Yeah, yeah, we all hate fundraisers. We hate to be guilted into buying overpriced candy bars or wrapping paper. But the fact is, sometimes it’s a necessary evil.
My husband just took a job as the executive director of a non-profit that runs a sailing camp for underprivileged kids in Baltimore. Naturally, one of the most important of his responsibilities is raising money so they can send as many kids as possible to the camp. I think he told me it costs about $400 per child, so we’re not talking small scale efforts.
He’ll be seating a Board of Directors soon and he’s got some ideas already. I did a quick Google but mostly it came back with the magazine subscriptions, candy bars, and stuff like that. The non-profit doesn’t need to be competing with every school in the city. And they need to do things that will bring in big dollars.
His first thought was a motorcycle ride. Here in the Jax area, bikers will pay $10 or so for the priviledge of driving around town with a bunch of other bikers, and related businesses donate prizes to be raffled off. There’s a marina here that offers “Intro to sailing” boat rides with voluteer captains for $10 or $20 per person and almost all of the proceeds going to the sponsored charity. Both of these are doable, but the more ideas = more kids at camp.
So I’m asking the Teeming Millions: What kinds of fundraisers have you encountered that were successful and well-received? Conversely, what absolutely didn’t work at all? What companies should one avoid dealing with? What would appeal to people with lots of money?
Don’t be shy. Tell me what worked for your group. Is there big money in car washes or silent auctions? Are there successful methods that one would never have expected to work? Do share - think of the children!!
We are big fans of escrip (http://www.escrip.com). It’s basically a contract with a number of local/national merchants where people register their cc numbers and the merchants donate money whenever registered people use those cards at their stores. Around here a lot of the big grocery stores and popular mall shops participate. We’ve also had local restaurants who will contribute some money for each person who brings in a flyer on a particular night. I’m really in favor of getting merchant donations for money I probably would have spent anyway.
walking/running marathons where people take pledges;
and anything that involves gambling that is legal to run in your state - bingo, raffles, etc. I used to work at a Catholic school for girls that ran a small bingo game twice a week in the gym. They netted $250,000 a year from that. Each parent had to volunteer for one night twice a year, so that’s where the majority of the labor came from. Perhaps you could do something like that and ask the parents of the kids to put in a few hours apiece in volunteer work in exchange for the camp.
First, who else is on the board? I would think that a Baltimore sailing non-profit would have some sailors and well-to-do yachters on it. These are the people your husband needs to lean on to raise awareness (and should be directly responsible either through their own pocketbooks or those of their friends for ~40% of annual giving). If any of the members are fairly visible, an auction may be very feasible. Make it marina and yachting specific, get the local sports teams involved. If there’s already a charity auction in that area, scratch that - each area gets 1 auction, and the market dries up.
December would be a great month to do a holiday “Christmas up your boat/ship/hole-in-the-water for charity”. Maybe get a marina to host it, serve wine and cheese on the dock or in the clubhouse (do marinas have clubhouses?), have Santa show up for kids (or not). Get the board to come up with a list of things they are absolutely capable of doing, and who they’re willing and able to approach regarding either a time donation or a dollar donation for the event. I’m thinking it may be too late for this one, though. If time isn’t an issue, think about a Christmas in April function. Or a St. Paddy’s day flotilla. People would pay big bucks to spend money on really expensive crappy green beer for charity.
Secondly, how much do you have to raise and by when? The single most effective way to increase your donor base is through direct mail. Yeah, you hate to hear it, but it works.
The most important thing for him/you to remember is that fundraisers (events particularly) don’t actually raise funds. They raise members, donors and friends of the organization. It’s not surprising at all to see a fundraiser cost more than it actually raised - so a 1-stop shopping trip for all your non-profit needs isn’t what you’re going to find. The true benefit of a function is going to pan out further down the line.
Is the organization based out of Jax or Baltimore?
How large is the organization? It sounds like your husband may be a CEO/Development Director, which is a tough double duty job. Is there a CFO, or is that FCD as well?
If it’s sizeable, car donations is the trend sweeping the nation. My brother’s organization is having cars and money pour in hand over fist with car donations. They’re usually set up in two different ways:
Method 1
Car comes in.
Auction clearance house gives you $100 for the car, hauls it away.
Donor gets a tax deduction (and their name put on your list).
Catch: While you’re getting $50 for that heap of rust that’s never going to run again, you’re also only getting $100 for that 1995 Jeep Cherokee that’s resaling at auction for $3,000.
Method 2
Car comes in.
You haul it to the auction house (maybe even after fixing it up some), house gives you 25% of resale.
Donor gets a tax deduction (and their name put on your list).
Catch: That heap of rust doesn’t sell, and you may be responsible for hauling it to the dump/scrapheap.
Talk to the local auction house, and they’ll work something out.
Munch - there is no board yet. He was just hired last week and that’s the first item on his to-do list: form a board. It’s based in Baltimore - I just mentioned Jax as our base of experience. And I don’t know all the details, but I think he told me the non-profit was just incorporated within the last year or so and it was handled by the owner of a charter business/sailing school. That owner is looking to retire soon, so he hired my husband to take over this part of the business.
He’s been living aboard our boat in Baltimore for the last year and a half, so he knows some of the local sailors, but none of the rich ones. I’m guessing he’ll try to get to address some of the yacht clubs to drum up support.
Unfortunately, it’s too late to do anything before Christmas. Any venue would be booked already and with only 3 weeks till Christmas, there’s no way to pull something together that won’t come off as half-baked. His boss really expects things to start happening after the first of the year.
As to what he has to raise and when, that I don’t know. Lots and soon, I would imagine. There is some money in the organization’s account, so a few kids will be going to camp. But the goal is for a bunch of kids to go to camp.
I don’t know about car donations, but they do plan to seek boat donations, then fix them up and sell them. Or use them in the program.
cher3 - I like the restaurant idea - my daughter’s school did that once and it was painless and successful! Thanks for reminding me.
romansperson - there are bingo halls around Baltimore, so I don’t know how a private function would fare. But I also know raffles are popular. In fact, before my husband went up there, we offered an outing on our boat as part of a fundraiser - I’m sure he’ll do that again too.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I’ll make sure Fairychatdad sees this thread. He’s one of those non-posting, non-lurking members. I’ve tried to get him hooked with little success.
Fairy - My wife and I are very active volunteers for The Make-A-Wish Foundation - as far as non-profit’s go they rank right up there with United Way. I sit on the board for the Make-A-Wish chapter near where I live. I’ll address the board issue first.
Board - The Board for a small non-profit will have to be your money makers. Members of the board should be donors, large donors if you want them to be vested in the non-profit. They should want the non-profit to do well. Having a wealthy sailer or two on the board is a good Idea. Will they be an active board or a silent board? We are an active board here and my wife and I are large annual donors for this branch.
Tax Status - your husband will have to establish the non-profit as a 501-C3 tax organization. If he has not already done this he will need that at the top of his list. That way once he has established that, he can start writing grants…He has to bring in annual funds some how right?
Fundraising - He should have two to three large fundraising events each year. I would start off with something big that will be enticing for the those in your community with money (these people are also known as Potential Donors.
A Wine and Food Fest is a great thing to have. Everything is donated…so little money will come out of the budget. Donated wines…donated foods from area fine restaurants…invite the chefs for a night. Most like this kind of thing, and it is a nice tax write off for the companies participating. Have a silent auction during the event, with donated materials…Hotels are great for donating a room for a night, and dinner. Baseball tickets, Basketball etc…etc… All proceeds go to your husbands non-profit. For more info email me, if you’d like. I’m getting rather busy at the moment…I’ll keep my eye on this thread though…
Phlosphr - I’ll pass this info to him. I think the owner set up the tax stuff for the non-profit, but I’ll make sure FCD confirms that. I think the silent auction idea is a good one too. We bought a small boat that way ourselves some years back. Good deal for everyone all the way around!
Go ahead…There are grant-writing rings throughout the country helping small non-profits write big-bucks grants. The state and federal Gov’t also have money for small non-profit. Untapped resources abound, and I’m sure Baltimore if sull of them.
Have him look up state community foundations, our branch got 56k in fiscal year 02’ from a community foundation grant…and they like to give annually. As do large banks and such…if he could have sponsored events that is a great way to start up an annual giving program.
Wonderful resource for grantseekers - he may be able to get one or more. Tell him not to be intimidated by proposal writing. Foundations often have very specific guidelines of what they want from you, and even forms of their own that you just fill out - so as long as you can follow the directions, you can successfully submit a proposal. Plus the Center has lots of info on pretty much everything you need to know to try for $.
Have you got an American version of www.canadahelps.org ? It’s a website (that’s a non-profit org in itself) that collects donations to charities. It’s fantastic as it makes donating very easy.
He did mention that he’ll be applying for grants, too. Right now he’s in the learning and information gathering phase, and all of this information is really great. I knew I could count on Dopers for help!
