Fundraising

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1 Project Types
2 Questions and Answers for New Orgs
3 Tips and Foundations to Help
4 Website Fundraising Opportunities
5 Internal Links

[edit] Project Types

Raising awareness:

jewelry
books

Donations:

online management
search engine donations

[edit] Questions and Answers for New Orgs

Q: I have had people suggest that we make t-shirts to help raise money to help pay the cost of getting our advocacy website going. Can I do that without being a non-profit org.?

A: You can make t-shirts and sell them and solicit donations, but you have to be clear that your group is not tax-exempt. So anyone who makes donations to your group cannot take the donation off their income taxes and you will have to pay sales tax when ordering your t-shirts and collect sales tax for your state.

A2: Have you tried www.cafepress.com ? There is no overhead. Since you are not a 501(c)3, you must state that and you can say all proceeds will go to XYZ Organization in the description…and be able to prove it (copy of checks, etc) if someone asks you if you did.

Q: How does a small org take care of online donations? What about PayPal?

A: For an explanation and suggestions, see the entry Taking Credit Cards on the Web.

Q: How do you know when to trust people to represent your organization and raise money in their community?

A: I have been thinking about having a form printed in triplicate for volunteers who are soliciting donations in their community. I would number the forms and make sure the volunteer running the event returns them all. The idea is to give us a way to track what is happening and to let the volunteer issue a donation receipt on the spot.

Below is a VERY rough draft of the information I want to put on the form.

Dear Business Owner,

PAGER Association helps kids who have acid reflux. . . . . blah, blah, blah. Explain who we are etc, etc.

One of our members is hosting an event in your community. We hope you will support the event by making a donation. PAGER Association is a 501(c) (3) organization and donations of money and goods are tax deductible. We hope you will be able to attend the event as well.

Part of the funds that are raised from this event will be spent in your community to raise awareness of the disease. Your local event sponsor will be working with us to increase awareness.

Feel free to contact PAGER Association if you have any questions or concerns about this event. Our main contact information is on the letterhead.

Please fill out this form. You can keep the top copy for your records. It serves as your tax receipt for your donation. The local event organizer will keep the other copies.

Here are the details of the local event Event Name __________ Contact Name _______ Address, etc _________ Event Date

Details about your donation Business Name _______ Contact Name _________ Address, etc _______ What was donated? What is the retail value? Describe the item in detail

Checks should be made out to PAGER Association. For extra security, please write the following information on the back of the check: For Deposit Only BB&T Bank Frederick MD. PAGER Association Events Account.

A2: We developed a piece called "participation matters", outling fundraising policies, use of logo, requirements, our 501(c) and other information. It serves as a guide for those interested in fundraising and provides some information/credibility to individuals/companies involved in the process. Our families have found it helpful.

[edit] Tips and Foundations to Help

ABC’s of Fundraising: Prepared by the American Cancer Society with ideas for raising money for their Bike-a-thon, it includes an extensive list of fundraising event ideas.; Website: http://www.teamforman.org/webdownload/BIKE_ABCs_of_Fundraising.doc

Alliance for Justice—Foundation Advocacy Initiative: Educates grantmakers on their legal rights to support nonprofit advocacy work by providing workshops, technical assistance, and plain-language legal guides.; Website: http://www.allianceforjustice.org/foundation/index.html

Charity Channel: Provides information and resources for nonprofit professionals to connect, learn from each other, share information, and work together.; 30021 Tomas; Suite 300; Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688-2128; Phone: 949.589.5938; Email form: http://charitychannel.com/rapid%2Dreply/; Website: http://CharityChannel.com/

Council on Foundations: A membership organization of more than 2,000 grantmaking foundations and giving programs worldwide. Provides leadership expertise, legal services and networking opportunities to members and to the general public.; 1828 L Street, NW; Washington, DC 20036; Phone: 202.466.6512; Fax: 202.785.3926; Email: info@cof.org; Website: http://www.cof.org/

The Foundation Center: Provides information on US philanthropy, conducts research on trends in the field, provides education and training on grantseeking, and ensures public access to information and services.; 79 Fifth Avenue/16th Street; New York, NY 10003-3076; Phone: 212.620.4230; Fax: 212.691.1828; Website: http://www.fdncenter.org/

Grassroots Fundraising: Creates and distributes accessible materials that teach people how to raise money.; 1904 Franklin Street, Suite 705; Oakland CA 94612; Phone: 510.452.4520; Fax: 510.452.2122; Email: info@grassrootsfundrasing.org; Website: http://www.grassrootsfundraising.org/

Participation Matters: A guide to effectively raising money and awareness for PPMD; A guide to legal procedures when raising money for Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD)

Media:Participation Matters Guide.pdf

Raising More Money: Trains and coaches nonprofit organizations to implement a mission-based system for raising sustainable funding from individual donors.; 2100 North Pacific Street; Seattle, WA 98103; Phone: 206.709.9400; Fax: 206.352.9492; Email: info@raisingmoremoney.com; Website: http://www.raisingmoremoney.com/

[edit] Website Fundraising Opportunities

Flowerpetal.com

http://www.flowerpetal.com

Chip In

http://www.chipin.com/

G&R Publishing Co.

Customize and sell your own cookbooks

http://www.gandrpublishing.com/

Kelly's Pearls of Hope

Design your own keepsake awareness jewelry

http://www.kellyspearlsofhope.org/live/

GoodSearch

Many disease-specific advocacy organizations are using this as a fundraising measure. It takes time for your money to add up, but if you can spread the word and use it, you will get the funding. The main trick is that people have to click the sponsored links in order for your organization to receive money, so every so often I go in and click some sponsored links. It is powered by Yahoo! so it is a fairly good search engine. Basically, you don't lose anything by having it and you may actually gain some money with it!

http://www.goodsearch.com/