FastTrack Fundraising Tips and Articles

SB12 Fundraiser

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Over the past three decades the childhood obesity rate has more than doubled for preschool children aged 2-5 years and adolescents aged 12-19 years, and it has more than tripled for children aged 6-11 years (Source: U.S. Department of Health). For years, children have been school fundraising with chocolate, cheesecake, frozen pizzas … and more chocolate. Even with the alarming statistics on childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes, parent-teacher organizations and coaches had few alternatives to the constant “obesity fundraising.” That is, until FastTrack Fundraising came along.

FastTrack Fundraising, an online provider of fundraising ideas and solutions, offers a variety of alternatives to selling fat-laden chocolate and cheesecake. Among them are the recently launched “CalPak Healthy Snacks Fundraiser,” which contains popular treats such as Chex Mix and Pepperidge Farms Goldfish. Each snack contains less than 30% fat, less than 35% sugar, less than 10% saturated fat, and less than 250 calories. One master case contains 66 treats and raises $264. The CalPak fundraiser is guaranteed to meet all SB12 laws and nutrition regulations, so fundraising leaders can ease their policy worries.

“Now school groups are free to choose from a wide array of fundraising options. With the California SB12 regulation in effect, and many other states following suit, groups need fundraising alternatives more than ever,” says Harold Y. Tan, CEO of FastTrack Fundraising. “We’re glad to work with huge brand names to provide a healthy selection of fundraising ideas to the fundraising leaders.”

School fundraising is critical to funding education in schools nationwide, and has traditionally been dominated by the same fundraising products year after year. Almost every parent has experienced their child coming home with several candy bars or brochures featuring high-priced cheesecake. Now kids and parents can finally take a break from selling obesity and choose a fundraiser that won’t result in unnecessary health concerns.

By Patrick Cole and Leon Lazaroff

Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) — Marc Friedman, who runs the nonprofit Building With Books, witnessed the severity of Lehman Brothers’ situation firsthand last week at the investment bank’s Manhattan headquarters.

“It was surreal being in their offices,” said Friedman, Building With Books’ chief operating officer who used a Lehman conference room for a board meeting last Wednesday. Two Lehman executives are on the board of the Stamford, Connecticut, organization that runs after-school programs.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was scrambling at the time to shore up its capital, though the securities firm collapsed and declared bankruptcy on Monday.

Building With Books, like many nonprofits, is now looking ahead and bracing for a pullback in corporate donations following Lehman’s demise, Bank of America Corp.’s purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co. and the government takeover yesterday of American International Group Inc.

Friedman, like others, said his organization is making sure its donors are varied. Individuals cover 35 percent of its $6.4 million budget while corporations, foundations and government aid make up the rest, he said.

“What’s happening on Wall Street is challenging for us, but our revenue base is diverse,” he said.

Corporations accounted for 5.1 percent of all donations to U.S. nonprofits in 2007, according to GivingUSA Foundation, a research group in Glenview, Illinois. Individuals were the largest donor group, contributing $229 billion, or 75 percent, of total philanthropy.

More Competition

Economic troubles are expected to increase competition for funding among nonprofits that operate everything from museums to homeless shelters.

“If companies are in trouble, corporate philanthropy is one of the first things to get cut,” said Tom Pollak, program director at the National Center for Charitable Statistics at the Urban Institute in Washington.

The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, serving 11 counties in southwestern Pennsylvania, is bracing for a decline in donations.

“Some corporate donors are telling us they’ll have less to give next year,” said Joyce Rothermel, the food bank’s director, without naming contributors. “The length of this economic downturn will definitely have an impact on our future and where our energies go.”

Donors, too, have a wait-and-see attitude.

The Wells Fargo Foundation, an arm of San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co., is unlikely to increase its donation total next year from a current $104 million, said Tim Hanlon, the foundation’s president.

No Increase

“It’s hard to know in this economy what’s going to happen,” Hanlon said. “I don’t expect a decrease, but I’m not so sure about an increase.”

Procter & Gamble, the world’s largest consumer-products company, increased its charitable contributions 5 percent in 2007 to about $115 million, a total that won’t change this year or in 2009, said Brian Sasson, global manager of the Cincinnati- based Procter & Gamble Fund. P&G gives mainly to educational and public-affairs groups.

The General Mills Foundation, the charitable arm of Minneapolis-based General Mills Inc., also projects its giving to nonprofits next year to remain at about $21 million, Executive Director Ellen Goldberg Luger said in an interview. Its donations focus on fitness, education and the arts.

Plan B

The importance of corporate donations to nonprofit groups varies widely, said Tim Delaney, chief executive officer of the Washington-based National Council of Nonprofit Associations.

Medical institutions and private universities rely less on corporate giving than social-service nonprofits, he said.

The Pittsburgh food bank, for example, gets 9 percent of its $10.6 million budget from corporate donors including Comcast Corp. and US Airways Group Inc.

The New York Restoration Project, an environmental group founded by Bette Midler, will receive 20 percent, or $1.7 million, of its $8.3 million fiscal 2008 budget from corporate donations, Executive Director Drew Becher said.

“We’re putting together a Plan B in case some of what we have in the pipeline doesn’t come in,” Becher said. “Everyone is going through cost-cutting, and we’ll feel it in ‘09.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Patrick Cole in New York at pcole3@bloomberg.net; Leon Lazaroff in New York at llazaroff@bloomberg.net.

Source: Bloomberg.com

For those of you in charge of a not for profit organization, whatever it may be, you probably know that much of the funding you receive could be through fundraising events. Fundraising has been the method by countless firms have successfully raised funds to keep them working towards their goal or simply upholding their mission statement. Especially if you are in a situation where your organization is needing further funding to keep afloat then definitely consider this avenue. One great way to raise funds is by selling candy and below are a few tips about how you can do this.

-Ask your family and friends about what candy they like to eat. This is a great way to figure out what is most popular in your circle of contacts and by choosing the most popular candy, this will mean a higher sales gross and ultimately more funds raised.

-Do some research and see if you can obtain the candy at a wholesale rate. If you buy the candy at retail prices, the chances are low that you can resell it for a profit. Most goods can be found wholesale with a bit of poking around and this way you can not only get a large batch of the candy in one transaction but also for a price that enables you to resell the candy reasonably priced and make a profit in the process.

-Be creative about how you sell the candy. Not only ask friends and family members to buy from you but also tell them to spread the word and also set up shop in front of a local business or other densely populated area in your neighborhood where heavy foot traffic will mean a high sales volume.

-Advertise your event. Post flyers on utility poles, in local store bulletin boards and pass out flyers to people walking around your area. Also come up with a press release that a television, newspaper or news website reporter can inform the public about. This way you can reach thousands of people who will be eager to support your worthwhile cause. Be prepared to buy lots of candy wholesale if this occurs!

-Always remember to thank your customers and donors. This is extremely flattering and you also want it to be sincere as you are thankful that they support your cause. The more comfortable you make them feel, the better chances you have of them coming back to buy candy, them telling their family and friends and ultimately creating an even better situation for you all thanks to your outspoken gratitude.

As you probably realize by now, fundraising is no simple task and can take lots of brainstorming and mental or physical work to have it come intro fruition. By picking the right item to sell at a fundraising event and tackling the situation with creativity and energy, you will have a better chance of meeting the goal you either would like to meet or need to in order to keep operating. By following the above tips you are sure to benefit in your own fundraising event.

Do you have a cause for which you need to raise funds? While some solicit donations, have auctions, or sell goods to raise funds, one excellent and popular way to do this is to sell chocolate. There are companies who sell chocolate specifically prepared for these kinds of sales. Sometimes you can even have special wrappers printed up advertising your cause which will remind the customer or donor of the good deed they’ve done by donating. If you think about it, selling chocolate is perhaps one of the easiest ways of raising money and for obvious reasons. Without further adieu, here are some steps for fundraising with chocolate:

1. Seek out a company that sells chocolate for fundraising. Try searching online or asking around, especially people who work in schools or other not for profit institutions should have experience with fundraising and possibly selling chocolate.

2. Figure out what amount of time is needed to raise a set amount of funds. Order a logical amount, say 500 chocolate bars to sell in one month for example.

3. First, ask your family and friends to buy chocolate from you, this is almost always a source for quick and easy sales.

4. Research if it is legal to sell items such as chocolate for fundraising in public places in your location. Being fined for breaking any such law will only hurt your fundraising.

5. Research and look for good public locations with lots of foot or stopped car traffic in which you can sell large amounts of the chocolate. There is always power in numbers!

6. Also check with local store owners to see if they will let you sell in front of their shops because these are high traffic areas.

7. Always tell customers or donors that you highly appreciate their support and to tell their family and friends about your cause. This could mean more sales!

8. After your family and friends have finished their first chocolate bars, ask them to buy more!

9. Keep careful track of how much money you are raising and in what timeframe.

10. Providing you have sold most or all of the chocolate within the time frame of when you need to raise funds, consider your efforts successful and your customers happy not only for donating to your cause, but also for having bought enjoyable chocolate!

By all means conceivable, the beautiful thing about chocolate is that it is a popular treat and people buy it all the time. If they know they can buy chocolate while supporting a worthwhile cause, this not only diverts them from purchasing store bought chocolate but may also make them feel more generous and wind up buying more chocolate from you than they normally would. Also, chocolate is quickly eaten and this is a perfect scenario for you to sell to repeat customers, often more than twice in some cases. If you follow the above steps and plan carefully, successful fundraising by selling chocolate is almost always attainable. There are rarely any reasons not to employ this method of fundraising.

It may seem like you need to ask a gazillion people to donate to raise $1,000, but when you break it down, it really isn’t too bad.

1. Personally contribute $50 to your fund.  You should lead the way!
2. Ask two family members to each contribute $50.
3. Ask 10 friends to each contribute $20.
4. Ask five neighbors to each contribute $20.
5. Ask five co-workers to each contribute $20.
6. Ask 10 people from your faith-based organization to each contribute $10.
7. Ask your boss for a company contribution of $50 (better yet, find out if your company will match what you raise!).
8. Ask four businesses or companies that you deal with through work to contribute $50 per company.
9. Ask four businesses you frequent to personally contribute $25 (this is an easy one — ask your barber/hair stylist, dry cleaner or restaurant where you eat lunch every day).
10. You’re done!  Total Donations: $1,000!  Now remember to write personalized thank-you notes so that next time you ask for a donation, they remember the appreciation.

Asking for donations can always be daunting, but FastTrack Fundraising offers some easy and innovative ways to ask for donations.  You can check them out here: http://www.fasttrackfundraising.com/donation-fundraising.php

The purpose of these notes is to serve as a guide to anyone planning a casino party fundraiser event. There are certain points listed that might not be applicable to your event. However, we have attempted to address the typical scenarios an organizer will likely encounter.

Table of Contents
1. Goal
2. Revenues
3. Expenses
4. Determining Ticket Price
5. It will be all right on the night if…

1. Goal

Generally when asked the question, “How much money would you like to raise at this event?” most hosts realize that they haven’t given it enough thought. Having a realistic goal of how much money you would like to raise is the key starting point. It should determine the price of your entrance fee and the limit of your expenses.

Decide how much money you would like to make from this event.
Draft a statement of your proposed Revenue and Expenses.

Obviously the key is to maximize your revenue and minimize your expenses. As fundamental as this concept is, most organizations disregard it when running one of these events.
Continue Reading…

As society moves further towards a green-centered lifestyle, Earth Day has changed from a simple idea to one of the most celebrated and recognized days of the year. Now, you can do your part while helping out your organization with fundraising. Here are some simple but effective Earth Day ideas:

Reusable gift bags: FastTrack Fundraising is proud to offer earth-friendly reusable gift bags. These heavy-duty bags are great for birthday gifts, holiday events, or just plain fun. More importantly, they’re reusable and cut down on the unnecessary waste of gift wrap. They’re the perfect fundraising tool in a month when we should all be extra aware of our impact on the environment. Click here to learn more.

Aluminum can drive: Did you know that most states still collect aluminum cans for cash? It’s true; even though your weekly recycling truck hauls away your cans and bottles, you can still get money for cashing them in. Now you can use this to fundraise by partnering with local businesses and neighborhoods in a can/bottle drive. Simply contact the HR department of your local businesses and explain what your organization does and that you’d like their employees to drop off their cans and bottles in designated collecting bins and boxes that you provide throughout the company. It’s that simple — employees recycle their cans and bottles and you can cash it in for a great fundraiser. Want an even easier version? Just go door to door and start collecting!

Trash clean-a-thon: Here’s a simple thing to do: get sponsors to pledge an amount per bag of trash you pick up. A clean-a-thon such as this can be done anywhere — neighborhoods, parks, shopping centers, schools, or anywhere else. In fact, you can even enlist the help of the local parks and recreation department in seeing if there are any areas they’d recommend cleaning; not only will they appreciate the help, they’ll probably publicize your event too!

Compact fluorescent light bulbs: Energy saving is on everyone’s mind these days, and changing traditional light bulbs to compact fluorescents is a simple way to do this. Now, you can tap into this popular trend by offering compact fluorescent light bulbs in a door-to-door fundraiser that’s as good for the earth as it is for your organization. First off, you’ll need an inventory of bulbs, and chances are if you talk with the manager at your local hardware store, they’d be willing to offer a bulk discount or even a sponsorship in your drive. Second, arm your volunteers with CF bulbs and a list of benefits they can tout to each person they speak to. Third, send them out and about to celebrate Earth Day while raising funds for your organization.

We asked an expert for his top 10 tips on the nuances of email marketing for nonprofits and ways to increase conversion rates. One simple change he made lifted response 66%. Nonprofit organizations have different relationships with their members than businesses do with their customers. Those differences need to carry over into their email programs.“Part of the whole overall fundraising program is realizing that your newsletter that’s keeping people aware of your activities is really fundraising. Nobody will consider it that, but it really is the cultivation side of a fundraising program, not just asking for money once a month,” says Jeff Herrity, Internet fundraising professional.

When your list is ready for an appeal — or a donation request — Herrity follows a long list of best practices he has developed over the years for clients, including Amnesty International and the American Red Cross.

Here are his top 10 tips for putting together an email fundraising campaign:

The Email Itself

-> Tip #1. Put your request in the subject line

Continue Reading…

No other fundraiser brings a community closer together than a discount card fundraiser does. Aimed at attracting residents within the neighborhood of your school, discount card fundraisers serve another purpose besides helping your cause; they assist in the development of a sense of community between all parties involved: you, your supporters and your sponsors. Continue Reading…

So your school has decided to begin fundraising for the essentials towards higher education, leaving you to make a very important decision:  which course of action to take. There are more traditional methods, such as selling chocolate bars or magazine subscriptions; however, keep in mind that there is a possibility of other schools within the area doing the same. Continue Reading…