Fundraising Fundamentals
First of all, there are two things you have to do with every fundraiser:
1) Make your group or participants aware of your need.
2) Make your group or participants aware of your offering.
Most reading this will say, "Hey, we've got that covered, everybody in our group knows what's happening"!
PS: Please take a closer look at that!
Your need or reason for the fundraiser:
1) Can it be expressed in a single sentence?
2) Can every member in your group recite that sentence?
3) Is expressing it part of your approach to all supporters?
Go ahead, randomly ask your group members to tell you why your group is raising money. I believe that you will be very surprised at the answer you get. In most groups, more than 50% of the members will not be able to tell you in a single sentence the specific reason why they are raising money.
What about outside your group? Can you say that you've exhausted every approach in getting the word out to the community about your fundraiser? What you are offering, when your fundraiser will be Kicked-off and if need be, why you are holding the fundraiser.
Some ways to get the word out in your community:
1) Have members pass out flyers.
2) Place posters wherever possible.
3) Distribute small signs in local area, like "garage sale" signs.
4) Have your pastor/minister make announcements, place in weekly church bulletin.
5) Place posters or notices in hallways, meeting rooms, auditorium or any other place where people will be congregating.
6) Pre-Kickoff letter, postcard or e-mail campaigns.
7) Have your group members tell others!
If you're assuming that it's enough to just tell someone that you're doing a fundraiser, and that they'll all be glad to help, then, there you may have two problems with that approach;
One is that most of your group may not be able to communicate your need. The second is that you may already be assuming that your group has enough prospective customers to sell to, to reach your goal. Both these possible problems will limit your potential success.
Consider these points ...
| A) |
If you make the reasons for your need known, many more people will be more apt to help you reach your goal. |
| B) |
The second point goes hand-in-hand with the first. Letting people know what you will be offering is just as important as making the reasons for your need known. |
| C) |
The need and the offering should go hand-in-hand in all your communication. At the same time you're getting the word out, you need to make sure everyone understands just what your group will be doing to raise funds. |
| D) |
As with making your needs known, your group members need to be able to describe your offering in a single sentence. That sentence should also reinforce the spiritual foundation that's derived from recognition of your need. |
So what in the world does all that mean?
Simply put, if someone believes your need is real and agrees that your offering is of real value, they will help.
Getting your need and your offering across to as many potential supporters as possible is the essence of fundraising. Take the time to develop single sentence statements for your fundraiser summarising both of these points.
Teach everyone in your group how to communicate these basic statements when they talk to prospective supporters and your fundraiser will be a HUGE SUCCESS!
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