Fundraising for Small Groups Newsletter

I offer how-to hands-on fundraising information to help you and your nonprofit group.

Planned Giving - Four Reasons Why Small Nonprofits Should Seek Bequests by Jane Ford

During a fundraising committee meeting, a new member asked the question "How much money did we receive last year from bequests or other forms of planned giving?" This question generated a lively discussion because this small nonprofit had never received money from any form of planned giving.

Board members had talked about it but the general thinking was that planned giving was too complicated and costly for a small nonprofit to manage and so they never pursued it. If this is the stance of your nonprofit, share with them the following reasons why all nonprofits should do some sort of planned giving program beginning with simple bequests.

Nonprofits receive enormous sums of money from bequests.

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Why Your Group Should Be Exploring Web 2.0 by the AFRDS

Like many PTA and PTO leaders these days, Kathryn O’Dekirk is trying to figure out how to deal with a tight budget. Mrs. O’Dekirk, president of an elementary school PTA in Willow Springs, NC, says her group missed its fall fundraising goal by about $4,000. Reluctant to cut any programs for the students, she turned to the social networking website Facebook to reach out to parents for tips and suggestions on how to bridge the gap.

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Is Your Fundraising Event Raising Enough Dough - For the Effort? by Barbara Talisman

Evaluating special events should be an ongoing process, in this economy even more so. Can donors support a special event? Is it an appropriate event for the community now? What can replace the income? More importantly if the event is raising less than $25,000 in any economy, should it continue?

The simple answer to the $25,000 question is, no. Think about the time and effort it takes to have a special event. Is that the best use of staff and volunteer time to net $25,000? There are alternatives.

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How to Overcome Barriers in Recruiting More Volunteers to Your Organization by Ian Crawford

Now I'm sure that you would like some strategies on increasing volunteer numbers as soon as possible. Well here we go. Let's do this by investigating some of the trends that are impacting on whether volunteers want to be involved in your organization and more importantly how can you respond to these trends to better recruit and retain volunteers.

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Raffle Ideas for Fundraising by Kimberly Reynolds

People enjoy getting a chance to win something, so here are a some easy fundraiser raffle ideas to boost your fundraising efforts. Your raffle can be an inexpensive ticket for a prize drawing or a $100 ticket for a big prize such as a big screen television or a new car.

The basics of a raffle fundraiser are quite simple. Your costs are limited to the ticket expense and purchasing the prizes. Often times, local merchants will donate items or offer special discounts to nonprofits or school groups.

As with any fundraiser, the better the items offered, the more funds you raise. Your fundraising raffle can be of short duration or have tickets for sale for a month or more.

It all depends on how much you are trying to raise and what type of raffle you conduct.

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Fundraisers - What to Do If Your Website Isn't Generating Enough Donations by Marte Cliff

You won't get donations unless you have visitors, so if you're not getting much traffic right now, the first step is to get your donors in the habit of visiting the site. Begin by asking yourself this question: "Are we giving them a good reason to stop by often?"

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