Fundraising
Ideally, a green living program (GLP) would sit within a broader green campus program, so that the GLP coordinator has a manager who can provide general program oversight, management and mentoring. It is likely that this green campus manager will be the one to have done the front work in establishing program sponsors and defining the overall organizational framework and budget for the program. The Harvard Green Campus Initiative (HGCI) established a funding partnership among three different departments prior to starting its GLP and has since added one more funding partner.
We have found for our GLP to work, the program must fund one hour of coordinator time for every four hours of student time. The HGCI pays 19 students, who together work a total of 90 hours per week. For this number of student hours, the HGCI pays for 25 hours per week of coordinator time. The total program budget is about $90,000, of which 90 percent is for student and coordinator salaries.
Seeking Funds for Salaries
The highest portion of your budget is devoted to the GLP coordinator’s salary. Most offices and individuals prefer to contribute materials to students or an organization as opposed to money for someone’s salary. You will want to ensure that your accounts are stable enough to allow the program to continue for years and years to come, which will likely mean that one of the following two scenarios is true:
- Your steering group funders have committed to providing enough money to cover your coordinator’s salary.
- You are seeking enough funds from on- and off-campus sources to make sure the budget is covered.
Another suggestion is to go to the president or dean's office directly. They may be in the best position to offer sufficient long-term funding to pay for a GLP coordinator.
Additional information on fundraising for a GLP is provided in the following sections: