Fundraising / Charity Ideas Blog

Raising money for Charitites, Schools, Sports teams and Churches can be challenging work. Fundraising professionals and volunteers are being asked to do more miracle work with fewer resources. This pressure over a prolonged time can lead to burnout and stress.

Here are a few symptoms and tips to recognize and prevent fundraising burnout in your vounteers or you.

If your approaching your next fundraiser and you:
- Lack of motivation
- Irritability
- Problems sleeping / changes in appetite
- Reduction in work

Take these steps:
-Take care of yourself which means getting plenty of rest and eating healthy food.

- Delegate tasks. Have a team of people around you that can run a portion of the campaign.

- Re-examine your goals. Are you shooting for the stars? You might have to consider lenghting the campaign or realistically altering the financial goal.

Preventing Volunteer Burnout

Actively seek ways to develop new leaders, pick someone and tell them they have shown the potential to do this job. Communitcate clearly with them what the position needs and check up with them frequently. This creates new blood in your organization plus gives the volunteers of your group, who are the pillars, a breather.

Keep a watchfull eye on your MegaVolunteers. Those people who volunteer for everything. They are the people who have the potential to show signs of fatigue. If you have to pull them off a team just explain diplomatically that you are keeping them in reserve and you would like to see other people step up and participate.

Thank your volunteers repeatedly for their service. Since they are there to help free of charge and you probably don’t have the funds to pay them, show the benefits of their effort. Let them know the improvements they have brought on throught their work.

Send Thank You notes or make a quick phone call to thank those people who have given of their time. If your able to maintain solid relations with your workers the chances are good they will return for more when they are asked.

Tell us how you’ve overcome your Fundraising Burnout in your and your organization.

Chris Hughes one of the co-founders of facebook is coming out with a new site that focuses on linking people to the non profit world. 

“What I want to do is reach a point where people can’t say, ‘I want to help. I don’t know any good, meaningful opportunities to do so. What can I do?’” he says. “I want to create a world where that statement is no longer possible.”

The site is currently under construction so I’m unsure how this is going to be accomplished or if this is just another site where Charities and Non Profits are going to have to come to  explain what they are doing. Will this just add to their work load or finally connect them to their audience? 

“People have a genuine desire to engage with the world around them in a meaningful way, but the Internet just hasn’t yet caught up with that desire yet,” Chris said in an interview. 

I just wanted to let you know about my new startup called Jumo. We’re announcing today that we’re building an online platform to connect individuals and organizations working to change the world. We believe we can leverage the participatory web to foster long-term engagement with the issues and organizations that are relevant to each individual. Jumo has the potential to unlock a great deal of time, skills, and financial resources previously unavailable to organizations around the world.

When you get a second, take a look.

We’ll be launching the site with full capabilities this fall, but I wanted to let you know that we’re officially getting underway. If you know anyone who may be interested in working with us, please send them our jobs page to get in contact with us.

Talk to you soon,

Chris

P.S. I’d love for you to forward this email to friends, become our fan on Facebook , and let your friends on Twitter know. The more people that know about what we’re doing, the stronger the team we’ll be able to build.

http://www.jumo.com is in the development stage but plan to open their doors in the fall. Watch for it, I’m sure it’ll make a huge impact. We at http://www.justfundraising.com wish Chris the best of  luck, but with his track record I’m sure he’ll be ok.

Well that’s funny isn’t it? No sooner do I do a post about Cate Blanchett’s SolarAid charity and mention that I’m a big Indiana Jones fan, then he’s in the news.

Harrison Ford combined his fascination for flying and a willingness to help out by personally flying out medical volunteers and supplies to Haiti from the Dominican Republic for the charity Operation Smile.
The organization provides reconstructive surgery for children born with facial deformities such as cleft lip and cleft palate. I didn’t know that the severity of the condition can leave some kids unable to even eat. For a more in depth look at the oranization check out this page

I’m not trying to take away the spotlight on Haiti nor the hard work and little publicity that the doctors and volunteers get who are already there, but I am happy to show people I’m interested in do help out.

I have chosen…..wisely.

There are simple ideas to help make your time and effort in a charitable organization the most valuable. Some times a few suggestions can breathe new life into your volunteering time. These tips can be used for a checklist for those excited about volunteering or as a way to energize you into helping out again.

Volunteer to Work With Your Club on New Fundraising Challenges

Look for an area where your school or non-profit organization needs work done. There is usually a lot of work covered in charitable organization but few to tend to those needs. Many clubs are open to ideas where you can work your new idea as long as it is passed by the club.

With a little bit of freedom you may be able to implement things quickly. You can pick your professional fundraising campaign, product and length of the campaign. Nothing helps motivation like a little bit of progress.

Bring in New Volunteers

Spread the word about your charitable organization and the good work they do. You can mention activities that you are involved with to business associates or go through your personal email addresses. You probably have 4-5 names of people that would be open to helping out.

Arrange for the potential new recruits to attend a meeting or a charitable function. Show them how their efforts can help out people in need. Most people will respond to a more emotional connection so show how the organization is changing lives.

The biggest stumbling block to this is reservations about speaking out. Your school organization or charitable organization does work for the community and the greater good. Have the courage to spread the word, this is important work and benefits many.

Advertise Your Cause

In addition to gaining new members you can help to advertise the club as well. There are probably people who would get involved but don’t know you exist. If your club does not own a website help create one. Think of ways to maximize the web with your site. Create a blog and update it with exciting things your club is doing. Create links to your website from outside sites. All these tips help to get attention for your club. It’s hard for new work to be done and for membership to grow if no one knows about the organization.

This summer I got to volunteer some time at the local jazz fest ( you see that AGAIN I tie this blog into music! My powers are UNCANNY I tell you! ). It’s a great way to notice new bands that you wouldn’t usually get to hear. While I was there I was thinking of the large numbers of people that you need to corral to get something like a jazz fest to happen.

I got to talk to Phil the volunteer co-ordinator who made it seem easy. I mean this guy put a large team together and I felt like he knew everyone’s name and stayed sane while doing it!

I decided such knowledge should be shared with you my blog peeps.

I managed to track him down and got him to spill the beans.

“Phil buddy tell me a little bit about your background and what are your crafty secrets to leading volunteers to glory?”

I first became a volunteer at the Atlantic Jazz Festival, many, many years ago, because i wanted to hear some new, interesting music. Over the course of a couple of festivals, I found that I enjoyed the whole experience of volunteering; The relationships with other volunteers, The feeling of being part of a festival, everything.

I became, after a few years as a volunteer, one of the tent site coordinators sharing responsibility for a crew on 100+ volunteers : soliciting volunteers, contacting them, scheduling the shifts for each one and supervising the activities of the tent site crew each day of the festival.

In 1996, I signed a contract with JazzEast, the presenters of the Atlantic Jazz Festival and became responsible for all aspects of the Volunteer Program on a year round basis, a position I held for 4 jazz festivals. I reorganized the volunteer program initiating several new policies that I developed, always with the hope of improving the volunteer experience..

I think that a few points are important:
1- Get to know as many volunteers you can personally. Nothing makes a person feel more appreciated than being acknowledged for what they contribute.

2-Communicate often with all volunteers, not just when you need them to volunteer at events.

3- Thank volunteers both when they go beyond what is expected and when they complete any task that they have been asked to do

4- Ask the volunteer for their opinion when something needs to be done. Listen to them and take their advice seriously.

“Good enough Phil the magical jazz volunteer co-ordinator. What have you learned from interacting with such a large team?”

I have learned that volunteers are the single most important part of an event that makes it sucessful. Because they are so important make sure they know they are valued. Do things for the volunteers when you can and be sure that others in the organizations get to know and show their appreciation for the volunteers.

So it seems like it takes courage to accept the position in the first place, then communication and appreciation.

All right so tell me what can you add to this list for effectively leading volunteers?

So I was reading through some questions on yahoo answers and came across a really good one. A high school student was wondering why he should volunteer, which got me thinking of the benfits of volunteering. I mean lets face it it’s hard to sometimes to put in the effort and it’s not exactly evil to get a benefit out of helping someone else. Sometimes it’s what volunteering gives you that makes it worth while.

I then started thinking about the work experience part of volunteering. When you go for a job interview they can always turn you down one of two ways: No courses /No Experience.

I’ve always subrscribed that experience beats theory any day of the week. Now I’m not putting down studying but volunteering , especially when it’s related to your chosen field can be well worth your effort. If you are willing to donate a few hours a week there’s a cause or organization that would take you.

There are a lot of kids out there who would like to help animals or spend time in a hospital. This of course benefits the animal or patient and gives the kids real world credentials, plus networking and social skills. By the time that they are applying for jobs can you imagine the strength of their resume!

If you are out of work in this economy and looking for new opportunities then it really pays to volunteer. It opens new doors, gives you new experiences and can take your mind off of your self. Volunteering gives you leadership and organizational capabilities. Some positions even give you visibility with administrators and managers. People give big money to schools to develop these skills. It may be high time to consider getting them for free and helping others in the meantime.

That’s me just ranting….what are your thoughts?

Dig this…

I’m a huge music fan. I’m always surfing the web checking in on my favourite bands, performers or looking for playing opportunities. My passion for music/drumming is probably my defining interest. I heard years ago of musicians who go into hospitals, retirement facilities etc to play for residents, family and caregivers.

While I was surfing last week for my music fix, I came across a fantastic idea. Musicians on call is a collective of musicians in New York, Philadelphia and Nashville. These musicians bring live or recorded music into a patients room. Some high profile players have become involved in the charity like John Mayer,Rob Thomas,Maroon 5 and Seal. The real stars of the program are the local talent who drop into the hospitals. This is a real win-win situation musicians get to play and spread the joy of music while patients can be soothed and comforted during their stay.

Musicians on call promo video

I think they are looking at expanding to different locations. If anybody knows for certain let me know. I just thought this was such a great idea I wanted to put it out there.

I wonder if any of the bands are looking for drummers? Or maybe we could put on a drumming for charity gig?! Hmmmmmmm

Spread the word.

Not hard to qualify for this fundraising/charity idea.

The haligalloons in Halifax( my old hometown so I’m allowed to say that! )are having an overnight iPhone development charity. Local designers, programmers, social media gurus( that would be me ) and will get together July 25th and 26th to create iPhone applications. The applications will be sold and money donated for charity. The more applications the more charities will be supported.

The event takes place at The Hub 1673 Barrington St. It sounds like a great way learn and network. At the end you have a couple of programming credentials under your belt and have helped a few charities.

For more information on the iPhone Hackathon click here
Ninjas are also invited

Spread the word…by phone

We’re going to get a little harder edged with this post.. so prepare yourself.

My mother recently did some collecting for the Cancer Society .  She’s been doing this for a long time and has noticed that getting people to volunteer for charitable causes is getting tougher and tougher.

It is a faced paced world we live in and it’s so easy to side step helping out because “you’re busy.” Well hey…who isn’t?

There is important work out there that needs getting done. There’s no end to charitable organizations representing medical conditions that need help. Add schools, churches and sports associations to the mix and the list of organizations that could use your help is endless. Take your pick of interests you have and there’s a club or organization that could use your help.

Have we become so self centered we can’t see past our own needs?

So you tell me:
- How does your organization recruit volunteers?
- What would it take to get you involved?
- If you volunteer your time, what keeps you coming back for more?

Love to hear from you on this one.

Spread the word