If you want to get serious about raising money for your organization and fully fund your organization’s mission, you must start with your passion for your cause.

You need to have a heart full of fire for your organization’s mission and the people you serve. You’ll find that it’s easier to draw others in when you can speak from your heart about why your organization’s work is so important. People like to get on board with a cause that is strongly championed by those closest to it.

Enthusiasm is contagious. The more vibrant you are about your organization’s mission, the more others will get excited about it too and want to support it.

As a passionate fundraiser, be ready to tell stories about those whose lives are being changed by your organization. A passionate story will always engage the listener or reader.

If you don’t fully believe in the work your nonprofit is doing, why should anyone else?

So what if you aren’t passionate about your organization? Here are some tips for helping you find it.

• Think about what you like most about the work your organization does. Is it feeding people? Is it taking care of homeless animals? The clearer you can be, the better.

• How would you feel if the organization suddenly ceased to exist? Would it be okay with you for people to go hungry or for animals to be homeless?

• If it were up to you to be the Ambassador to the World for your organization, what would you say? How would you present the cause to the world?

Make sure to guard your passion. Don’t let your concern for your cause become routine or boring, because that’s when your flame will start to die. Only with your passion flaming bright will you attract others to your cause.

Want to learn more about fully funding your nonprofit organization? Get practical tips and ideas for successful fundraising at http://www.getfullyfunded.com.

Sandy Rees is a nonprofit fundraising coach and speaker who shows small nonprofit organizations how to raise more money, gain more supporters, and strengthen their Boards.

(c) Sandy Rees, CFRE

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There are different types of fundraisers: product sales, raffle, lottery, pledge-a-thon, events, donations, membership fees, advertising sales, service sales and investments. Those are the “major” choices. Now, how do we go about picking the fundraising activities that are right for us? Well, there are a few determining factors that we’ll want to consider to help us choose from the available options.

Not all fundraisers are suited to all groups. For example, a legion of ladies auxiliary is less likely to be involved in a car wash than a bingo or craft sale. Take a good look at who you are and select fundraisers that are or can in some way be linked to the activities you are involved as a group.

Another thing to consider when choosing fundraising activities is how much money you actually require. Do up a budget, based on yearly operating expenses and the cost of functions or activities you wish to include in your agenda. Once you have determined a dollar figure required to accomplish your annual goals, you’ll have a firm target to aim for when strategizing your fundraising activities. And, you’ll be able to predict whether the amount needed can realistically be raised by one fundraiser or more.

Although raising money is a yearlong pursuit for many groups, timetabling your activities to capitalize on seasonal opportunities, lessen the competition factor or take advantage of extra volunteer availability is an excellent idea. By setting a schedule in advance you’ll be better organized when the time comes to put the fundraiser in action.

Scheduling your calendar also allows you to see and create activities to fill market demands that occur seasonally, such as flower sales for Valentine’s, calendars in January or a family Halloween carnival in October. Other seasonal opportunities might include: Christmas, Easter, Spring Break, Centennial, Summer, Mother’s day, Income Tax time, Father’s day, Back-2-School, New Year’s day, School’s out, St. Patrick’s day, Groundhog day, etc.

Have a brainstorming session to discover or invent seasonal possibilities, then discuss ways to capitalize on them. You’ll be able to pinpoint market needs during these time periods, and come up with profitable ways of filling those needs.

Learn how to plan fundraisers that don’t cost you anything by visiting Hypnotic Fundraisers

Raise hundreds or maybe even thousands of dollars for your group. Visit http://www.HypnoticFundraisers.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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Many small nonprofit organizations start out fundraising with grass-roots activities like bake sales and car washes. At some point, the organization must graduate to more sophisticated fundraising techniques to survive and grow.

A more formalized fundraising program includes establishing an annual fund and raising money from donors who give because they believe in the work you are doing, not because they get something in return. Here are some things you can do to find those first donors:

1. Ask your Board members to write letters to people they know asking for a donation to the organization. This can play out a couple of several different ways. They can each do their own thing or you can write the letter for them and they supply the addresses. Fundraising is based on relationships, and these should be some of the strongest relationships you have.

2. If you have volunteers in your organization, add them to your list of names. Some volunteers will give money and some will not, but when you’re starting from scratch, this is another good source of names.

3. Every time you’re speaking to a group or just representing your organization in a group of people, ask for those who’d like to be on your mailing list. Even if you only get a few takers, it’s worthwhile. That’s a few more names you can add to your list.

4. Be creative. Think about places where your best prospects are likely to gather and then get in there with them. I worked with a domestic violence shelter once and we exhibited at a women’s expo. We gave out information and signed people up to volunteer or to be on our newsletter. We came away from a two-day event with several hundred new names.

Once you have people on your list, take good care of them because you don’t want them to leave. Don’t inundate them with appeals. Make sure to respond to gifts promptly with sincere appreciation. Invite them for a tour of your organization and be purposeful in building relationships with your new donors.

Sandy Rees is a nonprofit fundraising coach and speaker who shows small nonprofit organizations how to raise more money, gain more supporters, and strengthen their Boards. Want more practical tips and ideas for successful fundraising? Get her twice-monthly “Bright Ideas for Fundraising” at http://www.getfullyfunded.com.

(c) Sandy Rees, CFRE

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Fundraising is often left undone until the panic of making budget seems to make raising money impossible without knowing someone rich and famous like Bill Gates or Warren Buffet.

But fundraising isn’t impossible. It can an incredibly exciting adventure. Here is a simple plan to get you off to a good start and keep being used for years to come. It’s as easy as rememberin “Get R.E.A.L.”

Get R.E.A.L.

The basic model I use for asking is the acronym R.E.A.L.: Research, Engage, Ask, and Love.

RESEARCH: The first step of research is to find out how much you need to raise. This may seem obvious but my experience is that most groups never put a specific dollar amount on their need.

Once that need is determined, it’s important to research how many gifts you’ll need. If you’re attempting to raise $100,000, the knee-jerk reaction will probably be “We just need to find 100 people that will give us $1,000.” As nice as that seems, decades of fundraising experience show that that simply isn’t how it works.

One of the most helpful tools is a gift grid. A free online version can be found at GiftRangeCalculator.com. Long-standing common wisdom shows that you’ll need at least one gift equaling 10% of the total. The next two should equal 5% of the total, etc.

So, to reach your goal of $100,000, you’ll need at least one donor to give a minimum of $10,000. Experience shows that you’ll need to have 4 or 5 prospects to achieve that gift. Work through the grid until you have names of prospects for each level.

As you’re building your prospect list, you’ll want to continue your research. Google can be an incredibly helpful tool. So can your board members and a development committee in the form of a peer review committee. You could invite these people, remind them of your cause and fundraising goals, and ask them to go over the names of prospects.

One simple method of doing this is conducting a “CPI screening”: rating each prospect on capacity, philanthropy, and interest.

• Does the prospect have capacity-are they financially able to make a gift?
• Are they philanthropic-are they generous with their money. You need to be a good steward of your resources, if the prospect can’t make a worthwhile gift or doesn’t have a track record of giving you would be better served seeking donations elsewhere.
• Are they interested in your cause? You can find this out by looking at other causes they’ve supported and by asking people close to your organization.

Have the people on the committee assign a score of 1-5 for each category-1 being lowest, 5 being highest. This is tool can be useful because it removes individual personalities from the prospect rating process and makes it feel more objective. You should promptly visit anyone scoring 12 or more. But watch for those with high scores in the first two categories and some inclination to your cause. While you can’t make someone more wealthy or generous, but you can have a chance at making someone more interested in your organization. Which brings us to the second step, engage.

ENGAGE: I like to think of this as the dating part of the relationship. It’s important to get to know your prospects before you “pop the question.” While you’ll certainly want to share the story of your cause, take time to get to know them-listen to their story, discover their interests, hear their goals. If the prospect has Cand P then here’s where you work on I.

ASK: The number one reason people don’t give money to your cause is that they are not asked. Even if you skip the prior two steps, you’ll still reach some level of success by consistently executing this one.

If you’ve done the first two steps, this step will be quite fun. You’ll already have the odds in your favor. You know that they are predisposed to saying “yes” and you’ll have had time to shape the ask around their passions.

It’s good to ask people for gifts spread out over a period of time: i.e. “$1000 a year for three years.” This both shows you consider your cause important enough for a substantial investment and it saves you from having to ask them again and again.

LOVE: This is easy if the prospect says “yes” when you’ve asked. You simply need to be sure to thank them about seven times before you ask them again.

But fundraising is all about relationships. The work really starts if they’ve said “no.” The big thing is to not burn any bridges. If you made it all the way to the ask, you had good reason to believe they’d say yes. The timing simply might not have been right. If you keep in touch with them, they just may give in the future. People will remember you if you’re exceptional at handling a “no.” And refusing a request can be so difficult, they’ll be grateful for your composure.

Some Other Initial Pieces

As you introduce people to your cause, it can be very helpful to have some background materials.

The Case Statement: If you were called into a court of law and had to make a defense for your fundraising, what would you say? In a few paragraphs, powerfully express why someone should be interested in giving their hard-earned money to this venture. Why is it so important? Why is this the time? You might include a projected timeline for your nonprofits goals and how much it’ll take to make those goals happen.

The Players: Whom are the people carrying out the work? Why are they captivated and enthralled by this project? How are you changing the lives of people? If you’re the founder, tell your story. I’d include a listing of your board and a brief explanation of any existing strategic partnerships. People may emotionally want to give but they’ll need this sort of information to rationally back-up their emotional decision.

Gift Ranges & Naming Opportunities/Sponsorship Levels: It’s helpful to breakdown the amount you want to raise into different giving levels and/or sponsorship opportunities. Giving levels are often something like $500-$999, $1000-4999, $5000-9999, and $10,000+.

It can also be helpful to break your goals name-able chunks and projects like the “Joe CEO Honorary Training” or the “Big Corporate Airlines Institute.” You might be able to use those to pitch to people that their names will be in the press releases and other publicity. This would be wonderful for your nonprofit and give the sponsor visibility as well.

Gift ranges, naming opportunities, and sponsorship levels can be extremely effective ways to “tangibilitize” giving, to help donors feel like they’re giving something concrete. If you haven’t yet, check out Heifer.org to see how they make giving tangible. Be sure to check out the small print too. They’re very clear that every gift is a gift to Heifer Project’s mission, not necessarily to the goat or chickens you’re “buying.”

You’ll also want to have your 501(c)3 documentation available when you get it. But start asking whether you have it or not. People give because the mission and vision grab them, not the IRS documentation. You’ll probably want everything to be PDF’d so that you can email it easily (and not have to print up a bunch of stuff.)

The 2 Basic Groups of Donors

Now you’re ready to start asking. There are two groups for you to ask from: those that already know you and those that don’t.

THOSE THAT KNOW YOU

Those that know you are probably already enthralled with what you’re doing. Ask them for money! Especially the board members. Major donor and foundations may well ask what percent of the board is giving to the project. Note: not how much the board is giving, but how many of the board are giving. 100% board participation is the goal. If the whole board isn’t giving, it’ll probably jeopardize your fundraising effectiveness.

Steps:

1. Make a list of all those that know about your initiative.
2. Run them through a quick CPI screening, more to determine whether you want to ask them for a certain amount or simply for a “participation gift.”
3. Ask them.
4. Be sure to show them how their gift is changing the world.

THOSE THAT DON’T KNOW YOU

Because this group is so big, it would be very easy to get unfocused. Always follow up every solicitation with something like “Do you know other people that may be interested in learning about what we’re doing?” You may yield names from such a simple question.

Here is a plan for asking for gifts from people you don’t know, in this case corporations:

1. Make a list of people and companies. Start with ones that you suspect have capacity, are philanthropic, and/or interested. As you pursue these leads, you may become aware of companies or people that just seem to be overwhelmingly generous. They may be worth adding to your list.
2. Since these will be mostly cold calls, do a quick check of the website to get:
   • An overall feel for how this company communicates (Is it formal and traditional or cutting edge and informal?)
   • What their mission statement or values are
   • The name of the VP of Marketing (you may have to call for this) Always go to the Marketing Department first. Even if the company is progressive enough to have a charitable office, marketing will always have the bigger budget.
   • The company’s email protocol (firstname_lastname? firstinitiallastname? etc.) This could help you break through the gatekeepers and communicate with the VP directly.
3. Making the ask.
   • Based on your quick survey, determine what level or naming opportunity you intend to ask them for. You may only have 30-60 seconds to make the ask. Make it specific. How will this help the company or individual? How will it help your nonprofit?
   • Explain who you represent, why you’re calling (what leads you to believe it may interest them), and what you’re asking for as quickly and succinctly. They don’t have time for normal calls let alone cold calls!

This may sound simple, and it should. But it’ll take lots of work to get it done. I hope you see how this simple process can be morphed to fit approaching individuals and foundations. If you’re asking foundations, be sure to follow their specific format for asking. Those guidelines are usually available on their websites.

Remember, every year more than $200 billion is given to nonprofits in the USA alone. Your nonprofit could definitely get a piece of those philanthropic dollars. But you need a realistic goal, a compelling story, and a disciplined approach to fundraising.

Congratulations you’re embarking on a wonderful adventure! I’m convinced asking people for money is one of thebest vocations in the world!

Marc A. Pitman is the author of Ask Without Fear! and an executive coach to nonprofit leaders. An expert in helping people identify their natural abilities, he’s committed to providing down-to-earth information that will decrease stress and put the “fun” back into fundraising!

Sign up for Marc’s free Ideas for Fundraising Ezine, and get a free copy of his eBook on email fundraising.

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Facebook is a social networking site and a great tool for connecting with donors, spreading the word about your cause, and gaining new supporters. Just like any tool, you need to know how to use it effectively in order to get the most benefit from the resources you invest in it. It’s free to sign up, but be careful or you’ll spend tons of time there!

To fundraise with Facebook, there are a few easy steps to take. Here’s what you need to do.

1. Set up a personal profile for yourself on Facebook.

2. Create a “page” for your nonprofit organization.

3. Create a “cause” for your nonprofit organization and attach it to your page.

4. Ask everyone you know to join become a fan of your page and a member of your cause.

Then create a fundraising campaign and ask folks to support you.

Don’t create these pages on Facebook then sit back and wait for the money to roll in. It’s not a “build it and they will come” kind of thing. You must remind people regularly that you have a Facebook presence and that they can support you.

Here are some tips for maximizing your presence on Facebook:

o Have a plan and know what you want to get out of it. Start with an idea of the result you want. Otherwise, you can wander blindly, spending tons of time and not getting really anything in return.

o Learn all you can about using Facebook and its features. Take advantage of every teleseminar and article you can to learn something new.

o Spend a little time on it regularly. The more you play with it, the more you’ll learn and the better you’ll get at using it.

o Watch other nonprofits that are doing well on Facebook and mimic them. Find a nonprofit that is raising money and follow their lead.

There are over 90 million people on Facebook and more sign up every day. Don’t get left behind!

(c) Sandy Rees, CFRE

Sandy Rees is a nonprofit fundraising coach and speaker who shows small nonprofit organizations how to raise more money, gain more supporters, and strengthen their Boards. Want more practical tips and ideas for successful fundraising? Get her twice-monthly “Bright Ideas for Fundraising” at http://www.getfullyfunded.com

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Raising money through the mail is a commonly used technique in fundraising. There are dozens of things you can do to ensure you get the best return possible on your investment. Here are five top tips for nonprofit direct mail success.

1. Choose the right people to mail to. Whether you are renewing current donors or acquiring new ones, it’s critical to get the right names on your list. Remember that not everyone makes a donation through the mail. You want people on your list who love what you do and will respond when you ask through a mailing.
2. Make sure you have a clear ask. You must ASK for a gift. Don’t assume the donor will figure out that you want a donation and send it out of the goodness of their heart. Ask for what you want and be clear about it.
3. Personalize the letter. This is particularly important for renewing current donors. Don’t, don’t, DON’T send a “Dear Friend” letter to your current donors. Use mail merge and put their name and address in the letter.
4. Keep your list clean. This is a MUST! If half of the names on your list have moved, you need to know that! The Postal Service now requires us nonprofits to run a National Change of Address (NCOA) update periodically to keep our data clean. Check with your local mailing house for details or find someone who can do the NCOA for you.
5. Tie donation amounts to tangible things your donor will understand. Use something like “your gift of $50 will provide food boxes to 16 families in need.” It gives the donor an idea of how their gift will be used and it’s very believable.

Want more help with direct mail?  Join me for a 3-part webinar series in October.  Get all the details at http://getfullyfunded.com/secrets-to-direct-mail or check out 7 Essential Steps to Raising Money by Mail.

Sandy Rees, CFRE, is a coach, consultant, and trainer who shows small nonprofit organizations how to raise more money and grow their Boards. For free tips on how to raise all the money your organization needs, visit http://www.getfullyfunded.com.

The good news is that 62 percent of adults visit a non-profit’s website before donating (according to a recent online survey conducted by Harris Interactive).

That’s also the bad news.

For many non-profits, the quickest way they can scare away donors is to direct them to the organization’s website. Too many non-profit websites are making blunders that discourage donors from browsing, donating, volunteering or referring others to the site. Here are four common blunders, and how to avoid them.

Blunder #1. Obscure website address

What would you expect to find at http://www.gghorg.ca? Is this address obviously for Guelph General Hospital? How easy is this website address to remember? Is it as easy to remember as http://www.lenoxhillhospital.org, the address for, you guessed it, Lenox Hill Hospital? If you want donors, volunteers, members, alumni, the media and others to easily find your website, give it an address that’s both intuitive and easy to remember. If your organization’s name is a mouthful, then create a unique website address, as the Arthritis Research Institute of America did with its website, http://www.preventarthritis.org.

Blunder #2. Donate button on the homepage only

Some visitors will find your website by typing your website address into their browser. But plenty more will find you through a search. Which means they may land on any page of your website other than your homepage. So if you want visitors to donate, put a Donate Now button or link on every page of your site, not just on the homepage.

Blunder #3. No email sign-up

The key to raising money online is not your website. It’s your email. You raise money by emailing folks who have asked to hear from you. But you can only do that if you have their email addresses. A website that does not collect email addresses is not likely to raise much money. So put a sign-up link on every page of your site, offering a free email newsletter, email updates or something else of value to your donors that they will receive from you by email.

Blunder #4. No interaction

I heard recently of a young boy who explained to his father why he didn’t watch television: “It doesn’t do anything. All I can do is watch it.” That explains the beauty of the Internet: it’s interactive. Which means your website visitors expect your website to be interactive. They expect to be able to “do something.” Your visitors will stay longer, and enjoy their visit more, if you offer them online surveys, polls, petitions, quizzes, refer-a-friend buttons, donation pages and other ways for visitors to interact with your site.

About the author
Alan Sharpe publishes Direct Mail Fundraising Today, the free, weekly email newsletter that helps non-profit organizations raise funds, build relationships and retain loyal donors. Alan is the author of Breakthrough Fundraising Letters and 25 handbooks on direct mail fundraising. Alan is also a speaker and workshop leader who delivers public seminars and teleseminars on direct mail fundraising. Sign up for Alan’s newsletter at www.RaiserSharpe.com

© 2007 Alan Sharpe.

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You decided you’re going to participate in a walkathon for your favorite cause. But you’ve just found out they require you to raise a minimum amount. An amount that seems astronomical to you. What do you do?

First of all, good for you! Thank you for caring enough about the cause to put yourself out there and raise money for it. Our world is a much better place because of people like you.

Fundraising can be a fun journey. Here’s a simple 4-step process for successfully raising the minimum amount–and maybe alot more than that!

■RESEARCH
The first step in any fundraising effort is to research. By doing research up front, you–or you and your team–will lay a terrific foundation for achieving your goals. Here are some suggestions on what to do:

1.Determine how much are you are going to raise
Specifically. Not the “more-is-better” answer but how much? $1,000? $2,500?

This will often come from the minimum amount you need to raise to be part of the event. But what if you raised more? Figure out a specific dollar amount.

2.Find out if the nonprofit has different giving levels to recognize donors
Often nonprofits will recognize donors by assigning them to a donor level “Founders” or “Contributors” or “Patron.” Find out if the group you’re supporting uses these and if gifts given by your friends will be recognized in this way. It’ll help later on.

3.Develop a plan to reaching that goal
If you’re trying to raise $2500, it’s easy to fall prey to thinking you “only” need to find 100 people to give $25.

This just doesn’t happen.

We’ve been studying fundraising for decades. Although this sounds wonderfully egalitarian, experience shows that people give varying amounts.

Plus, if you only ask $25 from someone who’d gladly have given $100, you’re leaving money on the table.

To do the research of creating a plan, go to a tool like GiftRangeCalculator.com. Plug in the amount you want to raise and the calculator tells you what size gifts you need to ask for and how many prospects you need.

If you do it for $2500, you’ll get something like this [click on the image to enlarge it]:

You’ll see that it recommends your top gift be $625–the equivalent of 25 people giving $25! A tool like this is based on decades of fundraising experience and can really help you develop a map to raising the amount of money you need.

You’ll also see that if you get all the gifts recommended, you’ll actually raise $3200. I did this intentionally. I wanted this calculation to be conservative so that even if you miss some of the 49 gifts, you’ll still reach your goal.

I also did this because if your cause is worth fundraising for, it’s worth raising more than the minimum!

4.Research your prospects
The gift range calculator also recommends you list 5 prospects that might be able to make this gift. In our experience, it often takes five prospects for every gift. But that doesn’t necessarily mean your other four will say “no.” They will probably come in at a lower gift level. Especially if you do the next step well: engage.

5.Make a list
Now that you know how much you need to raise and how many people you need to get there, start making a list. List people according to how much you think they could give. Now isn’t the time to qualify your prospects. Just get them listed. Don’t say, “Oh, they won’t give.” Let them make the decision to give or not when you get to the step of asking.

■ENGAGE
Researching can feel safe because you’re doing important work but you don’t need to see anyone face-to-face. There’s very little risk. But research alone doesn’t raise any money. You need to engage with the prospects you listed.

Engaging prospects is like dating. You get to know what aspect of the nonprofit intrigues them and you get to share why you’re committed enough to do a walkathon. Since you’ll be asking your friends, you probably won’t need to take a lot of time on this step, although the first 5-6 gifts may need more intentional meetings.

Your major goal in engaging is to find out how to effectively ask the prospect. What are their hot button issues? What do they value? What about your cause would most likely be attractive to them?

When you call someone to get together, make sure to be clear on the purpose of the meeting. If you’re going to ask them for money, do them the honor of letting them know. Nothing is worse than being invited “just to talk” but finding out the real reason was to ask. Even if a gift is made, both of you leave feeling slimed and it costs you your integrity. Simply say something like, “I’d like to talk to you about your support of the XYZ walkathon.” This is vague enough to leave room for an ask if the opportunity comes up.

A portion of engaging can also happen online. Building your Twitter followers and Facebook friends can help introduce more people to your cause. Just be sure to be a human. It is social media, so talk about things other than the walkathon!

This step is relatively comfortable too, so don’t get stuck here. Engaging can happen over a period of time or over a cup of coffee. But it won’t get you to your goal if you don’t ask for a donation.

■ASK
Asking is the name of the game. If you did nothing but this, you’d have some level of fundraising success. But now that you’ve done the research and the engaging, you’ll have much better odds at actually reaching your goal.

At this point, the prospect knows your goal and what a gift will accomplish. And you have an idea of an aspect of the nonprofit that would be more appealing to her. So asking is merely inviting them to participate at the level you want in the area they want.

Easy, right?

If you’re setting up the meeting, let them know it’s to talk about their “involvement in ” or “support of” or their “contribution to” the walkathon. At the meeting be ready to ask for a specific dollar amount.

If you just ask someone to contribute, they have no idea what “contribute” means to you. If you were asking for a gift from a $625 prospect, she might think a $25 gift was contributing. She has no way of knowing how much you were expecting.

Don’t worry about asking too high. I’ve never had anyone get upset about being asked for too much. They’ve laughed in my face! But they’ve never been upset. Often they say they’re flattered I think they could give that much.

If saying the specific amount is too intimidating, have your gift calculation with you when you make the ask. If you’re artsy, you could even make a gift pyramid with boxes representing the gifts needed at each level. The calculation print out or the gift pyramid gives the prospect a chance to see they aren’t asking to be the only donor. And it lets them give a gift that will help, even if not at the level you’re asking. (They might even see a higher amount needed and go for that!)

This is also where the research you did into your nonprofits giving levels can help. Say you’re asking a business to be the $625 donor. Not only will you be able to tell them how that fits their values, you can say it’ll be recognized by the nonprofit at the “[Fill in the blank] Giving Club” level.

Asking can be one-on-one, and probably should be for the bigger gifts. But asking can also be done in a group setting like a dessert reception. In fact, after each of your bigger donors say “yes,” ask if they’d be willing to host a dessert reception to help you fundraise. This could be a great way to introduce the cause to new people and raise money!

Also, remember that each “prospect” needn’t be a human. You may feel more comfortable holding a silent auction or a bottle drive or a shopping party where a percentage of the profit goes to your walkathon. All of these are legitimate. Events can be great in getting more press for your cause and creating buzz about the event. But I’d highly recommend locking in some of the top donations before going the event route. Many people will feel they’ve given if they’ve participated in one of these events, so going back to them for a personal donation might feel awkward.

■LOVE
No matter how the your prospects respond, they are always worth more than the amount of money you asked them for. Chances are, you’re asking your friends and your friends friends to support you in this walkathon. Be sure to treat them well enough to keep those relationships even after the walkathon is finished.

If a prospect says “yes,” it’s easy to treat them well. Thank them there. Write a note thanking them. Ask them to join your Facebook or event page so they can see the progress you make. And be sure to follow up with all your donors after the event.

If they say “no,” it can be a bit harder. First of all, the “no” may be simply that they are able to give at a different amount. Perhaps they just can’t give as much to this walkathon as they did to your last one. At bigger gift levels, some people might find it easier to pay in monthly installments or some now and pledge some later.

But the baseline is: be courteous to everyone. I’m embarrassed I have to mention this, but so many of us get so wrapped up in our cause and our fundraising goal, that we forget a simple lesson from kindergarten: play nice with each other.

There you have it! Following this simple 4-step process should make fundraising for your next walkathon much more fun and enjoyable! Remember, you’re doing an awesome thing raising money for your favorite cause! Thank you!

Copyright © 2010 The Pitman Group, http://www.fundraisingcoach.com

School fundraising is important. We all know that. Few school projects can take flight without the critically funding provided by the various fundraising initiatives launched by school PTAs or school PTOs. There are many types of fundraising initiatives and can be differentiated between product and non-product fundraisers. This article focuses on product sale fundraisers.

The reason why I feel an article like this is so critical is that turnover is so high in PTAs. With membership turning over almost entirely every year, mistakes and the lessons learned are rarely passed along. In order to help make all our school fundraisers more successful and launch all our necessary projects, I hope in creating this list that schools will better achieve their goals. So enough blabbering, here is the top ten list on the mistakes you ought to avoid and be successful from knowing it.

1. Promotion or the lack thereof

School fundraisers that are well planned and researched often fall short in promotion. Marketing is critical for all successful businesses and is preached to all those in the business community. Making something is worthless if no one knows what you are doing. The message here is you definitely have to make a plan to promote your school fundraiser. Choose not to and you may as well not run one at all. A few ideas are letters sent home to parents or an email blast.

2. No Goal

Choosing a goal, a realistic one, is important. School fundraising PTA’s often set goals that are far too unrealistic, often on the high side. If you need to raise $X, you need to get an idea of how much you need to sell. A simple formula is X = Profit Margin x Sales. If you have a profit margin of 40% and need to raise $10,000, you will need to have your community pay $25,000 to you, assuming there are no other fixed costs. Putting it this way may will make for more realistic goals, goal that are achievable.

3. Not Communicating What You Are Raising Money For

One thing everyone who buys a product from a school fundraiser wants to know is what am I helping to accomplish. Fundraisers for a school PTA are good, but to build a school garden might be more attractive. Communicate this in your promotion. All you volunteers will be more motivated to sell products and communicate the project to their customers if they believe in it. This also fits into planning, plan this in advance. Talk to everyone involved. Set a goal everyone will work together to achieve.

4. Selling The Wrong Thing

You could have done points 1 to 3 perfectly but are selling coal (or any other unattractive thing). With many schools moving away from chocolate, you will have to look to offer things that are in demand. You may want to focus on products that are staples, such as coffee or cleaners, that people already need to buy in times when the economy is doing poorly.

5. Focusing On The Wrong Numbers

One thing most PTA’s preach is profit margin and they are right, high profit margins are better than lower ones. More money from what is sold that stays with the group is best for the group. But there is one big caveat and here it is; selling products that are overpriced are far less attractive than those priced affordably. If you buy a chocolate bar for $1 and sell it for $2, your profit margin is 50%. If you sell it for $3, your profit margin is 66.7%. But in order to boost that profit margin, you are likely to turn away a lot of potential purchasers. What is often better is to offer fairly priced products. Remember, raising money isn’t about profit margins, its about profit. And profit has two elements, profit margin and quantity. Sell more. Raise more.

6. Selling At The Wrong Time

Talk to any elementary school parent and they will tell you this. School fundraisers come far too frequently. So frequently that they won’t support their school’s fundraisers at all. Most fundraisers happen in the fall. Jamming in many fundraisers is most definitely a bad idea. I’d suggest spreading fundraisers out over the year or running more successful fundraisers each time. Very few fundraisers work well at the end of the school year because parents have already given up. Running a green fundraiser around Earth Day in April can lend to a better solution.

7. Not Enlisting Enough Volunteers

Fundraising can take a lot of effort. When choosing a fundraiser, remember there are multiple points where work is involved. The first is distributing any order forms and selling the product. The more volunteers here the better. The second step is collecting payment. For online systems, the volunteer time here won’t be needed and is clearly a benefit. I would recommend to shy away still from online only fundraisers as catalogs are tried and tested. Finally, when the products are sent, they can go straight to the customer or you will have to sort them. If you have to sort the fundraising products, plan on having many volunteers. If the fundraising company takes care of it, sit back and relax. But remember this one thing, the more the company does, the less profit you are likely to receive.

8. Forgetting The Hidden Costs

High profit margins are great. Everyone loves 50% profit margins. They look so attractive. But if its too good to be true, it probably is. This common saying lends itself to fundraising just as all others. Many 40+% fundraisers do one of the following: charge for shipping, charge taxes on top rather than taxes included, charge for order forms, charge for prizes or charge for even the order forms themselves. Be sure to ask in advance! This makes a world of difference.

9. Not Being Organized

This rule is simple but easily overlooked. Many volunteers have other projects and things on the go and its easy to forgot to stay organized. Make a list of everything that needs to be done, by whom and by when. Check the list as it becomes complete. Have a backup plan if someone is sick or if there is more work than what is expected. It makes a world of a difference.

10. Forgetting About The Media

Are you raising money in a special way? Many groups raise money for special charities. Send a press release to the local media. This will get the kids on TV and excited and garner a lot more visibility to what you are trying to do. Hey, you might even get a land a spot on Oprah!

This list doesn’t cover all the mistakes that school fundraisers often make but I hope it will make your fundraiser that much more successful. Have any tips or want to ask a question, you can shoot me an email by visiting my website below.

Good Luck!
Green Corey

Corey Berman is a recent graduate of Economics with a passion for steady-state economics which focuses on sustainability in economic development. He currently runs Green Students Fundraising, a company dedicated to greening and improving the elementary school fundraising industry.

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