Fundraising for Small Groups Newsletter

Are School Bans on Food Fundraisers Appropriate? by Jennifer Lawton

One of the hot topics in schools for the past few years has been nutrition and the foods that are available at school. Parents want to know that their kids have nutritious foods available in the cafeteria.

Even when there are healthy foods there for lunch, will the students eat that or the junk from snack machines? That led to restrictions on soft drinks and snack machines in many schools.

Click to continue

Creating and Using Fundraising Flyers by Deane Brengle

It doesn't matter if you're selling candy bars as a fundraiser or holding a fundraising auction. Most nonprofit groups will find that using a flyer as a promotional tool for your fundraiser will significantly boost your bottom line. The use of fundraising flyers can play an important roll in reaching your fundraiser's goal.

A fundraising flyer will increase your community's awareness about your fundraiser and help pre-sell it. It's advertising pure and simple. And everyone knows, "If you don't advertise a terrible thing happens - Nothing!"

Click to continue

Foundations Don't Fund General Operating Costs - Or Do They? by Pamela Grow

Do you still believe that tired old legend about how difficult it is to find foundations that support general operating expenses?

It's one of the grant writing myths that even I bought into. Why not? The foundation that I worked for for a number of years generally dissuaded grant seekers from applying for general operating expenses, preferring to fund specific programs and capital. Foundation trends did, for a number of years, steer away from funding organization general operating expenses.

Click to continue

Successful Fundraisers - Money isn't Everything by Kristina Ewing

What makes for a great and successful fundraiser? Raising a lot of money, right?

Money is just the tip of the fundraising iceberg.

Raising money is obviously a goal when fundraising, it is the very definition of it. But you also need to look at the bigger picture. The majority of things that we fundraise for - whether it be a good cause, a charity, or a school - fundraise yearly or more often depending on their need or type of fundraisers being used. If you are planning to have more than a one time fundraiser, then you are essentially joining the fundraising business.

Click to continue

The Three Biggest Mistakes to Avoid When Starting a Planned Giving & Endowment Program by Lorri Greif

Naturally, we want to avoid all mistakes when planning something as important as a Planned Giving or an Endowment program, not just the three biggest. However, no one is perfect and it's understood that mistakes can and do happen. But, while not every mistake guarantees failure ... these three do.

Click to continue

Fundraising - Sponsorship vs Partnership by Kisha Mays

Everyone is so focused on fundraising with "Sponsorships" these days. In the past sponsorship has been generally about sponsoring special events and fundraisers. It was quite possible for an organization to ask corporate sponsors for money several times during a one year period, therefore lowering their chances of getting the funds they needed.

Click to continue

Prevent Fundraising Fatigue by the AFRDS

As a school principal or PTA/PTO president, you are probably familiar with the phrase "fundraising fatigue." You may have even felt it yourself. Everybody seems to be fundraising these days and as a result, some families are tuning out and no longer supporting all of these programs. As a fundraising decision maker you have an opportunity to turn back this trend of apathy and pump new energy into your school's fundraising efforts.

Click to continue

The Most Powerful Marketing Copy in the World – Testimonials by Nancy Schwartz

You've seen testimonials for every type of product and service imaginable. A testimonial is a brief quote from a member of your audience – donor, volunteer, client, member or community stakeholder – summarizing how your organization has benefited him or her.

Nothing you can say or write has as much impact as comments from your audience, to your audience. Yet, I continue to be surprised at how many nonprofits don't put testimonials to work.

Take a look at these examples, drawn from nonprofit websites and brochure:

Click to continue

Add Signature Files To Your 501c3 Emails For More Donations by Ian Robert Anderson

I'm sure you've seen them before. When a friend or business contact sends you an email, there's a line of text at the bottom that offers an address, slogan, phone number, or website address. Some even include your friend's business title or department. These tidbits of text are called "signatures" and they're controlled by signature files in your email program. You can easily set up a signature file which will give your official correspondences a professional feel (all while advertising your company or service!).

Think of "sig" files as free nonprofit advertising and your charity business cards rolled into one. Do you keep tabs on your nonprofits dealings through email? Do you stay in touch with donors and vendors, or notify people of charitable events and fundraising drives? If you do any regular emailing (even if it's just to your nonprofit contacts and family members), adding a sig line will give you instant advertising and identity branding. Every time someone receives an email from you, they'll know exactly who you are, where you're from, and what your 501c3's name is.

Click to continue

Product Fundraising in the Workplace vs. Office Etiquette by Deane Brengle

A recent phone call from a Los Angeles Times reporter for some back ground information (yeah, I was kind of amazed too) got me thinking on this subject. But given the time of year it's relevant to think about and go over some of the issues involved.

Product fundraising always takes a hit in the media at this time of year. I don't know why but I always seem to hear Michelle Singletary's yearly rant about school fundraising.

Click to continue

The Fundraising Letter PS: 25 Powerful Things To Say There by Alan Sharpe

Donors read postscripts. This is a sad but important reality in fundraising. Sad because the PS is stupid and belongs in another millennium. In this age of word processors, no one needs to add a PS anymore. But important because a donor reading a PS is a donor looking for information. And that’s your opportunity.

According to direct mail consultant Allyn Kramer, there are five “hot spots” in your direct mail packages where readers look first. Here they are, in order:

Click to continue

Keeping Your Constituents Attention by Deane Brengle

Sometimes my best ideas aren't even mine. I just discover them and tell you about them.

My wife and I are invited to a Halloween costume party. Being the frugal consumers we are we were shopping for the pieces and parts of our costumes at our local Goodwill retail store. You know the place - they take all their donated items, spruce them up a bit, and offer them for sale to fund their career training and employment programs. As usual we found some very good bargains.

The "discovered idea" part came at the check-out counter. The clerk slipped something in the bag just before she handed it to us.

Click to continue

The 5 Biggest Fundraising Mistakes by Jayson Krause

Trust me, there are dozens of little mistakes people make when they are fundraising - and each one of them takes away from the overall amount of money raised. Since we are in the business of raising as much money as possible for a cause or goal, then we need to make sure that we limit the mistakes (no matter how hard we try, they are going to happen) so we can maximize our fundraising.

Here are the 5 biggest mistakes I think fundraisers make:

Click to continue

Who Should Ask for the Money? by Tony Poderis

Solicitor to Prospect Matches

Not just anyone should ask just any donor for money. Ideally, prospective donors should be asked to give by someone likely to have a high degree of influence over them. The key here is to choose a solicitor whom the prospect respects. Qualities to look for are:

Click to continue

Your Nonprofit Website "About Us" Page - Why It's Important by Ian Robert Anderson

All nonprofits know - reputation and presence is everything! An "About Us" page on your charity website builds much needed presence and establishes your organizations identity, with a minimal amount of effort on your part. "About Us" pages show your potential donors who you are, why you exist, and how you plan to achieve your nonprofit mission, and they're a positive step toward building a trustworthy charity brand.

People like contributing to nonprofit organizations they know. This is the same whether they're donating locally or on a national level. They feel comfortable knowing ...

Click to continue

Four Keys to Better Nonprofit Fundraising Results by Kimberly Reynolds

Non-profit fundraising is all about multiple streams of income, so how do you make more money for your organization?

Simple. When you put together your annual plan, you need to include as many ways to raise money as possible.

So, you're probably thinking: "That's easy for you to say, but how exactly do I go about it?" Easy! You just have to ....

Click to continue

Choose a Theme for Your Next Fundraiser by Vicki Blaze

Put together a comprehensive fundraising event plan and entertain your guests by choosing a theme for your next fundraiser. Give your fundraiser direction and life all at the same time.

A theme is a unifying subject or idea. It will provide a basis to plan all of your event details under one umbrella ...

Click to continue

Almost Famous - How a "Celebrity" Can Help Your Charitable Cause by Jennifer Lawton

Seems like these days every celebrity is promoting a charitable cause. Celebrities are even partnering together on projects like the ONE Campaign and American Idol Gives Back.

While celebrities promoting charities might look like a new trend, it’s really something that many groups have done for years. From large to small groups, many causes can benefit from having a well known person as a champion for the cause.

Now when you hear the word “celebrity” you might think of movie stars or singers…

Click to continue

Tap Into Your Network For Fundraising by Jayson Krause

The one thing I always tell people looking for fundraising advice is: look to your own network before you start looking beyond it. It is probably one of the most valuable lessons I learned as I built a fundraising strategy that netted me $50,000 every year - and with a skeleton crew at that!

What's a network, you ask? It's all of those people who you are in contact with on a regular or semi-regular basis. This can be friends, family, colleagues, business acquaintances, and even casual acquaintances, too - like friends of friends. If you draw lines to connect each of these people - you all of a sudden have a massive network that you can tap into for fundraising support. I think this is the first place you should start.

So, what are the reasons the people in your sphere of influence are the most important for fundraising?

Click to continue

Fundraising and Today's Busy Teacher by Doug Nash

The demands on today’s teachers are greater than they have ever been. Not only do they have to teach but they are also expected to do more reporting and support extra curricula activities. By the time they do all they have to as teachers and individuals they don’t have a much time leftover for other demands on their time and so fundraising is not high on their list of priorities. More and more the amount of personal funds that teachers spend in their classrooms so they can meet the needs of their students is significant. This seems to be an accepted fact of life by a lot of teachers and this adds to their frustration.

All of us have to deal with a lack of time and money at different times and teachers are no different. This is where a well organized fundraising effort can have a huge impact on the learning experience of our children and help teachers do their job better. The key is getting to the teachers early in the process, keeping their time investment to a minimum and making sure they see a tangible and personally relevant reward.

Click to continue

Want to get your organization noticed? Create Your Own Holiday! by Heidi Richards

Planning special events can be a cornerstone of your marketing program. Small business owners should and can be excellent hosts of special events. Typically events are created to showcase the product and services a business offers. Designed to attract attention, educate potential attendees, and supporters and the media, special events generally focus on a specific purpose with specific outcomes.

A special event can include a one-time event such as the launch of a new product/service or a grand opening; they can include ongoing events such as party or fundraising partnership or to announce a special occasion such as an open house or holiday, which is the focus of this article.

When marketing a holiday you can capitalize on ones that already exist or you can "invent" your own the way the founders of the WECAI Network™ did when Virtual Woman's Day™ was created. Like many other holidays on the calendar, Virtual Woman's Day™ was born from an idea to honor an existing holiday - Women's History Month - and making it unique to the organization. The founders of the organization wanted to encourage women to learn more about Women's history and also connect with women around the globe which was the impetus to create Virtual Woman's Day™.

Click to continue

Training Tomorrow’s Leaders Today by the AFRDS

As an outgoing PTA or PTO president, it’s important to get your successor up to speed. Smooth leadership transitions are critical to the continued success of your group. Unfortunately, not every group properly prepares its future leaders. Celeste Tienken, who helped with fundraising at her children’s middle school, remembers taking over a position once when her predecessor, who was moving, met her at a nursery to hand off the materials.

“That’s all I had,” Tienken said. “It’s more ideal to work with someone for a year before taking over.”

Click to continue

Wish List Fundraiser by Deane Brengle

"Wish list fundraiser" could be considered to be a misnomer. When you create a wish list for your nonprofit group and receive a contribution from it, have you created a new fundraising source or saved yourself from spending your hard earned fundraising dollars? Actually ... you've done both!

Wish lists are not unheard of within the fundraising community. They are, however, an under utilized resource available to all nonprofit organizations no matter what the size.

A wish list establishes the various needs of your organization. Depending on your group's needs it could consist of anything from pens and paper to office space to auction items to professional services. Your wish list is only limited by your imagination!

Click to continue

Low Impact Fundraising by Deane Brengle

So, just what is low impact fundraising?

A little story first which will meander its way to answering the question above.

I'm reaching the age where I'm becoming more aware of the impact of everything I do. For instance, I've taken up a new sport called geocaching. I won't go into all the techno babble of how it works but instead tell you it gets me outdoors and into nature quite a bit which is just what I need.

But I've also noticed that while I benefit from tromping around out in the wilds, Mother Nature takes a hit when I do. Tender plants get trampled, new trails get created, and sand dunes get eroded.

Now don't worry, I'm not going all tree hugger on you! But I am becoming more careful in how I impact nature when I pursue my new sport.

Just as I am becoming more careful when I think about recommending that you add more fundraisers to your existing fundraising plan. I'm worried about the impact those new fundraisers will have on you and your membership.

Click to continue

General Selling Tips for Fundraising by Chip and Ralfie Blasius

These fundamental, time-tested tips will help you and your group sell your fundraisers more effectively. They are designed to help the first-time salesperson get up to speed as well as serve as refreshers for the lifetime adult professional. Read and think about each point before you go out to sell.

Click to continue

Fundraising Run Smoothly by Heidi Richards

Want your next fundraiser to run more smoothly? Here are ten tips to help you create a successful marketing plan.

Click to continue

School Fundraising by Kimberly Reynolds

"Do I repeat last year's fundraiser or try something new?"

That, in a nutshell, is the question we all face. It can be a tough choice between sticking with an easier repeat or taking a chance on a new fundraiser that might end up being more work and could quite possibly produce less profit.

Click to continue

But I Don't Know Ayone Who Has Money by Andy Robinson

Almost a decade ago, after several positions with a variety of grassroots groups, I left a steady job to start a consulting practice.

Financially speaking, I leapt into the void. My wife was working at the time, finishing up a long career as a Montessori preschool teacher - another highly paid profession. The two of us, working full-time, had a combined income of about $35,000, which I guess landed us somewhere in the middle class.

We gave away money: $25 to one group, $50 to another, sometimes as much as $100. At the end of the year I added up our donations and discovered we had contributed a total of $2,500. That startled me. I added the numbers twice, because I didn't believe it.

Click to continue

10 Ways to Put Fun in Your Fundraiser by Kimberly Reynolds

1. Make it fun every step of the way

Fun is part of fundraising. Don't make it drudgery to be a volunteer or a participant. Remember that they're giving up their free time to help. Plan fun things to do during each stage of the process that reward everyone.

Click to continue

Hitting the Wall by Patrick Mc Erlean

More than 90% of all community fundraisers today are experiencing significant levels of frustration. Maybe you're one of them? Most would cite the apparent apathy of the local community as the root cause of their problems.

Community organizations are a subset of nonprofits, which are geographically confined to a particular local community. Organizations such as, sports teams, school groups, church groups, youth groups and community support groups are all examples of community organizations. The most common comments from community fundraisers are: "No-one comes forward to volunteer for our organization anymore" and "Our community is very slow to support our fundraising efforts; many just don't bother".

It may come as a surprise to you to learn that the source of the apathy is rarely the community. In most cases the source of the apathy is the community fundraiser! That may seem like a controversial statement, but nonetheless it's true. Understanding why, it is the key to your fundraising success.

Click to continue

Fundraising Fundamentals by Kimberly Reynolds

Two things you have to do with every fundraiser:

1. Increase community awareness of your need
2. Increase community awareness of your offering

Everybody reading this instantly thinks, "Yeah, we've got that covered. Everybody in our group knows what we're doing."

Let's take a closer look and see, shall we?

Click to continue

Reading, 'Riting and 'Rithmatic: Lessons Found in Fundraising by the AFRDS

When fourth and fifth graders from a Florida elementary school wanted to raise money for a Christmas charity project, their teacher saw it as an opportunity to illustrate real life lessons in citizenship and business management.

Armed with cardboard boxes carrying ornaments, gifts and baked goods, Bill Snydor's 22 students went to each classroom in the school to sell their homemade wares, making change, keeping track of inventory and recording their progress daily on a chart of expenses, sales and profits. In two weeks, the Broward County students sold 1,700 items earning $1,200 for the Kids in Distress program.

On the other side of the country, California teachers Bonnie McKenna and Sue DeHart shared a dream for a living science lab. So, with the support of their principal, they teamed up to create a student-run business on campus selling giant cookies one day a week after lunch.

Online Fundraising
Chocolate Fundraising
Cookiedough Fundraising
Scratchcard Fundraising
Magazine Fundraising
Candle Fundraising
Lollipop Fundraising
Safe Fundraising