When creating your fundraising messages, you not only have to ensure that your charity stands out from the rest, but you also want to alert as many people as possible to your cause and keep them engaged.
One of the best things about running a charity is that when it comes time to think of a new way to get donations, the only limit is the imagination. There are many different ways to raise funds for your cause through community fundraising, whether it be car boot sales, outreach to churches or group events. But the common thread running through them all is empowerment.
Charities are run differently, depending on the continent you’re on. And it’s these differences which can help us to learn more about what inspires giving, as well as teach us how to measure those crucial factors which ultimately attract more donations.
A successful capital campaign can offer many benefits, both to a charity and to those it helps. The goal of the capital campaign is to generate as much money as possible in as short a time and from the fewest resources as possible. The object of the funds is usually a major asset, such as a new building, outreach project or charitable service.
Before you start targeting donors, you need to have a concrete fundraising strategy to keep you focused on your call to action and monetary goals. If you’ve never put a fundraising strategy together before, then it can seem a bit of a daunting task. Here’s a handy little guide to break down the task and get you thinking about what you want to include in your fundraising strategy:
Income from Trusts is often seen as the holy grail of fundraising. Indeed, for many charities trust fundraising forms the backbone of all their income, eclipsing the amounts raised through community fundraising, individual giving, corporate grants and legacies. No wonder then that many charities are keen to boost their trust fundraising income. But how can this be done, in an increasingly competitive marketplace where many established Trusts are seeing their own income squeezed?
The support of a philanthropic billionaire can completely transform the work of an organisation. If a billionaire makes your charity their pet cause, then you can expect an immediately raised public profile, critical injections of funds and committed support for your projects, not to mention the strong possibility of a generous legacy.
Major Donors, or ‘high value’ donors are so important to many charities that they deserve a fundraising strategy all of their own, often with a member of staff devoted exclusively to ‘Major Donor Fundraising’. A charity CRM offers you a fantastic means of managing your relationship with your major donors, monitoring your contacts and promoting greater engagement with your cause.
For generations, schools have engaged in ad hoc fundraising activities in order to boost their coffers. This good tradition is usually epitomised by the summer fair and its stalls of grubbily iced fairy cakes, Santa's grotto at Christmas and the obligatory school leaver's tea towel for year six parents. However, over the past couple of decades, school fundraising has become more professional, more streamlined, and more capable of raising serious cash to further the school's developmental goals.
The proposed Fundraising Preference Scheme has been a hot topic of discussion among fundraisers across the charitable sector, and is now the subject of a paper produced by the Charity Commission working group tasked to consider the subject. The proposals have met with a mixed reception from fundraisers and, if implemented, will certainly affect the way supporter data is managed and fundraising campaigns are conducted. There is currently a consultation running on the details of the scheme until 31st March 2016. This blog briefly goes into the details of the proposals and how fundraising professionals may have to respond to its challenges.