Successful Team Fundraising

(Bonney Brown excerpted from Best Friends forum archives)

Most successful organizations are comprised of a team of people with different, complimentary skills, each focused on the tasks they do best. It takes more than one person to do fundraising since most barely have time for themselves or their own animals without any help from the other members of the organization. Here are some basic steps to get things moving:

REACH OUT AND GET MORE PEOPLE INVOLVED

You need to bring more people into the organization to help. But even this takes time and effort, so either you or the president are going to need to clear the schedule and make time to do it if the organization is going to get past this current state.

Some relatively easy ways to find new volunteers:

Many local newspapers will run free notices for non-profits that are seeking volunteers. Be very specific in your ad. State that you are looking for volunteers with writing, desktop publishing and computer skills, and for people who would like to help with fundraising for the humane society.

Put up simple posters with the image of a dog or cat on them asking for volunteers with the specific skills you want for the humane society. Post them at the senior center, library, super markets, heath clubs, vet clinics… you get the idea.

Include a list of volunteer opportunities in your newsletter. Contact people on your organization’s mailing list and people you have helped in the past to ask if they might be willing to help out.

Send a note to the Best Friends Network asking them to put the word out to network members in your area and inviting them to help. Again, be as specific as possible about they type of help that is needed. (E-mail volunteer requests to bfnetwork@bestfriends.org. Be sure to write the message as you would like it to go out the network members and to include your city and state.)

CREATE A FLYER FOR THE ORGANIZATION

Once you get a volunteer with writing and desktop publishing skills, ask them to create a simple flyer for your organization. It can be a simple tri-fold brochure in black and white, but it should have a few nice photos of animals you have helped, a description of your work, a donation form, and all your contact information; phone, e-mail, website, mailing address.

I often see flyers and newsletters without the telephone area code or the city, state, or zip code. Don’t make this mistake, you never know where that flyer will end up and you want to be sure that whoever gets it can reach you – after all, they may want to send a check!

CREATE AND MAINTAIN A COMPUTERIZED MAILING LIST

You also need to find someone who can set up a simple mailing list database for you. Perhaps one of your new volunteers could do this, or maybe someone has a son or daughter who can set this up and show you how to maintain it.

There are programs available for fundraising, but in the beginning you can get by with a simple database program. As the organization grows, maintaining accurate donor records becomes critically important, so eventually you’ll need to obtain fundraising database software. An inexpensive one that I’ve used in the past is FundRaiser Family Donor Management Software.

BUILD YOUR MAILING LIST

You do not need to pay a lot of money to build up a mailing list.

Start your mailing list off with the names and addresses of all your friends and relatives who like animals. Ask the other folks in the organization for their friends’ and family members’ contact information too.

Go through the Yellow Pages for the addresses of businesses that relate to animals: vet clinics, pet supply stores, groomers, trainers, etc.

Include the names of people your organization has helped, folks who come to your events, adoptive families and donor prospects you wish to cultivate.

Obtain dog license lists, available from many town halls for a small fee.

Go out “tabling.” Arrange for volunteers to set up information tables at area pet supply stores, supermarkets, fairs, etc. This is one of the simplest, most effective and inexpensive ways to grow your list quickly. In fact, it’s the same way that Best Friends launched their mailing list many years ago now.

Tips for successful tabling:

Bring flyers about the organization, a donation canister (this will bring in some money immediately), and a colorful poster that says who you are. Don’t forget to include nice photos of animals you have helped!

Be outgoing and engage people in friendly conversation.

Record the addresses of everyone who expresses any interest in your project. Have a clipboard on the table clearly labeled “mailing list.” You may want to have a separate clipboard marked “volunteers.”

The mailing list form should have prominent headings asking for their name, mailing address, e-mail address and phone number. (If they give you their number, it indicates that they don’t mind being called. Personal phone contact can be a great way to cultivate donors!)

KEEP IN TOUCH WITH THE PEOPLE ON YOUR MAILING LIST

Most donors are going to need to hear from you regularly to keep supporting your organization, experts say at least 5 times a year. People need to know that their donations make a difference, and they usually also need to be invited to help or to donate.

Even a simple one-page newsletter or e-mail update will remind people about your work.