You don’t Have To Spend A Lot of Money
To Make A Lot of Money
Free
Methods of You Can Use
To Attract Money To Your
Organization
All
You Need Is A Little
Creativity
10
suggestions that can help you to increase your visibility
in the
community and raise necessary
funds
There are
many ways of raising money for your non-profit
organization without having to invest large amounts
dollars.
The only thing you
need to invest is your time and
creativity.
Here are 10
suggestions to help you get started.
SUGGESTION
#1
Starting
internally within your organization, speak with your
Board of Directors, volunteers, and any other people who
are involved.
Ask them for a list
of people they feel would be interested in learning about
your organization.
Then you can ask
those people to make more connections and eventually you
will have built a database of strong relationships. You
don’t necessarily have to ask them for
money.
Just creating a small
newsletter or informative piece of literature that might
spark the interest in what you do. You never know, it may
lead to small sustainable donations.
SUGGESTION
#2
Press
Releases—educating the public on what you do in your
organization through the local press is a very powerful
tool.
If you have an event
coming up, send out a press release to let people know
the great stuff you are doing.
Or send out a news
release on a success story that happened within your
organization.
People love to read
happy human-interest stories.
It gives them a break
from the constant doom and gloom of the news and may
encourage them to donate to your organization when you
have a fundraising campaign.
SUGGESTION
#3
There are
many service organizations that donate money or help
raise money for non-profit
organizations.
A few
are:
Rotary
International
Lions
Club
Kiwanis
International
Knights of
Columbus
You can
give a small presentation at one of their meetings and
teach them everything you do in your
organization.
This will give you
more exposure into the community as well as possibly
receive a donation from them for your good cause…and the
only thing it will cost you is some
time.
SUGGESTION
#4
Many
people love flea markets.
A bargain is a
bargain!
Organize a large
community flea market, whether it be at possibly one of
the service organizations I mentioned above or have it on
your own grounds. You can charge per table and invite as
many people as you can that will fit in your
surroundings.
This accomplishes two
things:
Ø
It gives you
a little money
Ø
It exposes
your facility to the community
And don’t
forget to have your own table there so you can make
additional money over the table take.
SUGGESTION
#5
Many shopping malls hold
fairs for different reasons.
At one of my local
malls they held a health fair.
They also held a
women’s expo and invited different organizations to
display what they do to help the
cause.
Why not organize a
Fair dedicated to all the non-profits in your
county?
It will give all of
you great exposure that may lead to donations and who
knows…you may get some great volunteers to help you at
your facility.
Work with the mall
directors to create something
spectacular.
SUGGESTION
#6
Boy Scout
and Girl Scout organizations are always looking for
places for their scouts to complete their Eagle Badge and
their Gold and Silver Awards.
If you have a need in
your organization that is too expensive for you to handle
on your own, make a connection with the scouting
associations.
These projects will
fulfill the requirements that the scouts have to complete
their awards.
Another win-win
situation.
SUGGESTION #
7
Touch
base with school systems’ special education
departments.
You may be able to
create a teaching course for students with special
needs.
You can create a
class that teaches management skills, interpersonal
skills, creative skills, or whatever.
The list is endless
and the school will appreciate you taking the time to
care for their students.
Again, excellent
exposure for your organization into the
community.
SUGGESTION
#8
Don’t be afraid to market
your organization to well established local
businesses.
Banks are a great
place to start. Many times, they have internal
fundraising for a non-profit organization…such as a
Holiday drive within their employee
structure.
It could be their way
to give back to the community for what they have been
able to acquire.
SUGGESTION
#9
If you
are an animal rescue i.e. Humane Society, ASPCA, etc. you
can create a “Dog Walking For Health.”
Target overweight,
inactive people of any age to walk your dogs for
you!
Map out a walking
course with the mileage and calories
counted.
Create record sheets
for the participants to keep track of their
progress.
Maybe have a prize
for the participant who walks the most and loses the most
weight.
Referring
back to suggestion #2—Publicity—Press Releases announcing
your weight control program and one for the winner at the
end of each month.
Also, work with local
doctors offices for them to send you maybe some of their
patients to participate in your
program.
Maybe eventually, if
the program becomes successful, you can charge a small
participation fee for the program.
SUGGESTION
#10
The big one…research Foundations and
Grant possibilities.
There are many
Foundations who give money for non-profit
organizations.
It’s important,
however, to follow the directions for application
carefully and always meet the
deadlines.
Some Foundations will
do matching funds.
There is so much out
there to help you sustain the necessary funds to keep
your organization running.
I hope
this gives you a good start to creating acknowledgement
in your community as well as necessary funds to help you
function.
The only
thing that can get in your way is your own
creativity.
SO, GO FOR IT
and
have
fun!
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