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Fergus Falls Area Habitat for Humanity
Fund Development Plan
Purpose: The purpose of this plan is to look at our historical sources of funding and where we might focus our attention
in the coming years. The attempt will also be determine the people most responsible for carrying out the plan.
Historical Sources of Funds:
With over 50,000 square miles of territory and only 50,000 people it is virtually impossible to visit every congregation,
social group, and nonprofit every year. Thus our giving focus has always tended towards those communities where we are actively
building. A key feature of our past giving has been the dominance of giving from Fergus Falls.
Cash Revenue
Cash sources, not including debt for 2008 (fiscal year ends June 30) were:
 As can be seen grants, whether they are foundation grants (such as Wells Fargo Housing Foundation, Home Depot, Lanoga Pro-Build)
and Thrivent funding were a huge part of our financial picture in the past year. This heavy dependence on grants is far more
typical of a young affiliate than one that has been building houses since 1991. What this means is that far more development
of individual and business donors should be underway.
Individual donations
The average individual donation to this affiliate is $40. We have very few opportunities for people to give to the affiliate
at public events. Our current mailing list of individual donors numbers 1,870 people. Of these, 800 are donors that have
been on our active list for more than five years. Our mailing list used to include over 3,500 people, but we have pared it
down due to a low return rate from unsolicited addresses. Our current mailing list is limited to people that have volunteered,
donated, expressed interest in person or by mail to be on the list, attended our events, or are relatives and friends of partner
families. Our response rate to direct mail is phenomenal.
For example, our average donation amount that can be tracked to return envelopes (which we secretly code) is $2,100 per
mailing. This is a very high amount for an 1,800 piece mailing. Thus we know that the people getting the mailing are the
right people and very few of them are considering our mailings junk mail.
Gathering additional names to the direct mail list should be a part of every Affiliate activity. Harvesting names from
sign-up sheets, return envelopes, volunteer logs, public events guest books, and from e-mail messages is an important part
of collecting a larger data base.
Goals for Individual Giving:
1. 100% Annual Giving by Board of Directors
2. 100% Annual Board Member solicitation of two additional donors. Board members are asked to find at least two
donors per year that are willing to be long-term supporters of the affiliate.
3. 20% greater Individual Donations per year. Our Individual Donor history has been flat:
 We need to concentrate on building more personal relationships. Here is how it is to be done:
Action Responsibilities
Public Event Sign-Ups Staff and Volunteers
One-on-One Presentations All Board
Mailing List Updates Staff
Address Collection Board and Staff
Customized Giving Solicitation Letters Board and Volunteers
Church Donations
Church donations should form the backbone of our public support. Because of our participation in the past two years with
programs that mandated aggressive marketing for church donations our church donation history has shown improvement:
 This is because we have had the following match required grants: HFHI Church Relations Grant; Catholic Daughters Grant; Thrivent
Builds Homes Grant. When these grants are completed will church giving fall? We really can not allow it to at this point.
The good news is that many new churches have started annual giving with the affiliate.
Goals for Church Donations:
1. 20% annual growth in church donations
2. 10 new church donors per year (there are 78 faith communities in Fergus Falls alone, with 35 recognized churches,
51 ministries and 8 religious societies there is some overlap).
3. 10 new churches visits per year by speakers from the affiliate
Action Responsibility
100% Board Member Church Participation BOD
10 New Church Donors BOD, and Church Relations Committee
10 New Church Visits BOD, Staff, and Church Relations
If we make the visits and solicit volunteers and donors directly, as well as capturing names for the donor mailing list,
we will see our church donations rise. Time and time again a first visit to a church has resulted in greater participation.
Business / corporate donations
First, it is relevant to remember that Fergus Falls does not have any corporate headquarters of Fortune 1000 companies
(like Fargo/Moorhead) or major financial institutions. Plus, our retail and service hub is not Fergus Falls for much of
our area. People in the Wahpeton/Breckenridge area do far more business with the Fargo/Moorhead area than with Fergus Falls.
Likewise, more retail and service trade is conducted by people in Grant County with the Alexandria area. Pelican Rapids is
also more oriented to the Detroit Lakes area. Thus we do not have a central corporate, retail or service hub for business
donation solicitation.
Branch operations of corporations that have 5% or even 1% giving programs are also limited. These are facts on the ground
that must be a part of our strategy in approaching small businesses. Even so, we made a concerted effort to increase our
business donations. We dedicated an issue of the newsletter to business donations, and we are going to be making more effort
to acknowledge publicly our business donors. Business champions are going to be a part of our annual dinner celebration.
Action Responsibility
End-of-year Tax Timed Mailing Staff
Business Champion Identification BOD, Staff
Inventory Donation Program BOD, Re-Store Volunteers, Staff
Foundation grants
This affiliate has made extensive use of grant funding since its inception. Grant funding continues to be a large part
of the financial picture, a rarity for older affiliates. Even as our overall cash sources have grown foundation grants have
outpaced that growth. Instead of the Affiliate growing less and less dependent on foundations over time, as is usually the
case, it has been successful in securing more foundation support. We are blessed with several local foundations that support
our work (the Dell Family Foundation, the Lundeen family foundation, community funds within the Initiative Fund umbrella,
the Otto and Elsie Ewert Foundation, the Archie Miller Foundation), plus national foundation support usch as Lanoga Pro-Build,
Home Depot Foundation, the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation. Continued growth of foundation giving is a part of our future,
but we need to learn to make it a less vital part of our overall cash flow.
 Luckily, the foundation grant writing is not only conducted by the staff as it is at many small non-profits. We have Board
Members that have actively sought foundation funding on our behalf. This is something that must be encouraged. Very few
new grants are provided based on "over the transom" applications. Applications that are vetted by Board members from within
the organization are more likely to be funded. Thus the BOD must remain alert to grant opportunities within their social
and work environment.
Action Responsibilities
New Local Foundation Support BOD, Staff
New National Foundation Support BOD, Staff
Creation of a local Habitat Foundation BOD, Staff
A local Habitat Foundation would be an endowment for planned giving. This would be apart from the Fund For Humanity and our
annual operations oriented giving. Setting up a separate non-profit entity for this effort might be the best strategy. The
idea would be to create a fund that is not subject to the day to day needs of cash flow. We have been participating in the
Leave a Legacy campaign initiated by West Central Initiative. There are donors that would like to leave a lasting gift to
our affiliate.
Clubs / civic organizations
While nearly every social club in the Fergus Falls area participates in some way with the Affiliate, even combined they do
not represent a significant source of cash at this time. When Affiliates have been successful with greater participation
by social clubs it has largely been at the direction of the national headquarters of the organization. Examples include the
Lion's Club International program for home construction for the Handicapped. Making in person presentations through the
invitation of Habitat disposed members has been our primary outreach. Volunteers, board members and staff must remain vigilant
about offering our speakers to the organization.
Goals:
1. Raising Club / Civic Organization to 10% of all donations
2. Finding a long-term partnering organization to build habitat into its program
Actions Responsibilities
Scheduling Presentations BOD, Volunteers and Staff
Finding a Long-term Partner BOD
Government
Land donations, building permits and fees, sewer and water access charges, sentence to serve workers, and prison ministries,
are all available to the affiliate and have been extensively used. The BOD has elected at several times in the past not to
solicit cash donations from units of government.
Homeowner mortgage payments
Homeowner payments for an affiliate with over $1 million in mortgages are a large part of the annual cash flow. Variations
in annual amounts are due to these factors (in order of impact):
1. Refinancing, sale, or accelerated payoff of loans these can easily be over $50,000 per year
2. Foreclosure, default, loan restructuring
3. Individual home payment variations due to unemployment, illness, or other debt
Our servicing agreement with Security State Bank continues to a be a strong asset for the Affiliate. More loans are now being
serviced by the Affiliate directly. These are loans that have fell more than 90 days past due in the past. Our ability to
track payments, pay escrows, and maintain current status must grow to meet this demand. It is entirely likely that new staff
will be needed in the future (either part-time on a contract basis) to meet this need.
Goals
1. Greater in-house tracking capability
2. More timely pro-active intervention
Actions Responsibilities
New part-time or contract staff in family support /
portfolio management BOD, Staff
Pro-Active intervention Staff, Family Support
Committee
Fundraising events
Could events grow to be a larger part of our cash flow? Events require timing, staff, volunteers, and a compelling reason
for the public to attend. When we have conducted events the board has participated, and the returns have been well worth the
effort. But clearly more events are necessary.
Actions Responsibilities
Harvest Dinner BOD
Covenant Community Dinner BOD
New Annual Event BOD
We should be looking to have one new public event per month every year. We should have at least one seasonal event in our
area. We have no regularly scheduled events in the Summer when our donor base is most active. We do not have any regularly
scheduled events in eastern Otter Tail or Grant County. These weaknesses must be addressed by the BOD and the Fund Development
Committee.
Re-Store Sales
Our current arrangement is to ship items to the Lake Agassiz Re-Store. We receive 60% on gross sales as our consignment income.
That is considerably more than we would net on an actual store in our area. Plus, we do not have nearly the demand of the
Fargo-Moorhead area for building materials. The Building Materials sales market in Fargo-Moorhead is over ten times larger
than it is for Fergus Falls according to retail sales figures from the Minnesota Department of Revenue.
When we had a VISTA that was able to physically help Craig load and ship materials our sales were higher. Now the ED must
sandwich Re-Store pick-up and delivery into his schedule. If Re-Store is to reach our goals we must find staff. We were
discouraged from using the VISTA program for a Re-Store person in 2008-09. This might not be the case in the future. We
may also look at the possibility of using Experience Works staff to start the program.
Goals:
1. Re-Store sales of at least $55,000 in 2009
2. Re-Store shipments of one semi load per month in 2009
Actions Responsibilities
Secure Re-Store Staff ED, BOD
Broaden Re-Store Volunteer base Staff, BOD
We have a Re-Store Strategic Plan in the works. Our overall goal is to turn Re-Store into a program that has demolition, regular
collection, monthly shipping to Moorhead, and dedicated full-time staff by 2010. We are participating in a program with HFHI
for a Capacity Building Grant to hire a full-time Re-Store Manager. Quite literally, our opportunities for cash flow from
Re-Store represent our best return on investment for the future. The donations are out there, and sales will remain strong
as Moorhead moves ahead in it’s own plans. They are helped by having great staff in Moorhead, a strong location, and
a great volunteer base. We can continue to benefit from their strength.
Non-Cash Sources
While only cash can pay debt, salaries and overhead, non-cash sources make much of what we do possible. As the competition
for local individual donations will increase, we have a unique position in this area to capitalize on non-cash and material
donations.
Donated materials
Without donated materials we could not afford to build homes for an average cash cost of $55,000. That is far below the rural
Minnesota average of $80,000 per home. This is possible through donated land, and massive amounts of donated materials.
Up to $14,000 per house is currently provided by material donations.
The actual dollar figure for material donations is far less than there dollar impact. We value material donations far below
what we would have paid for the same material.
 Debt has been a part of our operations for several years. What debt allows us to do is to borrow against existing 30 year
mortgages for construction TODAY. We have been able to secure 30 year, interest-free, financing from Minnesota Habitat for
Humanity. Thus the term of the debt and the term of the security are tied. While we have been able to build approximately
14 houses using pledged mortgages in the past, we are less likely to do so in the future. Part of it is the declining availability
of interest-free funding from HFH-MN, and part of it is a new "pay as you go" strategy.
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