Get Organized NOW! by Heidi Richards
Get Organized - Being organized gives us a sense of control, when you’re disorganized, you feel out of control. When you are organized, you are more able to concentrate on those things that really matter to you. When you are organized, you feel less stress. Getting organized means getting rid of clutter. It means setting up systems. What needs more organizing in your world right now?
Here are some tips to help you get and stay organized ....
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Marketing For Just Cause by Harry Hoover
Cause marketing is a relationship between a for-profit and a nonprofit that brings in money and resources for the nonprofit, while providing credibility and goodwill for the business.
According to the IEG Sponsorship Report, this category grew to $733 million in the US in 2001. There are a number of reasons for that growth. A Cone Communications survey found that:
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How to Request Bulk Freebies and Multiple Samples for Special Events, Fundraising, and Organizations by Brian Chow
Do you need to request products samples for an event you are organizing? Do you need to request bulk freebies for fundraising? Do you need to find sponsors for product donations?
Here are strategies to help you request freebies and samples from companies and sponsors. You should be aware that the offers posted on many free stuff sites are not suitable for bulk requests. These sites list free stuff offered by corporations that use free offers to promote their products and services. Generally, these companies limit their samples to one per person, family, or an organization.
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Lessons for the Real World by the AFRDS
Fundraising teaches older students numerous “real world” lessons, according to author Chad Foster. His book, Teenagers Preparing for the Real World, lists several lessons the fundraising sales experience can provide.
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Be Careful What You Wish For - When Having a Large Benefactor is Not a Good Thing by Jacob Ackart
You spend so much time and resources chasing too many small donors and too few large donors that sometimes you can't help but wish your organization had one large benefactor. While that could be wonderful, you ought to be careful what you wish for, because sometimes having a single large benefactor can hurt your organization more than it can help it.
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Gotta Blog – Why Blogs Matter for Your Nonprofit by Nancy Schwartz
You probably have heard more and more about nonprofit use of blogs over the last year. And you may have read my article, "Should your nonprofit launch a blog?, " last fall. It's a great introduction to blogging for nonprofits. Take a look at: http://www.nancyschwartz.com/nonprofit_blog.html
A quick reminder – a blog is a website that takes the form of an online journal, updated frequently with running commentary on one or many topics.
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The Six Simple Principles of Viral Marketing by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
I admit it. The term "viral marketing" is offensive. Call yourself a Viral Marketer and people will take two steps back. I would. "Do they have a vaccine for that yet?" you wonder. A sinister thing, the simple virus is fraught with doom, not quite dead yet not fully alive, it exists in that nether genre somewhere between disaster movies and horror flicks.
But you have to admire the virus. He has a way of living in secrecy until he is so numerous that he wins by sheer weight of numbers. He piggybacks on other hosts and uses their resources to increase his tribe. And in the right environment, he grows exponentially. A virus don't even have to mate -- he just replicates, again and again with geometrically increasing power, doubling with each iteration:
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Real World Lessons by Doug Nash
If you believe the media, it seems that in our modern times nobody does anything without first thinking “what’s in it for me?” Especially the younger generation that too often is tagged as “Generation Me”. I don’t agree with this rather depressing view of our current society. An interesting point in this though is as fundraisers, what we can offer those young and talented people to donate their time and effort. There is much we can offer however it is up to us to communicate to them what it is that we have to offer and they have to gain.
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Fundraising Makes it Happen by the AFRDS
Before Hurricane Katrina, there was Hurricane Ivan. Ivan roared ashore in the middle of the night on September 16, 2004 – leaving parts of the Florida panhandle in shambles. Pensacola was hit especially hard, with more than 10,000 homes destroyed and $6 billion in damage.
Schools were closed for weeks after the storm, roads were blocked with fallen trees, and phones were silent. But by the time Christmas arrived, the ingenuity of a local fundraising company had helped rebuild the community.
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Fundraising and Wellness Policies by the AFRDS
For decades, schools, sports leagues and youth groups have kicked off the fall season by selling candy to pay for items and programs not covered by shrinking school budgets — such as new playground equipment, computer labs, band uniforms and after-school reading programs, just to name a few. Today, candy still is one of the most popular items sold to raise funds, and makes up a large share of the $1.4 billion raised each year by school groups through product sales. However in recent years, candy sales in schools have come under scrutiny with new government mandated wellness policies aimed at reducing childhood obesity.
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Handling Money by Doug Nash
Considering how hard it can be to raise funds it is a little unsettling to witness or hear about how some groups handle the green stuff once they have it. Handling money is not a natural skill. How many stories do the rounds about people winding up bankrupt after winning a huge Lotto win or after benefiting from a large financial windfall? We have all heard them, however do we ever stop to think their may be some wisdom to be gained from looking a little closer at these horror stories.
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Writing a Nonprofit Annual Report
Seven Quick Tips by Kivi Leroux Miller
If you've been asked to write an annual report for a nonprofit organization, here are seven tips to get you on your way.
- Focus on accomplishments, not activities.
We want to know what you did, but more importantly, we want to know why you did it. What were the results? Why did you spend your time the way you did? What difference did it make?
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Fun Fun Fun by Doug Nash
People will quickly find reasons for not doing what they don’t like doing, so if your fundraising doesn’t have a healthy element of fun involved then you will be very lonely and your fundraisers short lived, not very satisfying and not very profitable.
If those involved in your fundraisers are enjoying the experience they will exceed their expectations and yours for that matter. Not only this they will come back time and time again. They forget they have come to raise funds, rather they are coming to have fun or a good time.
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A Case Study in Gratitude by the AFRDS
Once a fundraising campaign is complete, it is important to thank everyone involved - especially the parents. You might even use the opportunity to brag a little.
On the last day of the 1999-2000 school year, parents of Kennesaw Elementary School students in Cobb County, Georgia, received a ....
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FUNDRAISER OF THE MONTH
"One fast fundraiser before school ends!"