Category Archives: Fundraising
Non Profit Fundraising Ideas That Work
There is a plethora of nonprofit fundraising ideas that work. The success of any fundraiser is dependent upon several factors. Your donor base must be strong. This means you need a large donor base and a significant portion who give large gifts. If you do not have a strong donor base, your fundraiser must be of great interest to the general public. A strong fundraising professional or volunteer must be in charge of your fundraiser.Silent auctions are practically money in the bank. Send letters to businesses in your community asking them to donate a product or service for your auction. Set a deadline to receive donations. Once you have all the donated items, start combing products and services into unique auction packages. Estimate the value of each package and establish a minimum bind. If the value of a package is $550, set the minimum bid at $200. Determine bid increments. If the bid increment is $10, the minimum allowable bid after $200 is $210. Add an on-line auction component to your fundraiser. Include the auction on your website or other auction sites.Consider a golf fundraiser if you have a strong donor base. Host your golf outing at a private country club. Ask you board members for the use of their club. In addition to participation fees, sell raffle tickets for a 50/50 raffle. The winner of this type of raffle receives half of the money raised through the raffle. The other half goes to your agency.Another nonprofit fundraising idea is a wine tasting party. Sell tickets to the wine tasting. Have auction items available for a silent auction. This type of fundraiser is particularly popular among young professionals. It is a fun way to meet other people with similar interests while raising… Continue reading
GIS For Successful Grant Writing
Ways GIS can facilitate a grant projectSuccessful grant writing requires a clear and focused description of the project, needs, budget, and resources. GIS (Geographic Information Systems) mapping can greatly assist grant writing in the following ways:· Describing your project’s impact· Doing research and analysis· Conducting outreach, education, and advocacy· Engaging public participation· Evaluating your project’s resultsGrants may request information on how the project will have an impact on communities and natural resources. What geographic area will be served by your project? Will your project serve certain populations: low-income, those with primary languages other than English, disadvantaged minority groups? Does your project need to target a certain age group such as parents with young children or the elderly? GIS can be used to locate these populations, describe them with maps (including intersections of multiple socioeconomic and geographic variables), and illustrate how your project will be accomplished in the community. With GIS, you can demonstrate your project’s impact on targeted areas or populations.GIS applied to research and analysisIn general, GIS can be applied to many phases of a research project. Many people use GIS to perform· Data collection · Data management and storage · Data analysisGIS can be used to collect data in the field using mobile applications. Many different industries and academic disciplines can streamline field data collection efforts and ensure greater accuracy by using mobile GIS. Mobile field data collection can be easily integrated with desktop- or server-based GIS to manage, edit, and store data. Using a variety of tools in desktop- or server-based GIS and extensions, data can be analyzed to find significant patterns and illustrate results.GIS applied to outreach, education, and advocacyGIS can assist in outreach, education, and advocacy efforts by providing a visual means of communicating problems, projects, solutions, and potential impacts. By enabling… Continue reading
Annual Appeal Letter Asks – Four Secrets Of Requesting Donations
In the fundraising profession, the act of requesting funds from a donor is called “the ask.” When you are writing a fundraising letter and you arrive at the place where you must actually, ahem, request a donation, you have arrived at the ask. And the ask, as you probably know, is one of the toughest things to get right in fundraising.Where in the letter should you mention money? Early on in your letter you should let your reader know why you are writing. Somewhere “above the fold,” usually in the second or third paragraph, describe the reason for your letter. Here is an example:“The people of Afghanistan have already suffered 20 years of conflict and three years without rain. One and a half million are dead. Two million are disabled. And now this: the UN is predicting that “the number of Afghans facing hunger and deprivation will soon reach 7.5 million.”“Something has to give. Or someone has to give. That’s why I’m writing to you during this crisis. Will you give? You can save lives and avert disaster by sending a donation to Doctors Without Borders right now.”How much should you ask for? Ah, the perennial question. As fundraising letter expert Mal Warwick would say, “that depends.” How much money you request of each donor depends on many variables, including: size of the donor’s last gift size of the donor’s average gift amount that most organizations like yours ask for specific need that you are presenting to the donor size of your donor base donor’s capacity to give (assuming you know it) donor’s affiliation with your organization (is the donor a brand new supporter or one of your board of directors?) length of time the donor has supported you (is it one… Continue reading
Donation Thank-You Letter Mistakes To Avoid In Direct Mail Fundraising
I once had a friend who used to bid me farewell by exclaiming, “Up ’yer kilt!” Where Jock is today and how many pals he still has I cannot tell. But his original and startling phrase reminds me of a vital truth in direct mail fundraising: How you thank your donors and how your donors hear you thank them can be two different things.Strangely enough, in the process of thanking donors, some fundraisers actually offend them. Here are some of the classic mistakes to avoid in your gift acknowledgement letters, notes and cards.Mistake #1: “Dear Friend” I think I can affirm without fear of contradiction that the only people who address you as “friend” are the people who are not your friends. If they knew you well, they’d address you by name. If you thank a donor with a letter that begins “Dear Friend,” you are likely to thank them and tick them off at the same time.Mistake #2: “We are in receipt of your gift” Your thank-you letters need to be sincere. But the quickest way to kill sincerity on paper is to speak in formal tones and generalities: “We are in receipt of your donation.” “We are grateful for the support recently received from donors like you.”When you give a friend a present, you expect the friend to thank you for that gift in particular. “Thank you, darling, for this beautiful ring.” “Thank you, Dad, for my new bike.” Avoid impersonal generalities by naming the gift you are thankful for.Mistake #3: Asking for another gift You don’t intend to sound greedy or ungrateful when you request another gift in your thank-you letter, but that’s how the majority of donors perceive you. They think you’re being rude. That’s why I counsel… Continue reading
