Fundraising
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Fundraising Basics
Fundraising means collecting money for charities / non-profit organisations.
Examples of work carried out by charities / non-profit organisations: disaster response; education for the disadvantaged; medical aid; poverty relief; protection of human rights.
The vast majority of the money that charities / non-profit organisations need is obtained through fundraising.
To successfully fundraise, all you need is enthusiasm and a good cause.
The most common methods of fundraising: hosting events; providing services; selling products; sponsored activities.
Decide what method of fundraising best suits your abilities; some people are great at particular methods and poor at others.
Select a method of fundraising because it will make money, not solely because it's fun; though try to find a balance between the two.
Fundraiser Organization
Plan your whole fundraising strategy at the start; don't make it up as you go along.
Think of fundraising as running a small business.
The most common mistakes made when fundraising are a lack of planning and poor organisation.
Write down everything related to your fundraising: names; places; dates; times; contact details; figures.
Determine the total amount you want / need to raise; make this a realistic amount so as to not dishearten yourself or other volunteers.
Set short term financial goals / milestones to keep yourself focused and motivated.
Set yourself a deadline for achieving your fundraising target; this could be anything from a month to a year.
Create a budget and write down all the costs that you may incur (advertising, prizes, products, travel etc.).
Choose a venue / location: home; work; school; shopping mall; park; festival; sports event.
Before selecting dates to fundraise, check if they coincide with any holiday / vacation periods and what else is going on in the local area at those times.
Leave yourself enough time to promote your fundraising efforts; for sales / services, this should be at least 2 weeks, and for ticketed events, this should be at least a month.
Your promotional material should state: who is organising the fundraiser; why you’re raising funds; what kind of fundraiser it is; where it’s being held; when it is; how people can support you or participate.
Ways to promote your fundraiser: bulletin boards; emails; flyers; local newspapers / radio; newsletters; posters, roadside signs.
Copywriting and graphic design can be difficult; if you need help with promotional materials then ask for it.
Set-up a computer spreadsheet to keep track of how much money you’ve raised.
Set-up a website or blog to communicate with both volunteers and the public; include goals, news, frequently asked questions etc.
Send emails to everyone in your address book to let them know about your fundraising efforts; ask volunteers to do the same.
Approach local businesses and ask them to support you (cash, products or services) in return for you putting their logo / details on your promotional material.
Ask local businesses to donate products or services for you to auction off; in return, promise to mention their name at the time of auction.
Approach local shops and ask if you can put up posters in their windows and put flyers on their checkout counters.
Ask your employer to match however much money you raise; many companies are willing to do so.
Don't approach people in their homes; instead promote / recruit / sell in public places.
Don't expect people to give you money without you giving them something, however small, in return.
Fun is part of fundraising; the more volunteers and the public smile and laugh, the more money you’ll raise.
Selling fundraising products at fundraising events maximizes the amount of money you can raise.
Talk to people in your local area who have fundraised before; they’ll be able to advise you on the best methods, locations and times of year to raise money.
Be prepared to review and make changes to your fundraising strategy if things aren't going as planned.
Volunteers
It’s highly likely that the more volunteers you have, the more you’ll raise.
Useful volunteer attributes: enthusiasm; organisation; teamwork.
Don’t wait for volunteers to come to you, actively recruit them.
Volunteers need to know about fundraising as early as possible; the more notice you give, the more likely their participation.
Be clear with people as to what you’re asking them to do and for how long they’ll be doing it; doing so makes them more willing to volunteer.
To recruit volunteers for fundraising, first ask your family, friends and work colleagues, and then put posters on bulletin boards (schools, libraries etc.) and adverts in local newspapers.
If children are involved in your fundraising activities, make sure their parents are aware of what their children will be doing and that they have your contact details.
Lead by example; let your enthusiasm and optimism inspire others.
Delegate tasks and responsibilities to other people; make them feel important but don’t overburden them.
Let volunteers choose what they want to do; don't assign them a task or responsibility without first asking them about it.
Rotate tasks and responsibilities amongst volunteers to give everyone a fair chance and prevent people getting bored.
Try to make volunteer activities group-oriented; some people fundraise for the social aspect as well as the monetary one.
Set individual goals for volunteers and reward hard workers with prizes.
Continuously encourage and support volunteers; acknowledge even the smallest successes.
Hold committee meetings at regular intervals to get feedback and to discuss new ideas.
Thank all volunteers at the end of a fundraising project; the more appreciated they feel, the more likely they are to volunteer again in the future.
Fundraising Events
Ask local artists and art students to donate a piece of their work, and then create an art exhibition before auctioning everything off.
Invite all the dancing classes and clubs in your local area to attend a ballroom / line / salsa dancing party.
Set-up a bar games tournament (cards, darts, pool etc.) and charge players to enter.
Hold a bingo event with donated prizes for the winners; charge per game and for snacks.
Invite people to donate books that they’ve finished with and sell them at a book sale.
Bake cakes and sell them at a cake sale.
Ask musically talented volunteers to play in a concert and sell tickets for it.
Find people to participate in a cycling / running / swimming race; charge people for entry, give the winner a donated prize.
Use a hall, field or car park to host a fair; incorporate a variety of games (apple bobbing, coconut shy, ring toss etc.) and stalls (selling arts and crafts, books, cakes etc.).
Ask local clothes shops to donate clothing for a fashion show and then auction it off afterwards.
Ask a local bar to donate a room for free and then hold a karaoke night.
Hold a murder mystery night; asking members of local amateur dramatics / drama groups to help out.
Find some particularly hairy volunteers (heads, beards, chests, backs or legs) and get people to sponsor them for a public shaving.
Find some single people and host a speed dating evening.
Arrange a sport matchs between two ‘rival’ groups (teachers v students, bosses v employees, police v fire service etc.) and charge people to watch.
Sell tickets for a themed dinner / party; popular variations include 70s, Indian and James Bond.
Organise a treasure hunt; people pay for entry and the first team to finish wins a prize.
Run a quiz night and charge people for entry and snacks.
Find volunteers with fun / weird / wacky talents and put them in a variety show; sell tickets beforehand and snacks on the night.
Selling / Services / Misc.
Make calendars, greetings cards, jewellery, picture frames etc. and then sell them on an arts and crafts stall.
Selling candy bars and boxed chocolates is an easy way to fundraise because everyone loves chocolate.
Charge people a small fee to go to work or school in casual clothes for a day.
Cookies are a popular fundraising product because they can be sold throughout the year and are bought as holiday gifts.
Offer gardening services (mowing lawns, cutting hedges, pulling weeds etc.) to people in your neighbourhood.
Set-up a joke stall and ask people to pay you if you can make them laugh.
Selling lollipops is a simple fundraiser that can easily be integrated into fundraising events.
Offer to look after groups of children for an afternoon at a time; play games and run fun activities.
Offer to pick-up litter or clean a public space (park, playground, beach etc.).
Popcorn is a healthy fundraising product that appeals to everyone.
Set-up a stall and offer to put make-up on people and teach them about beauty products.
Ask businesses and volunteers to donate prizes and hold a raffle.
Ask people to promise to do something for someone else (babysitting, mow their lawn, cooking etc.) then hold an auction selling promises to other people.
Ask people to donate as many of the smallest denomination of your currency as they have; everyone has piles of them lying around at home.
Charge people to throw pies / wet sponges at authority figures (principals, teachers, bosses etc.)
Wash cars, or just car windscreens, at parking lots or road junctions.
Charities To Fundraise For
There are thousands of charities / non-profit organisations that need your help; international ones receive the most publicity but don't forget about local causes too.
Amnesty International: Prevent abuses of human rights and demand justice for those whose rights have been violated.
AVERT: Prevent new AIDS / HIV infections and help those already affected.
Doctors Without Borders: Provide urgent medical care to victims of war and disaster.
Greenpeace: Campaign for peace and environmental / wildlife protection.
Make Poverty History: Increase awareness of poverty and pressure governments to relieve third world countries of debt.
Mercy Corps: Work with communities who are recovering from disaster or conflict to alleviate suffering and poverty.
Oxfam: Seek solutions to poverty and work with people affected by humanitarian disasters.
Red Cross: Provide humanitarian care to victims of war and aid to victims of natural disasters.
Save The Children: Improve the lives of children around the world by providing education, health care and economic opportunities.
Sight Savers: Provide treatment for preventable blindness and offer assistance to those who are irreversibly blind.
Smile Train: Provide free surgery to people born with cleft lip or cleft palate.
Unicef: Protect children from violence, exploitation and abuse.
War Child: Help children affected by war to rebuild their lives.
WCRF: Dedicated to the prevention and control of cancer.
World Vision: Provide clean water, food supplies and health care to the world’s poorest children.
Links
www.fundraiserinsight.org : Articles on fundraising. Suggestions for products and events.
www.fundraisingideas.com : Fundraising product reviews. Tips and advice.
www.fundraiserhelp.com : Fundraising event ideas. How to plan. Publicity.