Fundraising Ideas for the Fundraiser

Some time ago, I worked on a campaign for a public library. With some fits and starts, Renee, the campaign chair, and Mary, the library director, had successfully tied down most of the large gifts.

Now they were ready to solicit those who weren’t large donors but who were close to the library. These included staff members, volunteers, and a host of people who used the library almost daily.

But as Renee and Mary pored over the list of staff members, they grew increasingly anxious. The library’s public funding, like that of libraries throughout the state, had been cut and cut again; and staff members hadn’t received a raise for some time. Earlier that year, Mary even had to eliminate a position.

“Should we really ask staff members for money?” asked Renee. “I’m afraid they’ll throw eggs at me.”

Mary was uncomfortable, too. She knew some of the staff loved the place but others were so frustrated by the lack of resources and flat salaries that they were on the verge of leaving.

Mary and Renee had all but decided to forego asking staff to support … until Jerry intervened.

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How can 'peer-to-peer', or 'friend-to-friend' fundraising benefit your organization? With so many options now available, which one do you choose? Do you simply put your cause on Facebook, or set up a webpage stating your cause and goals then email everybody and hope for donations to roll in? What do you do a week later if you haven't gotten any response? How do you get potential donors interested and keep them involved?

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A premium is a small gift used to encourage donations. You might think of it as a bribe to get someone to make a donation now. Some nonprofits think that a premium encourages donations. Unfortunately, premiums can have the opposite effect.

People who give to get a premium aren't really donors. They want the premium, not the warm fuzzy from making a gift.

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Let's say you're launching a fund raising campaign for a children's welfare organization. You've decided to distribute an imprinted T-shirt as a thank you gift for donations. Great idea that could help spread the word about your work as the shirts are worn in the community. So you find an attractively price T-shirt online. Prices like that will help you save funds for your cause. But wait! That inexpensive price may turn into an expensive public relations nightmare. Here's how...

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When conducting a raffle to raise money, the best raffle prize is often one which is donated. This allows all of the collected raffle money to be used by the organization.

But if no appropriate donations are forthcoming, another option is to buy an inexpensive raffle prize. The rationale of this approach is that your modest investment (i.e. buying the prize) will be handsomely rewarded in many raffle ticket sales. Your target market will be excited about winning the prize, and will therefore buy multiple raffle tickets.

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The anniversary of your nonprofit's founding is an ideal opportunity to galvanize your employees, board members, donors, foundations, government and corporate sponsors, and to re-kindle their commitment to the relevance, importance and needs of the organization.

This is a unique opportunity, with the potential for a yearlong marketing program that, done properly, sets the stage for your fundraisers, strengthens your longer term brand image and improves the organization's ROI.

For-profit organizations, both large and small, have long recognized the importance of company anniversary marketing because it isn't just the latest advertising, public relations, direct mail, internet or event program. Rather, it is a unique chance for an organization to link the strength of its past to its plans for the future. For nonprofit organizations this story can be especially important among new members, volunteers and donors.

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The secret to success in direct mail fundraising is to write to an individual, not to a list. Write to someone, not to everyone. Take this short quiz to discover if your appeal letters are personal or impersonal.

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