Fundraising Ideas

15 Easy Fundraising Ideas

November 6, 2019 By Louis Louw

Whether you’re fundraising for a school, a nonprofit board, association, or another important organization, fundraising is a challenge. To make the most impact, fundraising usually involves the tough tasks of organizing large groups of volunteers and marketing your event or drive so it’s a success.

Let us help. No matter the cause, we have 15 easy fundraising ideas that will help you reach your goals.

Dining out for charity. One great option is to partner with a local restaurant to host a charity night. Your nonprofit invites supporters out to share a meal and the restaurant agrees to donate a portion of the night’s earnings to your nonprofit.
Create in-kind sponsorships. Sometimes people are more comfortable donating items rather than money. By sponsoring a certain element of what your nonprofit stands for, people can see in a tangible way how their giving helps. Using dog rescues as an example, people can donate blankets and food for the transportation of rescue animals.
Create custom sports socks. Custom branded sports socks are a great way to raise money while also raising team spirit. Whether your cause has specific colors, a logo, or a tagline, it can be great to design socks to match. These fun, branded socks are a great way to get people to rally around a cause and donate money for a neat pair of designed socks in return.
Host a virtual charity run. A “regular” charity run can be an excellent way to bring a community together to support a cause, but it can be extremely difficult to organize. Instead, consider a virtual charity run. It can be organized through a website where people can sign up, join a charity team, and create a fundraising page. From there, people can visit the different pages and donate to the team of their choice. Teams can pledge the miles they are willing to walk or run and can complete those miles on their own time and where they would like, whether it’s at the gym, around town, or on a hiking path.
Friendly business fundraising competition. Another way to really get the fundraising juices flowing is to find two businesses in town (ideally with values aligned with your organization) and get them to join a fundraising challenge to see who can raise the most money. A little friendly competition never hurt anybody and it can be a great way to raise money and get the community involved.
Wedding fundraisers. Some couples prefer direct gifts to their favorite cause rather than registering and accepting gifts for their new home. This can be a simple way to raise money for an important cause that simply requires a mention on the save-the-dates and invitations.
Fun holiday fundraisers. There are endless numbers of quirky, fun holidays out there, including Ask Your Cat a Question Day. Choosing one of these days to run an online fundraiser around can be a fun and effective way to get people interested in and excited about your cause while raising money.
Run a matching gift campaign. A matching gift campaign is a great way to boost the power of your campaign to double. Not only does it mean your cause could walk away with double the funds, but it also serves as a powerful motivator for would-be donors. Try to find a major donor or partner that is willing to match the amount raised after a certain point.
Set up a personal feat campaign. Everyone loves to follow a person’s personal journey to greatness and it can also be a great motivator for raising funds. Choose a spokesperson for your campaign who is willing to try to accomplish a great feat (finishing a marathon, summiting a mountain, etc.) for a good cause. When people have a journey to support, they are likely to give more. It also presents a great opportunity to make the campaign social, as personal feats and accomplishments are usually rife with photo opportunities and stories to share to get people engaged and involved.
Create a 24-hour drive. Setting aside one specific day to raise funds or goods for your cause can often add in some extra motivation for donors. You have the flexibility to choose any day you’d like, which could also center around a day that is important to your nonprofit or cause. Rally supporters to get involved on this day, driving home the sense of urgency around the 24-hour deadline. If you can secure a matching grant for the funds raised on this day, even better.
Run a T-shirt fundraiser. Opt to sell customized t-shirts to raise money for your cause. Not only does this aid in raising funds, but it’s also a way to promote free marketing for your nonprofit or cause. Your t-shirts can be customized to showcase the nonprofit or to feature an event. You can even sell the shirts using crowdfunding techniques.
Try a text-to-give campaign. These allow donors and supporters to give right from their smartphones. Text-giving software allows you to set up a special fundraising phone number that is paired with a keyword. Donors can simply text your special number with the keyword to get a link to a mobile donation page. Once they donate, they can receive a digital receipt.
Host a silent auction. A silent auction is a wonderful way to get local organizations involved in a fundraising effort. Local businesses can donate items for the auction, which may include movie tickets, gift baskets, or other items that your target donors will be interested in. People can then bid on their favorite items. Silent auctions can also happen online, making it easier than ever to host an event like this.
Hold a car wash. This is a classic fundraiser idea that can be updated for the modern era. Add a theme to your carwash, perhaps having volunteers dress up a certain way or by turning the carwash into a musical event. This is a flexible event that can be tailored any way you like to raise funds for your cause.
Host a gala. Galas are another tried-and-true way to raise money for a cause. Galas can also be combined with silent auctions or raffles to double and triple fundraising efforts. Galas can also be customized by theme and turned into a costume ball or a themed party.

Utilizing one of these ideas may be your key to fundraising success. Consider all the options and narrow it down to two or three that make the most sense. After weighing the pros and cons of your top options, you should be able to settle on one that will have the greatest impact for your cause.

How to Plan a Profitable Nonprofit Gala

June 10, 2019 By Gail S. Bower

Thousands of nonprofits produce galas and other elaborate fundraisers each year. They can be tremendous assets for your organization or enormous wastes of time and money.

If you choose to make yours an asset, here are the two most important areas where you need to focus.

Start With Your Business Model.

Let’s be clear about the purpose of your gala: it is to make money profitably. That’s it.

Events can be used for many purposes—build audiences, fulfill your mission, communicate news, reinforce the sale, among others.

The gala’s function is to generate a significant profit.

Before you do anything else, determine the best business model for the event so that it does expressly that.

And here’s a hint. Galas do not make money on ticket revenue, just like newspapers do not make money on subscriptions or individual newspaper sales.

In both cases, the big dollars come from sponsors. Corporations and individuals commit to a fee or a more generous contribution in support of the cause.

Your business model should identify the activities and relationships necessary to secure sponsors, attract individual donors, and lead to profit. For sponsorship, be prepared to articulate compelling value and engage the sponsor in mutually beneficial ways.

You also want to activate your attendees in other revenue generating activities at the event, such as a Live Auction and a Fund-A-Cause. Be sure to hire a great auctioneer and put the odds ever in your favor.

Attract the Right Audience.

That leads to the next important detail, which is to attract the right people to your gala.

It’s quite natural to want to open the invitation up broadly to your community, to include constituents, partners, friends, donors, funders, and all sorts of stakeholders. For any other event, that broad invitation is appropriate.

For your gala, be selective.

Attract people who have both the financial capacity and commitment to your cause. Your attendees must be enthusiastic about actively participating in the gala and donating.

One of the best ways to attract the right audiences is to have your best supporters do it, not by absent-mindedly delegating. Rather, be highly strategic.

In fact the word my colleague Kathy Kingston uses is “obsess,” as in obsess over audience development. Kingston, an expert fundraising auctioneer and author of A Higher Bid: How to Transform Special Event Fundraising with Strategic Benefit Auctions, encourages leaders to “hand-select every Table Ambassador,” she says.

“Invite each person with a call or personal visit,” Kingston says, “so you can explain how they can help build relationships with your great cause by engaging with their guests before, during and after your fundraising gala.”

When you fill the room with the right people who have the right expectations, you reach your revenue goals and create loyal fans for the future.

When you don’t, your revenue suffers. One organization gave a discount to an honoree who wanted to buy one hundred tickets to bring her young staff. First, red flag: “fundraiser” and “discount” do not go together. This honoree clearly didn’t appreciate that filling the room was not the primary goal.

Things got worse. These one hundred young people showed their enthusiasm and support for the cause and the honoree, cheering her on and having fun at the event. However, no one prepped them to give. They had no idea of the expectation to make a contribution through the silent auction or fund-a-cause.

Because this group represented about a third of the audience, the organization missed a huge opportunity and lost money on these one hundred attendees. To make matters even worse, the organization never connected with them afterwards to nurture them and activate them in their young friends program.

Galas are enormous investments and, with the right strategy and attendees, important assets. Use these focal points to lay a strong foundation for profitability.

DIY Fundraising 101: Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About DIY Fundraising

June 18, 2018 By Gary Wohlfeill

Do-it-yourself (DIY) fundraising is one of the most exciting growth opportunities for nonprofits and is definitely one of the fastest growing types of peer-to-peer fundraising out there.

That’s why we thought it was time we gave DIY fundraising a good deep dive so that we can help nonprofits understand how it works and why it’s such a great tool to implement for those looking to grow and expand their peer-to-peer fundraising.

Here we go…

What really is DIY fundraising?

DIY fundraising is a new fundraising channel that empowers your community of supporters to raise money on your nonprofit’s behalf by starting a fundraiser of their own at any time —without cannibalizing any of your other campaign efforts.

The DIY part refers to the notion that your supporters have the flexibility to create an event or fundraiser that’s personal to them, not attached to a larger nonprofit campaign or event. Your supporters can get creative, have fun, and support you during a time that works best for them, and in any way that they want.

How is this different than peer-to-peer fundraising?

The peer-to-peer fundraising you might be most familiar with is usually organized around an event. Supporters are encouraged to start a fundraiser for an organized event (marathon, seasonal or themed campaign, bowl-a-thon, giving day, etc.) with all of the money raised by each individual rolling up to a grand total for your event.

This differs from DIY fundraising in that, with DIY (a subset of peer-to-peer) you are empowering your supporters to create a fundraiser whenever they want, based on whatever style of event they want to do. Maybe they want to do a birthday fundraiser, a memorial fundraiser, or get creative in the name of your cause. By creating a DIY fundraiser, they’re not attaching their campaign to an event you’re running at a specific time. Instead, they’re just starting a fundraiser whenever they want.

Both utilize passionate supporters to reach out to their network of friends and family in order to increase donations and awareness, but the main difference is in who organizes the event — the event is organized by your nonprofit vs. organized by the supporter themselves. (This also means that there isn’t the associated maintenance for your nonprofit that typically comes with running a structured campaign.)

Does DIY work in the real world?

I answer that question with a resounding yes (and if we embraced exclamation points we’d even add one here). Time and time again, we’ve talked to partners who’ve had incredible success when they’ve incorporated DIY fundraising into their overall strategy.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is one example of how embracing DIY fundraising can make such an impact. With their Lifestyle program, LLS offers up encouragement and ideas on how you can create your own DIY fundraiser. The director of the program, Colby Marple, nailed it on the head when he told us recently, “People want to make a difference. Instead of keeping [ideas] regional, what we wanted to do is create a national platform that allows all these great stories, all these great ideas to come together in a single place. And that’s what CrowdRise enabled us to do with our Lifestyle program. It’s really about making it possible for anyone to start a movement to help us cure cancer. It’s about saying yes and just empowering people to get after it and make a difference.”

“It’s really about making it possible for anyone to start a movement to help us cure cancer.”

– Colby Marple, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

And that’s what it’s all about. Empowerment, encouragement, and in a way, letting go of control. As an organization, you have to allow your supporters to show their passion for your nonprofit in their own way. Your supporters are hungry for an opportunity to show they care, but they may not have an outlet that allows them to do so in the way they want. This is why DIY fundraising really can be important for your cause.

This all sounds great, but is it a ton of work?

The great thing about DIY fundraising is that it works well without a lot of hands-on activity from you, the nonprofit. Now, that’s not to say that it’s a ‘build-it-and-they-will-come’ type of idea. But rather, if you take the time to put the structure in place, provide encouragement along the way, and make your fundraisers feel like heroes during and after their campaign, you’ve got the makings of an evergreen fundraising push that will see repeat performance throughout the years to come.

As LLS thinks about it, “the theme across the board is any activity, any passion, any hobby, anything that brings people together can be a tremendous movement and a successful movement to help us cure cancer.” And, isn’t that what every nonprofit is ultimately trying to get to? Empowering movements that create real impact in order to create the change needed to get you to your goal?

Curing a disease, building shelters, rescuing animals… no matter what cause space you are in, passion runs deep in your supporters. And when you give them a platform to take that passion and run with it, amazing things start to happen.

How to get started

Show your supporters the possibility of DIY. Include inspirational stories or examples of fundraisers who gave up their birthday, ran their own race, or shaved their beard for your cause. Put together some best practices for your DIY fundraisers and set up a schedule of encouraging posts, emails, and reach-out opportunities for your organization in order to keep supporters motivated and excited. Also be sure to thank them at the end of their fundraiser so they feel appreciated and hungry to do even more. It’s also important to make sure you’re set up on a fundraising platform that allows for simple DIY fundraiser creation, as well as gives supporters access to your best practices and examples so that they feel encouraged and motivated to stick around and set up their campaign page.

With DIY fundraising growing at a rapid pace, with the right fundraising platform, and some up front strategizing, embracing and encouraging DIY can make a huge impact on your cause.

School Fundraising Ideas

January 30, 2018 By Annie Korp

It seems like every time a parent turns around their kid is selling something for a fundraiser. School fundraisers shouldn’t add stress to families. They shouldn’t require overworked teachers to do more work. Fundraising can be incorporated into the classroom to teach kids valuable lessons about giving back. They can be student-led and provide important leadership experiences. Use fundraising opportunities to bring communities together and get people excited about opening their wallets for a good cause. It should be an amazing experience for everyone involved–teachers, students and their parents.

Change Wars

These days, it might seem like a penny or dime doesn’t go very far. Don’t let idea fool you – loose change can still make an impact! Have your students search their couch cushions, underneath the seats in their family car and the laundry room for spare change to collect and donate. All that change can add up. Make it a competition. Classrooms, grades or even schools can compete to see who can collect the most change. Incorporate the change wars into math lessons on money, addition, multiplication and budgeting. Just be careful the students don’t cause a change shortage!

Walk or Run

Get kids motivated and literally moving with a walk-a- thon or fun run! Take advantage of your school track and local walking paths, encourage students to walk to school or up the ante in gym class! Students can collect donations or pledges from a sponsor for measurable goals, like distance or time increments. If walking or running aren’t a good fit for your school, host a different type of marathon. It
can be a bike-a- thon, dance-a- thon or read-a- thon. Cater the activity to what your students can do best so they stay motivated and enjoy themselves while fundraising for your cause.

Spirit Week or Field Day

Incorporate fundraising into the school’s spirit week or field day. Add another level of competition by having the classes or grades fundraise during spirit week or leading up to field day activities. The class or grade that raises the most money can win incentives during the field competitions. For example, during a kickball game the grade or class that raises the most money can earn a bye game or an extra out in an
inning.

Athletic Accomplishments

Make athletic accomplishments count off the scoreboard. Student athletes can fundraise using their own accomplishments. They can raise money through donations and pledges for their athletic achievements in their respective sports, whether it’s kicking an extra point in football, hitting home runs or a goalie counting their saves. Student athletes find it brings extra meaning to their sport and accomplishments while raising funds and awareness for their cause.

Incentives

Principals, teachers or other school staff can incentivize their students toward reaching their fundraising potential. As long as staff members don’t mind a little fun at their expense, students will be motivated to see their principal or teacher spend the night on a roof, dye their hair a bright color or take a pie to the face.

Philanthropic School Clubs

Student-run philanthropic clubs are a great way for the students to take the lead to support a cause they are passionate about. Students form the club, plan fundraising events and execute the events during the school year. Students take a hands-on approach to the decision making, rather than being told by the school what fundraiser they will participate in. Similar to other school clubs, they can have an executive
board and members. In addition to raising money and awareness for a great cause, the students will build leadership, social and decision-making skills.

Lemonade Stands

What is more student friendly than an old fashioned, all-American lemonade stand? Valuable lessons can be learned while fundraising. Students use social skills to interact with customers. They use business and math skills to figure out what supplies they will need, how much everything will cost and how much profit they will be able to donate to the cause.

Set students up for fundraising success with activities they actually want to participate in. Invite feedback or collaborate with the students. They might have creative and successful fundraising ideas that adults never would have dreamed of! Kids want to give back. Sometimes all they need is a spark to their imagination and they’ll figure out a great way to support their cause.

A New Approach to School Fundraising – Funding Education with Education

January 23, 2018 By Alexandra Swenson

As a parent of three children in public schools, I know the importance of raising funds for classroom materials and enrichment programs. Yet too often fundraisers like bake sales and McTeacher Nights promote unhealthy eating or turn students into competitive sales reps for big brands.

The good news is you don’t have to compromise. There are ways to fund education with education, creating a win-win situation for students by choosing fundraisers that promote healthy living, art, reading and writing. We’ve all heard of the book fair, a great way to promote children literacy while raising money from book sales and read-a-thons, but let’s explore some lesser known fundraisers that promote health education, enrichment and writing.

Educational Fundraiser #1 – Fun Exercise Stations

Add a big twist to the usual Walk-A-Thon by having students complete five health stations in one day. For example, have a hip-hop dance station, a Kung-Fu station, a yoga station, juggling station or GoNoodle station. Find local teachers interested in donating their time to get their name out and find new students. Not only will this raise money for your school through pledges, kids may be introduced to a new sport they had not considered before and become more active.

Educational Fundraiser #2 – Personalized Art

Use creations made by students during art lessons to create personalized products for parents to purchase: greeting cards, mugs, plates, tote bags, ornaments… the sky’s the limit! This is a great fundraiser before the holidays, when families are looking for special gifts for grandparents and loved ones. Kids work harder on their art when they know it may be printed on Mom’s favorite coffee mug. They’ll also feel real pride in their accomplishment when seeing the final product.

Education Fundraiser #3 – Student Publishing

The Classroom Book was our answer to an educational fundraiser that empowers each child in the classroom. Students create a book in class based on what they are studying, be it poetry, short stories, non-fiction or any lesson plan that lends itself to project-based, creative work. Each child participates with a written page and a page of artwork. The final product is a hardcover book that turns every student in the classroom into a published author and illustrator. Book purchases support the school while encouraging the child, as they champion their writing and efforts. The books make a wonderful keepsake, showcasing work done in school, and motivating parents to stay involved in other fundraising efforts.

This highlights another benefit of educational fundraisers – parent involvement. Parents of school-age children, especially those who have more than one child, often suffer from fundraiser burnout, dreading the next cookie sale or silent auction. Educational fundraisers bring into light the direct link between money raised for the school and the benefit to their children, so they continue to stay involved and care.

Creating personalized products from student work increases arts-integrated project-based learning in the classroom. This brings added educational value, not just as a teaching tool, but because kids learn differently when they work towards creating something tangible. Their level of commitment and engagement changes. Like Benjamin Franklin said, “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”

Still not sure what the best fundraiser is for your school? This winter, as you look for fresh fundraising ideas, try testing each possibility with these three questions:

Does it create value for the student and parent?
Does it go against parent’s values or youth education in general?
Can I double the impact of my fundraiser by making it educational in nature?

After all, school fundraising is there to benefit our children’s education.

If you’re wondering if educational fundraisers are really the way to go, consider this surprising statistic: schools raise $1.5 billion every year for education, yet two thirds of the nation’s 4th graders cannot read at grade level.

It’s not just about how much. It’s also about how.

Are You Using DAF’s to Attract a Younger Donor Base? You Should Be.

November 14, 2017 By Charlie Vanek

Millennials. Some associate this word with new opportunities: they consume information differently than older audiences, use different evaluation processes to make decisions, and have very different expectations in multiple areas of their lives. For many across the public and private sectors, this word is symbolic of an audience that is hard to attract and retain. Community foundations will rely on millennials, as well as Generation X, for their organizational sustainability going forward, but have experienced many challenges engaging these new donors. Younger generations expect that the organizations they donate to have the technology to answer specific questions around the constituents that benefited from their donation as well as the longer term impact on the community or issue.

This movement from checkbook philanthropy to investment-minded philanthropy is a significant change that community foundations need to account for moving forward. It also contributes to a second challenge facing many organizations: how do I make a younger donor emotionally invested in a community they may not have lived in for a significant period, or to remain emotionally invested in a community they have moved away from? Let me ask you a question. Have you considered donor-advised funds (DAFs)?

Community foundation-supported DAFs encourage a level of transparency and accountability that is craved by millennials when investing their funds in a philanthropic cause. By investing in a DAF, donors serve in an advisory role, choosing where their money goes and supporting specific issues and causes they care about. Though this level of involvement may cause some uneasiness, this is an opportunity for community foundations to strengthen their relationships with millennial donors by offering expertise on causes and local organizations. This provides an opportunity to gain a great partner, increasing the likelihood they’ll become a recurring donor, especially if your donor management technology enables them to consider and see the direct impact they are making. According to the Council of Foundations, donors are also more likely to serve on your board, or participate in special events sponsored by your community foundation. What a great way to engage those younger donors you will need to serve in leadership positions in the future!

Another straightforward and simple reason to consider DAFs: they’re popular. According to the National Philanthropic Trust, grantmaking from DAFs to qualified charities jumped almost 17% from 2014-2015. In 2016, a donor-advised fund, Fidelity Charitable, made headlines when it took the top spot on the Philanthropy 400, a ranking of the US charities that raise the most money. For millennials, DAFs provide an easy way for them to give in a way that allows them to feel more in control of the difference they are making. The Nonprofit Times acknowledges that often this audience wants to make a philanthropic contribution, but is unsure where to give and how much. So, beyond the obvious tax break benefits, community foundations can capitalize on their impact stories when discussing the possibility of DAFs with prospective donors.

As demonstrated in the Philanthropy 400 list, the growing popularity of DAFs means they are also being utilized by top firms as investment options. Fidelity, Schwab, and Vanguard are all offering DAFs as financial management options for their clients, again touting the benefits of tax breaks and the high level of flexibility around when clients need to use these funds. While community foundations often see these private sector financial institutions as competition, increased general awareness of DAFs as a result of their mainstreaming could mean less work for your organization when it comes to educating potential donors on what this type of investment looks like. Instead, you can focus on the key differentiators for community foundations: your unique knowledge of the needs of the community, and your experience helping other donors tell their community impact stories.

If your community foundation does not yet offer DAFs it’s time for you to join the 80% of your peers that do (2014 Urban Institute Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy). If you are part of the 80%, that’s great! Continue to share the unique benefits a community foundation DAF can offer donors, and make sure you have the technology that give millennials the experience they expect, and that can tell your donors the impact stories they are looking for..

Good luck!

Are Community Foundations Driving Radical Collaboration?

October 4, 2017 By Annie Rhodes

Let’s get right to it: community foundations are the center of the universe for philanthropy in their communities.

Who is better placed to enhance local vibrancy and alleviate social issues in our communities? Who is better positioned to align donor resources with community needs? Who is more intimately aware of the nuances and needs in our communities? Nobody. Community foundations truly hold a unique position to make a difference for the people and places they serve.

But with that unique position comes a responsibility to connect the dots across the various groups and individuals who can effectively collaborate to create change. Community foundations that can truly embrace collaboration may see the strongest results of their efforts.

What does it look like when a community foundation embraces collaboration?

You attract new donors and increase community engagement.

Collaboration is tough if you’re all alone. Collaborative community foundations recognize that it has to start with attracting donors and potential partners with the right first impression. Websites, landing pages, email communications – any part of your digital world – needs to convey the right message from the get-go to elicit a feeling of, ‘I trust that this organization can truly help my community.’ It’s important to pull people in with a sense that they’ve found the right partner for change. To truly embrace collaboration and see the benefits it can bring, you’ll need to make sure you have the systems and tools in place ahead of time.

You keep people engaged with knowledge and storytelling.

Once someone is engaged, how do you keep them engaged? Community foundations have an opportunity to use their unique position to share community insights with donors and other collaborators – insights that people won’t be able to get anywhere else in quite the same way. To build these insights, you’ll need to absorb data and perspectives from a variety of sources, and you’ll need to nurture relationships to keep those lines of communication open. When you embrace collaboration in building insights, you simultaneously cement your position as a knowledgeable resource and give people a sense that they are invested in the community impact story they are helping to build.

You know collaboration can take many forms.

The word “collaboration” gets thrown around so much, and the term can mean many things and take many forms. In one scenario, collaboration may look like a community foundation bringing key donors to a literal table to discuss community issues and the foundation’s vision for the future, with a dialog about how to co-create that future. In another scenario, like with the Community Foundation of Boone County in Indiana, collaboration could look like a multi-sector partnership with various viewpoints and sets of resources combining to enhance the vibrancy of places around the community. In another scenario, collaboration could mean investing in knowledge sharing with other organizations tackling similar community-based issues halfway across the country.

You start to rethink the idea of competition.

By nature, community foundations operate similar to a business – only instead of attracting and expanding a customer base, you’re focused on donors. So, it isn’t surprising that there is a sense of competition among community foundations for donor attention and dollars. But we are seeing some radically collaborative community foundations rethinking the idea of competition and viewing other community foundations as potential collaborators to create shared outcomes. As one example, we see the Silicon Valley Community Foundation trailblazing in this area, pulling together different community foundations as well as other types of organizations and individuals to achieve results.

With the magnitude and complexity of social issues facing our communities expanding and changing every day, collaborative community foundations may hold the key to making a major difference.

Leveraging Interest Groups to Communicate Your Mission and Vision

December 22, 2016 By Sonia Barnes-Moorhead

No money to get the word out on your nonprofit’s initiatives? No problem. Leverage your allies.

Consider that your stakeholders, that is, donors, clients, sponsors, board members, staff and volunteers that are involved with a nonprofit, become spokespeople for it simply by their association with the group. Making the most of their individual and collective voices is a smart and economical way for nonprofits to spread the word on who their organization is and what it’s doing.

Maximize messaging.

One way for a nonprofit to maximize its supporters’ potential impact is to encourage them to talk about and promote the organization and its efforts during their interactions with people outside of the charity, such as with family, friends and colleagues. Another means is to recruit available staff and volunteers to participate in opportunities on the organization’s behalf where their presence, and possibly voice, could heighten the nonprofit’s visibility, such as through business happenings and networking events, social media platforms, community outreach initiatives, awards programs and print, radio and televised media opportunities.

While it’s easy to see that the potential reach of a nonprofit’s supporters is far and wide, the organizations need to be sure that their supporters follow a defined direction in their outreach efforts or else the organization’s message could become lost, muddled or even distorted. For those reasons, nonprofits should provide their allies with a clear understanding of the organization’s key messages and talking points, so they’ll be able to effectively communicate the organization’s mission and initiatives to others when opportunities arise.

Remember, too, that while people involved with a nonprofit may be able to promote the organization in general terms, their message will be more effective if it’s aligned with a specific cause or initiative. Recently, for instance, one of Astor Services for Children & Families’ supporters used crowdfunding to alert others about a marathon she was running to benefit the organization. The initiative also was posted on social media and in the news media, helping her to surpass her goal by more than $1,000.

The idea is for organizations to start their outreach with a core group of stakeholders from which to branch outward, allowing the same message to be conveyed through many different means, in the hopes that it goes viral. After all, the more communities’ businesses and residents connect with a nonprofit, the more likely it is that they’ll take up the organization’s cause through financial contributions, volunteerism and other means.

Strive for balance.

At the same time, nonprofits should look for a balance in what is shared about them, how it’s communicated and how often. Social media, for instance, provides an easy way to communicate news in a readily accessible medium, but it can be overdone, causing people to bypass posts instead of reading and sharing them. Still, it can be difficult to know how much is too much. Data analytics on social media posts can be helpful in showing what’s been most effective in terms of opened, shared and commented news. Personal preferences can also help guide a nonprofit on what’s a suitable amount of news to share, including specific supporters’ feelings on what’s appropriate.

It’s also important to keep in mind that different demographic groups respond to news items and media outlets differently. That means it’s essential for nonprofits to know how to direct their messages to appropriate audiences, what the interests of that group are, and what they’d be likely to react to and read. It’s also key for nonprofits to know who, of their supporters, are the best people to deliver the organization’s news to each of their audiences. Some supporters, for instance, are happiest and most effective when they serve as ambassadors and help to fortify connections. Others may be more inclined to take the role of askers, where they ask probing questions of others, or serve as an advocate or advisor. Knowing what each ally’s comfort level and strength is can fortify a nonprofit’s position, as can being responsive to incoming interest in its cause.

Something else for nonprofits to think about is the general public’s knowledge of their cause. Autism, for instance, is a national issue that is so largely recognized that local nonprofits dedicated to the issue might find that minimal funds for their outreach efforts suffice. Other, lesser known groups that don’t have that kind of movement might need to dedicate more funds toward their effort to connect with others.

Adapt to changes.

By utilizing their allies’ reach, nonprofits can increase the span of their marketing efforts at a minimal cost, helping ensure that more of their money goes directly into their programs and services. For many, however, as their organization grows and expands its services, so will the pool of people it serves, necessitating a greater investment for its outreach programs to connect with target audiences. As always, it’s a matter of balance.

Big, small or no budget, effective outreach efforts require ongoing attention to successfully reflect the regular changes that a nonprofit and its communities experience. At Astor, we constantly go back to the data and hold up the mirror to see what’s working and what else we can do.

Back to the Basics: Getting Started in Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

October 19, 2016 By Shana Masterson

Do you feel like your organization has exhausted its fundraising opportunities? Does making your ever increasing budget feel like getting blood from a stone? Has your organization considered peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraising as a way to expand your donor pool and your bottom line? Read on for a P2P primer and how to get started in P2P!

At its core, P2P fundraising allows organizations to tap into their supporters’ networks of family, friends, and coworkers. Without P2P, an organization’s donations are generally limited to their existing constituency and those who they can reach through various marketing methods. Through P2P fundraising, organizations greatly expand their universe of donors, while empowering their supporters to contribute more to causes they are passionate about. Even better, your supporters make better fundraisers than your staff because their donation asks are more likely to result in a donation. Your organization needs to ask hundreds or perhaps even thousands of people for a donation before receiving a gift. However, through their authenticity and personal connection, your supporters are likely to generate a donation by asking a just handful of their contacts for their support.

P2P fundraising has existed in various forms for years. Did you know the Girl Scouts were selling cookies to support troop activities in the early 1900s? Though providing something in return, the Girl Scouts understood that their girls were their best advocates and could make the biggest impact on fundraising through P2P methods. Around 1970, CROP Hunger Walks organized by Church World Services, and WalkAmerica, the predecessor to the March of Dimes’ March for Babies really got things rolling for fundraising walks. Since then, other popular events have emerged centered mostly around walks, runs, and cycling events.

From the Pan Mass Challenge benefiting the Jimmy Fund at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, to the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk, to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training, many larger nonprofits turned to P2P fundraising to generate a significant amount of revenue. When online P2P fundraising was introduced in the late 1990s, popularity and revenue generated through these campaigns exploded. Today, with advanced social media tools and an increasingly peer-enabled world we live in, P2P fundraising is more important than ever! And it is not limited to larger organizations – organizations of all sizes and missions can get in on this lucrative fundraising venture!

What Types of Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Are There?

Though there are many different types of P2P Fundraising that exist today, below are the four most common types of campaigns for your nonprofit to consider.

Proprietary Organizational Events

These events are developed and executed by the organization, and are likely the ones you are more familiar with. Though these events tend to be runs, walks, or rides, like the aforementioned examples, you will also find other types of events such as bowling tournaments, dance marathons, and even jump rope events. These events are also touted as a way to spread awareness about the organization and the cause. As they tend to take place at yearly intervals, proprietary events can foster loyalty to the organization.

Third Party Events

Third party events take advantage of existing events, typically athletic or endurance types of events, to engage fundraisers. For example, nearly 175 different non-profits have participants run and raise money through the Chicago Marathon. The obvious advantage of this type of P2P fundraising is that the organization doesn’t have to put on the event itself. The disadvantage can sometimes be that the connection with the organization is not as strong, as runners may sign up with a non-profit to gain entry into the event. More work is needed to form a connection with the cause and the organization.

Do-It-Yourself

This type or P2P fundraising in facilitated by the nonprofit, while the actual planning of the personal campaign is handled by the fundraiser. For example, charity:water encourages their supporters to set up a fundraising page for their birthdays and ask for donations in lieu of gifts. This type of fundraising also includes memorial and tribute pages, dare campaigns (I’ll shave my head if you help me raise money), or events such as bake sales, athletic endeavors, or parties. This type of fundraising is limited only by your organization’s willingness to cede control and the creativity of your supporters.

Project-Based

This type of fundraising is gaining in popularity in other types of business and is very similar to crowdfunding. Crowdfunding is the practice of financing a particular project by raising small amounts of money from a large number of people. Movie producers crowdfund the making of their movies, entrepreneurs crowdfund business ventures, newlyweds crowdfund honeymoons. This is the next generation of P2P fundraising!

This type of fundraising has been limited to major donors in the past. For example, when financing the construction of a new building, large donors are sought out for naming opportunities and sponsorships. In this model, P2P fundraisers are recruited to help raise a certain amount of money for a particular project in a certain amount of time. Like do-it-yourself, there is no event for the organization to produce, and it has the benefit of allowing supporters and donors to be very involved and excited about financing a project. This could apply to funding a certain type of research, feeding a certain amount of people during the holidays, providing shelter to fire victims, and so much more!

Is Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Right for Us?

Though exciting, P2P fundraising is not a fit for every organization for a variety of reasons. Before you get started it is wise to do a self-assessment and some evaluation.

Resources

Every nonprofit is looking for the silver bullet of fundraising, but we all know there usually isn’t one. Like anything else, raising money takes time, effort, and budget. Before starting off, ask yourself these questions.

Do we have staff available to dedicate to these efforts? There should generally be someone or a team who is ultimately accountable for generating revenue through this campaign. This is typically a fundraiser, not a member of the marketing or IT team, though those functional areas will also be critical to setting up the campaign. If your organization is smaller, is everyone’s plate already overflowing?

Do we have budget to invest in a new campaign? There is a lot more involved than just setting up a website and letting your supporters go to it. Costs for marketing, event costs, and supporter resources are just a few things to consider.

Research

Looking around the industry and your own organizational niche can shed some important light on what the market will bear when it comes to introducing a new campaign.

Take a look inside: Does your organization already have a P2P campaign? Have you ever tried one before? If so, how did it go? The past is not always the best predictor of the future, but it can provide hints on what went well and what did not, providing you with ammunition to improve upon existing or prior campaigns.

What is working in the industry: As you evaluate different types of P2P campaign, talk to others who have been involved in managing these campaigns. What are the primary pros and cons from their point of view? What would they do differently? Observe their campaigns online and in-person and look for insights that can help you. Remember, there is no better form of flattery than “borrowing” techniques that are working well for others!

What is working in your local area or with your direct competitors: Can your immediate market sustain a new fundraising effort? Are there other programs like yours that already exist? If so, what spin could you put on a new campaign that will set it apart from the competition?

Expectations

Internal and external expectations can go in several different directions, but here are the two most common, but very opposite, possibilities.

No buy-in: You are very excited by the prospect of starting a P2P campaign, but you are having difficulty finding any other champions within your organization. Starting a new campaign of this magnitude takes commitment throughout the entire organization. Continue to build your case until you have solid buy-in, particularly from senior management.

Unrealistic expectations: Your board chair saw the success of the Ice Bucket Challenge or some other P2P campaign and believes that you too can bring in a windfall with very little effort or investment. This kind of attitude is setting you up for failure. As noted above, adequate resources and staff time must be dedicated to a campaign like this – and not just at the beginning. An ongoing commitment and the realization that most “overnight successes” are actually years in the making.

Get Started!

Peer-to-peer fundraising is one of the most rewarding experiences for both participants and staff alike. If you’ve done your homework and are ready to take the plunge, you will not regret your decision!

To see how your existing event stacks up against similar P2P campaigns, or to see what may be possible for a new one, be sure to check out the recently released Peer-to-Peer Benchmark Study from Blackbaud!

4 Ways to Get Corporate Sponsors and Donations for your Next Fundraising Event

May 19, 2016 By Adam Weinger

Let’s face it. Fundraising events are tough to pull off. Even if you have a comprehensive plan in place, a strong team of staff members and volunteers, and a great speaker lineup, things can always go wrong.

This isn’t meant to discourage you from hosting fundraising events. On the contrary, it’s supposed to serve as an inspiration for your organization!

While there is no shortage of fundraising advice out there, this article will mainly focus on securing corporate sponsorships and donations from local businesses.

Companies are nearly always looking for ways to be more philanthropic. Your nonprofit can be the recipient of their goodwill if you simply reach out before you host your next big fundraising event.

Read ahead for the four main ways your nonprofit can obtain corporate sponsors and donations for your next fundraising event.

If you’re looking for general advice on asking for donations from businesses, check out this article!

1. Research well in advance.

If your nonprofit wants to successfully ask for and receive donations from companies, you have to determine which companies you can realistically receive contributions from.

To do this, create a general list of companies that you already have relationships with. These could include:

Vendors that you buy office supplies from.
Companies that match the contributions of your donors.
Local businesses with well-known owners or executives (some of these people might be board members of your organization!).
And more!

This step is crucial if you want to successfully obtain corporate sponsors and donations for your fundraising event. You’re likely already conducting prospect screenings on your donor pool. Why not employ a similar strategy when asking for donations from local companies and businesses?

They say that past giving is the greatest indicator of future giving, and that principle holds up when applied to companies. Find out which businesses are already philanthropically minded and ask for donations and sponsorships from them first.

2. Remind companies of what you can offer them.

While many companies are more than willing to show their support for your cause with their sponsorships and donations, most of them are going to want something in return. In her article, “Corporate Sponsorships Are Not About Doing Good — Or Are They?” Nancy Page states that,

“Indeed, since from the corporation’s point of view these relationships are transactions, the expectation is that benefits will go both ways. The sponsor receives exposure to its desired audiences and shares a charitable glow, while the nonprofit receives money or supplies to support its projects.”

Before a company decides to commit to being a corporate sponsor at your fundraising event, you have to convince them that it will also be worth their while.

In order to do this, your meetings with company executives should address several questions, including:

How will the short-term event and the long-term sponsorship meet the company’s objections and vision?
Are their different levels of support and what do companies receive at each one?
How long will the sponsorship last (i.e., just for the duration of the event? A year? Indefinitely?)
What types of donors will be exposed to the sponsorship?

Naturally, you should be prepared to answer other questions that companies might have. Forming a corporate partnership or acquiring a corporate sponsor isn’t something that should be entered into lightly. Your fundraising team should be prepared to answer these questions to the best of your ability.

3. Remind companies of the different ways they can give.

If, during the course of your meetings with companies, you realize that they might be on the fence about donating a major gift or sponsoring your fundraising event, try shifting gears and remind them of the different ways that they can contribute to your cause.

Some of these ways include:

Offering products for your event.
Matching the donations of employees that give to your nonprofit during the fundraising event.
Contributing manpower and volunteers.
Donating items to sell during an auction (when applicable).
And more!

Companies might be more willing to start out with one of these contributions rather than jumping straight into a sponsorship or major donation. Remind them that there are other ways to give back!

4. Add corporate executives to your guest list.

If you didn’t land the sponsorship that you wanted or were unable to secure a donation from a local business, don’t fret. There are still ways you can ask for donations and expand your fundraising efforts to the corporate world.

How? By inviting corporate executives and business leaders to your fundraising events!

Sometimes, a CEO or business owner might want to see evidence of how your nonprofit is spending existing donations. They also might want to directly interact with other donors or your nonprofit’s staff.

And who could blame them, really? If their company is planning to donate a significant amount of money or partnering with your organization, they’ll probably want to know that their donations and sponsorship will be money, time, and effort well spent.

Make sure that your invitation is personalized and signed by a board member or leader in your organization. You don’t want to send out a cookie cutter invitation!

Once your guests arrive at your fundraising event, make sure that you introduce them to various staff members that can effectively answer their questions and show them evidence of how donations are typically used.

By inviting corporate executives and business leaders to your fundraiser, you’ll be able to raise more money during the event itself and in the future as well!

As stated in the introduction of this article, fundraising events are no easy task. They require money, time, a dedicated staff, and lots of patience and planning.

But you might be able to take some of the stress away by asking for corporate sponsorships and donations for your next fundraising event. Whether you’re hosting a silent auction for your church or throwing the annual gala for your cultural organization, corporate sponsors and donations are a great additional source of fundraising revenue!