Start Raising Money for Your Nonprofit: (part 2)
If you want your nonprofit organization to be successful, you need to keep in the mind the rules of fundraising. The previous blog, Fundraising part 1, left off with the fourth rule: marketing. There are marketing services out there that can be pretty expensive, but don’t let that get you down. There are other ways to help build awareness to your nonprofit organization while keeping the costs down.
First and foremost, utilize social networking media such as MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, etc. to publicize your event. These sites are free and millions of people use these on a daily basis. Another marketing tip is create a flyer utilizing a word processing software and print about a thousand to hand out to the local area. These do not have to be fancy color printed flyers. You can be as simple as black and white print on a colorful piece of paper. Do not forget to tell people that you are going to be conducting a fundraiser because word of mouth can help your marketing efforts exponentially.
The truth is, fundraising can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. Take a typical dinner event, whether it be a spaghetti dinner or a chicken barbeque. Most often you can get food donated or offered at a discounted rate by local area grocery stores and supermarkets. This is especially true when it comes to a spaghetti dinner because most of the food and beverage items it takes to put on this fundraiser are really cheap. Often you can get paper items such as plates, cups, napkins, silverware, etc. donated for the actual event. As for a facility, usually most towns have a local community center, park, or even a church which will let you utilize their facility for free or for a small donation. The biggest thing to know is you will have to conduct some legwork and ask around for these donations for the event. Ask the local store manager or of your supermarket if they are giving donations for charitable events. If they aren’t, thank him or her for their information but do not forget to ask about any discounts they may offer. Remember: anything you can get donated or discounted increases the profits of your fundraiser. Utilize volunteers from the organization to cook items and serve the food.
Honestly, the biggest fundraising tip or rule that I can give you is to ask for donations when conducting your fundraisers. What is the worse that is going to happen to you? They say “no, we can’t afford to do that right now”? What have you lost by asking? I’m going to go out on a limb here and say nothing. However, if they say yes, then you and your event have gained some or maybe even all of the items you need. Many organizations like to give to causes but do not have the financial means; however, they are able to give in-kind donations or items which you can utilize to conduct your event. The long and short of it is that fundraising can be very rewarding for any nonprofit organization. As long as you and the organization you are representing are willing to put some effort into it, you can help grow through fun and effective fundraising!

People sometimes question the need for a mission statement, but an accurate, effective mission statement is essential to your nonprofit organization. Why? It’s the most widely used 

