Monday, May 7, 2012

Charity Fundraising Ideas to Raise Money for Charity

Ideas for charity fundraising come in many different shapes and sizes. At times, raising a sufficient amount of money is necessary for the organization to survive. Not only can coming up with effective charity fundraisers that help you raise the needed money but also to make the case for your cause.

There are many charity fundraising ideas that have proven to be effective, but the best charity fundraisers usually come about when you think out of the box. Even if it is not possible for you to come up with a completely new charity fundraiser, you should at least think about tweaking or changing an existing one in order to add some more value.

One of the best ways to begin is by evaluating your cause and then having an intensive discussion session about it. While the cause should be the main focus, it is important that you allow your imaginations to run wild. Often, you will be surprised at what you can come up with. Remember that even wacky and wild ideas can prove to be effective if you have the right people to make them work. At the end of the day, if you are determined about the cause, it will be reflected in all of your charity’s efforts. The following are some great charity fundraising ideas to help you:

Direct mail request: This is where charity fundraising material is mailed to supporters, residents, businesses, potential constituency and so on. Mailings can range from simple brochures to multi-page, elaborately crafted letters highlighting the organization’s objectives. Yet, they can be quite expensive without big gains in support.

Personalized emails: Just like direct mail, an email is sent to supporters and potential contributors. The most appealing messages are the ones that explain the requirement, offer an effective solution while motivating the readers to take immediate action.

When using direct mailing or emailing for charity fundraising, you should avoid sending out generic, unsolicited messages to large number of strangers (spamming).

Event sponsorship: This type of charity fundraiser involves raising money by sponsoring an event or a part of it. As a sponsor, your name will be mentioned prominently in event literature, plus you will get signage rights and several other types of recognition.  This can also be quite expensive.

Building a network of voluntary supporters: This is another effective way of charity fundraising, which is seen often in campaigns such as public television and animal rights movements. What it usually involves is a fundamental rallying point with some sort of emotional association. Utilize Facebook to rally supporters for your cause too!

Seeking grants: This usually involves writing an application and sending it for the decision-maker’s approval. Grants may come from charitable foundations, groups, businesses or government agencies. In most cases, grants are tied with clearly defined spending such as grants for new computers for an organization.

Charity Fundraising Online: Charity fundraising via your website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, and other web channels can help you minimize your time allocated to your charity fundraiser, while raising more money, more effectively, and allow you to concentrate more on running and growing your cause to help others.

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