphics program?
Where
can I find a free replacement for Adobe InDesign,
Adobe PageMaker, and QuarkXpress?
Where
can I find a free program to produce Adobe Acrobat-type PDF files? (explained at
http://www.answers.com/topic/portable-document-format)?
I
have heard that every program is free if you use Linux.
Where
can I find instruction books?
Where
can I get a free used computer?
Where
can I find someone to help me fill out the forms to obtain 501(c)(4) tax status as a nonprofit?
Where
can I find someone to come out free
to network our computers?
Where
can I go to search for foundations who
might fund a grant to my new nonprofit?
Where can I go to search for prospective donors of sizable gifts for my
nonprofit?
Is
it true that I can refill my expensive inkjet cartridges absolutely free?
Is
it true that I can refill my expensive inkjet cartridges absolutely free?
Why
should I pay for an Internet connection
when there are so many unsecured wireless "hotspots"?
Where
can I find free accounting software?
I
need free virus scan and firewall software.
Where
can I find free books or encyclopedic Web pages on nonprofit management?
Free
clipart? Free PowerPoint backgrounds and templates? Where are they?
How
may I support this page
on
what is free for nonprofits?
.
So far as Yahoo! is concerned, "grants-central-station"
continues to exist. But among its members, it is going to
be called "Free
and Fine: Resources for Nonprofits."
Here's something new: group members will now have permission to post their
comments.
-
grants-central-station is where we will ask
questions about free resources for nonprofits and where members will post
their answers. The best of the best will be summarized in this FAQ page. Ask
your friends to subscribe, please, by posting to
grants-central-station-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
If you
want
to unsubscribe to the Yahoo! group which has abruptly replaced the one that
you
subscribed to,
you can give it a few weeks
to see if you start to like it. Or you can post to
grants-central-station-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
to unsubscribe. Bye-bye.
Who
provides the information found here?
- I, Jay Mendell, a professor of
nonprofit management will initially provide information. But members posting to
the associated Yahoo! group called grants-central-station will provide
information which I will summarize here, causing the page to evolve and become
more valuable. Ask
your friends to subscribe, please, by posting to
grants-central-station-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
-
Is there going to be
advertising on this FAQ page ?
Is there going to be
advertising in the associated Yahoo! group?
-
There is always advertising in
Yahoo! groups like grants-central-station, and Jay can do nothing to control
the content.
-
-
So far as this FAQ page is
concerned, I plan to advertise my forthcoming book, Black Sheep Fundraising: Overcoming Stigma
But first I have to finish writing it.
-
What if I am looking for a free
grantwriter, fundraiser, or other nonprofit consultant?
-
-
Try the discussion form on NPOs in
Craig's List (http://www.craigslist.org/) Do be aware that most (though
certainly not all) free grant writers whom I have met are newbies looking to
break into the field by writing their first grant proposal.
-
- 2005-12-10
--
Patricia Bell <pabell59@adelphia.net>
suggests:
- You might also try www.thegrantwritingcoach.com
. . . . I know from experience that he tries to answer questions that
are e-mailed to him. Hope this helps.
-
What if I want to advertise my own
availability
as a grantwriter, fundraiser, or other nonprofit consultant?
-
Try a listing in Craig's List (http://www.craigslist.org/).
-
Where can I find free books and
tutorials about grantwriting?
-
- Online course in grantwriting from the Foundation
Center (http://fdncenter.org/learn/shortcourse/prop1.html).
The Web address of this booklet changes now and then, so check
http://fdncenter.org/.
Members of the Yahoo!
group posting to
grants-central-station
will no doubt offer additional suggestions. Subscribe,
please, by posting to
grants-central-station-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Where can I find free books and
tutorials about fundraising?
-
Face to Face
(Ken Wyman)
(http://www.nald.ca/fulltext/heritage/ComPartnE/pdfdocs/Fac2fac2.PDF).
-
If
you read only one book on major gifts fundraising, make this the one.
-
Guide to Special Events Fundraising. (Ken Wyman)
(http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/pc-cp/pubs/e/Specev1.htm)
-
Fundraising Ideas That Work for Grassroots Groups
(Ken Wyman) (http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/progs/pc-cp/pubs/e/pdfdocs/Fr4grass.pdf)
-
Members of the Yahoo!
group posting to
grants-central-station
will no doubt offer additional suggestions. Subscribe,
please, by posting to
grants-central-station-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Where can I find free material
on the art and science of persuasion in grantwriting and consulting?
-
-
Go to
http://changingminds.org.
-
-
Where can I find free material
on true storytelling as applied to fundraising?
-
Go
to the Web page for Black Sheep Fundraising (http://black-sheep-library.com).
Where can I find free donor/prospect/member
software?
-
-
Explore
http://www.ebase.org/. It's free
and runs under Windows. But it looks complicated, I've never met anyone who has
used it, and if you need tech support,
you'll have to join the user's group.
Where can I find a free replacement for Microsoft
Word, Excel, Access, and
-
- OpenOffice
2.0
(http://OpenOffice.org)
offers a free suite of word processor (almost MS Word), spreadsheet (almost MS
Excel), MS database (almost Access) and other almost-MS programs. For
semi-technical details, visit
http://www.answers.com/openoffice.
If you are a non-expert user of Word, Excel, etc. (if you have not
learned the advanced features), you should have no difficulty adapting to
OpenOffice. But expert users may have some difficulty finding the advanced
features they want hidden among the OpenOffice's drop-down menus. There is a
free 430-page instruction manual, by the way.
Members of the Yahoo!
group posting to
grants-central-station
will no doubt offer additional suggestions. Subscribe,
please, by posting to
grants-central-station-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Where can I find a free vector
graphic program?
Serif (http://www.serif.com/)
makes available desktop publishing, vector graphic, bitmap graphic, and Web
site design programs (four separate programs) at http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/.
Members of the Yahoo!
group posting to
grants-central-station
will no doubt offer additional suggestions. Subscribe,
please, by posting to
grants-central-station-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Where can I find a free replacement for Adobe
InDesign, Adobe PageMaker, and
QuarkXpress?
Where can I find free donor/prospect/member
software?
-
-
Explore
http://www.ebase.org/. It's free
and runs under Windows. But it looks complicated, I've never met anyone who has
used it, and if you need tech support,
you'll have to join the user's group.
Where can I find a free replacement for Microsoft
Word, Excel, Access, and
PowerPoint?
-
- OpenOffice
2.0
(http://OpenOffice.org)
offers a free suite of word processor (almost MS Word), spreadsheet (almost MS
Excel), MS database (almost Access) and other almost-MS programs. For
semi-technical details, visit
http://www.answers.com/openoffice.
If you are a non-expert user of Word, Excel, etc. (if you have not
learned the advanced features), you should have no difficulty adapting to
OpenOffice. But expert users may have some difficulty finding the advanced
features they want hidden among the OpenOffice's drop-down menus. There is a
free 430-page instruction manual, by the way.
Members of the Yahoo!
group posting to
grants-central-station
will no doubt offer additional suggestions. Subscribe,
please, by posting to
grants-central-station-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Where can I find a free vector
graphic program?
-
-
For simple vector graphic work
(defined at
http://www.answers.com/vector%20graphics), try the
program in Open Office. For more complicated work, try
InkScape (http://www.inkscape.org/)..
-
Members of the Yahoo!
group posting to
grants-central-station
will no doubt offer additional suggestions. Subscribe,
please, by posting to
grants-central-station-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Where can I find a free bit-map
graphics program?
-
Bit-map graphic programs (defined at
http://www.answers.com/topic/raster-graphics?method=8) are usually
bundled with scanners and digital camera, etc., If you
buy a scanner or camera, see if it comes bundled with Adobe Photoshop Elements
(for the near-professional) or MGI Photosuite (for the near-amateur).
-
Members of the Yahoo!
group posting to
grants-central-station
will no doubt offer additional suggestions. Subscribe,
please, by posting to
grants-central-station-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Where can I find a free replacement for Adobe
InDesign, Adobe PageMaker, and
QuarkXpress?
-
The above named are breathtakingly expensive programs
used by professionals for laying out
book and magazine pages in which color and high-resolution photographs are
featured.
- If you do not intend to use color or photographs,
see what Morris Rosenthal (http://fonerbooks.com/print.htm) has to say about using MS Word (this applies to Open
Office, too) to lay out a book.
Added
2005/12/24: Also see
"So
You Want to Write a Book with MS Word"
(http://daiya.mvps.org/bookwordnoframes.htm).
If you do intend to depend heavily on color and
photographs, you may be able to buy a used Adobe or Quark program on
http://Ebay.com.
I'm no expert on complicated
page layout, but I have experimented with the RagTime 6 Beta Version (http://www.ragtime-online.com/Content/ragtime_beta/ragtime_beta.html)
(which is free for both Mac and Windows) and it looks extensive and full
featured. Another good page layout program is Serif's PagePlus (http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/PagePlus/default.asp).
Further, there is a very professional free page layout program called Scribus
that currently runs under Linux/GNU and Apple OS. A Windows version is in the works,
so check
http://scribus.net to see if it has been
rolled out.
Members of the Yahoo!
group posting to
grants-central-station
will no doubt offer additional suggestions. Subscribe,
please, by posting to
grants-central-station-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Where can I find a free program to
produce Adobe
Acrobat-type PDF files? (
-
-
Many new Windows application
software packages, such as Microsoft Office 2003 (expensive) and Open Office
(free), have PDF generation built in. If you need to publish to PDF when using
an application that does not support PDF generation, your best bet may be the
combination of Ghostscript and Gview (start at http://www.answers.com/ghostscript)
which has a fairly large number of users who might offer some advice.
-
- Members of the Yahoo!
group posting to
grants-central-station
will no doubt offer additional suggestions. Subscribe,
please, by posting to
grants-central-station-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
I have heard that every program
is free if you use Linux.
-
-
Many professional-level programs are
free under the Linux/GNU protocol (http://www.answers.com/GNU).
I have personally used or played with Open Office, Scribus, Firefox, and
InkScape in their Linux/GNU versions. If you want to play with
Linux/Gnu without installing Linux on your computer, please read a description
of Knoppix (http://www.answers.com/Knoppix).
-
Members of the Yahoo!
group posting to
grants-central-station
will no doubt offer additional suggestions. Subscribe,
please, by posting to
grants-central-station-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Where can I find instruction
books
for software package that I have received from a generous donor after she used
it for 7 years?
-
If your generous donor really did use the package for 7 years, it is so far out of date
that even the public
library has disposed of its instruction books and manuals. Maybe you can buy an
out-of-print instruction book on
http://Ebay.com.
Or ask
your library's interlibrary loan department to find an appropriately old book.
-
-
Frankly, a seven year old
program is not worth much except as a tax deduction for your generous
donor. An exception to my snide comment would be if you could cheaply upgrade to the latest
version.
Members of the Yahoo!
group posting to
grants-central-station
will no doubt offer additional suggestions. Subscribe,
please, by posting to
grants-central-station-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Where can I get a free used
computer
for my nonprofit?
- Don't even consider accepting a
"used" computer. What you want is a free "refurbished"
computer, one that has been put in working order by a capable technician.
Further, plan to find the computer locally, since you may have to pick it up
from the organization that collects used computers and puts them into
working order. For instance, to locate free refurbished computers in
Florida, enter free "refurbished computers" florida in
Google.
-
- Also
explore options on
http://www.techsoup.org/
-
Members of the Yahoo!
group posting to
grants-central-station
will no doubt offer additional suggestions. Subscribe,
please, by posting to
grants-central-station-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
-
Where can I find someone to
help me
fill out the forms to obtain 501(c)(4) tax status as a nonprofit?
-
I don't know. I have heard that
various lawyers and accountants have organized for that purpose. But I have
never found such a group. Members of the Yahoo!
group posting to
grants-central-station
will no doubt offer additional suggestions. Subscribe,
please, by posting to
grants-central-station-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Where can I find someone to
come out free
to network our computers?
-
Try the local telephone company's
volunteers, called the Pioneers. (http://www.telecompioneers.org/projects/default.asp).
I've heard they sometimes roll out for nonprofits.
-
-
Where can I go to search for
foundations
who might fund a grant to my new nonprofit?
-
The Foundation Center has a very
comprehensive and costly online database of foundations, which is available
free to the walk-in public at certain public spirited institutions .
-
-
In any city, the best bets for
finding free access to the database are the reference desk of the main
library, the community foundation (one of these per community and probably
listed in the phone book under "Community Foundation of . . ." and the local
United Way headquarters. Oddly, in my area, there is an additional walk-in
centers for this database in the offices a Junior League affiliate, which goes
to show that you never know.
-
-
Also see my Web page
http://GollyGrantsOnline for
governmental searches.
- Members of the Yahoo!
group posting to
grants-central-station
will no doubt offer additional suggestions. Subscribe,
please, by posting to
grants-central-station-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
-
-
Where can I go to search for prospective donors
of sizable
gifts for my nonprofit?
-
- You need to do your own prospect research, since there
is no directory of generous millionaires.
-
- First read the free book called Face to Face
(http://www.nald.ca/fulltext/heritage/ComPartnE/pdfdocs/Fac2fac2.PDF),
which has some provocative ideas about extracting money for your board of
directors and their friends.
-
- Then learn about prospect research by visiting the following
sites.
-
- A prospect researcher's day. (http://www.charitychannel.com/article_61.shtml)
-
Tutorial on prospect research (http://www.lambresearch.com/)
-
Is it true that I can refill my expensive
inkjet cartridges absolutely free?
-
-
- Not quite free, but inexpensively. The most
detailed instructions I have seen are available from ACSI Bulk Inks (http://www.oddparts.com/ink/help.htm)
-
- Members of the Yahoo!
group posting to
grants-central-station
will no doubt offer additional suggestions. Subscribe,
please, by posting to
grants-central-station-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
-
-
Why should I pay for an Internet
connection when there are so many unsecured
wireless "hotspots"?
-
Some people leave their wireless
access points totally without password protection because they do not know
how to secure their wireless access, not because they feel generous toward
their neighbors. I hope you do not plan to steal some of the bandwidth they
are paying for. Whether that is illegal or merely unethical I cannot advise
you.
- Some businesses, such as coffee shops choose
to make their "hot spots" available. To find a list of free
"hot spots" in your neighborhood, go into Google and enter
"free hotspots." Follow the Google links to such sites as
youcanworkfromanywhere.com (http://www.youcanworkfromanywhere.com/wi-fi/)
Members of the Yahoo!
group posting to
grants-central-station
will no doubt offer additional suggestions. Subscribe,
please, by posting to
grants-central-station-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Where
can I find free accounting software?
Try Answers.com on
"accounting software" (http://www.answers.com/accounting%20software)
and scroll down to "free software."
Members of the Yahoo!
group posting to
grants-central-station
will no doubt offer additional suggestions. Subscribe,
please, by posting to
grants-central-station-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Where
can I find free books or encyclopedic Web pages on nonprofit management?
-
Try http://www.managementhelp.org/np_progs/org_dev.htm,
http://fdncenter.org/learn/bookshelf/index.html,
and http://www.nonprofits.org/.
- I
need free virus scan and firewall software.
-
Members of the Yahoo!
group posting to
grants-central-station
will no doubt offer additional suggestions. Subscribe,
please, by posting to
grants-central-station-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
-
- Free
clipart? Free PowerPoint backgrounds and templates? Where are they?
- For clipart, go to
Microsoft.com (http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/default.aspx?lc=en-us).
For PowerPoint backgrounds and templates, go to BrainyBetty (http://brainybetty.com/).
-
How may I support this page
on what is free
for nonprofits?
-
-
- First, please insert a link to this page into your own Web page.
(Incoming links are essential if we want Google to index
this page, so please link, link, link.)
-
- Second, please make sure to tell your
nonprofit friends about this page and that suggest they link to it.
-
- Third, please make sure that you and your friends
join the associated Yahoo! group by posting to
grants-central-station-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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