You have found yourself in a scenario where you or your organization is holding a fundraiser to solicit donations so that your operations can be kept afloat or a special goal needs to be met. In this situation you will have to be creative and dedicated as to how you approach fundraising and that eventually translates into failure or success in the end. How about we use a sample such as soliciting monetary donations in your fundraiser. This asks potential donors to give either small or large sums of money to help you cause. Either way, the event has to be attractive and appear worthwhile to donors. Here are some tips to achieve an attractive and successful fundraiser.

-Be extremely organized as to what your fundraiser is aiming for and how you aim to achieve a specific goal. Share this information with potential donors as it familiarizes them better with your cause and how they can help, providing they agree that your cause is worthwhile.

-In the case of accepting money donations, figure out if you want to only accept set amounts or allow donors to choose what amount to give. Both scenarios have their advantages and disadvantages, some of which may be obvious.

-Consider hiring a professional fundraising service to run your event. Services can be had that are well organized by experts and possibly more successful than fundraisers held by those who are inexperienced in the field. You will need to decide whether or not you can factor in the cost of hiring a professional service will cut into your funds too much, or if even at a risk, it could result in a more successful fundraiser.

-Advertise as much as possible. Get the word out about your event to all of your contacts and ask them to pass along the word to theirs as well. Write up a press release designed to have reporters mention your event on the news and internet.

-Always be extremely courteous, understanding, and gratuitous with donors. Do not force them into them or make them uncomfortable in any way, and thank them for their time even if they decide against donating. Making a good impression is always going to work in your favor in the long run.

As you can see, there are several ways to approach fundraising. By following these tips you just may find that fundraising is fun, easy and the best bet in having your goals reached.

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.

When you run a not for profit organization or other type of firm that needs funds raised by methods other than retail sales or other types of financial transactions, chances are you will be involved in the world of fundraising. A fundraiser is often time a fun event and one that is very important for you because it provides potential donors with a specific moment and cause for which to donate funds to you. Also, when it comes to money, you need to be highly organized and make sure that the event does not become too difficult for you to handle and that the funds being raised surpasses the cost of the event itself. For this, you need good book keeping and below are four tips to help you achieve in this area.

-Unless you are soliciting donations of which the amount is freely chosen by the donor, come up with a specific donation amount that people can give. In this scenario your book keeping can be largely uniform and easy to comprehend. Also, inviting the opportunity for donors to choose their own amount can cause time wasted if they are giving too little and your costs are not met. The only downside to discouraging these types of donations is you might not receive a very large and generous sum that a person might otherwise give to your cause.

-Make sure that all necessary personal information is recorded from the person giving you a donation. Should their donation be ill conceived, a check they write bounce or another problem arise, you need to know exactly who is giving you what and how to be able to keep track of them should a legal problem arise. Lack of information and documentation could spell disaster in some cases like this.

-Monitor your donations and costs being invested into the event very often, such as once a day or two times a week. Staying on top of the cash flow can alert you to any problems that arise such as costs not being met, funds being lost if you are renting a space or paying for professional fundraisers in a situation where you are not getting sufficient donations. These types of situations going unchecked can not only fail your fundraising efforts but also put you into financial ruin which should never be the outcome of a fundraising effort.

-Use good computer software to do the book keeping for you. While some information input will always be required from you or an employee, the computer software can do much of the mathematical work behind book keeping that we might sometimes make a mistake on or otherwise skew without realizing it. Also make sure book keeping information is backed up onto a remote hard drive in case your computer system goes down and the initial information is lost. You can also print out reports just to be safe.

So you see, good book keeping is key when having a fundraiser. Never risk your funds raised by an accident resulting from bad record keeping!

If you run a not for profit organization or a type of business or other firm that could use some funds raised, then you need to consider fundraising. This is a fun and sometimes highly successful way of raising funds while often time also offering something beneficial to those who donate to your cause. Here are ten tips for getting the word out on your fundraising event.

-Get the word out early. The more people you reach and earlier you do it, but not too early, the better chance you will have of getting a better amount of donations.

-Be specific in your publicity. Tell potential donors what it is you stand for, what it is you need and how they would benefit from donating to your cause.

-Consider writing up a news release. This is a formal letter explaining your event that reporters can cover on television, the radio, in print publications or on news websites.

-Word of mouth is very important. Tell as many people as you can verbally about your fundraising event and also ask that they tell as many of their friends and family members as possible. If your fundraising event seems worthy to them, chances are you can get a very promising turn out this way.

-Type up and print a flyer advertising your event. Bring a copy to your local photo copy center and have several hundred printed up. This is a largely inexpensive way for you to manually post and pass out these notices in your local community.

-Form a mailing campaign. Take your photo copy flyer idea and mail them to local home owners, businesses and other recipients who you feel would be interested in your event. Make sure you can afford to budget this in to your fundraising project.

-Start an email campaign. Instead of the costly method of sending flyers via snail mail, you can also email all of your internet contacts with a copy of the flyer. In this case also ask recipients to forward the email to their contacts and thousands of people can be reached this way.

-Appear in public. If you are running the event, check with local authorities first and then set up a table in public so you can inform local passers by about your event before it happens.

-Hire someone else to appear in public or another person who is helping out with the event.

-Create a funny or silly slogan advertising your cause. It will get people talking and possibly even lead them to information on your fundraising efforts.

Clearly there are many different ways in which you can inform potential donors about your fundraising event. If you approach it with a little creativity and lots of energy, you have the potential of reaching thousands of people and translating that into thousands of dollars of donated funds. If you need the funds, why not try all of the above methods to see which if not all work for you? There is not much to lose by trying.

5 Tips for Successful Fundraising

Whether you are a private business, entrepreneurial individual or more importantly a non for profit organization, chances are you have come across a dilemma where you need to raise cash. Typically referred to as fundraising, this involves some clever and usually foolproof methods of raising the money you need to either supplement a weak cash flow or come up with a set amount of money needed for a worthy cause.

So, providing you have found yourself in a situation where you need to raise funds or simply want to try it out casually, definitely consider fundraising. If you are in this type of situation, here are five tips to get you started:

- Write out a plan mapping out exactly what you need to raise funds for, how much, and think of a reasonable time table in which you can raise the money without struggle. Without these three basic points, your fundraising event will likely be unorganized and you may come out with unwanted results. As part of this, also put into effect a plan to vigorously monitor and record what funds you do raise during the event.

- At this point, decide what type of fundraising you want to do. Some people will sell candy like chocolate as this is a very popular treat and sells well, which translates into great fundraising. There are also other ways to raise cash easily so do some research on the internet for example and see what others are doing.

- Do some more research and see if it is legal to publicly solicit donations or sales in the manner in which you have chosen. You do not want to risk getting fined as this will counteract your fundraising efforts!

- Once you have figured out all of the previous specifics, think about how feasible it will be to do the fundraising yourself. There are actually organizations and businesses out there, as well as individuals who make it their business to provide a professional fundraising service for you. In other words, they do the work and you get the funds. Just make sure that you can afford these services while still being able to raise sufficient funds.

- Providing all of these steps are followed carefully and you or your professional fundraising aide have come up with a fool proof plan, your fundraiser should also be fool proof and provide you with the needed funds as required. Always be sure to thank customers or donors along the way as this may even result in them contributing to your effort even further, like a repeat customer might do in a welcoming retail setting.

In conclusion, practically anything that deals with raising money can have difficulties associated with it. The level of professionalism and creativity that you and or your hired help bring to the fundraising table will decide whether the event is successful or not. By staying positive and upbeat, this will also help and give you a better chance of having a successful 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.

If you are in need of raising money for a cause or other worthwhile endeavor, there are many methods you can pursue to do this. Some raise funds by having sales, others solicit donations. Most of these methods can be classified as fundraising, the common term for any way in which someone raises money for a cause. Those who contribute to your cause can do so in several ways, usually according to how you have set up your way of fundraising. For instance, if you are specifically asking for donations, you will have to rely on individuals, businesses, or other organizations seeing it worthy to give you either an amount of money you establish as an appropriate donation or an amount that they see fit.

Fundraising is most commonly pursued by non profit organizations looking to raise money so that they can keep operating on the basis put forth in their mission statement or to simply keep on doing what they have promised to do in their own sector. Non profit organizations may also be charities, such as promoting humanitarian concerns, disaster relief, educational awards and scholarships, and so on and so forth. For an entity such as a non profit organization, it always helps if your fundraising campaign is concise in what you are asking people to donate money for, in other words, the simpler your mission is, the easier it may be for the general public to sympathize and contribute to your cause.

Not only non profit organizations practice fundraising. Capital and for profit enterprises sometimes use this term to refer to solicitation of investors and prospective customers who in one way or another will “raise funds” by patronizing a for profit enterprise. While this is true, as previously explained, fundraising is most commonly related to the operations of non profit organizations.

Either way, whether you are a non profit organization or a capital enterprise, it is quite obvious that your fundraising campaign be presented to the public or your target demographics of donors or investors so that you can be successful in raising funds. As said, your campaign will need to be simple and understandable, this is what reaches the most individuals, businesses, and other types of organizations.

In order to achieve successful fundraising, both types of entities may not rely on themselves to organize fundraisers. In fact, there are individuals and businesses out there that offer professional fundraising services. These services can vary by your needs and your type of organization, however in most cases, the fundraising services available can wholly encompass the full responsibilities behind organizing a fundraiser. Simply put, professional fundraisers can organize a fundraiser from beginning to end without you having to worry about doing it right, or worrying at all. As in any industry, professionals who are well received by the public are surely going to come out with acceptable if not astonishing results.

Indeed, if you are in need of raising money for a worthwhile cause, consider professional fundraising and you may reach your goal easily.

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

Fourth of July: it’s a holiday filled with patriotism, barbecues, friends, and family. It’s also one of the best fundraising opportunities of the year. In fact, Fourth of July celebrations are so varied and diverse that it’s best to act early and create an effective strategy for fundraising well in advance. After all, with so many things happening on one day, you’ll need an army (or at least a large group) of volunteers to get the most out of the day. Here are some places to start:

City celebrations: Between parades, fireworks, and other public events, cities big and small will organize and stage their own Fourth of July event. Some of these events will allow for you to have a table; in other cases, you can just have volunteers and staff work the crowd with fundraising goodies. In either case, the best thing to do is to contact the city’s event staff and see how they work with outside organizations like yours.

Homeowner’s associations: Many neighborhood associations will put together their own social event, usually involving a barbecue at a local park. Some associations are bigger than others and can present a number of fundraising opportunities. If you plan on fundraising with goodies that have a diverse target audience - such as cookies or candy - it’s easy to take advantage of the situation. Simply consult with a number of local associations to see what’s going on, then ask permission to send a few staff or volunteers to the event. It’s even possible to have representatives at multiple events at once to truly maximize your fundraising.

Local clubs: Country clubs, local swimming pools, and athletic clubs will often gather members for a celebration involving food and fun. These clubs often come with a membership fee, which means there will be more than a few affluent people there (especially country clubs). Will they be generous with your fundraising? Only one way to find out! Contact the event coordinator or facility manager at these venues to see what’s available.

Not sure where else to look in your community? Try local online message boards and newspaper event calendars. You can even try contacting the administrators for those to see if they have a heads up about what’s happening for Fourth of July celebrations.

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.

2. Revenues
Revenue for a fund-raiser will typically take the form of one, some, or all of the following:
Ticket sales
Table sponsorship
Drink sales
Food
Auctions
Additional script purchases

Ticket Sales:
Delegate the task of ticket sales to more than one person. It is far easier for 20 people to each sell 10 tickets than it is for 1 person to sell 200 tickets. Hold each of these 20 people responsible for the sale of their allotment of tickets.
Bottom Line: This is usually your primary source of revenue and the financial success of your event depends on meeting your goal of tickets sold.

Table Sponsorship:
Find at least one table sponsor for each casino table being used and the sponsored amount should generally be at least $100. Encourage your sponsors to provide “gag” gifts that promote their business to be distributed at “their” table. For example - a blackjack table sponsored by a dentist could give away a free toothbrush (with the sponsor’s name imprinted) for each blackjack that is dealt. Or, the dealer could be dressed in the sponsor uniform. Make your sponsors feel as though they are getting value for their donation and not only are they more likely to attend the event, getting a similar sponsorship the next year
will be much easier.
Bottom Line: Table sponsorship should cover at least the entire rental cost of the casino equipment and staff.

Drink Sales:
This will vary depending on the “upscaleness” of your event. Ticket prices and what people are getting for their money will generally determine whether guest’s drinks are included in the ticket price or if they need to pay for them. Typically, the more expensive the entrance fees the less likely you are to charge additional for drinks. On “drink inclusive” events a limited bar (beer, wine, soda) is suggested to curb costs. On other events entrance fee usually includes two “drinks tickets” which are typically redeemed at a rate of one ticket
for a soft drink and two tickets for wine or beer. Additional drinks require the purchase of more drink tickets.
Bottom Line: Drinks can vary between being a good source of revenue to being a very large expense. Manage your bar wisely.

Food:
This follows a similar format to your drinks.
Bottom Line: Don’t leave people feeling “short changed” because of poor quality or insufficient food. However, don’t spend all your money on providing a spectacular meal because that is not the focus of this type of evening.

Silent Auction:
These are often incorporated into a casino evening and I offer the following advantage/disadvantage thoughts on the inclusion of a silent auction:
Advantages:
Opportunity to raise more money

Disadvantages:
Requires additional sponsors to donate auction items
Interrupts flow of casino evening and takes people away from tables
Much more organization and coordinating involved
Guest often feel “hit-up” two or three times in one evening
Bottom Line: Silent auctions are often the backbone of revenues generated at fundraising parties. However, they do require a lot of time and effort to coordinate successfully. Delegate at least one person whose sole responsibility is to manage the silent auction of the event.

Live Auction:
Live auctions can generate a tremendous amount of revenue for the event, if done correctly.  There are several key ingredients to a successful live auction.  Maintain a captive audience - shut down all other activity during this time  Shorter is better - your live auction should run no more than 30-40 minutes
Less is more - have only a few; generally less than 10 - high ticket items for auction. Use a dynamic auctioneer.
Bottom Line: Keep the live auction short and it can be very, very sweet.

Additional Script:
As part of their entrance fee guests are usually given an initial “stake” of script or funny money. If they lose this initial stake they should have the option of acquiring more money for a token “donation.” This is an additional source of revenue though generally not to the extent that hosts expect it to be. Primarily because guest, for the most part, gamble conservatively.  You want to give your guests a sense of having received value for their entrance ticket so be sure to include enough script money in their package. I suggest a minimum amount of $100 to $150 in script. Anything less and guest might feel a little “short changed.” Much more than this and you greatly reduce the likelihood of many people purchasing more script. Regarding the purchase of additional script: Make the additional “donation” an amount that is a round number and covered by a single bill ($5, $10, $20,$50 etc.).
Bottom Line: Keep the “donation” to an amount that encourages people to get more script rather than setting it too high and not having anyone buy in again.

3. Expenses:
Again, the fundamental rule regarding expenses is to keep them to a minimum without compromising your event.

Typical expenses incurred hosting a casino event:
Facility costs
Decorations and props
Casino equipment rental and dealers
Beverage costs
Food costs
Insurance
Security
Clean Up
All the points addressed below carry the same caveat: “without compromising your event”
Facility Costs:
Invariably, free is the key word here. Attempt to secure a facility at no cost to your event. There are generally several organizations that are open to making their facility available at little or no charge.

Decorations and Props:
Often balloons and streamers or ribbon will suffice when decorating the event facility. Always weigh up the cost of any props you are considering using. People are typically not at your event for the decorations. Solicit donations if possible however, prioritize a table sponsorship donation ahead of a prop donation almost every time.

Casino Equipment Rental:
Provide the casino operator with accurate head counts so the appropriate amount of equipment is supplied. Too much equipment on hand results in a bigger expense and having too few tables to accommodate your guests is one of the surest ways to spoil your event.

Dealers:
Arrange to staff the blackjack tables with your own volunteers. There will be a charge for training them but this cost is more than offset by the saving of not paying for these dealers.

Beverage Costs:
Arrange with your beverage supplier to be able to return all unopened bottles. This way
you only have to pay for the beverages you have sold.

Insurance:
Some facilities might require a one-night insurance coverage policy for your event,
especially if you are not being charged for the venue.

Security:
The same applies to security and parking. This will vary with different locations and
organizations. Be aware of this possible cost when selecting a location.

Clean Up:
Designate a team of volunteers to take care of the facility cleaning.

4. Determining Ticket Price
Ask the following questions:

How much money do you want to make? = NET PROFIT
How many tickets can you sell for this event? = TICKETS
What is the total of all expenses? = EXPENSES
What is the total of my net profit plus all my expenses? = GROSS

NET PROFIT + EXPENSES = GROSS
GROSS / TICKETS = TICKET PRICE

Example:
We wish to raise $3500 from our event
Our intention is to sell 200 tickets
Our total expenses are $1500
$3500 + $1500 = $5000 (Gross)
$5000 / 200 tickets = $ 25 per ticket

What then needs to be determined is if this price is appropriate for what you intend to provide your guests and will your market support the sale of your proposed quantity of tickets at this price. Remember that you might even be under charging your guests!

By selling the proposed number of tickets and following the guidelines above you will always realize at-least your intended net profit and in most cases a higher amount.  However, if you don’t sell your intended number of tickets or if your expenses are higher than budgeted; your net profit is adversely effected in both cases.

5. It will be all right on the night if…

Things to know before the event:

• Set up early at the facility
• Have change available at the “cash desk”
• Have additional script and drink tickets at cash desk
• Have a public address system on hand to announce prizes etc.
• Have sponsors signs in place on all tables
• Have bow-ties, uniforms etc. available for volunteer dealers
• Number tables
• Have dealers assigned to a specific table ahead of time
• Post signs prominently indicating chip denominations
• Post information about buying more script
• Clearly indicate location of cash desk
• Have change or drink tickets available at bar or bars
• Designate all tasks ahead of time - specifically breakdown and clean up
• Keep thorough notes for your next event - the second time is always easier

Good Luck!
Sincerely,
The Entire Team at FastTrack Fundraising