Fundraiser Ideas and Events » Donors

How to Encourage People to Donate to Your Cause

FundraisingIP.com — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 19:53:29 +0000

These days, it’s pretty common to be solicited for donations in front of stores, through email and regular mail. In fact, people are inundated with messages trying to encourage them to give. While many will give readily to causes they already believe in, they will probably be reluctant to donate to causes that are not currently on their list.

“Switching” causes, or adding a new one to their list means extra work for potential supporters when they do their due diligence to see if your cause is worthy, and it may also mean having to scrape out a bit more from their budget.

Anticipating your donors’ thought processes and integrating potential solutions to them into your fundraising strategy is vital when trying to encourage people to donate to your cause.

Use the following tips to help you encourage people to diversify in their charitable giving, and present even reluctant donors with a reason to support your cause:

Make your cause personal to make it relevant

When you ask people which charity they donate to, many will happily give you the name, and explain what it means to them. We all tend to help charities which have some personal relevance to our own lives. Ask yourself how your cause is personally relevant to your potential supporter. Does your work affect them directly? Or their family or professional or ethnic group etc.?

It may not be obvious right away, but many causes that seemingly have nothing to do with our lives can make an impact if you look at the bigger picture. A great example of this is raising funds for an after school program. It doesn’t just help the kids and their families, but the whole community.

Tell a story about your charitable work

Besides explaining the connection of your cause to the greater good, it also helps to tell a real story about your work instead of simply asking for donations. A true story about how change came about because of your hard work will let your donors know more about your group and will lift their confidence in you. People like to know exactly where their donations are going and what they will achieve by giving money, so make it easy for them by being explicit about how you put their donations to work, and the good which it will do.

Leading charities use this tried and tested method in advertising, by using real case studies to describe what they do, and how funds are used within the group to make a positive difference. Take a page out of the successful marketing campaigns run nationally, and give the whole picture about your cause instead of just asking for a donation.

Erase doubt and confusion and encourage potential
supporters to say “yes!” to your cause!

Make your cause enjoyable for volunteers and donors

There’s nothing like raising a feeling of community and good spirits to get volunteers engaged and willing to participate fully in fundraising. Don’t forget that your fundraising volunteers present part of your cause’s image. Having arguments during a fundraising event, or engaging volunteers who aren’t fully prepared or informed, or not being well organized in general is bad publicity and will turn off donors. Take care in how you present your cause by being well prepared, training your volunteers and putting on a smile.

Be clear about your finances, needs and results

Just as city councils demonstrate how their budgets are spent on policing, waste collection and other initiatives, so your group should be able to show exactly how money is used to make a real difference in the lives of those it supports. Be forthcoming about your finances and let potential supporters know where they can find more information online, especially from sites like CharityNavigator.org and Guidestar.org. But if your non-profit is not included in these databases, be sure you make your finances available on your own site. If someone is seriously considering donating to you, they will do some research anyway – make it easy for them to get the right information.

Also, don’t be afraid to show your pragmatic side when it comes to financial matters. Your idealistic side can only reach so far before it gets to the point where words alone just won’t be enough. One way of achieving this is by demonstrating how a specific amount of money has turned around someone’s life for the better. It will also make it easier to encourage people to offer that specific amount, because they’ll be able to see a direct link between what they give, and what benefits they will achieve with their donation and also make it easier to budget their charity dollars.

Show professionalism

Another way of encouraging people to give to your cause is by representing your cause in a professional way. You can gain more credibility by appointing a well-spoken person to interact with the press and the public, have a well organized website, have all your printed materials, website and emails written in a concise and professional way, use letter head, possibly have ID badges or branded materials. Having said this, take care to avoid giving the impression that you’re spending too much money on marketing your cause.

Last but not least, they “thank you!”

If you’re known to be the charity that actually appreciates and thanks its supporters, it will not only encourage your current supporters to give again in the future, but it will also show potential supporters that they will be appreciated should they decide to give to your cause. (Sample fundraising letters.)

It may be tough to encourage people to start donating to your cause when they’re already giving to other causes, or if they don’t think your cause is important enough. But staying on track, accounting for every dollar and demonstrating over and over again how your cause makes a difference not only for certain people, but for your community as a whole (or another greater good) will over time build a solid base of supporters you can count on.

(Image credit: iStockphoto/bookmama)

What Donors Want to Know Before They Give

FundraisingIP.com — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 16:41:29 +0000

A friendly smile, and a few words about your group’s cause may be enough when it comes to selling products at a fair or offering a gift wrapping service around the holidays.

But how can you convince donors to give more than just a few dollars? What kind of information should you make readily available and how should you present it? What would donors like to know before they’re willing to make a larger donation?

Relevance:

Is your group relevant in a way that it makes a real difference in society? Unless you’re raising funds for an individual or a specific short term goal, does your group affect a larger group of people? If a potential donor feels that your cause isn’t really needed they will not come forth with support.

If the group benefiting from your cause is somewhat limited, it is especially important to lay out all the good that you’re doing in a way that shows how your cause doesn’t just benefit a seemingly small group of people, but how it benefits the community as a whole. In other words, spend some time explaining the big picture. After all, helping the disadvantaged or needy within a group doesn’t just benefit them, there is always a domino effect whereas others are helped and supported as well, directly or indirectly.

Activities and people:

Does your group have a blog? Do you regularly report about your activities and how you make a difference in your community and in the world? This plays right into the previous point: if you continuously report on your activities and the good you do, your cause will become much more relevant to potential donors. And don’t think you should only report on successes. By also writing about the challenges you face every day, your cause goes from being just words to becoming a group of individuals working hard to make a difference in the world.

If you do have a blog (or other website) make sure you include proper terms of use and a privacy policy which includes information about how you manage names, email addresses, and other information collected through the site. Your website is also an excellent place to add information about your board members, staff and volunteers.

A well run website or blog with lots of information about your activities, staff and volunteers will give your supporters a broad picture of what your group is all about. Be sure to continuously update your site.

(If you need a website with or without a blog, read Create A Website.)

Financials:

Are you clearly stating your financial information on your website and in print documents meant for interested parties? If your financial information is too hard to find or to decipher and a potential donor feels that you might not want to share them, it will be a turnoff. Make your finances easy to access and explain your numbers. Also display and link to your most recently filed IRS Form 990.

If some expenses seem high, explain why they’re high: maybe you’ve incurred a higher outlay because of a major repair. If you explain that donor money wasn’t wasted, but why some program, administrative or fundraising expenses turned out higher than expected, most donors will appreciate your honesty. If the extra expenses are justified, they will still give.

If your group is a registered non-profit, have all your reports been properly filed? Can supporters go to a third party website to find out more about your group if they choose? Simply staying on top of tasks you’re supposed to do anyway will make a difference and will give you an edge over others who don’t have their accounting in order.

Your to-do-list:
Maybe you already have some or most of these points in place – congratulations! Then you could simply make a to-do list of what kind of other information you’d like to add to your website and marketing materials and how you’d like to change the way your information is currently presented. Be sure you add information about what you’d like staff and volunteers to say when prompted about your cause. What are they currently telling potential and current supporters? Is the information they have about your cause up-to-date and relevant?

Also think about your own giving: Which organizations have you donated to in the past and why? Or why have you decided not to give a specific group? Take these clues from your own behavior and consider them in your group’s strategy.

By making sure you offer enough and sought-after information about your cause you instill a sense of trust in your supporters and assure that they feel comfortable and confident giving to your cause now and in the future.

Landing Corporate Sponsors

FundraisingIP.com — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 15:27:59 +0000

Getting corporate sponsors may be a tall order, but it is certainly not impossible. It may take some time, and if you’re willing to follow a company’s rules (there may be lots of paperwork and wait time), and stick to your plan you may just succeed in the end!

When applying with a corporate sponsor, consider the following:

Start small

Everyone would like to be sponsored by a large company, but that’s not always possible. In fact, large corporations usually have bylaws that specify in great detail who they can give to, when they can give, how much they can give, and so on. These additional restrictions make it highly unlikely that an organization holding its first fundraiser will be able to be considered. They want to see a proven track record of successful fundraisers, because they are looking at the bottom line for the company. What will sponsorship get them? How much exposure will they receive? Sure, it’s always worth a shot; but don’t get discouraged if there’s no bite on the other end of the line. Instead, start by looking within your community and see what other companies might be interested in being a part of your event.

Plan ahead

If your fundraiser is next week, it’s too late for this suggestion for this year, but it’s just in time for next year. The more you plan ahead, the better your chances of getting some quality corporate sponsors. It takes time for the corporate board to review and accept your sponsorship proposal. Besides that, the more you plan ahead, the more people will be impressed with your leadership and organization skills, and the more they will want to help you. And if all those reasons weren’t enough, here’s one more: it’s just plain courtesy to give people more than a few days’ notice when you’re asking for their money.

Start with a letter

If you took basic economics, you’ll remember this rule: TANSTAAFL. There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. Instead of a charity consider your project a business transaction: it’s wise to consider what the company will get out of sponsoring you and your event or organization. Their name in the newsletter? A giant banner at your event? Make your letter no more than one page; use the sandwich method (good news—bad news—good news); and be sure to include all information about your event and how to contact you. A good way to begin is by thanking them for their time.

Follow up with a phone call

A week after you’ve mailed your letters, start calling your potential sponsors. Begin by asking if they got your letter, and just ask if they had any further questions you might be able to clarify. Don’t wait more than two weeks to call them, and definitely don’t wait for them to call you (at least, not yet). If they say they’re not interested, cross them off the list and try the next one.

Finally, don’t be intimidated by dealing with a large corporation. Remember that behind that seemingly impersonal entity there are people running it. Treat them the way you’d like to be treated – even if the sponsorship won’t work out this year – and you’ll create a professional and positive basis for potential future projects.

Let It Be Known… Recognizing Charitable Donors

FundraisingIP.com — Sat, 30 May 2009 13:35:45 +0000

There is no worse feeling for a donor than to feel unappreciated for the money or in-kind donations they have generously donated to a fundraising organization. At the very least, a heartfelt ‘Thank You’ letter is in order. No doubt, however, that your organization can do even better. And you should. Because a little appreciation can go a very long way toward building a lasting relationship and ongoing fundraising support. Not to mention, it’s just the right thing to do.

Tangible Donor Recognition

A personal thank you letter, not a blanket form letter, should be the very first thing you do to thank your donors. And while this is elemental and necessary, it may be not enough for significant donor support. One good turn deserving another, make sure to let everyone else know how generous and caring your donors were – unless of course they’d like to remain anonymous.

There are some very good and lasting ways to publicly recognize donors, some of which may be built right into your fundraising campaign. Popular donor recognition methods include:

Donor Recognition Plaques

You can either present a personalized and engraved plaque to the donor, or have a plaque made which lists all donors, perhaps at different levels of donation such as ‘Silver Donor’, ‘Gold Donor’, and ‘Platinum Donor’. Make sure group donor plaques are prominently displayed so that the public is aware of the donor’s support.

Donor Walls

Each donor can be represented on a donor wall by having their names printed or engraved into a tile that is set as part of a large, lasting commemorative. You can also give donors the option of having a quotation or phrase engraved with their names.

Brick Fundraising Campaigns

Brick fundraisers take care of donor recognition within the fundraiser. During a brick fundraiser, individual bricks are sold for a set amount to donors. The donor’s name is engraved on the brick or on a plate set into the brick. The bricks are then used to build a lasting structure such as a garden wall, walkway, path, or section of a building.

Donor Gifts

For high-figure fundraising campaigns, donors can be presented with a gift of some sort which shows your appreciation. To make it even better, make the presentation public so that all can appreciate their good deed.

Hosting Donors

A good way to appreciate a lot of donors at once is to host a donor appreciation night or party of some sort. This way, you have a semi-public opportunity to show your thanks, and donors can co-mingle.

Great Donor PR

Good publicity is often the impetus behind charitable donations. Businesses and citizens want to be known as philanthropic and generous souls and organizations. They will happily give to boost their good name, but they want to reap the benefits. In the case of a business, the benefit is increased patronage. Send out news releases and ask local papers to write up an article detailing the generosity of your most avid supporters.

Donor recognition may at first be the last thing on your organization’s fundraising mind, but it is an absolute necessity. Appreciating donors puts a great face on your organization and ensures continued support in the future.

Monthly Contributions Improve Fundraising Cash Flow

FundraisingIP.com — Thu, 07 May 2009 16:54:29 +0000

If your organization’s cash flow is a little rocky right now, you might want to take a look at setting up a monthly giving program for individual donors. These giving programs can help individuals contribute to your organization easily and can help ensure that you have ongoing income each month.

Monthly contribution commitments work well for individual donors because they allow them to give more than they could give in a single annual donation, by budgeting for a small payment each month. It’s also good for the organization because it improves monthly cash flow and increases the average individual donation.

Advertise

If you’d like to start a monthly giving campaign, start advertising. Put information in your newsletter and send out flyers to those who have donated in the past. Also put together a mailing list of people who have not donated to your organization, but might be willing to do so. This list can consist of people who have attended functions or asked for information about your organization. Set up a specific campaign period, to encourage donors to take action on the request, rather than putting off making their commitment. When the campaign is over, be certain to share the results with all who subscribe to your newsletter, and all who participated in the campaign.

Timing

Timing your monthly giving campaign with other activities will improve its success. If you have an annual fundraiser, for example, make monthly contributions an option for those who attend this fundraiser. Or, hand out flyers on monthly contributions at celebratory events. You’ll likely find that you have more people who are willing to make a commitment when the information is handed out face to face than through mailings. However, mailings are great reminders and follow up tools.

Payment Options

Be certain to offer payment options to your contributors. Automatic credit card payments make monthly giving simple for both the organization and the contributor and help ensure that contributors don’t forget to make their payments. (For an easy way to accept credit cards, consider PayPal.com.)

Records

It’s important to keep good records of your monthly contributors. Of course, you’ll need the information for tax records. However, you’ll also want to keep track of the ending dates for those who contribute each month for a year. You’ll want to contact contributors whose contribution period is nearing its end, to thank them and to try and sign them on for another year. Also, if they don’t sign up for another year, you want to be certain to stop any automatic payments on time.

Automatic monthly contribution programs will certainly require more administrative support than other types of contributions. However, in the long run, they can help your organization bring in more individual contributions and can help improve your monthly cash flow, making them well worth any additional bookkeeping work they require.

Especially during periods of a slow economy, charitable organizations must be creative in finding funding in order to keep contributions coming in. Automatic monthly payments help individual contributors give more-more easily. And, they help charitable organizations bring in cash every month, ensuring that the bills get paid during tough times. There’s certainly room in every organization’s donor program for simple monthly payment options that increase your chances of gaining donations from a larger number of individuals.

Using Demographics To Target Fundraising Supporters

FundraisingIP.com — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 01:39:47 +0000

Demographics – statistics and summations of fundraising populations – can be useful tools for targeting fundraising efforts. Making the most of fundraising demographics entails research and effective utilization of the statistics available.

Today’s Fundraising Demographics

Fundraising demographics are wide and varied and, like every year, come with some changes and surprises:

According to the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Giving Statistics for 2007, private individuals and “household donors” make up the greatest proportion of charitable gifts (about 83%)

Corporation grants and donations are good sources of funding, but make up only about 17% of all fundraising gifts and donations

Individuals tend to choose a valued organization or effort and annually give to them; there is little shift from year to year between what groups receive what percentages of donations

By cause, religious/faith-based groups, education-based groups, and human services organizations top the list for donations received, respectively

Arts donors’ contributed the highest shares of their income, 2.1%.

The so-called “baby-boomers” comprise one of the largest percentages of donors by generation

Women are increasingly becoming the most charitable sex (in part because of increased income and affluence among women independently)

From the US Department of the Interior website.

Demographics are often used to target a specific, well-off segment of the supporting public so groups can plan campaigns accordingly, but they can also be used to see what donors are donating, not just who is giving the goods (because not all donations are cash donations). Fundraising demographics can be used to target a pool of potential volunteers and group members as well, which is essential to furthering any fundraising cause.

The demographics above are only the tip of the statistical fundraising iceberg. There are a number of demographics available from data collection services and agencies which can be tapped by organizations with specific goals, but…

A Word Of Caution Concerning Fundraising Demographics

Relying too heavily on fundraising demographics can be limiting. Some groups tend to be too specific in targeting fundraising efforts and miss a large segment of willing volunteers and supporters. As Terrence Fernsler says in a review in the “Nonprofit World” (Volume 14, No.4), “it can be a mistake to rely too heavily on demography.” For most fundraising groups, smaller organizations, schools, and teams in particular, appeals should be wide-reaching and inviting of all willing supporters. It would be nice to think that there was a magic population demographic to suit every funding need, but in reality the base is a mix for the majority of groups.

Unless it is known that a target population is very well-off and very willing to give, groups should be careful about putting all their eggs into the fundraising demographics basket. Demographics certainly have a usefulness and purpose, but taking them as gospel to fundraising success is risky. Fundraising planners need to incorporate fundraising demographics with past successes and failures to arrive at an equation that will equal fundraising success.

For more articles relating to supporters and donors, visit our “Donors” category.

Fundraising Donation Request Letters – A Writing Guide

FundraisingIP.com — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:56:29 +0000

Donation request letters can be used as just one part of a fundraising campaign, or they can be the fundraising campaign in its entirety. Many organizations prefer to go the route of fundraising entirely through donation request letters because they

require few volunteers, but reach a large number of potential donors

directly target interested donors and supporters

are easily managed

involve little (monetary) investment

are a way to run a relatively quick fundraising campaign, while providing a means for continued financial support as well

However, there is somewhat of a downside to running a fundraising campaign through donation requests. The biggest drawback is that people today are inundated with mail and emails, and have little time to read it all. Even when they do open an unsolicited letter, they will often only skim it to find out if it is something they are interested in reading in-depth.

These hurdles can hinder your efforts some, but there are also ways to overcome them. Your best bet is to take your time to carefully craft your donation request letter. By being clear, concise and informative in your donation request letter, you’re setting yourself up for the best response to your fundraising campaign:

1. Identify yourself and make it obvious.
If readers don’t see a name or organization right away, they might write your letter off as just more junk mail. (Consider adding info like a short mission statement.)

2. Start with some good news, and keep focused on benefits, while still communicating your need.
For example, you might start off with how far your organization has come, or how much good you were able to do with the funds raised last year, or coming in ‘under budget’ on a successful fundraising campaign.

Continue to talk about how much more you could do, how many people could be helped, how much education could be improved etc. if you just had the financial resources to do so. Any quotes from previous donors, or beneficiaries can be very powerful and should be added as well.

3. Be specific with your needs.
State a dollar-figure goal for your campaign. You might even say how far away from that goal you are. You might also suggest donation amounts, (such as $5, $10, $50, $100, etc.); always state that any donation will be accepted and appreciated.

4. Outline a plan of action.
Tell donors specifically what you plan to do with their money.

5. Remind donors that they are your only income source.
They might be your only income source for your whole campaign, or for a specific phase of it.

6. Repeat yourself.
Ask for donations at least three times in your letter. These should come at the beginning, middle, and end of your letter so that people who are just skimming will catch on somewhere.

7. Be conversational.
You are a human asking another human for money. Make the donor feel that they are being talked to personally, not that they are an unknown money bag. Include personal quotations from people who have benefited from your fundraising in some way, or people who are in need and will be served by your efforts.

8. Make your donation request letter easy to read.
Edit, edit and edit again for typos, spelling errors and clarity. Break up too long sentences and too long paragraphs into easier to read bites. Use subheads, bullets and make use of white space.

9. Create urgency.
Tie in your request with a deadline, like an upcoming holiday, or a tournament for an athletic event.

10. Make it easy to donate.
Include a tear-off coupon and a stamped return envelope with your donation request. Make sure it ties in with your donation request letter and other materials included. If possible, also offer online donation possibilities and/or a phone number.

When you keep in mind the lives, desires, needs and concerns of your busy donors, and keep your ‘eye on the prize’, you will easily be able to craft a hard-hitting, productive donation request letter. By using these suggestions as your guide, your letter will be personal, informative, compassionate, and it will produce results, netting you big returns for your investment in time and energy.

Visit our Fundraising Letters category for information about donation request letters.

Need more help? Visit our fundraising books page with short reviews on popular books about writing fundraising letters and more.

Sample Donation Request Letter To Parents

FundraisingIP.com — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 04:44:47 +0000

Following is a sample donation request letter to be sent to parents; feel free to copy and customize this letter with your school specific information as needed. (>> More donation request letters. For any other use, please contact us first.)

More “free-to-copy” sample donation request letters to follow!

Dear Parent,

First of all, let me say: Thank you. Thank you for your tireless support of your child in OurSchool. Through fundraisers, parent-teacher meetings, school sports, after-school activities, and everything else that happens in the course of a school year, you have shown your commitment to giving your child the best possible education. As we partner with you here at OurSchool for the education of your child, I want you to know, that your commitment does not go unnoticed.

It is partly because of the busy lives we all lead that I am writing. As you know, OurSchool customarily has a fundraiser in the first part of the school year to pay for things that are not fully covered by the school budget: art and music classes, field trips, science fairs, and so on. We also understand that parents are tired of having their kids sell fundraising products door-to-door and have come to question the status quo of such standards as candy fundraisers and car washes.

When discussing several alternative fundraising options at our school board meeting, one person proposed that we simply write to the parents and let them know the amount of our budget shortfall. We could ask each parent to contribute a little bit towards that amount, so that we can continue to offer the wonderful programs and extracurricular activities that OurSchool the highly respected school that it is.

And that brings me to you.

I wish I could tell you that we are raising money for a new program, or a special event. The reality is that we are raising money to simply continue the great programs we have been able to offer in the past: namely art and music classes, field trips and our annual science fair.

And partly out of consideration for you, one of our esteemed parents, and your valuable time, we have decided to ask if each parent could contribute $60 over the course of the next 3 months to help make up for where the state budget has fallen short.

Like I said, we’ve considered many options, but in the end, we felt that the parents at OurSchool have all given so much of their time already, the easiest and most convenient way to raise the needed money would be to just lay it at the parents’ feet and ask if we can all work together to share this burden.

“Many hands make light work,” so the saying goes. If each of the parents in the school can give an extra $60, we will have enough for all programs and extracurricular activities to carry on through the year.

I want to end this letter by thanking you again. Thank you for taking the time to read it, and whether you are able to give or not, know we deeply appreciate your dedication to your child and our school.

Sincerely,

Your Principal
Principal at OurSchool

Note: Include personal quotations from people who have benefited from your fundraising in some way, or people who are in need and will be served by your efforts. Place these quotes at the top, the bottom or in the side margins of the letter – maybe even in a different color – for maximum impact.

Find more ‘free-to-copy’ sample donation request letters and resources here…
Shop for top-rated fundraising books, incl. books with more sample fundraising letters…

Motivating Volunteers & Donors: Get The Word Out And Increase Profits

FundraisingIP.com — Tue, 27 May 2008 00:27:49 +0000

The key to successful fundraisers is obvious—get your volunteers to sell more, and get donors to spend more. Obvious, sure, but easier said than done. So what can your group do to make the most of your fundraising efforts and increase fundraiser profits?

Get The Word Out

Many excellent fundraisers fail for one simple reason—nobody knows they are happening. To make the most fundraising profits, you have to let your supporters, including both donors and volunteers know that you have a need and a plan to fill it.

Include fundraising plans and efforts in organizations newsletters. Also, ask other area newsletter publishers (such as schools or church and community groups) to include your fundraiser in their newsletter.
Send out a letter discussing both your need and your plan; you may include a donation request portion for interested supporters
Post flyers and posters to publicize your fundraiser
Submit a press release to local media
Send emails to those on your address list
Post fundraisers and updates on your group’s website (and others websites if possible)
Set up fundraising tables and/or informational tables at community and group events

In all of this, you have to show people what is in it for them to motivate them to support you. Explain to them how helping your group is beneficial to them; there is always some benefit no matter who you are speaking to—if nothing else, you can at least tell them they’ll feel better for their generosity. If your group is a non-profit, remember to mention that support is tax-deductible.

Visualize

Keep your fundraiser visible in some way; this way, people will remember your ongoing efforts and remember to continually support them. It doesn’t have to take a lot, you can do something simple like send reminder letters or construct a ‘thermometer’ to gauge your success and remaining need.

Update

New, fresh information will remind supporters that you haven’t quit trying to raise funds. Update posters, mailings, emails, and thermometers periodically so that people are aware an active fundraiser is still in progress. Don’t be shy about reminding people you are still selling and/or collecting donations.

Friendly Competition

Creating a little friendly competition through incentive programs is a good way to keep volunteers interested. Ask each to set their personal goal and tell them to share that with their supporters; this is an extension of ‘what’s in it for me’—grandpa and grandma may care more if they know their expenditure directly benefits little grandson Johnny.

Your fundraiser is not a place to hold back if you want to succeed. To make your fundraiser as profitable as it can possibly be, you need to vocalize every aspect of it; show your group’s members that you need them, teach them why the fundraiser is important, and give them the means to get that point across to donors—and watch your bottom line fundraising profits grow and grow.

Motivating Volunteers & Donors: Show What You’re About

FundraisingIP.com — Tue, 27 May 2008 00:19:26 +0000

General fundraising information like brochures and order-takers tell volunteers that there is a fundraiser ongoing, and shows donors what they can buy or give. But order takers and product catalogs do little to motivate volunteers to participate and sell or donors to buy. Sometimes, volunteers and donors need you to take it a step further and show them why you are worth their time and money.

A Deserving Organization

Supporters are never at a loss for fundraising groups asking for their money; and chances are your volunteers are at no loss for fundraising volunteer opportunities, either. Both donors and volunteers are faced with an excess of both and many times they are forced to choose who they will support, and/or limit their expenditures and donations of time and money.

You can help their decisions along or motivate non-participating supporters by proving to them that their expenditure of time and/or money will not be lost on your organization.

Present a well organized, well thought-out plan for fundraising. This may be in the form of a presentation for volunteers, or it might be in the form of an appeal letter for donors. In your presentations and materials, show that you have targeted where the need is and what it will take to overcome it.
Be specific about your need. Tell donors and volunteers exactly why you need to raise funds. Give history detailing your lack and need. Discuss what will happen if you can’t raise the money.
Show a plan for the money. If you are raising funds, you should know what you will do with them. Volunteers will see how they will benefit, and donors will see that this money isn’t just up for grabs to the greediest of the group.
Brag about your past success and show that you don’t have a history for ‘dropping the ball’.

Benefits For All

Make everything you put out to volunteers and donors personal. Of course your biggest focus will be on achieving the goals of your group, but if you can find a way to add a little ‘here’s what’s in it for you’, you’ll do even better. At heart, all people are at least a little selfish. If you can show them that your fundraiser will somehow benefit them, too, then you’ll be the group they spend their time and money on.

Think both small and large to identify personal incentives; there is something that benefits every participant in some small way. It may be as simple as making that person feel good about themselves, or it may be a tax deductible donation. Extend your incentives to the larger picture too—maybe your after school teen’s group will keep kids off the streets and out of trouble, or maybe raising funds for school supplies will minimize local taxes.

When you are able to show that you will run a successful fundraiser and that volunteers and donors will not be wasting their money or time, and that the funds you raise will benefit all, your donors and volunteers will make you their organization of choice, and continue their support over time.