FastTrack Fundraising Tips and Articles

Most non-profit organizations have fundraising committee positions that last for at least one year. Each year, new members receive training and learn from their predecessors. All results of previous fundraising events and relevant details are available, so that the new committee does not have to start everything from scratch.

However, when a fundraising committee is being established for the first time, it is important to get things organized to enhance future management. There should certainly be a team leader who is in charge of chairing meetings, distributing minutes and resources, and settling disputes when necessary. A financial officer should also be appointed to keep track of the money collected through fundraising events.

Among the other thousands of tasks to get organized, some fundamental documents need to be prepared:

• Names, addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses of all fundraising committee members and volunteers.
• Details of fundraising product suppliers you plan to use and are considering using, including notes on the types of goods and services provided.
• Financial books, to keep notes on fundraising account details, receipts, income and expenditure records, check and credit card statements, etc.
• Copies of your organization’s fundraising and money handling policies and procedures, as well as your planning documents such as schedules of fundraising events, committee meetings and training of volunteers.
• Documentation on all fundraising committee meetings, discussions, decisions, actions and reviews. Each fundraising event should have its own folder, which is to be filed separately from that of general committee affairs.

Setting up a new fundraising committee is not difficult, as long as you are prepared to pay attention to details and patiently plan and implement every single step. With all essential documentation retained and properly categorized, you will find your tasks and those of future fundraising committee members very easy.

We all learn from our predecessors, people who used to do what we do now, who have learned great lessons and received much emotional and psychological rewards from their work. As we ourselves now arrive at these positions, we are keen to experience, to perform and, most importantly, to succeed. We soon find that there is no better way to gain knowledge than learning from our forerunners.

Particularly in fundraising, we need much guidance from those who know. What kinds of fundraising events have been organized before? How were the products, services or activities promoted, and were the results lucrative or less than satisfactory? How were the products collected and what happened when there were not enough to distribute? What happened to the excessive stock? Where did all those volunteers come from and how were they organized and trained?

Most importantly, where can we find more fundraising ideas and put them in practice? How do we keep our volunteers and ourselves enthusiastic? Who can we talk to when we feel tired and frustrated? With whom can we share our success?

This is why heritage is important in fundraising, as hard-earned experiences should be passed on. Policies and procedures may be established to enhance the handling of a wide range of matters, while criteria are required for us to measure our achievements. While fine examples are to be followed, all efforts should be made to avoid previously made mistakes.

It is therefore highly recommended that all fundraising committees possess a full copy of at least the previous year’s committee meeting minutes, contact details of volunteers, reports on all fundraising results, product distribution and storage records, and relevant financial proceedings. The better written and catalogued these documents are, the faster and easier they can help the newcomers prepare themselves for their work.

Having planned ahead your fundraising initiatives and aims, found the volunteers you need and prepared all your team members for the forthcoming events, it is now time to take concrete action to achieve your collective goal. Some people think that saying is one thing while doing is another. However, this writer would argue that when doing, one should never forget what has been said.

As Joel Barker, the famous “paradigm man”, suggests: “Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world.” Here are some tips on how you can match actions with original plans:

• Trust your team members. As you have allocated various tasks to those who can handle them and arranged to have one’s weakness compensated by another’s strength, it is now time for them to do their work. Give them some personal and professional space. Help them when necessary, but do not hassle them.
• Focus on the present. When facing one task, do it well, without worrying too much about what has been and will be done. Do not hesitate to ask for help. If mistakes occur, correct them as soon as possible and move on. As Dale Carnegie stresses: “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage.”
• Count your milestones. Depending on how long your fundraising campaign goes, meet with your team members weekly or monthly to discuss your progress. Setting up key dates is a great way to review what has been completed. Reward all efforts and inspire your team members for what still needs to be done.

Because fundraising as a public event requires input from everyone in your team, keep in mind that both vision and action need to be shared. Take one step at a time.

Like all public affairs, fundraising events require careful and thorough planning. From deciding on specific fundraisers to finding volunteers, from collecting and distributing the products to managing excessive stock, a wide range of issues should be considered. Each and every one of them needs to be discussed and approved by the majority, if not all, of committee members, before relevant actions can be successfully taken.

Simply put, planning ahead enables us to complete our tasks quickly and effectively. Here are some suggestions on how to conduct good planning:

• Start early. Plan ahead by gathering resources and categorizing them according to your needs, identifying channels through which you can find volunteers, and helping your team members know each other.
• No idea is bad idea. It is always useful for everyone to sit down and brainstorm. Because each of your team members has his or her unique views, experiences and contacts, together you can do great wonders.
• Always have the end in mind. Establish achievable goals and concrete plans to achieve them. Keep everyone informed of all steps completed and yet to be taken. The more specific you are about your goals, the more focused you tend to be.
• Know your limits. Stay calm and positive even when problems occur. Understand that no matter how capable each of your team members is, he or she is not Superman or Wonder Woman. People do and often make mistakes.
• Put fun back into fundraising. Include a kick-off gathering at the beginning of your plan and a celebration party in the end. Make sure that everybody is invited and all efforts are rewarded.

Remember, planning ahead does not mean that you should have everything done beforehand. It simply means that you need to prepare your team for whatever is coming.

In the previous article are some tips on how to be a good leader for your fundraising committee. Indeed, the ultimate reason for any leader to exist is to encourage teamwork and mutual respect among his or her team members, so that the whole team can function as one. A leader should inspire and unite, not to do all the work.

For each and every member of your fundraising committee, here are some suggestions on how to enhance teamwork:

• Know your staff and stuff. Set an achievable goal for your upcoming fundraising event and explain to everybody the steps required to achieve it. Specify the tasks involved and allocate responsibilities to those who can handle them. Compensate one’s weakness with another’s strength.
• Set and make known your priorities. Thoroughly discuss with your team members the resources your organization already possesses and what extras need to be gained through the fundraising event. The majority, if not all, of your team members should agree on how to manage the event.
• Uphold honesty and transparency. Establish the consensus that no information should be withheld from any and all of your team members, and that all procedures and results need to be assessed by the whole fundraising committee. Any conflict is to be handled quickly and without favoritism.
• Share duties and credits. Within a team, no one should clearly stand out to take all the glory or be the scapegoat. While the leader has, and should have, a representative voice in public, he or she needs to always recognize and support the collective efforts of all fundraising committee members.

Remember, for any fundraising committee to succeed, teamwork is as important as, if not more critical than, leadership. Only a united, balanced and hardworking team is capable of achieving its goal.

This is the first of a series of six articles that explore the significance of fundraising committee management. In any organization, setting up a fundraising committee is the key to raising funds effectively. There is nothing more inspiring and rewarding than working with a group of like-minded people to achieve your goal.

For your committee to succeed in organizing a wide range of fundraising activities, leadership is of ultimate importance. Here are some tips on how to be an excellent committee leader:

• Be communicative. Print out the names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of your committee members, and distribute a copy to everybody. Keep your team informed with all progress. Ensure that you are always available for people’s inquiries and requests for help.
• Be open-minded. Avoid favoring some people over the others. Know the capacities of your committee members and strive to put their strengths and talents to good use. When conflicts arise, listen carefully to all sides before making a decision. Solve any problem as soon as possible.
• Be transparent. Make available all fundraising plans, results and previously learned lessons and encourage brainstorming among your committee members. Discuss with your team before setting priorities. Review your planning documents often and ensure that all inputs are well considered.
• Be part of your team. Put first the interests of your team. Work as hard as – if not harder than – your committee members. Be a role model by maintaining a good balance between work and life. Share with your team all successful and not-so-successful fundraising outcomes.

The secret of being a good leader is to listen and share, and to give the others what you would like them to give you. By operating your fundraising committee well, you are already halfway there to achieving successful fundraising results.

The foundation of successful fundraising events is frequent and direct communications among all members of your organization’s fundraising team. The better connected and informed you are, the better it is for your fundraising initiatives in the long term.

Traditionally we have used meetings in person and telephone calls to communicate with each other. While these remain effective ways to exchange news, launch discussions and debates and provide feedback, people in their busy lives now prefer receiving and digesting information in their own time. This is why certain networking technologies have become extremely popular.

SMS text messaging via mobile phones is perhaps the most popular and convenient way of staying in touch with your fundraising team members. Questions and comments are quickly typed out and sent, and replies are instantly given. As most people carry their mobile phones but only answer incoming calls at their earliest convenient time, it is a non-intrusive way to keep constant contact with your team members.

Email is another handy way in which not only messages but also relevant documents may be sent to your fundraising team members. All you need to do is to set up an email list so that one message can be instantly dispatched to many accounts via a click of the mouse.

Finally, many social networking websites are free for all to use. They allow you to create individual groups and invite other members to join. Within each group, participants can upload photos and post messages to share ideas and opinions.

In short, the key to operating a happy and motivated fundraising team is to keep all team members well informed. By utilizing networking technologies such as mobile phone, email and social networking website, everyone can remain updated with relevant fundraising information on their own terms and at their own paces.

It is essential to have volunteers working with you in fundraising events. Furthermore, it is absolutely critical that you acknowledge their efforts in public both during and after these events. Celebrating the collective success as a result of weeks, if not months, of teamwork makes your volunteers feel valued and appreciated. It is also a great incentive for them to come back again.

Throwing a big party, or simply a BBQ or morning tea, is a good way to start the celebration. As you thank your volunteers who have made everything happen, here are some ideas on how to make them feel even more special:

• However you decide to have a good time, make your volunteers the focus of the occasion. Deliver a thank-you speech that creates a sense of community among the volunteers. Privately, give each of them a phone call, a handwritten note of thanks or a card to show your appreciation.
• Conduct a prize giving ceremony. Reward your volunteers for their hard work. Do not be afraid to single out individual achievements, extra efforts and personal milestones. However, be careful not to act like you favor some over the others, as it is selfless collaboration that you want to promote.
• Connect the outcome to the cause. Report results of your organization’s fundraising events and what you are going to do with the resources raised. Be specific and transparent, using a spreadsheet if necessary. Let your volunteers know that without them you could not have succeeded.

You may be busy or totally exhausted after a fundraising event, but nothing is as important as rewarding your volunteers. When it is time to launch the next initiative, you will be surprised to know how many people are willing to support your organization again, simply because you have thanked them.

In the previous article, a suggestion is provided that your organization holds an induction briefing for local community members in order to encourage volunteers to participate in your fundraising events. This step is strategically important, as it not only attracts the attention of potential volunteers but also prepares them for the work after they have signed up.

To demonstrate that your organization supports its volunteers, you need to work together with them as a team, instead of simply telling them what to do. More importantly, you need to have patience and provide them with plenty of opportunities to ask questions.

Here are more helpful tips on working with your volunteers to achieve your organization’s fundraising goals:

• Match skills to tasks. Find out what hobbies, personal interests and professional and/or technical skills your volunteers possess. Assign each individual to a task that is suitable for his or her talent and/or expertise. The more passion people have for what they are doing, the more likely they will succeed.
• Review your progress. Revisit your organization’s fundraising targets and the specific tasks required to achieve these goals. If your targets have changed, then you may also need to modify the tasks involved. Remain responsive and allow your volunteers to be flexible as well.
• Solve your problems. As individuals from different walks of life and with different views and concerns work together, confrontations are unavoidable. Whenever there is a problem, be it technical or personal, deal with it as quickly as possible so that it does not become worse.

Remember, your volunteers are contributing valuable time and skills to help you achieve your goals, so it is important to always remain encouraging and supportive. Being diplomatic is the key, as these temporary colleagues are likely to become your long-term friends and allies.

Finding volunteers is arguably the most difficult task any fundraising committee must face. As our lives become increasingly stressful with work, relationships and mortgage (or rent) payments, it is rare that someone simply volunteers to do some good work and asking for no reward.

However, those good-hearted people are definitely out there. The question is just how to find them and get them onboard. Here are some useful tips:

• Clearly identify your needs. Make a list of jobs to be done and provide a brief description of the tasks involved. Other items on the list can include relevant responsibilities and obligations, useful qualifications and skills, and forthcoming benefits and rewards.
• Be active and informative. Promote your list of jobs through newsletters and word-of-mouth so that people can sign up. Contact people by email and telephone and ask for help. Answer in detail any question they may have about the kinds of skills and the amount of time needed.
• Provide an induction briefing for members of your community. Emphasize that the jobs to be done are short-term and easily achievable, and that any kind of assistance, manual or technical, can greatly benefit your organization and the community it serves.
• Show that you care. Demonstrate how your organization supports its volunteers. Explain the range of facilities and services you possess to help making their jobs easier. Offer examples of how your organization has been working with volunteers to achieve various fundraising goals.

In short, fundraising cannot be successful without the contribution of volunteers, and like a rare type of tree, you need to provide enough sunlight, water and nutrition to help it grow. Eventually the tree is going to be big enough and capable of shading you from wind and rain. Its abundant fruit will be amazingly tasty.