Private Funding / Community-Based Organizations

Some community-based organizations (CBOs) are practiced at ferreting out scarce resources. Join with them—and double both your efforts—or share existing resources. For example, you could pool…

• Fundraising Efforts: Because both of your organizations support good causes, a team effort may increase the donations you receive. If your ally has an established mailing list or a proven fundraising campaign, all the better.
• Property: Lend or borrow chairs and tables for a community event, or share a projector to use for presentations.
• Space: Sharing an office can reduce your rent. You could also split the costs of office equipment, office supplies, telephones, Internet connections, a receptionist, and more.
• Time: Hire an intern to serve both organizations.

Here are some fundraising methods that CBOs commonly use. Adapt these methods to meet your own needs—or collaborate on one with a CBO.

• Annual Campaign
  
• Direct Mail
  
• Fundraising Events
  
• Online Fundraising
  
• Sales

Learn more:

For ideas on nonprofits with whom you could collaborate,

• Contact or research the Hispanic Yearbook – Anuario Hispano, an information resource guide for and about the Hispanic community, which includes lists of Hispanic organizations, businesses, and media.
  
• Check our Resources section.

 

Annual Campaign

Many nonprofits reach out to their donors at the same time every year. This consistency keeps the organization visible, and it enables donors to plan their gifts. While the campaign may initially target individual donors and those closely related to the organization, such as board members, volunteers, and staff, it may approach other civic organizations as well.

If you establish a relationship with a CBO that has an annual giving campaign, you could ask to announce your joint project as part of the campaign. Or you could launch your own annual campaign.

CBOs also may conduct capital campaigns, which are used to solicit funds for large projects, such as building renovations or major research projects. These campaigns may span months or years; you could use one to fund a particular new, large-scale project. Direct mail and direct solicitation are common methods for conducting these campaigns.

Direct Mail

Individual gifts make up the bulk of charitable donations. Nearly 76 percent of all estimated charitable giving in 2006—totaling $222.89 billion—came from individuals, according to Giving USA.

Direct mail is one of the most popular and cost-effective fundraising methods that nonprofits use to reach these individuals. It is often the vehicle by which donors make their first gift, and as such it can help you build a base of donors.

These letters are effective because they arrive at the recipient’s home, where someone must handle them in some way. They can deliver your story with an emotional appeal alongside a handy, easy-to-use reply card.

Follow these guidelines to write your letter:

• Craft a powerful opening—tell an emotional story, dramatically describe a need, and paint a striking picture of how the reader can help.
  
• Frame your appeal in terms of how a donor can improve the lives of other people; people give to people to help people.
  
• Be personal—focus the letter on “you” and use conversational, plain language.
  
• Show pictures of people’s faces. Make the letter appear friendly.
  
• Tug on the reader’s emotions.
  
• Share news about your issue—recent statistics or trends, or how your new program will revolutionize child support.
  
• Calm the reader’s fears of giving to an undeserving organization—offer testimonials, a link to facts on your Web site, or a statement of your organization’s history and track record.
  
• Explain the benefits that the donor will receive by giving. These can be a give-away item—a new fleece blanket with your logo—or simply the personal satisfaction of helping children and families.
  
• Make a strong offer—ask for a specific amount, include a deadline, explain how you will use the money, and tell the donor what benefits he or she will receive.
  
• End with a call to action that spells out exactly how the reader should respond.
  
• Use plenty of white space so that readers can easily skim your letter. Include short paragraphs, bullets, headings, and subheadings. Your letter can be long if it is formatted well.
  
• Ensure that all items in your mailing—the outside envelope, the reply envelope, the inserts, the letter—have a unifying, appealing, and memorable design.

Use these tips to mail your letter:

• Maintain a good mailing list.
  
• Segment the list, sending different appeals to different audiences.
  
• Test your letters to see which ones are most effective, then adjust your mailings accordingly. Keep records so that you can replicate effective campaigns.
  
• Repeat your theme, your look and feel, and your logo in each mailing so that donors come to recognize the mailing as yours.

Fundraising Events

CBOs may host a variety of events to raise money. These can range from a low-budget bake sale to a black-tie soiree. Here are some additional examples:

• Art Shows or Auctions.
  
• Balls or Galas.
  
• Car Washes.
  
• Casino Nights.
  
• Fashion Shows.
  
• Fun Runs.
  
• Golf Tournaments.
  
• Happy Hours.
  
• Jazz Nights.
  
• Movie Nights
  
• Pancake Breakfasts.
  
• Spaghetti Dinners.
  
• Telethons.
  
• Walkathons.

The higher-end events usually take two to three years to turn a profit. However, once they are established, they can produce long-term income.

While fundraising events can be profitable, they also require substantial resources to produce—especially the larger ones. By teaming with a CBO, you can split the workload and the cost.

Learn more:

• Add a fundraising twist to our Event Ideas.
  
• See our Special Events section for details on organizing an event.

Online Fundraising

Online fundraising can be a productive and cost-effective tool—and online donations are on the rise. Giving online is easy for the donor. It enables you to track where your donations are coming from, and which campaigns produce the highest amounts.

Online fundraising can take several forms:

• Charity Malls: Charity organizations can register with these Web sites, which allow purchases through hundreds of stores. For each shopping trip, the shopper can choose a charity to receive a percentage of his or her purchase. Check out GreaterGood.com as an example.

Before you sign up, make sure that you understand what the service requires from you, be it advertising on your home page or in your newsletters, signing a long contract, or paying transaction fees.

• Charity Portals: These Web sites list a directory of nonprofits and encourage users to contribute. Nonprofits may post listings for free; the site processes secure credit card donations for a nominal fee. Network for Good is an example of a charity portal.

As with charity malls, before signing a contract, make sure that you understand what the service requires from you.

• E-mails: Once you have established a relationship with donors or other interested parties and have their permission to e-mail them, you can send fundraising appeals electronically. These appeals can include a link directly to your donation button. For help in writing your appeal, see our Direct Mail tips.

Do make sure that you have permission to e-mail everyone on your list; sending unwanted solicitations by e-mail is illegal and can result in substantial fines.

• “Donate” Button on Your Web Site: You may set up your own Web site to accept online donations or create a button that sends users directly to your listing on a charity portal.
• Online Donation Systems: By far the most effective way to raise funds is to establish relationships with donors.

Online donation systems enable organizations not only to collect donations online, but also to gather information on donors’ interests so that the organization can develop strong relationships with those donors.

Once the organization is set up to gather information on donors, it can deliver personalized content to that donor—including Web pages and/or e-mails customized to match each donor’s individual interests. Then you can more easily interact with your donors and engage them in your cause.

Your Web host can recommend various systems for you to evaluate, or potentially can build a custom system for you.

• Widgets: A fundraising “widget” is a graphic attached to a piece of code that appears on your Web site and enables people to make donations. Donors can copy this widget onto their own Web sites or their personal pages on social networking sites—and fundraise for you.

As with other aspects of fundraising, creating a strategy to drive potential donors to these donation Web sites is critical; simply posting a donation button will likely produce few dollars.

Instead, launch a campaign that combines both your online efforts and your print publications. Form a memorable tagline and a powerful appeal, and integrate news of it into everything that you send out. Create new ads and marketing materials to publicize your fundraising campaign as well.

Sales

Some CBOs use a business-oriented strategy to raise funds; they sell something for a profit. A prime example is the Girl Scouts’ annual cookie sale. Another is Goodwill Industries International and its retail stores. Other nonprofits rent office space.

While running a business may be a daunting undertaking—and one that should be considered carefully for tax purposes—you may be able to team with another CBO to offer a modest product or service for sale. Then you can direct any profits to helping serve families.