OUTSMART THE 'PIRACY' IN FUNDRAISING

Personally I think it's high time the general public became aware of just how much fundraising money is actually siphoned off by some professional fundraising companies!  I was appalled to learn that a Vermont group recently received only $48,000 out of the total $102,000 that was raised for the organization.  Granted, professional fundraising organizations should be reasonably compensated for their time and trouble on behalf of the group they are assisting.  However, in my humble opinion, keeping 53% for yourself is not reasonble!

It's not just in Vermont either.  Recently, the California Attorney General's office revealed they found professional fundraising firms had raised $356 million in cash contributions last year but gave the charitable organizations less than 44% of that money!

It gets even worse. . . the Attorney General further revealed at least 77 "professional fundraising companies" actually cost the charities more than they collected!  The American Diabetes Association Research Foundation lost more than $1 million to Futuremarket Telecenter, Inc. of Corpus Christi, Texas, according to this recently released information.  Back in 2007, a Virginia-based charity lost nearly $4 million using the same fundraiser!

AG Jerry Brown encouraged donors, saying that Doctors Without Borders and Special Olympics Southern California received more than 70% of money raised on their behalf.  (thank goodness) But at the same time, Mr. Brown warned charities and donors to do their homework ahead of time!

Multiple other charities around the country lost money as well...$100,000...$175,000, etc.  Let's not forget 'for-profit' thrift stores that raised $18.5 million by buying product from the charities, but then only passed down 7% to the charitable organizations, as reported by this same California source.  Some commercial thrift stores that were paid a fee or commission by charities raised $4.2 million but only passed 4.19% to the actual charities in 2008.  Previously, in 2007, only 3.7% was passed back to the charity.

PEOPLE, it is high time we stand up for what is right!  This is piracy, just like what is going on off of Somalia.  In today's economy, even the smallest of donations is badly needed and greatly appreciated.  We do not need to be allowing these unscrupulous fundraising companies to take advantage of the charities they pretend to be helping.  I have long preached that if you want to help an organization - then just contact the organization yourself!  I can assure you - without reservation - that any charitable organization or non-profit group you approach will be absolutely thrilled to accept your kind gift...no matter how large or how small.  Don't let your hard-earned money be pilfered off from the charity you are so willing to help.

Do I think all fundraising companies act like pirates?  Of course not...but like Mr. Brown recommended:  Do you homework first.  Find out ahead of time how much they charge?  Do they charge for any additional expense or reimbursement?  Ask - Ask - Ask!  If it looks like they are charging too much, then approach another company to help you

But here is my suggestion.  Why not help another group, like your group, by letting them help you.  Confused?  Don't be.  Many churches, scout groups, band booster groups, etc would be happy to help you raise funds for your group, in exchange for a reasonable and fair percentage for their own non-profit group.

Be wise, ask question first and I wish you Ultimate Fundraising Success.

Sherie Smith
The Fundraising Designer
email: fundraisingdesigner@gmail.com
Twitter: Twitter.com/fundraisingdsnr

About Sherie Smith:
Sherie Smith shows people how to achieve the Ultimate Fundraising Success in her free multi-part minicourse which can be found at: http://www.3hourstofundraisingsuccess.com. Her newest book, '3 Hours to Fundraising Success', a step-by-step copycat manual to the $4,500 in 3 Hours project, will be released Year-End 2009.
Copyright c Sherie Smith All Rights Reserved 
You may reprint the above article as long as you include the above bio/resource box in full. Do not make any changes to the article or the resource box. Links in the resource box must be clickable to reprint this article. If you can't click the link, please ask permission to reprint.

FRUITCAKE FINALE

We saw a television show this week on what some creative people do with fruitcakes for fun.  Yes, you know the ones you pray Santa will NOT leave under Christmas tree?   Yes, the ones that taste like cardboard, feel like a piece of concrete in your stomach when you do eat a slice and they always weigh a TON!  I decided...why not plan a new 'super-fun' fundraiser for your group and use fruitcake as the fundraising element?  No, I DON'T mean selling it although I'm sure the vendors would love to see that.

No - you don't need to eat it either!  That nasty fruitcake you've had in your garage freezer will do very nicely.   It works best if it's an OLD fruitcake, preferably one that has been in the freezer for several years, not recently frozen.  DO NOT defrost it!  But I do recommend putting several big pieces of packing tape around the block of fruitcake in both directions for additional support.  What you want is more stability!  The more tape,  the more stable your fruitcake 'rock' will be.  You don't want it to break up into pieces when it lands.  You want one that is frozen hard so it will get some extra distance out of it after it lands.   If you tape it really good and it doesn't break up on you, you can pop it back in the freezer afterwards and use it again next year.  The older the fruitcake, the better your results.

What you want to do is set up your fundraiser where each sponsor you sign up pays you 10 cents for every foot you throw your fruitcake.  (Oh, please ... you've heard of crazier fundraisers, I'm sure)  Besides, the fundraisers that do the best are usually the craziest ones.  It would be simple, just pick your day and place.   I suggest a Saturday where you'll get lots of friends and family to come out and cheer you on.  The location needs to be a large mowed field, the shorter the grass the better.  Do NOT use a paved parking lot of your fruitcakes won't survive.  If you have plain dirt or very short grass, then it should roll several extra feet before it stops, which will increase your profits.   Again, your plan will be for each of your sponsors to pay 10 cents for every foot you throw the fruitcake.  This vision alone will intrigue potential sponsors.  Remember to be sure and have the distance marked off in advance with paint and have several spotters out in the 'field' who can keep track of your distance.  I recommend you get three throws, then use the best distance of the three throws. 

Now let's look at the money.  Let's say you throw your fruitcake 40'.  (I'm being conservative here because that really isn't all that far).  So at 10 cents a foot...that would only be $4.00 that you would collect from each sponsor you have signed up.  Not much, huh?  That's right, until you make it a numbers game.  If you sign up 5 sponsors, that's $20,  10 sponsors, that's $40, 15  sponsors...that's $60!  YOU can decide how much you want to earn.  Some of you may sign up 35 or 40 sponsors...the more the better! 

Now let's look at the other part of the money equation.  For easier math, let's say each member averages 50', that would be $5 per sponsor. Let's say each club member signs up 20 sponsors, that would be $100.  If your group has 20 members at $100 each would be $2,000.  Or 30 members at $100 each would be $3,000, etc.  Not bad for a Saturday afternoon, huh? 

You'll find that fundraisers like these where you have no expenses are your best bet.

Oh yes, one last important thing...  No overhead!  No costs!  No venue rental!  No product to buy! Just keep that ratty fruitcake you've had for years or even bake your own early in the year, then tuck it away in the freezer for the rest of the year.  If you bake your own, be sure to use a recipe that will give you a hard, firm fruitcake.  The harder...the better.  You don't want anything soft and moist.  Your recipe needs to create a fruitcake that is HARD AND HEAVY for the best money-maker!  

Of course, you could go all out and make this a family fun day after Christmas, with family style games, hot dogs, hamburgers, etc.   But if you do, suddenly you have expenses to deal with.  It's completely up to you but often times, just a simple fundraiser that only takes a couple of hours can give you great success.  So there you go - just an easy outline of what could turn out to be an annual event.  Besides, that's the best way I know of to get rid of a fruitcake ... and get paid for doing it! 

Wishing you Ultimate Fundraising Success!

Sherie Smith
The Fundraising Designer
email: fundraisingdesigner@gmail.com
Twitter: Twitter.com/fundraisingdsnr

About Sherie Smith:
Sherie Smith shows people how to achieve the Ultimate Fundraising Success in her free multi-part minicourse which can be found at: http://www.3hourstofundraisingsuccess.com. Her newest book, '3 Hours to Fundraising Success', a step-by-step copycat manual to the $4,500 in 3 Hours project, will be released Mid-August 2009.
Copyright c Sherie Smith All Rights Reserved
You may reprint the above article as long as you include the above bio/resource box in full. Do not make any changes to the article or the resource box. Links in the resource box must be clickable to reprint this article. If you can't click the link, please ask permission to reprint.