Do you have a non-profit organization with a wonderful humanitarian idea?
Odds are that you are stuck in the process of turning those ideas into realities because you have no more funds left? Then perhaps reading the rest of this article might be of some help.
The donor community, those who fund no-profit organizations, has a short attention span and also is very difficult to get the attention of. There are two things that are key to successfully getting their attention; a brilliant idea, and evidence that you can turn it into a reality. Why? This is a generally very competitive market anyway and if your idea is not unique or timely, it will face an even more relentless competition. And unless the people involved have extensive or at least some experience in the field, and the organization itself has taken the initiative to do something along the line of their purpose, chances of winning them over is low.
Let’s say you have the right idea, the right team and have some working history also. So what’s the next step to fundraising for your non-profit organization?
There are several approaches you can take. One is checking out that donor community closely so that you can identify the ones that seem related to what your non-profit organization is trying to do. Once you have a list, and it does not matter if your list is extensive, start finding out their contact information. Most times it might be just a generic email address or their mailing address and fax number. Sometimes you can find the contact info for the person who is designated to handle inquiries based on certain subjects only. The easiest way to finding this information is from their websites. Almost all of them have one.
There are several other things you can do to try and fundraise for your non-profit organization. Hosting drives in your community or organizing big or small scale fundraising events are quite popular too. There are traditional methods like mail-in fundraising requests or by calling people on the phone too. But again, you can try these buy the internet is fast overtaking these methods.
Consider making a website for your organization. And if you already have one, then perhaps you should consider adding a link where a visitor to your website can donate money online in a secure and easy way. If you haven’t noticed, it is becoming one of the fastest ways of raising funds for all sorts of causes these days, including for the campaigns of the candidates hoping to become the next president of the United States of America next year.
Anyway, just make sure that you are registered as 501(c)(3) organization so that you are tax-exempt and all of your donors can deduct any donations as a charitable deduction in their tax returns. This way, your donors will get a part of their contribution to your organization’s cause back in tax returns at the end of the fiscal year.
Well there you have it, a crash course on fundraising for your non-profit organization. And don’t forget, persistence and patience are key.
