Fundraising Resources
Compellation of Fundraising Ideas
Many successful NIE fundraising ideas. Many can be used beyond NIE to increase revenue.
Bill Stuffer Sample
Bill Stuffers are sent out with invoices to request funding for your NIE program, remind subscribers to participate in your vacation donation, and help them understand the merits of your program. A NIE donation line on your invoice in conjunction with the Bill Stuffer will likely increase donation.
Block Sales Outline
Block Sales is a fundraising program used by many NIE programs. There are a number of variations, but the gist is that you or your advertising dept. request restaurants and retailers to donate $50 worth of food or merchandise. You then run a certificate in-paper offering the donated resource at a discounted rate of $30 (other dollar amounts could be used, i.e. $100 for $60, etc.).
Carrier Insert Letter (Detroit), Carrier Insert Letter (DC)
Sharon Martin states, "We raised over $44,000 for our nonprofit by topping 400,000 papers on Jan. 21 and again on Feb. 18." The DC insert raised about $10,000 from a smaller base. Our costs were approximately $12,000 for 800,000 flyers and $1,500 for carrier fees. A Carrier Drop Letter is just that, a letter delivered with the newspaper by your carrier. It works best to insert the letter in the plastic bag with the paper, so it drops out for the subscriber to see and respond to. The letter could also be inserted in the paper.
Sponsorship Letter: A sample sponsorship letter that can be tailored to your needs.
Sponsorship PowerPoint Presentation: A NIE PowerPoint presentation used by one newspaper.
Sponsorship/Simple Form: A very simple form to document a sponsor’s donation commitment.
Telemarketing Script 1 Script 2: Two samples of telemarketing scripts.
Vendor Letter: A sample letter that may be customized for sending to your company’s vendors (companies that your newspaper does business with, i.e. newsprint, ink, legal counsel, etc.) This can be a significant source of funding for your NIE program. Ask your accounting department if they can provide you a list of the major vendors. Also ask Department Heads to help introduce you to these vendors and provide support for asking for a donation.
Yard Sale Plan: How to implement a Yard Sale or Flea Market
Sucessful NIE Sponsorship & Grant
Proposals
Several samples of successful NIE sponsorship and grant proposals may be downloaded. They include requests for funding to for-profit, non-profit and government agencies. They are in MS Word DOC format. These files are very old, but may still be helpful if you have never written a grant.
- Bank One Sponsorship
- Bank One Follow-up
- Bank One Samples
- Detroit Newspapers / $252,000
Skillman Foundation Grant Proposal - Dirksen Congressional Center
- ECF Grant
- EDIT Program Proposal
- First Union Grant Proposal
- Learning Together Program Grant
- Occupations of the Land Proposal
- Stay Invent The Future Grant Proposal
- Title I NIE Grant Proposal
Grant/Donation Processing Program
and Forms
Grant Donation Processing Using Our 501(C)(3) Non-profit Status has been suspended effective 7/1/17.
We are no longer receiving donations on behalf of NIE programs.
Financial Information for NIE Institute
- NIE Institute Form 990 IRS Tax Return - Our yearly IRS non-profit tax return.
- NIE Institute IRS Tax Exemption Letter - Our original IRS letter designating us a 501(c)(3) non-profit.
- Form W-9 (signed) - Form often required by accounting departments to process payment to the NIE Institute.
NIE Department Resources and Forms
A variety of useful NIE department resources and forms may be downloaded in MS Word DOC or PDF format.
- NIE Vendors
- NIE Week Proclamation
- NIE Works Ad
- Order Form with Affidavit
- Request for Proposal
- Serialized Story Sources
- Sponsor Thank You Ad
- Teacher Survey
- Teacher Survey2
- Vacation Donation Ad
- Who Works at a Newspaper Flyer
- Why
Teachers Should Participate
in NIE Programs - Why Use the Newspaper in the Classroom Ad
- Workshop Outline
- Workshops for Credit Outline
- Workshop Workbook/NAA Foundation
- AAM NIE Rules Print -- Digital
- Affidavit of Delivery
- Application Form for Newspapers
- Books that are Newspaper-related
- Educational Buzz Words
- E-mail
Form with Affidavit Order Form
and a Survey - Guide
for Weekly & Community
Newspapers/NAA Foundation - History of NIE
- How NIE Benefits Papers
- Newspaper Invoice with NIE Donation Line
- NIE: Getting Started Guide/NAA Foundation
- NIE Job Description
- NIE Mission Statements
- NIE Support Ad
NIE & Literacy Research
Several research resources for NIE and reading/literacy development may be downloaded in MS Word DOC or PDF formats.
- Accessing Impact of NIE/Mary Washington Univ., Fredericksburg, VA
- Best Practices Toolkit/NAA Foundation
- Growing Lifelong Readers/NAA Foundation
- Measuring Success Research/NAA Foundation Research
- Measuring Success Summary
- Measuring Up Research/NAA Foundation Research
- NIE Research/Ed DeRoche
- NIE Research/PressTime Magazine
- Reading First Research/CIERA & NIFL, National Institute for Literacy
- Thoughtful Literacy Research