Why Fundraisers Fail: Common Fundraising Mistakes

The intentions of volunteer fundraisers are honorable, but as many small organization's fundraisers are run by people with little or no previous fundraising experience, sometimes their best efforts are misplaced. That can mean disaster for a fundraising campaign.

Many organizations' best efforts end in failure for some very common and predictable reasons. These are things that are quite avoidable if you know to look for them ahead of time.

Some of the most commonly made mistakes in fundraising campaigns include:

Insufficient planning:
- Tasks are not delegated, no one knows what they are expected to do, deadlines and goals are not realistic.

Not knowing the target donor pool:
- Expecting too much or too little, thereby underestimating donations or not maximizing contributions.

Using the same fundraiser year after year:
- Products get stale and interest wanes as buyers have all of that particular type of product they need.

Choosing the wrong fundraising method:
- This is related to the previous mistake, but goes a step further. Product or catalog sales may not be your best bet at all; it might be that your donors would rather just write your organization a check, and you could make loads more through a simple mailing or telephone donation campaign.

Not taking advantage of fundraising resources:
- Few organizations are lucky enough to have a fundraising professional in their volunteer midst; that means there is little to no informational base to your campaign from year to year. With the internet and the myriad resources that are on it, there is just no need for lack of education to ever be an issue.

No help:
- Either your organization has burned-out every willing and able volunteer, or they have failed to reach those near you. To run any successful volunteer effort, you need as much help as you can get; one or two people cannot handle it and the result will be having no one left next year.

Poor merchandise:
- Most fundraiser products cost more to consumers than they would if purchased in a store; buyers are willing to pay a little extra to support a local group, but that doesn't mean they will continue to buy product of poor quality. Before choosing a supplier, ask for product samples.

Poor timing:
- Products have to be timed accordingly; that means selling when people are shopping for specific items, but also not selling when everyone else is and not selling all the time; donors only have so much to give.

Poor publicity:
- If people don't know you are looking for support, they won't know to offer it. Visibility, ease of donation, and good publicity are elemental to successful fundraising.

Fundraising success is not an unattainable goal for a small or medium-sized organization, but it does involve some effort. Make sure that effort is well-placed in education and planning, and your fundraiser will be a smashing success!

This is an article created by the FundraisingIP.com Editorial Team. For more fundraising ideas and fundraiser help, go to our article directory at FundraisingIP.com/articles.