Volunteers are a valuable resource for nonprofits, and they are often called to raise another vital resource - money. As a volunteer, particularly as a board member, you may be asked to contribute your time to creating a fundraiser. Remember that while grants and foundation monies are important sources for funding, individual giving makes up the great majority of monetary support for nonprofits. If your organization isn't making a substantial percent of its budget from individual contributions, you should consider changing its game plan.
The most important aspect of fundraising is that you won't get anything if you don't ask for it. Fortunately, there are a wide variety of ways to ask. For a fundraiser to be effective, a good deal of planning must be done beforehand. Otherwise, a fundraiser could make no money, or end up costing the organization! Here's a laundry list of fundraisers:
- Roasts/Luncheons/Dinners
- Auctions/Raffles
- Telephons -- These are great money-makers if you have the resources to make one happen.
- Phonathons -- Are more feasible to carry out for most nonprofits.
- Product Sales -- Like the famous Girl Scout Cookies, though bake sales work just as well if you have a hungry, captive audience. A nice touch is converting artwork from or photography of the clients you work with into cards, calendars, etc. that you can sell.
- Walkathons/5k Runs -- This can be a highly effective fundraiser if people strongly support your cause. It's up to the individual participant, not the organization, to find sponsors, so the workload is more evenly spread out.
- Car Wash -- See if you can find a sponsor to give your organization $X for each car washed, then hold a FREE car wash. It's virtually impossible to resist.
- Annual Donor Campaign
- Capital Campaign -- This is somewhat like a donor campaign, except the money is specifically for building renovations or expansion. The campaign typically last 3 to 5 years, and people are asked to pledge a certain amount of money for a given amount of time.
- Deferred giving -- This is almost every nonprofit's dream come true: being included in a will. While not exactly a fundraiser, remember to offer this as an option when asking for contributions.
- Matching Funds -- Remember to always ask contributors if their place of business has a matching fund program. Alternately, try to get "adopted" by one or more businesses that can run donor campaigns to your benefit.
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