Fundraising for Small Groups Newsletter

Nonprofits' Most Missed Marketing Tool - Email Signatures by Nancy Schwartz

Email signatures (a.k.a. sig lines) are powerful, low-cost, high-return marketing tools (a virtual business card or ad) for your foundation or organization. What's interesting is how seldom sig lines are used.

Consider this: If your organization has 30 employees, each of whom sends 15 emails daily outside the organization, then (assuming 250 business days) that's 112,500 business cards or ads distributed annually, at no cost. If you have 100 employees, that's 375,000 cards or ads annually.

Click to continue

Use Regular Events to Increase Your Nonprofits Visibility by Gregory Burrus

To help clarify the purpose of your nonprofits mission and to elicit maximum support, membership should understand that every meeting or event that occurs in front of the public is important. Simply put it is a chance to get the word out and build support for your nonprofit's causes. To help with that thinking, here are 12 reasons to always make the most of each event.

Click to continue

Tips for Managing Your Small Nonprofit Organization by Steve Novak

Many people are involved with helping small, nonprofit organizations, in a variety of roles. Organizations range from semi-organized children's sports teams, to local chapters of professional societies, to well-established charitable service providers. The range of organization and management varies as well, from seat-of-the-pants, one or two people overwhelmed from doing the bulk of the work, to professionally managed with paid staff, and everything in between. Here are some tips to help you and your organization become more effective and successful.

Click to continue

Technology - 5 Signs Your Non Profit Needs Technical Help by A. J. Maddox

When your plumbing is in need of repair, chances are you don't call your family doctor- you call a plumber, right?! It wouldn't make sense to call the doctor to fix your plumbing, but many nonprofits are doing just that when dealing with their technology requirements. If the staff are consulting with the CEO regarding a printer that isn't working or a slower than usual internet connection, that's almost as crazy as calling the doctor in to repair the pipes. Here are 5 obvious signs your non-profit needs serious technical help:

Click to continue

How to Write Inspirational Articles for Nonprofit Newsletters by Kivi Leroux Miller

Inspirational articles were once limited to self-help and religious publications, but they are just about everywhere now. (Think about those wildly popular Chicken Soup books or most of the stories in Reader's Digest, for example.) Inspirational articles can be very useful in newsletters, because they make a human connection between the newsletter publisher and the reader.

Well-written inspirational articles move people emotionally and motivate them to do something or to make a change of some sort. Nonprofit organizations can use these articles to motivate readers to volunteer, write letters of support, or make a donation. Businesses can use inspirational articles to create a positive public image, build brand loyalty, and encourage repeat business.

Click to continue

How Nonprofit Organizations Compete by Kelly Robbins

According to the book Successful Marketing Strategies for Nonprofit Organization by Barry McLeish, nonprofit groups compete with each other in roughly four areas: quality of programs or technology, positioning of programs or products, quality of support services and price. Let's take a look at each of these areas and compare them with regard to how a for-profit company competes.

Click to continue

Freecycle for Nonprofits Too by Deane Brengle

"In Kind Donation" has taken on a whole new meaning with the advent of Freecycle.

Is your nonprofit in need of items and short on money? A fax machine for the office? A kitchen table for the break room? Or perhaps you need items for your constituents? Clothing? Household items? Or you're a teacher in need of classroom supplies?

Freecycle may be able to help.

Click to continue

Smart Fundraisers Know and Love their Donors by Marte Cliff

Do you know who your donors are? Do you know how much they gave last time? Do you know how much they've given over the years?

If you've got good record-keeping practices in place, you do know - and you tailor your messages to them accordingly.

Click to continue

How to Record, Edit, and Promote Your Nonprofit's Podcast by Karen Soloman

Use podcasting to help spread your organization's message -

Nonprofits are discovering that podcasting - a method of distributing audio files over the Internet for playback on computers or portable audio players - is a useful, affordable way for organizations to expand their reach and further their missions.

Although, as with any type of online content, there is a learning curve, podcasts can deepen your relationship with your constituents and help attract a larger audience to your cause - particularly if you're trying to reach a younger, more tech-savvy demographic.

Click to continue

Seven Ways Nonprofits Can Use Podcasts by Britt Bravo

Interested in creating a podcast for your nonprofit, but not sure what kind of content would be appropriate podcasting material? In this article, which was modified from a post that first appeared on the NetSquared Blog, writer Britt Bravo offers suggestions for creating compelling podcasts out of your everyday work.

A 2005 study by thePEW Internet & American Life Project found that more than 22 million American adults own iPods or MP3 players and 29 percent of them have downloaded podcasts from the Web. "That amounts to more than six million adults who have tried this new feature that allows Internet 'broadcasts' to be downloaded onto their portable listening device," the study noted.

After the initial investment in recording equipment, the only cost to creating a podcast at your organization is staff time. Podcasts aren't for everyone, but they are worth considering because you can't get more intimate with potential supporters than talking in their ear � literally!

Click to continue

Saving for a Rainy Day by Deane Brengle

I don't have to be a weatherman to predict that someday it's going to rain on your nonprofit. And it's going to rain hard!

I don't mean literally. No, I mean you're going to have something happen to your nonprofit that devastates your operating account balance.

• Like a terrorist attack (didn't 9-11 affect your fundraising?).
• Or a scandal (your president or executive director who raises most of your funds is involved in a horrific crime).
• Or a thief (someone in your organization embezzles funds ... most of them).
• Or your area has a natural disaster ....

Click to continue

Leadership Tips for Fundraisers by the Booster Clubs of America

As a member of your organizations board of directors you have been chosen by your peers as a leader in the club. Possibly you have just been elected or you may be an "old hand." In either case your job is an important one with much responsibility.

The function of the board of directors is to establish and review major policy and plans of the group. Board members have specific legal and fiscal responsibilities to the members of the club, depending upon the degree and level of your club's organization.

Your job as a board member will involve working cooperatively with your president, your fellow board members, and club members.

This brochure is designed to help you achieve goals as a booster board member.

Click to continue

Starting a Nonprofit - Preparing For Success by Jan Batts

The woman sitting across from me was crestfallen. The truth had dawned on her that there was a significant hole in her planning. She had researched and followed through on the basics of starting a nonprofit organization and she certainly had the zeal to make a difference. But after talking with me about the hidden costs of starting a nonprofit, she was beginning to realize that zeal and a 501(c)3 designation are not enough to be successful in today's fiercely competitive philanthropic world.

It's not that information about the hidden costs wasn't out there. The problem was that she, like many people who care deeply about a cause, are inexperienced and do not know the right questions to ask. Her dream was built without a strong structure under it and now she had to decide if she were willing to pay the price to build that structure.

It was the decision to succeed or fail. It was that simple.

Click to continue

10 Key Steps on Starting a Nonprofit Organization by Dustin V Davis

Successfully starting a nonprofit is a 1 in 2 gamble. Among the 30,000 nonprofits created each year in America, 50 percent of them failed. We are not sure how they failed or why they failed, but analysts believe it could all be rooted in the correct planning before start up.

When one decides to go into business, they have to first make a decision on whether they are going into business for-profit or for advancement of a specific cause. The fundamental difference between nonprofit and for-profit organizations is that nonprofits use their profits to advance their programs, while for-profits distribute their profits to their owners or stockholders.

Starting a nonprofit that advances your cause and makes the world a better place can be done successfully if key steps are followed. Here is a brief step by step guide to successfully establish a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation.

Click to continue

Community Foundations: A Fundraising Source and More by Deane Brengle

Have you met your local community foundation yet?

You know, your locally run public foundation that pools the charitable givings of many donors. With a mandate to build and manage endowment funds to support charitable activities in your local area.

Your area probably has one, there are over 700 in the United States alone. Each community foundation is unique and will vary in the services it offers. But they are all united behind one common theme - improving the quality of life in their area.

Click to continue

How Small Nonprofits Can Reinvigorate Bored Boards by Sandy Rees

Bored boards are a sign of an organization that is headed down a slippery path toward big trouble. It can lead to an Executive Director who does whatever she wants (not always a good thing) or financial crisis or worse, a complete deterioration of the organization.

You probably know the signs that your Board is getting bored: folks don't show up to meetings and don't let you know beforehand that they won't be there; they don't respond to email or phone calls; they don't sign up to help with events or other activities; and so on.

To reverse the situation, you must first figure out what this behavior is about.

Click to continue

5 Keys to Running Great Nonprofit Meetings by Merle Benny

A well planned and well run meeting is as wonderful as it is rare. I'm sure you have suffered through many long, boring ones. The culprit is generally the person who is running the meeting. He may have failed to create an agenda, didn't follow it or just couldn't control the meeting. You don't want to be guilty of any of these mistakes.

Imagine that everyone comes to your meetings looking forward to them and leaves feeling accomplished! You can make that possible by following a few simple steps. With some advance planning, in a short time, you can accomplish large amounts of work, make decisions and move forward.

The objective of a meeting is to bring together the right people to share ideas and make decisions. Remember the anthropologist Margaret Mead's quote, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." When you have decisions to make, want to generate new ideas, move your organization forward or accomplish a task, a meeting is the perfect setting.

Click to continue

How to Write a Better Fundraising Letter by Kimberly Reynolds

Looking for tips on writing a better fundraising letter? Use these quick tips to craft your next donation request letter. Feel free to modify the sample letter below to fit your specific needs.

Click to continue

4 Secrets to Raising Money With Your Nonprofit's Print Newsletter by Sandy Rees

How well does your newsletter perform for you? If it's not so hot, then maybe you need to make a few changes. Here are 4 secrets to a successful newsletter.