The Most Common Fundraising Challenge Plaguing Non Profits

Non profits have a lot to worry about! For starters, many of them are on a shoestring budget with mammoth goals to achieve. With a long to-do list, one of the first and most difficult challenges all non profits face is getting people to volunteer and help out with fundraising. Today, convincing someone to do something without any reward, in kind or cash, is a huge issue. I guess that’s what they mean when they say “there are no free lunches anymore?”

When people think of volunteering or philanthropy in general, I suppose their first instinct is to hold on to their wallets. I suppose the common notion is that charitable giving is for those who have spare cash or for the incredibly rich and famous who can donate hundreds and millions of dollars at fundraisers. Obviously, such a mind-set is tough to overcome. Very little, do people stop and think that the world has billions people, while hundreds of millions of people that can afford to give maybe $10, $30 or $50 more frequently and that there are less people out there who can afford to contribute huge amounts of money to fundraisers.

Today, hopefully that challenge of getting people to work with your charity is a lot easier with fundraising online. Using the internet is definitely the most efficient way of getting your message across to a wide network of people, informing them of your cause and encouraging them to participate in your fundraiser. It can be tempting for non profits to work with just about any one who rolls through the door but it is important to make a distinction between those who are interested in the cause and passionate about making a difference in society versus those who just want something to put on their resume. This might seem like a ‘for profit’ approach, but really, if you think about it, for a non profit to be successful in their fundraising and overall goals, you need to hire people just like a for profit firm would. You want people with easily transferable skills, bring new fundraising ideas to the table and manage fundraisers with little or no supervision!

Usually, if a charity or a cause is able to tie up with a corporation, their volunteer problems are solved. Corporates like to encourage their employees to do some “time” and employees get to use it as work hours. Occasionally, you’re able to gather a group of people who are regular volunteers and from a for profit background who can then contribute some great fundraising ideas that can be very useful to the cause. To top it off, both the company and the employee get a tax break when a donation is made by the employee and matched the company!

There are great online fundraising tools available today that can be managed with ease and need very little prior experience or training. Today’s lifestyle has made it such that everyone shops online, so nobody is uncomfortable with using their credit cards on the web. Time is scarce and it’s an online world out there, so non profits should definitely keep this in mind and explore the gamut of online fundraising tools available to them!

Taking the time and effort to get savvy with fundraising online is definitely a good investment; it will solve your problem of looking for volunteers to approach people for donations, you can send out hundreds and thousands of outreach emails at a time and build your donor base, and you can host multiple fundraisers at the same time. So be sure to check out all options available online quickly so you don’t miss out on achieving your goals and doing good in the community due to lack of volunteers and participation!

Fundraising With Social Media – Sure-Fire Ways to Maximize Your Donations

Fundraising online for causes today is a raging phenomenon. We’ve all seen people come together in times of crisis and give as much as they can to lend a helping hand. With so much going on the world today and so many ways of being able help out the invention of social media is a blessing in disguise for fundraisers!

 Every one loves social media networking. We log on to find friends, find out what’s going on in their lives and now a days with sites like LinkedIn, we can even get a job though networking online; so why not use this powerful networking platform to ask people to help out with your fundraisers? Asking people to help you fundraise should be treated the same way as asking people to be your “friend” on Facebook. You want to take care of your relationships, message them occasionally and keep them posted periodically.  

For those non-profits who are not yet fully on board with fundraising online, it’s time to slowly start moving your donors database online. First, make sure you have an attractive online presence; have a dedicated person to manage your online social media pages, updating them frequently with updates, pictures and important milestones! Encourage your donors and supporters to join your network online. Having your donors online is a great way to give them a ‘shout out’ when a donor goes out of their way to support your cause! This is always a great way encouraging people and also to start a discussion and brainstorm some fundraising ideas for your next event!  

It’s important to also break away from the notion that non profits are all about asking for money and don’t really care about their donors unless it involves a donation. Like it or not, we’ve all been victims of such a thought process and often this is because we never hear back from the charity we donated to unless it’s for another fundraiser! Obviously, developing personal relationships with each of your donors can be an exhaustive process and an expensive one. This is where fundraising online with social media comes very handy. You can now wish your donors on special occasions and make them feel personally invested in your cause!  

Today, the whole world is gravitating towards social media. Major business deals are being struck online; its only natural non-profits also take their fundraising online. Social media allows you to reach a large number of people and on a relatively smaller budget than hosting parties and fundraisers that are only limited to people who are physically available to attend.

 An article on thepaypalblog.com by Janet Bal talks about how ‘online and social media fundraising can be a game changer for non profits’. Agreed, for small non profits with limited resources, understanding how fundraising with social media works can be intimidating; but it doesn’t have to be that way anymore, especially with companies like Piryx who are dedicated to helping non profits every way they can and giving them all the essential training and online fundraising tools available for NO FEES! There are also excellent fundraising ideas available online that are geared towards a specific cause and you can find one that’s best suited for you.

So if you are one of those non-profits who think you’re not big enough to bother with  fundraising   with social media, think again! And then, get online! 

For free facebook fundraising tools that will help you effectively raise money through social media, you can create, manage and track the success of an unlimited amount of campaigns today by using a robust online fundraising platform.

Fundraising Ideas for Online Fundraisers

People from all over the world spend most of the time on the Internet therefore fundraising activities can be successful using this medium. Donors can give to charity or donate to organizations online without leaving their house. There are many fundraising ideas that can be done through the Internet that people in need can benefit from. The proceeds immediately go to organizations in a short period of time as payments are done via electronic transactions. These organizations do not need to make time-consuming and stressful inventories just like in regular fundraising activities that are done personally.

Fundraising online is possible through Internet auctions. Members of the organization can bid some of their stuff in websites that do auctioneering. They collect a portion of the proceeds to be given to charity. Non-profit organizations can also register their group in a certain website that has a charity program of their own. These groups will be able to get all of the proceeds from the items that they auction provided they open a seller’s account in the said website.

Another way for fundraisers to raise money for charity is to tie-up with local businesses. A specific amount of some of the items sold online by these businesses can be given to the fundraisers. For example, a company that sells baby clothes can donate 10% of the sales they make online to an organization supporting an orphanage. A cosmetic company’s website that sells make-up for women can also donate a percentage of their monthly sales to a women’s crisis center. A publishing company can also donate children’s books to a public school.

 There are also fundraising websites that allow organizations to create a page of their own with them. The website manages the page while the organization is the one who asks for donors and does the fundraising activities by advertising the page to family, friends and supporters. All the proceeds that the organization will receive will directly go to them. This is a way for the fundraisers to help such organizations in their missions and goals for a specified time.

There are also fundraising malls in the Internet that help organizations raise funds for charity. To do this, an organization has to have a website where they will put a link to the online shopping mall. When a person buys something from the seller’s website through the link provided by the organization, the latter gets a portion of the sale made. The customer gets to buy something he really needs and at the same time would be able to give to charity. There are also online shopping malls that encourage organizations to create a web page in their websites for easier and instant access.

 Online fundraising is easier to do than the traditional fundraising activity, which requires time, preparation, location, transportation expenses, advertisement, and inventories. Fundraising online just requires a web page and that alone can reach millions of people around the globe. There are just so many fundraiser ideas that can be implemented via the net that would benefit those who are truly in need.