Here are four keys to better nonprofit fundraising results.

Non-profit fundraising is all about multiple streams of income, so how do you make more money for your organization?

Simple. When you put together your annual plan, you need to include as many ways to raise money as possible.

So, you’re probably thinking: ‘That’s easy for you to say, but how exactly do I go about it?’ Easy! You just have to be “smart” about it, with a well thought-out plan that doesn’t make too many demands on any one facet of your organization.

Every fundraiser that you conduct places various demands on your volunteers, your supporters, and your leadership. Those demands can be time consuming, expensive, and stressful.

The more large-scale fundraisers you conduct in one year’s time, the greater the load you place on the people you depend on.

You need to be ’smart’ in how you go about your fundraising.

Four Keys to Non-Profit Fundraising:

Think Smart
Plan Smart
Work Smart
Be Smart

Non-Profit Fundraising – THINK SMART
Thinking smart means taking the time to review past results and strategizing about how to do better this year.

If you don’t spend some time brainstorming some new and creative ideas to increase your bottom line, how are you going to rise above last year’s results?

Define your three best income streams. Now, daydream a little about what changes or enhancements you can make that will add additional volume to those streams.

Non-profit fund-raising is all about reaching more people with a compelling message that inspires them to take immediate action to assist your organization.

How can you reach more people? By exploiting two things – personal networks and personal motivators.
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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.

This is not an urban legend. The murder happened in Freehold, New Jersey on September 27, 1997 and it raised the fundraising safety issue to national prominence.

I’m not usually an alarmist, but I included the example above to heighten awareness of the safety topic.

I am by nature a trusting person, but not when it comes to my children! Nothing is worth such devastating consequences.

Develop An Appropriate Safety Focus
So, how do you build the appropriate safety focus into your program?
You start by stressing safety from the top of your organization to the bottom. You have to make sure that safety is a focal point in all your communications.

1) Use written selling guidelines
Put it into writing that all selling should be supervised. Your organization needs this as a protective measure and so do the children. If an adult cannot commit to accompanying a child, the child must not perform that type of sales activity.

Make sure that each child’s parents are aware of these guidelines. Get the message to them that their children are not being encouraged to sell outside their comfort zone by your group.
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Successful fundraising requires following certain fundamental steps. Here are two things you have to do with every fundraiser:

1) Increase community awareness of your need

2) Increase community awareness of your offering

Everybody reading this instantly thinks, “Yep, we’ve got that covered. Everybody in our group knows what we’re doing.”

Let’s take a closer look and see, shall we?

Creating Awareness Of Your Fundraising Need:
1) Can your need be expressed in a single sentence?
2) Has everyone in your group memorized that sentence?
3) Is expressing your need a part of your approach to all supporters?

Test your group from top to bottom.

Randomly ask individuals to tell you why your group is raising money.

I absolutely guarantee you that you’ll be surprised at how weak the various answers are.

In many groups, more than 50% of those involved with the fundraiser will not be able to tell you in a single sentence the specific reasons why they are raising money.

What about outside your group?

Can you honestly say that you’ve exhausted every possible approach in getting the word out to the community about your fundraiser?

Does everybody know why you need money?

Have you done each of these?

Flyers
Posters
Press release
Roadside signs
Newspaper coverage
Public service radio announcements
Pre-kickoff letter, postcard, or email campaigns

Or, are you assuming that all you have to do is tell someone that you’re doing a fundraiser and that they’ll be glad to help?

Two problems with that approach. One is that most of your group can’t effectively communicate your need.

The second is that you are already assuming that your group has more than enough prospective supporters to meet your goal.

Both these problems limit your potential results.

Consider these three points:

One, if your need isn’t communicated clearly and concisely, it will not be understood and internalized as a deserving cause by your prospective supporters.

Two, if your sellers don’t really understand your group’s need, then they won’t push as hard to meet that need.
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Looking for a good fundraising idea? Candle sales are easy and profitable. What, exactly, is a candle fundraiser?

Candle fundraisers are your basic order taker fundraiser. You need to do more than just show pictures of candles. Showing fragrant samples will dramatically boost your candle fundraiser’s results.

The basic concept is the same as all order taker fundraisers. You equip your sellers with a brochure, an order form, and a basic sales script.

The brochure describes the various candle selections and provides details on color, aroma, size, shape, weight, and container type. Price points are usually on the order form itself.

Unlike candy or cookie dough, it’s easy for your sellers to carry samples. Their non-perishable nature makes them a great fit for weeklong sales efforts.

One of the great things about candle fundraisers is how the aroma of your samples makes the selling process so much easier. Most buyers will sniff several samples and imagine how the candles will fill their homes with their pleasant smells.

Perennial favorites are french vanilla, bayberry, apple, pumpkin spice, apple cinnamon, holiday pine, melon burst, and citrus breeze.

Candle sizes range from small two-ounce votive candles all the way up to giant three-pound ball or bell-shaped versions with multiple wicks.

Several fundraising companies have candles in decorative shapes like various fruits, animals, wizards, trees, and figurines. In addition, large rectangles, cylinders, half-rounds, and tapers are always readily available.
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