A couple of weeks ago I went to my niece’s birthday party and had an
interesting conversation with her grandfather. He was planning on
attending a Crab Feed that I was organizing at our church and we were
discussing the amount of money that came in last year verses the amount
of guests who attended. He thought the giving rather low and I thought
it was adequate for the level of guests that attended. In
non-profit fundraising, different causes attract a certain group of people and you have to meet them where they’re at.
So far on my resume I’ve been a teacher then I entered the nonprofit
world working at a homeless shelter, church and symphony. I’ve learned
that in each of these fields, fundraising and the donors they attract
are just as vast as the categories themselves.
Education Fundraising
Education fundraising attracts generous grandparents and family
members who are usually hit up once or twice a year with jog-a-thon
sponsorships, cookie dough sales and catalogs with overpriced candles
and wrapping paper. These fundraisers tend to be fairly successful as
prizes of cheap toys and gadgets are dangled before the eyes of sticky
fingered, wide-eyed children; and what doting grandma or uncle can say
“no” to little Susie when she says “Would you like to buy something to
help my school?” (Currently I’ve consumed three out of five Girl Scout
cookie boxes in two weeks with this approach and have two tubs of cookie
dough from another niece stocked in my freezer… too bad the treats
don’t come with “sucker” stickers for my forehead.)
Now I’m not saying to toss these ideas away, but my sister came up
with a great idea to avoid overpaying for unwanted clutter and calories:
she asks what percentage of the item actually goes to the school and
then she gives a certain amount to compensate. For example, my niece
sells wreaths to go to winter camp every year. It costs about $25 for a
small wreath but regardless of the size, $5 goes into her account. I’d
rather give her $10 and forego tossing the wreath in the trash when it
dies. With Fundly she could even start her own website, e-mail friends
and family members with her sales pitch and then give them the option to
help with a purchase or direct donation.
School fundraisers
are a great way for students to compete for and earn what their school
needs, but a Fundly site would also be an ideal way to earn dollars year
round. It would be perfect for a library building program, acquiring
new playground equipment or buying updated textbooks. Friends and family
members could get a letter or e-mail from the student and when they log
on, they can see how close the school is to approaching their goal. No
extra calories, no overpriced clutter, no juggling checks and cash in
flimsy envelopes and all the money goes to the cause and not unwanted
products.
Humanitarian Fundraising
This is one of my personal favorite areas of fundraising: homeless
shelters, food banks and recovery programs. With the economy in its
current state, more and more people are reaching out for help and the
generosity of our communities is incredible as they are stepping up to
help their fellow man. Sometimes I think that this is also one of the
easier areas of fundraising because of the compassion factor: who isn’t
moved by a picture of a family huddled in the cold or a before and after
picture of a man caught in the grips of despair then miraculously
transformed into finding hope and a future?
When I worked at a shelter, I had the privilege of being the Special
Events Coordinator and I organized golf tournaments, annual banquets,
Christmas gift giveaways and school supply drives. While most of our
funding came through monthly direct mail campaigns, the connection with
the volunteers and banquet guests kept the dollars rolling in. Currently
they are incorporating more online fundraising options such as evites,
e-mail campaigns and e-newsletters. I remember the budget for thousands
of mailers was outrageous and I can’t imagine the savings that the
internet is bringing. (However, I must also add that about 20% of the
donors were elderly who prefer the traditional mailers and return
envelopes. Compartmentalize your donors and focus on what works for each
age group and giving level.)
Church Fundraisers
I’ve been at the same church since I was 13 years old and in those 23
years since, I think I’ve helped out and participated in just about
every type of ministry with events ranging from car washes to banquets
to craft fairs to building programs. From the perspectives of a child,
teen, adult and parent, I’ve seen more than my share of fundraising
opportunities.
Now with the church going crowd, there’s an easy side and a difficult
side to garnering funds. First of all, there are moral and spiritual
obligations to give… that’s the “easy” part. The difficult part is that
these donors are already contributing and in a church environment they
are continually asked to give more: the opportunities include tithing,
missions, maybe a building program or special family in need. Then there
are outside ministries such as crisis centers, inner city outreaches or
clothing drives that tap into the same church-going crowd. (Now this is
where this post started: the grandfather I was talking to couldn’t
comprehend why people weren’t being more generous. My argument was that
the guests that were attending our event were already generous and this
was just an additional cause to support.)
In churches, I think that social media is a greatly underused
resource. The church is already an established community and Facebook is
just a visual extension of that family. When I opened my Facebook
account, within two weeks I had 86 friends and 90% are from church!
So far I’ve started
fundraising websites
for a golf tournament and have two pending with a recovery ministry and
outreach to veterans. Fundly is great for these projects because while
the funding will be funneled through the church, each ministry can have
its separate site to post future events, how close they are to their
financial goals and they can share their mission with the friends on
Facebook. Also, the cost is minimal so the funds go directly to the task
at hand with little to no time, man power and effort invested.
Fundraising for the Arts
When I started working at a symphony, the dichotomy of fundraising
really hit me. I was used to the homeless shelter food donations,
creating something out of nothing and an entirely different clientele.
Then at this creative office an expanse of Juilliard graduates,
prodigies, business moguls and wealthy retired philanthropists paraded
through the doors. I worked in the development department and helped
with events such as food and wine tastings, concerts in private homes
and an annual grand ball. Just as the causes had completely different
goals, so did the donors who contributed.
While many of these supporters aided both the arts and humanitarian
causes, the acknowledgement and expectations that they required from the
nonprofits they contributed to were entirely different. The motivation
seemed to range between moral obligations to social prestige.
Petitioning for funds also required a new thought process: to attract
the wealthier donors’ attention, it took a refined touch of wining and
dining accompanied by bells and whistles. They had seen it all and heard
it all and usually earned their money through fine business acumen; if
anything less was presented, the ask was left on the table.
While relationships are the basis for any size gift, the bigger asks
and more powerful donors require more in depth one-on-one attention and
nurturing. However, incorporating social media is a great way to open
the door to any donor. Showing a sample artists’ work, advertising
events and ticket sales and petitioning funds for future projects are
all perfect things to display on a
fundraising page. By using Fundly, donors can also have their giving posted on Facebook to encourage their friends to join their efforts.
With every cause there are a variety of donors that come with it.
Furthermore, within your donors it is important to categorize giving
levels, the most effective ways of communication and the best angles to
get them involved. From direct mail campaigns to online giving, the most
valuable way to reach your donors is by knowing who they are.
Social media continues to become a huge portion of marketing, volunteer coordinating, non-profit fundraising, and research for any charity, so it only makes sense to have your staff well trained concerning this useful marketing tool.
There are a few truths that are undeniable in the philanthropic
world: First of all, you cannot run a nonprofit without fundraising.
Second only to a heart of compassion, money is the catalyst that drives a
charitable organization to accomplish social good. Next, if you always
do what you always did, you’re always going to get what you’ve always
got. 
