Archive for the Fundraising Ideas Category
Mar
8
2012
Fundraiser ideas that can make a difference
If you’re running a non-profit, school programs, a sports program, are a part of a church, etc then you have a good idea of what a fundraiser can do for your organization. Indeed, for many organizations, fundraisers are akin to oxygen for them. Fundraisers are big business; no doubt the charity angle is prime in this scenario. The point is that any institution wishing to do a fundraiser is not going to be short of choice but as the title of this piece says, it has to be a fundraiser that can make a difference to you.
What does this mean? It means that the fundraiser you organize should click. You should be able to meet your fundraising targets. Ideally a fundraiser that helps you meet your target will mean that you don’t have to organize such a event again, at least not very soon. This will help your fundraisers retain a fresh appeal and donors won’t get jaded or bored of invitations from your organization. Your fundraisers, in fact, should be looked forward to events.
Also, the fundraisers should help you expand your donor base. This is crucial. You do not want to go to the same group of people...
Jan
20
2012
Unique Fundraising Ideas for Your Non-Profit
Fundraising is a necessity for non-profits. And with time, a kind of fundraising fatigue sets in with not just the volunteers and fundraisers but also the patrons. This can be highly detrimental to your organization’s future. You need funds and you need to keep people interested. Not just the individual donors but also the institutions, they need to have strong reasons for supporting your efforts on a consistent basis. Apart from delivering results you need to make things interesting for people that you want to help you. Remember, yours is not the only charity that approaches them. There is a lot of competition. To this end you need to come up with unique and interesting fundraising ideas.
Remember, as in business so too in fundraising. It is easier to retain an existing customer / donor than to get a new one.
Here are a few unique fundraising ideas. One year make savings the theme and let your donors know that it’s not going to be a high-end event this time round. Instead the money being collected is going to be diverted to the charity as much as possible.
Do you know what a reverse raffle is? It’s a concept where everyone...
Jan
9
2012
College Fundraiser Event Ideas
College fundraisings are imbued with an energy rarely found in fundraising events related to other charitable acts, be they school fundraising, church fundraising, office fundraising, or anything else. This is the energy of youth and it lends itself wonderfully to the fulfillment of a noble cause once it has been directed and channelized properly.
College fundraisers can benefit greatly from the hosting of events because events can be made to match the theme and objective of a fundraiser. Colleges have a ready population to fall back on, that of students and their families. A minimum participation is easily guaranteed. You can do the math too if you so wish to apportion income from different events. The way to do this is to pass around a short question sheet asking for events that students would love to enjoy the most. You can easily pick two three popular events based on this information. A rough estimate of attendees will tell you about the kind of returns you can expect from the spending on a particular event. Mud-wrestling for girls is going to score with boys, no question about it. And so will a beauty contest. An ice-cream parlor will always work. Check...
The success of your fundraising project depends upon how well-thought out your fundraising plan is and how well you execute it. You need to prepare as exhaustive a laundry-list of to-do’s as you can. Here are some of the questions you need to have answers for –
- Why am I organizing this fundraiser – The answer to this basically lays the foundation for your fundraising project.
- How much money am I looking to raise – Your subsequent actions and cost calculations will flow from this.
- What was my past experience like – If you have attempted and succeeded in a similar project earlier, you will know what to do right and what to avoid, you can do it better this time.
- Is there a better way to do it – Information is key and you need to know all you can.
- What are the sources of funds that I can tap for this particular project – This will help you concentrate your efforts on corporates, individuals, businesses etc as the case may be.
- What activities will work best – You need to spend time and energy on fundraising, where are the best returns? Choose from products, events, auctions, indirect sales, and different types of volunteer work.
- How...
Sep
23
2011
School Fundraiser Ideas for Christmas
Christmas is a great time to go out and raise funds; its the season of giving, people are into the spirit of things. The year of hard work is coming to a close and the air of religiosity that pervades the atmosphere makes one want to share his good fortune with others. If you are looking to raise funds for any school-related projects then there are quite a few things that take on special meaning during Christmas.
- Gift wrapping is a classic piece of fundraising activity; your team can volunteer at busy shopping centers and malls to help out with this activity.
- Baby sitters are in demand during this period when family folk have to step out for Christmas shopping. You can either head to the family's home or have all the kids come over to a venue such as the school music room or gym or even a classroom where the little ones can be taken care of by the elders.
- You can shovel snow for folks in the neighborhood.
- You can prepare goodies for pets so that they too have a cool Christmas.
- Christmas cards and plum cakes are in demand at this time of the year, consider these.
- You can volunteer to...
Sep
13
2011
Generate Funds with a Fundraising Website
A fundraising website for any organization that wishes to raise funds is a necessity in these days of online communication. The internet has opened up the world to charities, you are no longer constrained by geography. People who sympathize with your cause can be approach online via your website.
You should know how to leverage the internet to raise money for your charity whether or not you have a website. But if you have one, you are at an advantage. A website serves many purposes and they call coalesce to the larger objective of raising funds for the organisation.
A website tells people about what you're doing, the nature of your work and the good things executed by people involved with you; this can be feeding the poor, educating the underprivileged, running a music program for talented students, a church, a sports club, managing a cheerleading team, etc. A simple donate button on your website can get you donations depending upon the amount of traffic your site generates and the extent to which it moves the visitors.
The best thing to do would be to build your website on a platform like Wordpress, but get your own domain name. Blogging...
Sep
12
2011
Fundraising for School Ideas
There are enough and more fundraising ideas out there for schools; you have to choose a few based on certain conditions. For example -
- The extent of involvement of the member of the PTA. You need consensus or maybe direction on what events to host, stuff to sell, extent of marketing, etc.
- Go by your past successes and try to build on them.
- Most importantly, see that you always have the "FUN" going in a fundraiser. If you can do that, you'll have volunteers enthused and patrons happy.
Sep
7
2011
Why Are Candy Fundraisers so Popular?
Candy fundraisers lend themselves beautifully to any fundraising effort. You save time because you don't have to manufacture candies, you can buy them. Candies are available in a mind-boggling array of tastes and flavors. Mint, jelly, custard, guava, mango, lime, orange, pecan, pineapple, caramel, almonds, truffle...its a never ending list of long-lasting slurpy goodness. Young and old love candies. You can make a 100% profit on many candy bars. Your profit will depend upon the number of cases you purchase and the type of offer that a fundraising merchant may be running.
Candies can be sold to generate funds either directly or indirectly. A direct fundraiser means you set shop that you can run the whole year if you wish to. This is great for school fundraisers where the school canteen space can be used. Indirect selling can generate a lot of funds with less cost. Spread the word through brochures, press, local newspaper, and word of mouth. People that wish to purchase candy can contact you to place their orders and the stuff can be dispatched to their address from the vendor. You save on storage and shipping costs.
With indirect candy bar selling, you don't have to worry...
