Non profits have a lot to worry about! For starters, many of them are
on a shoestring budget with mammoth goals to achieve. With a long to-do
list, one of the first and most difficult challenges all non profits
face is getting people to volunteer and help out with fundraising.
Today, convincing someone to do something without any reward, in kind or
cash, is a huge issue. I guess that’s what they mean when they say
“there are no free lunches anymore?”
When people think of volunteering or philanthropy in general, I
suppose their first instinct is to hold on to their wallets. I suppose
the common notion is that charitable giving is for those who have spare
cash or for the incredibly rich and famous who can donate hundreds and
millions of dollars at fundraisers. Obviously, such a mind-set is tough
to overcome. Very little, do people stop and think that the world has
billions people, while hundreds of millions of people that can afford to
give maybe $10, $30 or $50 more frequently and that there are less
people out there who can afford to contribute huge amounts of money to
fundraisers.
Today, hopefully that challenge of getting people to work with your
charity is a lot easier with fundraising online. Using the internet is
definitely the most efficient way of getting your message across to a
wide network of people, informing them of your cause and encouraging
them to participate in your fundraiser. It can be tempting for non
profits to work with just about any one who rolls through the door but
it is important to make a distinction between those who are interested
in the cause and passionate about making a difference in society versus
those who just want something to put on their resume. This might seem
like a ‘for profit’ approach, but really, if you think about it, for a
non profit to be successful in their fundraising and overall goals, you
need to hire people just like a for profit firm would. You want people
with easily transferable skills, bring new fundraising ideas to the
table and manage fundraisers with little or no supervision!
Usually, if a charity or a cause is able to tie up with a
corporation, their volunteer problems are solved. Corporates like to
encourage their employees to do some “time” and employees get to use it
as work hours. Occasionally, you’re able to gather a group of people who
are regular volunteers and from a for profit background who can then
contribute some great fundraising ideas that can be very useful to the
cause. To top it off, both the company and the employee get a tax break
when a donation is made by the employee and matched the company!
There are great online fundraising tools available today that can be
managed with ease and need very little prior experience or training.
Today’s lifestyle has made it such that everyone shops online, so nobody
is uncomfortable with using their credit cards on the web. Time is
scarce and it’s an online world out there, so non profits should
definitely keep this in mind and explore the gamut of online fundraising
tools available to them!
Taking the time and effort to get savvy with fundraising online is
definitely a good investment; it will solve your problem of looking for
volunteers to approach people for donations, you can send out hundreds
and thousands of outreach emails at a time and build your donor base,
and you can host multiple fundraisers at the same time. So be sure to
check out all options available online quickly so you don’t miss out on
achieving your goals and doing good in the community due to lack of
volunteers and participation!
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