Other Ways Non-Profits Raise Funds For Their Programs And Groups

  • 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. Meet the team and start fundraising

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. Run out of creativity? here are tips to choosing the best fundraising ideas

  • 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. You want to make money for a non government organisation?

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. If you want to raise 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. Who gives money?

  • 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.