Fundraising / Charity Ideas Blog

I would like to open this blog up to appropriate guest posts. If you are looking for a new audience interested in fundraising, charity, non profit and environmental issues this is your chance.

You can send an email to justfundraising@gmx.com with the title “Guest Post” and we’ll get in touch. If your idea is on target, we’ll let you run with it.

I was thinking of the most common excuses you get when fundraising for charity and ways you can get around them.

I don’t have any money
I’m not asking for much Mr._____ I’ll even take a donation for $1. However if you make a donation for $5 you can have __________

Charities waste money
All charities need money in order to run. Office space, phones lines, heat and light have to be paid in order for a charity to survive. Some charities do spend a lot on administration but we only spend ______ .

I’ll look into it later
I understand that you are busy Mr._________ It’s just that in todays world people tend to get sidetracked and might not get around to it. I have a little pamphlet I can show you and explain where and how your donation will be spent.

My donation won’t amount to anything
Well Mr.______ even a donation of $3 to $5 can go towards _______. That’s roughly the cost of one latte at Starbucks. Helping our fundraising effort can benefit MANY people!

I already donate to a charity
Good for you Mr._________ ! Thank you for your support in helping out. I’m sure the other charity is happy to have your support. We can use your support as well and would gladly accept any size donation you can make. Don’t forget that we can issue tax receipts for any contribution over _______________

Those are the most common ones I’ve come across. What other reasons have you heard and how did you get past them?

Fundraising is important work and we give you help, encouragement and techniques when you work with us.

Ok so I’ve spent post after post recently telling you fundraising tips and new ideas in charties. Well the training wheels come off today boys and girls! It’s your turn to pick what you would like to support and get to it. Fly …. be free!

I’ve read about internet sources that help you raise money for causes that are important to you. I’ve come across one lately that I really like called crowdrise

Created by Edward Norton (yea the incredible hulk guy) and Shauna Robertson crowdrise helps people create fundraising projects and raise money for their causes. Create your profile and update it with stories, videos and pictures of what you are doing in your charity life. You can sign up with specific causes or vounteer opportunities to join other peoples.

It’s free to use and users can wind prizes like hats, t-shirts, along the way for donations. Crowdrise charges a 5% deduction from donations to stay in business so it’s very reasonable. The only small print that I saw is that it’s currently only donating to US charities. I would like to see this changed in the future when this business concept takes off. However I understand the legal complications of such an endeavor would be HUGE!

The Crowdrise brand is all about answering the call to service and having the most fun in the world while you do it.

While your working away at your fundraising don’t forget us at justfundraising.com maybe we can help you out along the way.

Now off you go and tell us what you’ve signed up for in the comments.

Here’s an idea for getting involved for fundraising with whatever skills you have.

Jade Sims has a great idea with crafthope. People enjoy making crafts and it brings them peace, why not channel that into contributions for worthy causes. Quilting and craft volunteers fromthe United States, Germany, Australia, UK and Canada have sent in items for projects. Interested people go about creating scarves, pillow case dresses, quilts, bean bags etc for the project. Their efforts benefit a wide range of people and places around the world. A small sample of the causes they have donated to so far are: Little Heroes PreSchool Burn Camp, Liberia Orphan Education and the Miracle Foundation. They also have been active in helping Doctors Without Borders in Haiti. Their crafts are sometimes created for the recipient or sold to raise money.

Craft hope has a flicker group that shows their amazing work and the quantity the volunteers produce.

The next project that Jade is adding to is helping the animal victims of the BP oilspill. The crafthope group will work with The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, The Audubon Nature Institute and The Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge to help clean the animals covered in oil.

So here is what we are going to do… They need hand towels and wash rags to clean all of the nooks and crannies of the dolphins and sea turtles. They only need small hand towels and wash rags, no large towels please.

If you can sew, knit, or crochet this project is for you. We are asking that you create sets of hand towels and/or wash rags to send. Preferably in sets of 10 or 20. These do need to be handmade since we are ‘Craft Hope.’ If you are crocheting or knitting, please send whatever you can. You don’t have to send a set unless it is something you are up for.

For more information check outh the crafthope website. Ladies and Gentleman grab your knitting needles and get to work!

If you want to go about fundraising for the oil spill or any other activity in a different way check out our products that you might want to use for a campaign.

A collection of our fundraising articles and video can be found on:
Go Articles.com
Youtube.com
affsphere
ArticleCity.com

You can put these fundraising tips to use for any sports, youth, church or school fundraising campaign you can think of.

Budget for Your Fundraiser

Most fundraisers are going to have to start with purchasing a product. Whether it’s chocolate, cookie dough, tickets or car wash supplies you have to find out what you can spend. Contact your fundraising advisor to ask them about the different rate of return products can give you.

Other items to buy are prizes for a high seller (you have to motivate your sales team ya know ) and possibly little thank you gifts for the volunteers.

Create a competition between groups with the winners getting rewards.

Gather Your Volunteers

Your team is going to be comprised of your players, teachers, students, PTA or anybody else willing to help you with your fundraising. Send letters  home or post updates on your website asking for participants during the timeframe.

Ask the volunteers in what area they would like to help. Hopefully you will have enough returning volunteers you can put an experienced person in a leadership position in each area.

Advertising

There are outlets in your community you can use for free advertising. Local college papers, radio and tv stations have outlets for fundraisers that are free of charge. If your school / organization uses social media you can start talking about your event about two weeks before it happens.

If your fundraising event uses bands or other performers ask them to mention your event on their site and newsletter.

With everything in place all you have to do is follow through with your plans. If you have any questions contact your fundraising advisor for what has worked in your areas or for similar groups.

You could also contact us…we do fundraising you know!
( Smooth transition huh! LOL )

Now Hear This:

We have a program that can put residual sales in your pocket.

Yup, do something for us ONCE and we’ll pay you for it MULTIPLE times.

It only takes you minutes to do and there’s no money involved on your part. Chances are your top competition already has this in place. You need to get busy! 

I have openings for the first 50 emails.
After that , you snooze … you lose.

If I have intrigued you, email me:
fundraisingmike@gmail.com

  We have an affiliate program associated with http://www.justfundraising.com The program will help any schools, churches, sports teams or charitable organization find support for their fundraising. We will supply you with a code to put on the front page of your website, so we are asking for a prominant link on your website.  In return we will give a portion of sales to you as a referral.

This helps people generate money for their causes, generates residual income for you and helps us. In return we can help causes such as  the Nargis Cyclone and Haiti victims. Everybody wins, making this a good deal.

 If you are interested in getting residual sales with our products please contact us at:

fundraisingmike at gmail.com.

Don’t forget to replace the word at with @.

I saw this little video and thought it was a great idea for our audience. A Sports Fundraiser like this could be put on by almost anyone in whatever country your from. It also helps people keep active and get involved.

We work with sports teams, state and provincial, school or university to help athletes. If you need help raising money for uniforms, equipment, travel or training programs look us up at justfundraising.com and maybe we can help you out.

Did I mention that justfundraising.com works with schools and their sports and music groups to help raise money for their funding?

We help raise money for new equipment, uniforms, transportation, training and other expenses. If your university or school needs a hand raising money this year we might be able to help you out.

In the meantime check out some great drumming from the Hampton University Drumline!

See … again I’ve worked music into the blog.
My powers are uncanny!