Being Creative With Your Fundraising Ideas - Financial Planning Article

By:Al Jackson

Have you realized just how much fundraising is going on these days? There is fundraising for little league, school fundraisers, and the college fundraiser, as well as church fundraisers. Day cares need more funds, hospitals need new equipment, and cheerleaders need to fundraise for their costumes. And to think up new fundraising ideas that will be successful is becoming more challenging every day.

On a good note, it shows that people do care how others live and cope with their lives. However, it also means that, because we are always being asked to donate to one good cause after another, we are not always able to help. Despite our best intentions, our own funds simply will not stretch that far.

However, if we request the donation of items instead of cash, that is often a relief to a potential donor. People will often gladly donate a can of food for a food drive, or a kitchen item they have never used for a sale, whereas they would not donate cash. And there are many kinds of fundraising ideas you can use to hold sales based on items collected.

For example, you could hold a toy drive that would give your organization toys to sell to support your work. Or what about a gardening sale? If you have some volunteers with green thumbs, they could easily grow some plant cuttings or start some seeds or bulbs growing ready for a plant sale in the spring or early summer, when the general public is looking to restock their garden after the winter.

Book sales are always well attended, but of course you will need to collect a lot of donated books to make this a success, as books do not generally sell for a high price. You could approach local publishers to see if they have any books that they could donate to support your cause. If they do give you some books, don't forget to write them after your event to thank them and also to let them know how successful you were and how much their donation helped you. Donors like to be thanked, and they are more likely to support you in the future if they know their gift has been appreciated in the past.

Some groups like to ask for donated items and then they use these to make up some themed gift baskets which they then raffle, usually at another fundraising event. For example you may make up a bath basket containing some soap, hand towels and bath salts from your donated items. The trick here is to keep raffle tickets affordable, especially if you are expecting those that donated the items to be buying the raffle tickets!

You may find that some people are willing to volunteer their time rather than funds. For example an electrician may prefer to spend a half day checking the wiring in the new offices your non-profit group just moved into, rather than donate cash. As long as this benefits your non-profit organization, any donation is welcome, whether it is time or money, but make sure your donors know what the goal of your organization is, and how their assistance will help you. They may then mention it to their circle of friends, and this kind of promotion is very valuable.

Digg del.icio.us Blink Stumble Spurl Reddit Netscape Furl

Article keywords: fundraising, fundraisers, fundraise, fundraising for little league, school fundraisers, college fundraisers, church fundraisers

Article Source: http://www.articles2k.com

Al Jackson takes pride in being a complete non-techie who, despite the challenges of life with her particular husband and daughters, enjoys creating websites intended to inform, entertain, and help, others. Her website www.practical-fundraising.com is a compilation of many useful ideas for novice fundraising, reflecting her own experience as a teacher and parent and incorporating an entire eBook on the topic.

Top Financial Planning Articles
1). Inflation - The Slayer of Your Savings By : Chris Cooper Since inflation consistanly erodes the buying power of our money, our investments have to exceed the inflation rate or we will outlive our money.
2). Officially Licensed Products Give A Kick To Your Youth Or School Fundraiser By : D. David Dugan Fundraisers have changed somewhat from when I was a kid. We sold one thing and one thing only, candy. Candy for the school basketball team, candy for the local baseball league and yes, candy for the football team too. Don’t get me wrong, it was good candy, but we didn’t have the choices today’s organizations do. Everything imaginable is generating funds for our children’s sports these days.
3). Fundraising Ideas: Keep It Safe By : Kimberly Reynolds When your youth group is doing a fundraiser, it is imperative to make sure that the proper safety precautions are followed. Never allow door-to-door sales without direct adult supervision. Period. In a sad case, an 11-year-old boy selling candy for a PTA fundraiser came to the door of a 15-year-old boy who was home alone at the time. The youngster was invited inside, sexually molested, and then murdered.
4). Fundraising For Youth Groups By : D. David Dugan Youth Groups are almost always in need of funds. Holding fundraisers to finance important trips like tournaments, museums, and musical events are just some of the needs that have to be met through fundraising. Others include the need for uniforms, sports equipment, art supplies, musical instruments, and more. There are a lot of different ways your youth group can raise the funds they need.
5). What Are My Investment Choices For Retirement Planning? By : Richard Callaby Investing for retirement may not seem important yet for someone who is still in their early age. But once that age of retirement is reached, then you will feel the need to do so. It might be too late then as you will not get the most out of your investments anymore.
6). Getting the Best Return on Investment for your Fundraiser By : Kimberly Reynolds Return On Investment (ROI) is a fundamental business concept. Its also something that every fundraiser needs to take into consideration. A business investment consists of working capital, physical assets, and peoples time. ROI is the net gain that results from a business spending money and utilizing physical assets, along with the expenditure of employees' time, in an effort to produce tangible profits.
7). New And Unusual Fundraising Ideas By : Steve Gillman Need some new fundraising ideas? When your organization or group needs to raise money for a trip or project, there's nothing wrong with another bake sale. Do something a little different, though, and you may get more volunteers for the event. You might also get more media exposure, meaning more people will participate, which means more money raised.
8). Car Wash Fundraiser Ideas By : Kimberly Reynolds Car wash fundraisers are a proven money-maker in virtually every community. All you need are willing volunteers, a high-traffic location with good visibility, and some attention getting signs. You can put a car wash fundraiser together on short notice, but they work best with a little planning. Here's how to get started... Things To Do List 1- Line.
9). How to Avoid Car Financing Pitfalls By : Joseph Kenny If you are considering the purchase of your first car or even your next vehicle if you’re not a first time car buyer, you may be concerned about the prospect of financing your vehicle. This concern is not totally unfounded.
10). Stock Market Trading By : Sandro Azzopardi The stock market offers various opportunities for trading. Apart from the main securities, which one can trade on various exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, there are other forms of trading like forex trading, currency trading and ‘contracts for difference’ also known as CFDs.

New Financial Planning Articles
1). How To Get Your Personal Finances In Order By : Gaetane Ross When you think about personal finances, what do you think of first? Which aspects of personal finances are important, which are essential, and which ones can you take or leave? You be the judge.
2). Past Tense Pitfalls By : Kemberly Wardlaw Creating an Investment Policy and Moving Forward after a Loss.
3). Setting and Achieving Your Financial Goals By : Marjorie Salada Financial goals are something you are going to want to put in writing and at some point in time and if you have a partner, they should do the same. If you have a partner you are going to want to discuss your goals together to see how compatible these goals and desires are. If they are completely different, you will need to find a common ground that is going to work for both of you.
4). Little Known Ways to Save Money for College By : Dave Poon One of the phrases that parents dread the most is this: college money. As soon as their child is born, parents tend to think about the future and actually make plans for their kids.
5). Save Money With A Mortgage Calculator By : Keith George It is very important to base important mortgage loan decisions on sound calculations. Most loan calculators will enable you to do that.
6). Personal Statement for College: An Investment for your Future By : Dave Poon You have heard it a thousand times over: how education is one of the most important things that you should invest in for your future.
7). What You Should Know About a 401k By : Heather Colman A 401k is a good place to start in planning for your future retirement, no matter how far away you may be from the actual time.
8). Stock Market Prediction By : Sandro Azzopardi Predicting the stock market has always been a fascinating science. It can be done in different shapes and forms.
9). Stock Market Trading By : Sandro Azzopardi The stock market offers various opportunities for trading. Apart from the main securities, which one can trade on various exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, there are other forms of trading like forex trading, currency trading and ‘contracts for difference’ also known as CFDs.
10). Stock Market for Dummy By : Sandro Azzopardi It is not easy to start trading on the stock market when you have no financial background at all. It shouldn’t be difficult to prosper, though, if you follow certain guidelines. Being organized and disciplined are two very important factors in this business. Don’t let all the information you gather confuse you. Make sure important decisions are taken before you start risking your money.