Fundraising: The Basics

Asking for money is never easy, but it is nonetheless a necessity for most community groups.

Although it's undoubtedly hard, fundraising can - and should - be a fun and exciting experience. It is also an experience that should be shared. For leaders of community organisations one of the challenges is ensuring that everyone in the group has some involvement in raising money.

Why fundraising is important

While everyone seems to acknowledge that getting money into your organisation is important, the role of the fundraiser is often under-valued. It shouldn't be. Without sufficient funding coming in, groups can struggle to get their important message across, provide their services or indeed survive as a group at all.

Fundraising activities can determine the future of your organisation. A strong fundraising effort can ensure there are adequate funds to support all of your activities; a poor performance can drain money and threaten the very survival of your organisation.

Designate a fundraising coordinator

The first step towards establishing a functional fundraising strategy is to actually form a fundraising committee and/or appoint a fundraising officer.

This means the overall responsibility for fundraising activities is in the hands of one person, or a single small group.

Establish a fundraising strategy

Your fundraising strategy needs to be developed annually and checked or tweaked constantly. Flexibility is vital so you can react to new opportunities or curtail activities that are either not practical or not profitable.

First steps:

• Outline your goals. What do you hope to achieve?
• Research past fundraising activities - what has worked and what hasn't?
• Work out who your friends and potential friends are and who is willing to support your organisation - businesses, government departments, individuals, families, philanthropic trusts and foundations.
• Conduct market research with members, friends, etc., collecting their good ideas and examples of what has worked in their groups to raise money.
• Detail a case to support each prospective fundraising activity.
• Describe and decide on the methods you plan to use to raise funds.
• Set an estimated target for each method.
• Set a timeline and a year planner noting good times for the organisation to raise funds. Pay attention to grant deadlines.
• Document your progress so that if you are struggling, the bells start ringing early enough to change tack.
• Establish an evaluation strategy.

Remember, if you are asking for money, it is easier to raise money for a specific project or activity than for the organisation as a whole. Most people would rather know exactly where their money is being spent.

Fundraising options

Fundraising options include:

• Grants - federal, state or local government, philanthropic and corporate grants. Use Our Community's EasyGrants newsletter and database; click here for more information.
• Sponsorship - Identify possible major and minor sponsorship arrangements your group could pursue. This could range from naming rights arrangements to sponsorships for projects and programs.
• Membership fees - Tiered and differing levels of membership; each with corresponding fees, are a good way to recognise donors and encourage people to pay up and join up.
• Bequests - Provide general information or personal approaches to long-time benefactors and supporters about how they can provide an ongoing gift for your organisation.
• In-kind support - This can be in the form of goods, services or resources.
• Donations - set up your organisation to receive online donations (click here for more information on how you can do this for free). Pursue personal donations, general appeals, direct mail, appeals to your email database of all former players, members and supporters, etc.
• Special events - There are a huge variety of fundraising opportunities that fall under this heading - functions, dinners, awards nights, fetes, fairs, grand openings, launches, walkathons, rideathons, laughathons, etc.
• Sales/merchandising- sell your goods and services, or products carrying your name and logo.

These specific forms of fundraising are discussed in greater detail in other help sheets in this section of the Our Consumer Place website.

Try to use or incorporate multiple fundraising options into a single initiative. If you have a special event, set up a stall to sell your organisation's merchandise, or conduct a raffle, and always make sure programs or invitations have a donation form attached as well as information on how people can join as members.

And check any legal obligations when raising funds. For more information on these, refer to This Section of the Funding Centre.

What next?

• Send your draft fundraising strategy to the committee of management and a cross-section of the organisation before a final version is signed off. Incorporate comments and suggestions into the final strategy.
• Regularly review and update the strategy so it remains relevant and dynamic.
• Ensure your organisation and leadership team are alert to new fundraising ideas and lessons learned from your own experience. If you see an idea that works, grab it and try to adopt and adapt it to work for your own club.
• In your planning, ensure that you have the ability to walk away if something is not working or looks as though you will lose money. It is better to walk away and lose a small amount than go ahead with an event and ensure you lose a far larger amount.
• Acknowledge those who have assisted your fundraising, either as volunteers, donors or sponsors. Acknowledgement can be expressed in your newsletters, on your tickets, in advertising, or in a personal letter from the CEO or Chair. If the donation/sponsorship is significant, consider providing a plaque, framed certificate or some form of permanent acknowledgement (signage, dedication).

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