Fundraising Directory

Fundraising in difficult times is not easy, but it’s certainly not impossible. As people experienced in raising money for schools, charities and community groups know, as long as you are creative and persistent, you can find financial support for almost any cause. So if you’re looking for some creative ideas to help you raise money, here are a few to get you started…

Mobile Donations
There are more than five billion mobile phone subscribers on the planet, that’s 77% of the world’s population. With this level of mobile phone penetration, incorporating SMS micro-donations into your fundraising can be a really effective way of raising money.

Text donations are a safe and convenient way for individuals to donate set amounts to your group. They work by enabling people to simply text a set codeword (such as DONATE) to a mobile number that automatically adds the stated donation amount to their phone bill. Micro donations, which are amounts of less than $5.00 – $10.00, work best. Including SMS micro donations in your fundraising program will help you tap into a market that otherwise may have been excluded.

Social Media
Having the facility on your website to accept online donations is mandatory these days, however, the best way to drive online donations is by promoting your fundraising event or program through as many social media networks as possible.

Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are great ways to reach out and let people know about your fundraising event, so signing up to and using these types of sites will help you greatly. One advantage of social media sites is that people who use them generally follow in line what their friends are doing, so your donations can really start to take off when people see their friends donate to your cause and then follow suit.

Holding Micro-events
Events are one of the mainstay fundraisers, but if you have limited resources to set up and run larger events, then holding micro-events may be a better option. The type of micro-event  you organise is only limited by your imagination, some ideas include setting up a car wash, a lemonade stand, selling raffle tickets or even place donation jars at local businesses.

You can also set up a free online events and use email and social media to promote it.  For example, using a free service such as freeconferencing.com, you can host an online media event with a slide presentation to encourage the audience to participate.  Just about anything goes as long as you are able to give some sort of service in return for a donation. This is much easier than simply soliciting for a donation and it lets individuals interact with your fundraising organisation.

Take your time to make a list of fundraising ideas that you feel will benefit your organisation. There are literally thousands of combinations and with just a little motivation and dedication, you will be able to raise money for any kind of cause.