2001 Volunteer Leader Training Guide
Money Does Grow on Trees
"Successful Fund-Raising Techniques"
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Transparency 1
Picture yourself in this situation: You’ve just been recruited
to serve on the fund-raising committee for your County Extension Homemakers
Council. You are a relatively new board member, and you are still learning about
the organization. At the first meeting of the committee, you are told that the
organization has experienced some hard¤times and that, although the organization
has no history of fund-raising success and no plan in place, it’s imperative
that the committee raise $20,000 this year.
Does this sound familiar? How would you feel? Is this an
impossible task? How do you even begin to develop a plan to raise $20,000 from
scratch? The answer may be best illustrated by the age-old question. . .
Transparency 2
How do you eat an elephant? The answer, of course, is that the
only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.
So how do you plan from ground zero to raise $20,000? If you
look at the enormity of the task at hand, it seems impossible; but if you can
break it down into bite-sized pieces, it begins to seem more doable. That’s half
the battle. Generally, we can do anything we genuinely believe we can do.
In Howard County, we average raising anywhere from $25,000 to
$30,000 a year through fund raising. How do we do it? One bite at a time.
We begin by identifying a need or funding priorities. If you
just tell your membership that we need to raise $25,000 this year without a
cause, most of your members will think you have lost your marbles and won’t buy
into your plan.
Transparency 3
On the other hand, if you have a plan or a definite need for the
money, then you’re more likely to get support. (Give example.) In the past, I
bet almost every county has accomplished this. Think about the number of
community centers that have been built just through the efforts of Extension
Homemaker Clubs or Councils.
Transparency 4
No amount of fund raising is going to be successful until you
identify your community and your community knows who you are. If I ask this
question – "Who do you and your organization serve?" – can you answer me? It
might seem like a fairly easy question to answer, but it may not be. It might be
helpful to your organization to spend a few minutes at a board meeting
brainstorming about who is affected by your services. Whose lives would be
adversely affected if these services were not available? And does your community
know this? Do you frequently have articles in the local newspaper showing or
telling about what you do?
Why is this important? Fund-raising becomes a much easier task
when we have a well-defined community which receives something of value from our
organization. It’s critical that we define the benefits of our services to the
members of this community, and then remind them of these benefits. If we can
define and cultivate partnerships with other members of this community, we can
more easily make the case for financial support from the community. Fund-raising
starts with a recognition of the value of the work that is being done. If you
and your board are having a tough time identifying the value of your services to
a larger com-munity, you can’t expect the community to identify this value and
support your cause.
So, where do you find sure-fire, money-making, fund-raising
ideas? From your colleagues, of course. You’ve probably heard it said that there
are no new ideas; we just keep modifying the old ones. This is especially true
in the fund-raising business; any idea that works will almost certainly be
refined, recycled and reused.
But there are some ways you can refine, recycle and reuse ideas
that really work.
Transparency 5
First off, make your fund-raising event unique. Some little
"twist" can be the key to the old tried-and-true events. An example that has
worked for us is a Bakeless Bake Sale. For this event, you ask people to
participate by donating the amount of money it would cost for ingredients, time
and effort to bake an item for a bake sale. Do this in the form of a letter. I
have attached one that we use. Most people are willing to help out and usually
donate more than what it costs to actually bake a product. This is one of the
least stressful fund raisers we have done.
Events that are a little different help to attract extra
publicity. Again that helps to let your community know about you and your cause.
And if they know about you and what you’re doing, they are going to support you.
Just as a personal preference, I believe in working for the
money I earn. Therefore, most of our fund raisers are more than just soliciting
money. But they don’t all have to be hard, back-breaking work.
Transparency 6
In Howard County, we try to find a balance, and since we have
become so successful at fund-raising, we pick and choose only those activities
that will "net" the most profit.
Let me share with you a few ideas we have found to be
successful. (Discuss handout.)
ACTIVITY: Give each participant a big buck and have them
write their ideas for fund-raising on it and share with the rest of the group.
Build a money tree.
We haven’t talked about tax implications yet. Does a nonprofit
group have to declare their income? According to the accountant with AEHC, Barry
Findley, individual county organizations do not have to declare income tax
unless they raise over $25,000.
Transparency 7
I f they do raise over this amount, then they will have to file
a tax Form 990. If your council makes less than $25,000, they are okay and do
not have to file.
If you do have to file a Form 990, you must have a tax ID
number. You cannot use the one the AEHC has. Even though we fall under the
umbrella of Arkansas Extension Homemakers Council, each county acts as an
independent organization and is considered an independent organization.
If you have any questions or concerns about filing forms or tax
ID numbers, you can contact a local certified public accountant. They should be
able to assist you.
I hope I have inspired you to go back to your county and think
about your fund-raising efforts. If you have a program that needs extra funding,
then I hope you have gained some new ideas today that you can use. Are there any
questions?
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