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donor centered fund raising
In many cases, volunteers can raise plants on their own or get plants donated from gardening centers or other peoples gardens. Targeting Donors - part 1 Of course, you want to reach all the donors you can. In some cases, they may write to you again during tax season for another slip.

average gift size
If you decide to use fundraising software, shop around for a company who has created software for non-profits with needs similar to yours. Movie nights: Whether you decide to organize a drive-in or get your local movie theater to offer your group a night showing, movie nights are very popular, especially if you can offer inexpensive admission. It is perfectly ok to use a casual salutation such as hello, Also, the body text of online notes and messages tends to be shorter.

Fundraising Ideas: Finding the Best Ones for Your Non-Profit - part 4

Fundraising Company Sales: There are businesses that exist solely to make money through fundraising. They get non-profit groups to sell products and then offer a part of the proceeds to the business. The fundraising sales company offers the products to be sold, the catalogues and in some cases sales training. The non-profit supplies the labor of selling and the footwork. Both parties get some of the money. The advantages of this type of fundraising are that the companies often provide most of what you need to fundraise. The products are often professionally made and so of a quality that may appeal to buyers.

On the down side, you do have to give some of the money you earn to the company in many cases. Sometimes, initial start up costs or the costs of paying for unsold items are quite high, as these businesses vary in quality and trustworthiness. If you decided to follow this route in advertising, be sure to carefully investigate any company you work with. There are many items that companies offer to you to sell, including:

Chocolates, cookies, donuts, or other foods

Paper products (stationary, wrapping paper)

Gift items

Crafts

Pet supplies (leashes, bowls, sweaters)

Art supplies

Learning Tools (flash cards, etc.)

Magnets

Candles

Books

Posters

Cosmetics

T-shirts or other items of clothing

Buttons or stickers

Toys, games, or puzzles

Door to door appeal: Some non-profits ask for donations through a door to door appeal for funds. The idea is that donors are less likely to say no when asked in person. If you decide to go this route, be aware that this method is time consuming and likely to result in plenty of no responses anyway - many people find that door to door sales people and requests are intrusive and some people will not even answer their doors if they see someone unfamiliar on their step.

In todays world, it is also important to keep your volunteers safe by having them travel in groups. This method of fundraising often works best in smaller communities and for groups trying to raise money for a very specific and very local cause (such as trying to save the local park).

Direct Mail: Many non-profits send direct mail campaigns asking for money. These are essentially letters that explain why money is needed and tell potential donors how they can contribute. In some cases, these letters are very fancy, offering free stickers or desk calendars to donors and offering photos and touching stories to convince donors of the importance of the cause.

The problem with direct mail is that it can be a costly fundraising venture. You will need to design the letter or have it designed by a marketing firm. Printers will need to replicate the letter and you will need to include self-addressed stamped envelopes in order to make it easier for donors to respond. The post office will give you a discount on mass mailings if you are a non-profit, but you may still have to pay a lot, only to find that many potential donors discard your mailings as junk mail.

Direct mail can work, but it has to have a very compelling theme and contain a very well-written letter to elicit a large response. In general, larger non-profits with professional marketing services (Easter Seals, the SPCA, United Way) do well with direct mail. It is a rather ambitious for a smaller non-profit group.

Donation boxes: Donation boxes can be set up at store counters. In most cases, these are clear plastic boxes with your non-profit groups name and mission printed on them. The idea is that store patrons can put extra change in the boxes if they like to. In most cases, these donation boxes fill up very slowly but they are also inexpensive to set up and as long as you can convince a few store owners to keep your box next to the cash you can make some small extra fundraising money each month. You cant really rely on these boxes for all your fundraising needs, but they can supplement the donations you get from others methods.

Group cooperation: Many non-profits have found that they can get great fundraising results if they can cooperate with other groups. For example, if schools and churches are willing to fundraise on your behalf, you will be able to get more money through their efforts since these groups contain many people. Approaching other groups to help in fundraising efforts takes time and effort, but the results are often worth it.

Services for hire: Rather than selling products, some non-profits find that they benefit by offering services. Usually all that is needed are some volunteers willing to work for free. Donors need to be approached in order to be asked whether they would like a shoeshine, or whatever your group is offering.

In general, the cost of the service should be free and you should note that the money is going for a non-profit cause. This type of fundraising is often effective for a shorter-term project rather than for regular funds. Among some of the services that your group can offer for a fee are the following:

Shoeshine services

Portrait sketching of passers by (tourists sometimes like to buy pictures of themselves in a particular spot)

Car wash

Dog walking services

Grocery carrying services (you will need to ask for permission from a store to do this)

Yard work or general handy work

Boat rides or horse drawn carriage tours

Grants: Every non-profit group should seek out government grants and grants from philanthropic organizations. Look in your local library to find directories of grants offered and write away for applications for the grants.

Applying is often time consuming (and you will want to be sure to take the time to do a good job on applications) but it is well worth the effort. In some cases, you will be able to get steady money for your group through grants, so be sure to apply for all the money sources from governments and agencies that you can.

Telethons: These television events are broadcast for a few hours, during which time donors are encouraged to call in and make donations. Usually, larger non-profits use this method because you need the participation of a television station and a call center to do this (which can be expensive).

However, if you have these resources (as well as a celebrity who can help you host the telethon), telethons are a good way to raise larger sums of money.

Telemarketing: Telemarketing means that you call people at their homes in order to ask them to donate money to your non-profit. In order to do this successfully, you need to be able to take credit card payments and you need to purchase a marketing list (a list from a marketing company that lists people who have donated to similar causes in the past).

You will either need volunteers to make the actual calls or rely on a call center to make the calls for you (at a price). Although telemarketing can be effective, many would-be donors find this method intrusive and will often have a negative response. In most cases, talented callers make the difference between a successful telemarketing campaign and a failed one.

E-mail campaigns: Some groups have tried fundraising through e-mail. It is an appealing idea as email is very cheap and it is possible to send many emails making many appeals. However, this form of fundraising is still quite new and many people dislike unsolicited email (which is called spam) and never read it, especially as it is often carries computer viruses.