Communicating with your donors is critical to building relationships with them. Make sure that what you send them is interesting and meaningful to THEM (not you). They want to read stories about people you’ve helped or how your organization has made an impact in the community.

In addition to content, you want to use design elements that make your newsletter and other communication pieces easy to read. Remember, if something looks hard to read, most people won’t put in the effort. They’re too busy.

Here are some tips for keeping your materials easy to read:

1. Use lots of white space. Don’t put too much text on one page. If you are trying to cram too much into your newsletter, shave some of it off and save it for another issue. Less text is better.

2. Use plenty of good photos with captions. Make sure that the reader can see the eyes of the person or people in your photos. Group shots are not effective. And put captions with your photos so your reader knows what she’s looking at.

3. Make your piece scannable. Your donors will read your materials like they read the newspaper. They will scan it and if they see something interesting, they’ll take a closer look.

4. Write good, compelling headlines for your stories. Remember that your donor will only read the story if the headline draws her in.

5. Use a large enough font. Many donors have a tough time reading anything less than 12 point. Also, don’t an unusual font. Stick to something plain and simple.

6. Use black text on a white background for maximum readability. Colored text is hard to read. Inverted text (white text on a black background) is very hard to read.

7. Write simply. Use short, simple sentences. Be concise and Avoid jargon or acronyms that your donor may not be familiar with.

Use these tips and you’ll be on your way to easy-to-read fundraising materials and deeper relationships with your donors.

(c) Sandy Rees, CFRE

Sandy Rees is a nonprofit fundraising coach, consultant, trainer, and author. She shows small nonprofit organizations how to raise more money, gain more supporters, and strengthen their Boards. Learn more about successful fundraising materials and get free fundraising tips in her e-zine “Bright Ideas for Fundraising” on her website at http://www.getfullyfunded.com.

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A blog (or weblog) is a great communication tool and can be used to engage donors and prospects in online conversations. You can tell compelling stories from your organization and ask for a gift.

Here are the steps to take to fundraise with your blog.

1. Know your donor audience. Do they hang out online or will you have to help them find you? Put your blog url everywhere so people can find you.

2. Know your edge and your key messages. An edge is the platform you will use to speak from. To find your edge, figure out what is the controversy in your mission. For example, a food bank can use “People right here in our community are going hungry” as its edge. Key messages might be “That’s not okay with us” and “we’re going to do something about it.”

3. Drive traffic to your blog. Post the link to your blog everywhere. Gather email addresses from your donors and send them email invitations to join in the blog conversation.

4. Tell your stories. Share your statistics and facts. Help your donors see firsthand the work you are doing and the results of your efforts. Fundraising is emotionally based. What better way to convey the emotion of your cause than to show photos and videos, and have audio testimonials of your clients?

5. Invite your donors to share their opinions and views in your blog. Engage them in conversation. Give them opportunities to give you feedback and advice.

6. Ask your donors to support your work with a gift. Offer a “Donate Now” button that they can use to make a gift right away.

It will take time to sustain a great blog and ideas for publicizing it once you have it up and running. Here are a few tips for writing content.

o Keep it conversational. Write like you talking to a specific donor.

o Tell stories. They’re much more interesting to read.

o Find a specific time of day to write and make it a habit to post as often as you can (at least 3 times a week).

Ask a volunteer to help you write. (Great way to engage a volunteer!)

Follow these tips and you’ll be on your way to raising money with your blog!

(c) Sandy Rees, CFRE

Sandy Rees is a nonprofit fundraising coach, consultant, trainer, and author. She shows small nonprofit organizations how to raise more money, gain more supporters, and strengthen their Boards. Get free fundraising tips in her twice-monthly e-zine “Bright Ideas for Fundraising” on her website at http://www.getfullyfunded.com

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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.

Secret One: The secret to a successful newsletter is to be clear about the result you want. What is your newsletter’s purpose? Is it educational? Is it supposed to be a fundraising tool? Both? This will help guide you in selecting content.

Secret Two: The second secret to a successful newsletter is to make it donor-focused. Write the kinds of things that a donor wants to read, not what you want to include. Donors want to read stories about clients and how they’ve been helped. Donors aren’t usually interested in articles about new staff members, new Board members or lengthy “letters from the President.”

Secret Three: The third secret to a successful newsletter is to use good design. Use lots of white space and keep it skimmable. Donors read your newsletter like they read the newspaper. They skim. They read the headlines and if it looks interesting, they’ll read the article. They look at photos and read the pull quotes.

If you want your newsletter to raise money, then you need to include an Ask somewhere. The most common and usually most effective thing to do is to include a reply envelope inside its pages.

Secret Four: The fourth secret to a successful newsletter is to optimize your content. If you want your newsletter to break even or better yet, raise money, here are some things you MUST include:

o A brief client story on the cover. People love to read stories about others who have overcome adversity. Be careful not to become text heavy. Balance your stories with adequate amounts of white space (empty space).

o Client- or program-focused articles. Leave out the pieces welcoming new staff, new Board members, and long bits about upcoming events.

o Your mission statement, Board list, staff list, and the address and phone number of your organization.

o Reply envelope.

Remember that your purpose is to connect with your donor, let them know about the people you are serving, then ask them to support your work.

(c) Sandy Rees, CFRE

Sandy Rees is a nonprofit fundraising coach, consultant, trainer, and author. She shows small nonprofit organizations how to raise more money, gain more supporters, and strengthen their Boards. Learn more about successful direct mail fundraising letters and get free fundraising tips in her e-zine “Bright Ideas for Fundraising” on her website at http://www.getfullyfunded.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sandy_Rees

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In the world of fundraising, we know that building relationships with donors is critical. One key skill that every good fundraiser must develop is the ability to converse effectively with others.

For many, meeting with and talking to donors is out of their comfort zone. If you fit this description, spend the time learning to be comfortable in your own skin when you are talking with your donors. Practice speaking with co-workers and colleagues so that you can learn to carry on a conversation and develop your skills.

When you speak with your donors, be warm and sincere, and truly interested in them. They’ll feel more comfortable with you and the relationship will develop naturally. People can tell when you’re forcing a smile, so be genuine. After all, these are your donors you’re talking to – they are the people who make the work of your nonprofit organization possible!

Here are some tips for great conversations.

Find out what the other person is interested in. Do some research in advance if you can. Otherwise, pay attention. If you’re in the donor’s home or office, notice the pictures, books, and other personal items displayed. These are usually great objects for conversation starters.

Ask questions. What do they like to do? What sort of things have they done in their lives? What is happening to them now? What did they do today or last weekend? Identify things about them that you can politely ask questions about. Don’t bombard the donor with questions, but ask one or two naturally as part of the conversation. You’ll learn a great deal about them when you do.

Listen. This is the most important part of any conversation. Pay attention to what is being said. A conversation will not go anywhere if you are too busy thinking of something else, including what you plan to say next. If you listen well, the donor’s statements will suggest questions for you to ask.

Allow them to do most of the talking. After all, you have two ears and one mount – use them accordingly! Your donor will probably not realize that they did most of the talking, and you’ll get the credit for being a good conversationalist – which of course, you are!

Focus on the donor and be present in the moment. If you are too busy thinking about yourself, what you look like, or what the other person might be thinking, you will miss a great deal. Developing the relationship requires you to focus on the donor.

Practice active listening. Part of listening is letting the other person know that you are listening. Make eye contact. Nod. Say “Yes,” “I see,” “That’s interesting,” or something similar to give them clues that you are paying attention and not thinking about something else – such as what you are going to say next. Just be careful not to overdo it.

Try not to cut the person off mid-sentence. It is disrespectful to the donor. Let them finish their thoughts before you speak up.

Practice having conversations with ease and before you know it, you’ll be building strong relationships with all your donors!

(c) Sandy Rees, CFRE

Sandy Rees is a nonprofit fundraising coach, consultant, trainer, and author. She shows small nonprofit organizations how to raise more money, gain more supporters, and strengthen their Boards. Learn more about successful direct mail fundraising letters and get free fundraising tips in her e-zine “Bright Ideas for Fundraising” on her website at http://www.getfullyfunded.com.

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One thousand dollars may not seem like a lot of money to some nonprofits, but to small organizations, it can be a large sum of money. Here are 7 great ideas to quickly raise $1,000.

1. Do an “Easy Thousand.” Get 10 Board members, volunteers, or donors to each ask 10 people for $10 each. You can change this to $15,625 by changing the numbers to 25 people asking 25 people for $25 each. This can also give you a bunch of new donors!

2. Hold a house party. Ask Board members, volunteers, and donors to have a dinner in their home and invite their friends. Have a staff person do a short presentation on your organization followed by a testimonial from the evening’s host. Then, give the guests the chance to make a gift. Make sure to get names and addresses so you can properly thank guests and get them on your list.

3. Have a large Yard Sale. Ask Board members, volunteers, and friends to donate their unwanted items and hold a big yard sale. Publicize it beforehand to let the community know what you’re doing and that you are trying to raise $1,000. Donate any leftovers to a local thrift store.

4. Hold a “Non Event” (Example: “No Ball at All”). Create a fictitious event and send out invitations asking people to buy “tickets” to this event that won’t take place. It’s a great theme for a mailing and usually works well.

5. Ask for donations to your organization in honor of your birthday. Most of us have more than we need anyway, so ask friends and family to make a gift in honor of your special day. Facebook has a way to easily ask online friends to make a gift and you can set a goal so that others know how much you are trying to raise.

6. Launch a viral email campaign. Write a short, compelling email and send to everyone you have email addresses for. Be sure to say that you are trying to raise $1,000. Include a link to your “Donate Now” button online. Then ask the reader to forward the email on to others who might be interested.

7. Upgrade an existing donor. Look through your current donor list and find someone who has given $500 in the past year or so. Invite them for a tour of your facility and ask them to make a $1,000 gift.

(c) Sandy Rees, CFRE

Sandy Rees is a nonprofit fundraising coach, consultant, trainer, and author. She shows small nonprofit organizations how to raise more money, gain more supporters, and strengthen their Boards. Get more great fundraising ideas and free fundraising tips in her e-zine “Bright Ideas for Fundraising.” Sign up on her website at http://www.getfullyfunded.com

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Fundraising is a fun and productive way to spend one’s time during spring or summer break. Aside from cultivating a sense of unity within the community, fundraising benefits a number of great causes that will definitely change other people’s lives significantly. Fundraising causes range from charitable causes to community development causes. Through fundraising, communities can achieve great things-rebuild a park, install accessibility ramps on libraries and other public establishments, fund cancer research and provide medical services to the ill. Fundraising is a meaningful way to spend one’s time and efforts especially in this time of economic crisis. Because fundraisers highly depend on the number of people supporting it, getting your family members and friends to put in their time and effort will definitely benefit the fundraiser and contribute to its success. Here are a few ways in which you can get your family and friends involved in your fundraising efforts.

Educate yourself. Before you try organizing or participating in any fundraising event, you must educate yourself about the cause of the fundraiser. Know the details of the fundraising event-what the cause is all about, which person or institution will benefit from the proceeds of the fundraiser and how this charitable activity will impact the lives of those involved. Is it a good cause? How will it make things better for the person or group of people involved?

Be prepared to answer questions. After educating yourself on the important details of the fundraiser, be prepared to work your way through publicity. Because it is a fundraising event, the collected proceeds will highly depend on the people supporting the event. Each participant serves as a medium of information exchange. You need to go out there and influence as many people as you can to participate in the fundraiser.

Be a medium of information. If you want to get your family involved in fundraising, you must educate them as you have educated yourself. Explain to them the importance of this cause. Be specific-tell them about the person or institution benefiting from the proceeds of the fundraiser. If it’s going towards cancer research, then explain to them how important cancer research is in the continuing study to find a cure for this disease. Show them statistics-how many people are affected by this disease? How imperative is it that we find a cure? Details help people understand the gravity of the cause and enable them to visualize the effect of what their time and efforts can do.

Encourage charity. Karma is a simple rule that teaches us what comes around goes around. Doing a little good to others will definitely come back to you tenfold, especially if you’re doing it out of humility. Service to others is like giving back for all the blessings you’ve received in your life. Getting your family to participate in charitable activities and fundraisers will not only enable the family members to bond over a great cause but will also give you a sense of accomplishment.

Tofer has been writing informative articles for nearly 2 years on a variety of different directories, blogs, and websites. Her newest area of expertise is in lollipop fundraisers. Come check out her website to learn more at http://www.lollipopfundraiser.net.

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Easy church fundraising sounds like an impossible feat, doesn’t it? Preparing for a fundraiser can be overwhelming to say the least, especially if you are the one left with the responsibility of organizing it all. If you are looking for easy church fundraising ideas, there are many things you can do to make it all run a little more efficiently. You want a great item that is easy to sell, affordable for most peoples budgets and offers a great value for their money.

In order to make things easy, church fundraising items should probably be limited to products that do not require shipping and other extra costs. The less steps involved, the easier things will be for everyone who participates in the fundraiser, from organization down to the ones who are actually doing the selling. All too often, raising money for a new church van, a basketball goal or trip for the youth group can become complicated and overwhelming, so keep things simple!

Here are a few easy church fundraising ideas:

1. Have a bake sale on the parking lot of a local grocery store or restaurant. Most church memberships include lots of women (and many men) who are great at making cookies, brownies, pies and cakes. The ingredients cost very little for most of these items, and you can make some extra cash for your cause.

2. Host a fundraising benefit at your church and serve spaghetti, hamburgers, hot dogs and all the extras. The ingredients are affordable, the recipes are easy to make, and you can put a little more away for the cause.

3. Offer services! If you have a number of teens or young adults involved in the fundraiser, have them offer to mow yards, trim hedges, clear away brush or anything else other members of the church need done for a donation.

4. Sell products that you can offer to your customers on the spot, products that are really useful. For truly easy church fundraising, nothing beats discount cards loaded with offers from local and national merchants that the customer already uses! Consumers love getting the item they paid for instantly, especially something that allows them to save more than they originally spent over the course of a year.

The economy is not in the best shape recently, and everyone loves to save money; perceived value is also essential if you want your fundraiser to be successful. Most neighbors and other citizens in your local community are glad to support the church, but no one wants to spend more than they feel is within their budget. Offering discount cards is a no brainer for easy church fundraising – the value is exceptional, the product is affordable, and local merchants are supported in the efforts as well.

Easy church fundraising starts with efficient planning. You need to determine how many in your group will be selling, how much money you need, and which products or services will allow you to collect the funds you need quickly, with little fuss or confusion. Also, consider product costs and how much you will make. For example, if you need to raise $1,000, what sounds easiest – selling 200 discount cards or approximately 650 candy bars at $1.50 each?

Keep these things in mind the next time you need to raise money for your church or youth group; try to keep things simple and streamlined. With proper planning, easy church fundraising really is just that – easy! When you see just how simple it can be to raise money quickly, you will find that you don’t dread the next fundraiser nearly as much.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/fundraising-articles/easy-church-fundraising-makes-your-mission-to-raise-money-fun-amp-less-stressful-2036053.html

About the Author

Mark South
Easy Fundraising Cards
I started in fundraising as a reluctant volunteer for a small soccer organization in Florida, now fundraising has become a way of life!

When trying to get a fundraiser set up probably the hardest decision you will encounter is trying to decide which fundraising idea will work best for you. Choosing a fundraising idea is not as easy as one may think with the variety of ideas available. Many companies do business supply products as fundraising ideas for various organizations. Not only will you have to decide which product to sell, but you have to choose one of the many ways to conduct fundraising.

Some of the fund raising ideas for the product itself range from chocolates, cookies, candy, pet supplies, magnets, candles, books, posters, and the list goes on. Your next step will be deciding how you are going to get these products to the people. Maybe your fundraising idea will be to sell from door to door. This has the advantage of talking to the people face to face about your fundraising, but be prepared that everyone you talk to will not welcome you with open arms and will close the door in your face.

Another fundraising idea you have is direct mail. This is not by selling a product, but by asking directly for donations. It can be a bit costly because letters have to be made up. To have these done properly, they should be done by a marketing firm, which can cost you more than you anticipated. This fundraiser idea will have to have self addressed envelopes included for donors to respond, and there is really no way of telling how much money your fund raising will solicit from the donors out there.

Out of all the fund raising ideas that are out there the donation boxes as got to be among the easiest and the cheapest way to coordinate a fund raiser. This is where you place containers in the businesses around town. These boxes are usually clear with the group’s name printed clearly on the container. Be prepared though, the drawback for this fundraising idea is that the boxes fill up very slowly and you can’t depend on this for your whole fund raising. This fundraising idea is a supplement for other fund raising ideas.

Another way to make a fundraising idea work is to team up with other groups. In this way you have all the fundraising help you need and the results can really pay off. Combining schools and churches for instance can make a very successful fund raiser. There are many more fundraiser ideas that you can explore. It is you that will have to decide which fundraiser ideas will work best for you and your cause.

There are lots of fundraising ideas, but you have to know what you need, plan it and do it well for it to succeed.

For a website totally devoted to Fundraising visit Peter’s Website Fundraising Answers and find out about Fundraiser Ideas as well as Church Fundraising and more, including Cheerleading Fundraising, Cookie Dough Fundraisers and School Fundraisers.

Article Source: The Hard Task Of Coming Up With A Fundraising Idea

This is an excellent list to take to your next brainstorming session to generate new fundraising ideas for your group.

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