Have the vision and recognize the need. You and your organization must want to have a project and must want to work hard on it. This Kiwanis Club did a needs study with the different Social Service Provider Agencies in Victoria and it was felt that the most at risk and needy people were young single mothers, living without the support of the extended family. It is important to thoroughly discuss what you want to do and get everyone in your club on side.

How to start. We are assuming that your organization does not have the money to carry on this project and that fundraising will be ongoing as you make plans for your Kiwanis House. If funding is no problem, then you are half way there. More on fundraising later.

Because money was always a big problem, we made an agreement among ourselves that we would always buy at a discount. Everyone one we approached was told that they were expected to donate to a very important project. So far, everyone has.

Steps

Build a committee to oversee the project. Include in your committee people in the community with the expertise that your club is lacking. Your honorary chairperson should be someone with a high profile in your community.

• Find a suitable piece of property and buy it. (We are carrying a mortgage) Make sure the property can be rezoned and, if necessary, rezone it. Use every opportunity to bring this project in front of the public. The more publicity, the better.
  
  
• Get an architect to develop your plans.
  
  
• Develop and produce a brochure on your project. This is very important. Spend a lot of time on this and make sure it says exactly what you want it to convey. You will use this for everything. We produced 6,000 copies and use them all the time. Put a donation form on the back of your brochure.

At the same time, work with the various care provider groups in your city. We hired a facilitator to bring together the various groups and discuss all aspects of Kiwanis House. A report was then written, circulated, and used as a basis for the "Expressions of Interest" letter that was then sent to the groups. This Kiwanis Club will not be running Kiwanis House. We have neither expertise nor interest in running the facility. We will build it, maintain it, and take part in the board of directors. This is a very important step and a lot of time will be spent on it. It is important to get your partner as soon as possible as they will be of much assistance when building your facility.

Budget. Put together a complete budget. You will need this for your fundraising efforts and also for yourself.

Fundraising. The search for funds will take a lot of your time. As there was no money to start with, the Kiwanis Club of Victoria fundraised for 2 years before construction started. Generally in-kind donations are much easier to obtain than cash. Fundraising can be broken up into a number of subheadings.

• Direct Public Appeal. This method is the most time consuming and probably the least productive. Donations through this method are hard to get and the amounts are usually small. The advantage of this method is in the form of publicity in which a lot of people find out what you are doing.
  
  
• Foundations. Foundations are there to support projects by giving grants. Your job is to find out what Foundations there are available and in what areas they will fund. Most Foundations are very specific in which they will accept applications. The first thing to do is research the Foundations and make a list of all potential funders. Remember that you may be only applying for capital funds at the moment, but other Foundations may be applied to in the future when you are looking for programming funds.
  
  Find Foundations in your area by using the library. Word of mouth is important, as is the Internet. Most Foundations will not give money to support a paid fundraiser.
  
  
• Club Fundraisers. Club Fundraisers take time and imagination. The purpose and goals must be clear. To be blunt, nickel and dime fundraiser will do nothing to raise the substantial amounts of money that you will need. Our club does three major fundraisers in a year. We have found that working in partnership with another organization has been quite successful. Our fundraisers include an Evening of Music, held in partnership with the Victoria Conservatory of Music. The Kiwanis Ladies Pro-Am golf tournament, held in partnership with a local Golf Club has proven to be very successful. An Art Draw evening was also very successful. All the "evenings" included door prizes, silent auction, raffle, and live auction. The more items you can collect, the more money you get.
  
  If any organization is reading this and has some ideas on fundraisers, we would be happy to hear from you.
  
  
• Government. Contact your various representatives at all level of government to see if there are any funds you can apply for. Especially look at your local/municipal government, for they can do many things for you. Victoria City Council has not only forgiven our property taxes but have also given us a grant to cover the cost of city services in regards to sewage and water hook ups and sidewalk changes.
  
  
• In-Kind donations. This is a very important area. Look for donations for every stage of your project. This ranges from the backhoe that excavates for the foundations to the furniture that will be needed to furnish your house and everything in-between. Please check our sponsors page to see the type of companies that donate to us.

A Few Notes

• Invite the press (all of it) to your groundbreaking ceremony.
• Contact your community college for help. The trades class in one of our colleges’ uses their carpentry students to do the framing. The plumbing class will lie out the plumbing. This is a win-win situation.
• Keep your members and the press informed.
• Involve as many people as you can.