Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Tired of the Same Old Fundraisers? Try Creative Fundraising

By Brad Morgan

When you run or work for a non-profit organization, fundraising is always an issue and a goal.

The same old fundraisers can leave you feeling bored. And if you are bored, imagine the feelings of the people you are trying to get money from. Adding some creativity into your efforts may make a big difference, both in terms of finances and your organization's morale.

Creative fundraising is something that a lot of people have been doing lately to increase the scope of their business.

Can you find new ideas for raising money? Can you enjoy yourself while doing it? These are tall orders to fill, but with creative fundraising, it is possible to find innovative and fun ways to meet your goals.

If you're having fun then chances are your prospects are too and will be more willing to part with their hard earned dollars.

If you are, for example, planning a fundraiser for an animal shelter, there are various ways you could make it new, fun, and rewarding.

Maybe you would hold advocacy functions or count on donations from a scattered group of people. Most animal shelters depend on receiving funding in this way.

Your support may be waning. How can you reinvigorate your patrons and your staff? A creative fundraiser is just the answer. You could try a pet day.

You could coordinate with a school or daycare and have children and their parents visit and play with the animals from the shelter. They would get to see and interact with these great pets in a nice, comfortable setting.

Once the parents see their children enjoying the company of the animals, they are more likely to donate much needed funds. This is creative fundraising: it doesn't cost much, if anything, and the returns can be significant. Chances are also good that your staff had much more fun with the children than with an advocacy meeting or soliciting random donations.

There are creative fundraising ideas that are appropriate for any non-profit organization. Let's look at another example of what you could do to raise money for a library. Schools always need to raise funds, and being creative certainly helps.

Invite people from the community to check out the library and all the fantastic services it provides. Students can participate by actually writing letters to parents asking for money. It may be cuter - and more well-received from a child's hand! They can also create projects or displays about different aspects of the library.

To get more out of your time, you can also have lunch served at library day. Once there, people will want to eat. Add a little wine, and you could see some good donations!

Creative fundraising ideas are limitless. They can infuse your organization with new energy and purpose, and best of all, they are practical, inexpensive, and effective. - 22871

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