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Five ways to bring in more income without doing a labor-intensive event
Everyone loves a party.
Trouble is, the booze-food-band-and-photo-booth fetes can be labor intensive, time consuming, and a drain on fundraising budgets. Modern technology provides so many ways to improve our lives from smart watches to self-driving cars -- why not use it to boost fundraising without the need for all the manpower of a traditional event?
Photo: https://donorfuseblog.wordpress.com/2012/09/14/meme-of-the-week-09-14-2012/
Here are five ways to bring in money without a high cost party:
1. Online auctions
An online auction is open to the world. Literally. Online auction hosts have hundreds of thousands of subscribers looking for every item and experience under the sun. All you have to do is put something on the block. Charity Buzz, the premier online charity auction marketplace, has the motto “Raise More. Do Less." They have helped non-profits raise more than $135 million, and the average organization raises $50,000 plus each year.
2. Peer-to-peer fundraising
Peer-to-peer fundraising can be really effective if you have the right group of people. Instead of staff seeking donations, supporters champion the cause and create their own fundraising pages. You task your board with creating their campaign page(s), setting a fundraising goal, and picking a particular cause for which to raise money within the organization. If ten people raise $1,000 each, you bring in $10,000 without devoting much staff time to the fundraiser. It’s an easy way to add a healthy boost to your bottom line each year.
3. Universal online campaigns
Take advantage of yearly giving campaigns like Giving Tuesday. You just need good advance planning and strong social media outreach. If you plan your campaign three- six months out and get a team in place, an online campaign can be an easy and effective way to bring in money. Giving Tuesday brought in $45.7 million in 2014. There are several other yearly giving campaigns you can tap into.
4. Matching gifts
Never leave money on the table. Always make sure donors are aware if they have a matching gift campaigns at their places of employment. Ask major donors to match the overall fundraising goal; this way they get twice the bang for their buck.
5. Ask to the be the cause of choice
Partner with an event already taking place. Search the web to find a fun festival (Eventbrite is a great source!) and call the coordinator. Ask if they would be willing to donate a portion of the proceeds to your cause. If you can provide volunteer support for the event, that gives you some equity to offer in exchange for the donation and incentive for the organizer to say yes.
Saranah Holmes has a decade of experience in fundraising. She offers consulting services to nonprofits and small businesses/volunteer groups looking to creatively fundraise. Contact her at s.holmes@dailydogood.co for details and pricing.
Oscars, Move Over!
Kids in the Spotlight, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2009. The program trains youth in foster care programs and other underserved youth to create, write, cast and star in their own short films. This training culminates in an annual film festival competition: “Movies by Kids, for Kids.”
Why Kids in the Spotlight?
KITS was created to create a platform for foster care kids to tell their stories their way, and to be celebrated for the courage that it takes to tell their stories. It came from an encounter I had when I visited an all-girls group home.
A group of KITS students standing on the stage at last year's film festival competition
Can you talk more about that encounter?
My husband was teaching an acting workshop at the group home. After the workshop, we toured the facilities. In the girls’ rooms were twin-sized beds. Above the bed were pictures of their families. Beneath the beds were a few personal items. I thought, Wow, this is all of their personal space! I was moved to sympathy and compassion. Then I noticed a group of girls misbehaving. First, a moment of judgment came. Then, a quickening came and said, “Yes, they’re acting out, but they’re doing it because they want your attention.” I asked the administrator how to help. She said that they needed mentors.
How did you end up creating the “Movies by Kids, for Kids” Film Festival Competition?
After I attended a seminar at my church: “Finding God’s Purpose,” I asked God, “What am I supposed to do?” He reminded me of those girls at that foster care facility. I heard, “They needed attention. Give them their story. Let them write their stories, cast their stories, and star in them. Give them something nobody can ever take from them. And don’t stop there. Create an awards ceremony. This is going to be their Academy Awards.”
The poster from a Kids in the Spotlight film
Why is it important for them to tell their stories?
When you are removed from your family structure, when you think about the magnitude of being in an institution where people are dictating your every move, and you are away from your family…you need some type of outlet. The arts are medication.
What changes do you see in the students—from the beginning of the ten-week process—to the end?
They come to us, like cocoons in a shell. They are a little resistant. They have trust issues, understandably. We see them coming out of their shells. And by the end, they are beautiful butterflies.
Many kids who have performed in KITS and have been encouraged by our professional artists, have gone on to college and are now majoring in the performing arts.
What is your ultimate goal for the youth whom you work with?
To make sure that they are not victims of their circumstances. We say this affirmation at the end of each class: “I can do great things because I was created to do great things.”
Founder Tige Charity with KITS participants and actor Derek Luke
About the Author: Chanté Griffin is a writer, TV personality, and proud code-switcher. Connect with her via her blog: yougochante.com/blog and via Twitter: @yougochante
DDG Wants You!
The Daily Do Good is looking for dedicated volunteers who want to help spread a little sunshine in the world. If you are a believer in the power of doing good and giving back, we might love you.
Do you enjoy talking to people? Know your affects from your effects? Are you a digital diva or graphics guru? Can you talk people into giving us their money? Can you write? No seriously, are you any good? We might really love you.
Here’s who we need:
Content Crafters
Writers, bloggers, photographers, videographers… come forth! We are looking for people who know how to tell a story, be it in words or pictures. The work includes interviewing folks, so a journalism background is helpful, but not necessary. Grammar nerds, raise your hands. Contact Holly Leber, Editorial Director, at staff@dailydogood.co.
Marketing Mavens
Love makes the world go ‘round, but we can’t run this business on love alone. So, frankly put: We need money. And in order to get money, we need as many people as possible to know about us and love us. We’re seeking marketing assistants with strong research abilities. Experience in crowdfunding is a huge plus. Show us your sales savvy – sell us on YOU! Contact Saranah Holmes, President, at s.holmes@dailydogood.co
Social Media Specialists
Are you all a-Twitter? Did you teach your Gram to Instagram? Do you have more Facebook friends than people you’ve actually met in your lifetime? Give us some #LOVE. Attend fundraisers, post pics and comments (how fun is that?!), and just generally tweet your face off about @TheDailyDoGood. Contact Crystal Davis, Social Media Manager at crystalndavis@gmail.com
Requirements
- Self-starters – must be able to problem-solve and manage time well
- Good communicators – respond efficiently and keep us in the loop
- Be able to work remotely without immediate supervision
- Approximately 10 hours a week (15 for crowdfunding)
- Weekly e-mail check-in
- Monthly meeting
Tell us why you want to work with The Daily Do Good. Include a resume and a few pertinent work samples. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!
Do Good, Feel Good!
Giving for the Social Media Generation
This article was written for the Miami Herald by Daily Do Good writer Marcella McCarthy. It is reproduced here exactly as printed on the Herald's website.
The cultural change toward frugality that took place among millennials during the recession has affected the way they give back to society.
It’s no longer “hip” to pay $500 for a gala ticket. As such, organizations have had to reinvent their strategies to attract young donors.
The Miami Foundation, an organization that connects philanthropy with community needs, has capitalized on technology and social media. Through its Give Miami Day initiative, a 24-hour online campaign complete with a Twitter party, the foundation solicits donations from around the world for Miami-based charities.
“Part of our way of engaging millennials is to meet them where they are, which is online,” said Javier Alberto Soto, president and CEO of the Miami Foundation.
In 2013, Give Miami Day raised $3.2 million in 24 hours. With minimum donations set at just $25, the campaign is more accessible for young people. This year, Give Miami Day 2014 will take place Nov. 20. As of last week, 173 Miami-based nonprofits had registered to participate. People can click on the charity they want to give to.
“Give Miami Day is a website, and it’s totally mobile so you can access it on your tablet or phone,” said Soto.
Give Miami Day isn’t just about raising money for today’s problems; it’s about developing a habit of giving back in young people.
“Today’s $25 Give Miami Day donor is tomorrow’s endowment builder,” Soto said.
Other groups are following the Miami Foundation’s example in wooing young people.
Marly Quinoces has created the PARK Project, which stands for ‘‘performing acts of random kindness.”
When Quinoces, 31, was growing up in Miami, she thought she had to be older to be a philanthropist, but she said that when she learned the broader meaning of philanthropy, she realized that giving of her time and skills was also just as important.
PARK Project is a nonprofit that earned third place in 2013 in the Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge. One of its events, the 5K PARK Fest encourages runners, walkers and cheerers to sign up for $40, half of which will go to a charity of their choice.
The project has benefits for both the nonprofit beneficiaries, which can register for free, and the runners and walkers, who start building a team of like-minded people with whom they can work out and socialize.
To help get the word out, PARK Project supplies the charities with communication materials, from pre-written emails to Twitter posts. The only thing the organizations have to do is reach out to their networks.
“You’re giving them everything they need to be successful,” she said.
The idea of doing the heavy lifting for charities that have suffered from the financial downturn is the concept behind Philanthrofest.
Philanthrofest, begun by Miami native Estrella Sibilia, 35, puts together what Sibilia describes as a “job fair within a carnival.” Charities come together to create an event where the public can not only sign up to help, but can learn about the services that are available to them within the community.
Prior to founding Philanthrofest, Sibilia worked in real estate development in Miami.
“I’ve spent years building the skyline, so now I’m building the community around the skyline,” she said.
Philanthrofest 2015 will be held in Miami’s new Museum Park on April 11.
Sibilia also helps organizations with their communication efforts, giving them the tools to build their own marketing campaigns.
“We host digital engagement institutes to teach nonprofits how to engage with social media so they can amplify and build their audience,” she said.
At last year’s Philanthrofest, about 100 organizations participated, Sibilia said. Throughout the year, she has heard stories of how the organizations have helped change people’s lives.
Meanwhile, other organizations are asking young donors to give their talents and skills to a cause.
Blair Butterfield, 33, originally from North Florida, is the founder of Colony1, which she bills as Miami’s “first sustainability center.”
With a net-zero water and energy building in the design phases, Colony1 will be located at 550 NW 52nd St. on a 14,000-square-foot plot of land donated by Miami-Dade County. They began work on the site in June.
Butterfield, director of the Art of Cultural Evolution, a nonprofit, said the site will host a “teaching and learning garden.”
“Instead of paying to harvest your own vegetables, you’ll be growing your own food and taking it home. We’re going to have a local food kitchen that is going to offer one organic meal a day. People who eat that food will be learning to cook that food, too,” she said.
But for those who just want to drop by and pick up some fresh organic food for their household, they can bring their own containers and shop at the zero packaging store. Goods at the store will be grown at Colony1’s 2.5-acre plot of land in Homestead.
All the work for Colony1, from the design to the engineering, has been done by volunteers, who are predominantly millennials.
“There are so many young people [here] who have so many great talents — and so all these people have come together and offered their skills,” she said.
RESOURCES
Colony1: www.artofculturalevolution.org
Park Project: www.parkproject.org
Philanthrofest: www.philanthrofest.com
Miami Foundation: www.miamifoundation.org
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/living/helping-others/article3606576.html#storylink=cpy
Outtakes with Carla Hall
She's a chef, TV host, cookbook author and soon-to-be restaurant owner. Carla Hall took time out of her busy schedule to talk to us about one of her favorite organizations, DC Central Kitchen, and to answer some fun questions just for you!
Is it scientifically possible to eat just one your Petite Cookies?
“No! You don’t have to choose just one. There’s a smorgasboard.”
What is your favorite cooking smell?
“That’s hard! Would it be a cake in the oven, or my grandmother’s cornbread… let’s say bread baking. I have this fascination with bread baking…”
What is your least favorite cooking smell?
"Being from the South, it would have to be something like pig’s feet, that smells really funky, or chitlins…. When you’re like “what the hell?”
With all due respect to your husband, do you have any celebrity crushes?
“My husband knows I have a crush on Jamie Oliver. I told Jamie “it’s okay, my husband knows that I love you, too.”
What is, no holds barred, no political correctness, no apologies, the best kind of pie to have at Thanksgiving?
“I honestly would like peach cobbler. I honestly know peaches aren’t in season, but if I had some canned, I would do a peach cobbler. Or cherry. Sour cherry cobbler.”
Play a round of ‘Bang, Marry, Kill’ with your gentlemen co-stars (Clinton Kelly, Michael Symon, Mario Batali)
Aw, dang, this is going to be so hard… Marry Clinton.. oh wow… this is like asking, which of your brothers would you bang or kill? I’ll kill both of them! I’m more grossed out by the bang part than I am by the kill part. I wouldn’t want to bang either of them… you’re giving me the willies! Okay, bang Michael, kill Mario… Gross!
Why is The Daily Do Good truly awesome?
The Daily Do Good is awesome because 1) it reminds you to do good, 2) they do with a smile and laughter, and 3) they ask you tough questions that you all want to hear.