Fundraising Ideas For Church’s, Charities and Non-Profits

Many charities, churches and non-profit organizations across the globe are challenged to find sufficient revenues to fund their programming and core mission. In the challenging worldwide economic downturn, downsizing, payroll cutbacks and layoffs many charities are faced with the by product of this environment which is a steep decline in donations which erodes the ability of the charitable organization to fulfill its mission.

We will explore several ideas and opportunities that can assist in increasing revenue for respective charities over the course of this article. If you are reading this article clearly you have a desire and passion for charitable giving and your church or charity is possibly struggling to meet the many needs that you and your organization are trying to meet. As revenues continue to decline, that struggle includes developing strategy to increase sources of revenues and income that may come from non traditional sources or investigating areas that may not have been considered in past years.

Before we begin, I need to ask you a question, are you a problem solver or a solution seeker? If you answered that you are a problem solver, more than likely this article is probably not for you, this article meets the needs of solution seekers as we explore a few ideas that could provide a solution to your fundraising needs.

To find solutions we need to look at four areas that will provide an exercise to stimulate your thought process to problem solve your fundraising dilemma. 1. Create a clear vision of where you want to see or guide your organization over the course of the next year, two years and so on. Think big, there is no harm in big thoughts and big ideas. 2. Understand what kind of outcome that you want to gain from your fundraising efforts. 3. Direct your thought process and ideas towards how your vision can and will impact others. Develop and explore those issues that can have the greatest influence on others that you are assisting with your efforts. 4. Now in our final step you are looking for the thoughts and words that just jump out at you, you should be able to shout them out or write them down easily, don't over think it, the first thoughts coming to your head, shout them out!. These thoughts are your discovery, where you should now have your eureka or aha moment towards your solution.

Finding a solution is merely the beginning, plenty of people and organizations have ideas, but you have to put your ideas to work. The outcome of your solution requires effort and determination, it is not merely enough to have a great idea. The resulting outcome of solving your fundraising issue is a direct result of the focus, energy and effort of applying your solution.
Let's explore some fundraising ideas as thought starters and see if any can generate some thought process so that you can explore the exercise that I talked about earlier and see if these ideas can help you and/or your organization with its fundraising goals. Some ideas are tried and true while some may not have been explored by your organization.

I will list them for you as follows:

1. Raffles- Can be a great way to raise money and can be designed on short term, long term or annual event(s) and you can raffles items from small to large, like a house. Check your local and state regulations regarding raffles most states will require you to register and pay a fee for a license to conduct you raffle.
2. Chocolate/Candy Sales- Have been a source of kid's sports leagues and school events for decades.
3. Bake Sale- Church and neighborhood association favorite.
4. Magazine Sales- This kind of a sale is another in a long list of tried and true, however the curtain is closing on this industry, with web content exploding in recent years.
5. Cookie Dough Sales- Everybody loves cookies.
6. Lollipops- The mark up is great, but you have to sell a bunch to make money.
7. Popcorn Sales- Again you can't beat the mark up in popcorn, so get your small army of dedicated volunteers to work, because in order to generate substantial earnings it is going to take a lot of kernels to make money.
8. Selling advertisement in a newsletter or bulletin- Been around for decades and many organizations swear by them. Great way to keep people informed and a great way for your constituents to see who supports your cause.
9. Sell advertisement on your organizations website- This is going to be the place where the news bulletin is headed, replaces postal cost and is quick to disseminate information, keeps your advertiser in front of your members.
10. Yard Sale- See Bake Sale
11. Develop a Multi Tiered Membership Program- These programs should be geared towards rewarding members or businesses who donate to your cause, with more perks going towards those who donate more money. Can have draw backs based on perceived bias towards rewarding a donor simply because they have deeper pockets and not based on dedication to the cause. Be careful in your design of this type of program and the roll out of the program, paying attention to any negative feedback.
12. Coupon Books- This can be a community based program in which you get area businesses to discount their services and your organization charges a premium for the purchase of the coupon book. Zoos and schools have loved this type of fundraiser for quite some time.
13. Coffee Sale- With coffee gaining a strong foothold in the retail marketplace, these type of sales seem to be getting some attention as organizations have shifted away from what they have done in the past, make sure the margins are strong enough to make the money that your cause needs.
14. Develop a Cookbook- Gather your organization together or reach out to local celebrities and create a cookbook of favorite recipes to share and then sell it to your community, With Cooking shows gaining popularity this type of fundraiser shows some promise, but look for it as a source to generate some income, not to fund a whole program.
15. Scratch-offs/Scratch Cards- can be a way to create some excitement with winning a great prize or money. Be sure to check your local and state regulations on this type of promotion.
16. Beef Jerky Sale- What can you say folks love jerky, along the same lines as a candy sale.
17. Develop in collaboration with another non-profit organization to host a workshop, training program or conference, where attendees pay a fee to attend.
18. T-Shirt Sales- See Candy Sales
19. Coupon/Discount Cards- Similar in design as a coupon book but usually not as many participants/sponsors as the card or coupon usually has space to allow a limited number of sponsor's, les than a dozen in most cases.
20. Restaurant Cards/Discount Card- This type of promotion is specifically geared to getting restaurants involved and targets only several restaurants that want to support your charity, school or non-profit.
21. Crowd Funding- In recent years with the popularity of the internet and its ability to reach millions of people, crowd funding and other similar web based companies provides an opportunity to present your cause and ask for small donations to fund your specific project. With crowd funding if you do not reach your stated monetary goal, you do not receive any proceeds.
22. Apply for Foundation and Government Grants- These programs will require you to do some research on your specific mission and use for the funds and target specific monetary amounts that you need for your organization. You may want to find a professional grant writer to assist with this type of funding so that you hit on all key areas that the grant issuer is requiring. A professional grant writer will usually charge you a fee or a percentage of the grant for there services.
23. Sell Merchandise or Products- You can sell to your membership base and others in your community merchandise such as key chains, t-shirts, pens and other creative items emblazoned with your charity logo or name along with contact info to raise funds.
24. Host an Annual Awards Event- This can be a great tried and true way to generate interest in your cause or organization, raising awareness through honoring members who support your mission or work tirelessly on your organizations behalf. You can include silent auctions, raffles and other elements to further increase the ability to raise funds for this big night.
25. Develop and Operate a Small Business- If Goodwill can do it you can too, your organization probably has a special skill set that can lend itself to selling goods or services to your community. Why not sell them and use the profits to fund your other programs.
26.Develop a Memorial Gift Program- You can have items that are available to purchase or create your own special mementos or larger installations as a more permanent way of honoring a loved one or organization. These kinds of programs can be large or small in scope and direction, ranging from a personal keepsake to a sidewalk with inscribed bricks; you can be as creative as you want to be.
27. Hire a Grant Writer or Development Director- Taking on a position like this may seem daunting however that person should in all cases pay for themselves with generating fresh streams of revenue by virtue of there efforts in bringing in sources of funding that take time and effort to research and develop.
28. Create a Donor Program- Most donor programs center around capital campaigns in which certain levels are recognized by the level of contribution made. You can also have smaller campaigns that could include naming an office or meeting space after a particular generous donor or even a building or park space. Donor campaigns can be as small or as large as you would like to make them.
29. Board Member or General Membership Solicitations- You can solicit or request annual donations from your board members or general membership that they support your organization with a particular level of donation that you can set as your organization warrants.
30. Sub-Lease Office Space or an unused building- If your organization has extra office space, unused buildings or meeting rooms for a day rate, turn this extra empty space into a revenue source by renting or leasing out the space to a needing individual or company.
31. Direct Mail Campaign- These types of campaigns have success when there is a clear plan and strong leadership to conduct, soliciting funds through a campaign such as this requires follow up. The days in which people and companies generously donated to a letter asking for a donation have passed us by. You must have a targeted campaign that is dedicated to following up on your mail campaign.
32. Develop a Planned Giving Estate/Endowment Program- Take the time needed to structure a program that you can solicit donations from members and supporters that include your organization in individuals will or have them endow a particular program while they are living. This type of campaign will require substantial time and work ethic to develop the trust and confidence that the persons money will be put to good use and the funds will be directed and used as any agreement would outline. This arrangement should include legal preparation of any and all documents for all interested parties.
33. Host an Annual Event- Host an event like a Golf Outing, Walk-a-Thon, Cook-Off, Contest, Charity Basketball or Football Game or any of a long list of ideas that you could come up with that suits your community. These types of events can be fun and assist in building a team atmosphere around your organization, while generating some income.
34. Host a Food Eating Contest- You and your town could hold the next Hot Dog Eating World Championship or a reasonable facsimile, Pumpkin Pie eating, Pizza, Squash? or anything that ties into your organization or community. Think outside the box as the popularity of these events have turned into world championship eating contest around the globe.
35. Cause Marketing or Cause Related Marketing- My personal favorite, as these types of campaigns can reap huge rewards for the giver and the receiver. A well designed Cause Marketing campaign should provide all parties a beneficial reward by a simple everyday transaction. Cause Marketing is gaining popularity among a host of well heeled retailers and service providers in assisting charitable giving through certain transactions at the point of sale. Providing charities much needed revenue, while not substantially impacting a company's bottom line.