Free Non-profit Fundraisers

Twitter: Stupid Or Historic? | The Agitator - Fundraising, Direct Marketing and Advocacy Strategies for Nonprofits

2009-05-04T08:48:00.000-07:00

Twitter: Stupid Or Historic? | The Agitator - Fundraising, Direct Marketing and Advocacy Strategies for Nonprofits

Nonprofit news roundup May 4, 2009 | Philanthropy Journal

2009-05-04T08:46:00.000-07:00

Nonprofit news roundup May 4, 2009 | Philanthropy Journal

Consider this SMS approach as a fundraiser for your organization

2009-04-22T11:20:00.000-07:00

See How Mobile Works for Starbucks

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Image via Wikipedia

Though it’s only in Mexico right now, Starbucks is planning to introduce 2D barcodes for mobile campaigns in the United States soon. That’s due to a 60% coupon redemption rate for their program in Mexico, a success rate we’d all like to experience.

Their campaign is designed to both reward existing customers and to bring new customers into the stores.

* Postcards are being handed out in malls, universities and retail outlets, with an invitation to text keyword STARBUCKS to 80080. This results in a text message with a barcode to “buy one get one free.”
* In-store signage with call-to-action to text VENTI to 80080 to receive various offers and product size upgrades.

The stores are equipped to read the coupons directly from the 2D codes on the customers’ cell phones. 80% of consumers in Mexico carry a cell phone, and the redemption rate is reported to be 60%. The two-pronged approach of rewarding loyal customers and attracting new ones is quite successful.

Each time a coupon is presented, the offer is modified, encouraging another store visit to redeem it. Consumers find it easy to participate, as they carry their cell phones anyway, so popping it out to get a free drink or product upgrade is hardly a deterrent. There is also a benefit in learning more about what their customers value, as the redemption rate for different products can also be tracked.

Just reading this, there are gears turning in marketing minds. How does their business and customer compare to Starbucks? Are there parallels, and can mobile barcode coupon marketing work for their business. Many will definitely see how to make it happen for their business. And, we’re here to help with everything it takes for success.

In tough economic times, moving marketing budget from 3% response rate methods to 50% or higher is not just smart, it’s necessary.

from http://cellforce.com/blog

Using Mobile to Boost Your Current Fundraising Efforts- NP Times | mGive Blog

2009-04-02T09:19:00.000-07:00

Using Mobile to Boost Your Current Fundraising Efforts- NP Times | mGive Blog

Topless Car Wash

2009-04-01T11:41:00.001-07:00

I had to chuckle when I read this one because it strikes close to home. A couple of years ago four college coeds found themselves short of rent money, so they put on a real topless car wash. They made over $10,000 in a weekend before the authorities shut them down. It took some quick work on the part of the city council because there no laws on the books specifically forbidding topless car washes or being topless in public for that matter. Now it is definitely against the law, but it wasn't then. Anyway, here's a plan for a topless car wash spoof fundraiser. This is run just like a regular car wash. Advertise that it’s a “Topless” car wash and set up the car washing area behind a business where it can't be seen from the street. People will flock to it out of pure curiosity! Designated hunks and "hunketts" lure people to the car wash. When the driver pulls into the wash area they find that a "Topless" car wash means 1) the bottom of the car is washed free but a donation of $X is required if they want the top washed; 2) the entire car is washed except for the roof for $X and for an additional $Y you wash the top; or 3) convertibles with the top down (topless) get a free wash! Pick the option you like best. Folks are generally pretty good natured and appreciate the ingenuity.

Get Creative with Twitter and other Social Media

2009-04-01T10:14:00.000-07:00

Get Creative with Twitter and other Social Media

Create a cadre of heroes to double your endowment

2009-03-22T09:30:00.001-07:00

Here’s a wild idea for you to consider. Find some adventurous donors to become heroes with the express mission of doubling your endowment through systematic investments in the Forex market. Yes, the international foreign exchange money market can be extremely risky if you are not a skilled trader, and it would be totally irresponsible to risk the precious assets of a non-profit in this enterprise. However, it does not have to be risky if you have a tested, proven Expert Advisor and you use separate funds ear-marked for this purpose. The attractive feature of Forex trading is its high profit potential. Investments can often be doubled in a short time.

What is an Expert Advisor? This is a computer program operating on autopilot that looks for profitable trades, places orders, and stop losses for safety. The trick to successful trading is knowing when to exit , and that is what a good Expert Advisor will do for you when it places the initial order. The profit potential is staggering because a good robot will make money for you whether the market is going up or down. It is not unusual to double an investment in a matter of hours, but almost certainly within a month.

My recommendation is to get a “Hero” to contribute a certain amount to invest in the Forex market using an Expert Advisor. You could even get a group of “Heros” together for this purpose. Once the success has been established and the word gets out, people will probably prefer to be “Hero” investors rather than run of the mill contributors. The huge difference is that a regular contribution gets consumed and that’s the end of it. A “Hero” contribution sits there like a little robot continuing to generate residual cash flow, which is every fundraisers dream.

How to set up a “Hero” system

The first step is to create a Forex trading account with a reputable broker. You can easily find one through Google. Ones that I have used successfully include Forex.com, I-Trade FX, and ForexMeta.com. But there are oodles of others.

Next you must select a trading platform. I highly recommend MetaTrader because it is the most sophisticated and easiest to use. Besides that, you can download a mobile version to use on your phone so that you can track investments from anywhere at any time while you watch your positions soar.

The final step is to acquire an Expert Advisor program, download and install it. I have tested many of the ones available. The one I recommend most highly is Maestro. It is pure magic. Once it is in place, it operates seamlessly in the background making money while you sleep, all on autopilot. It is already optimized to eliminate the pesky and constant tweaking required by many other systems. It trades more currency pairs and operates on the time setting of your choice.

To obtain a copy of this program, simply go to http://tshphd.forexace.hop.clickbank.net. Yes it will be an initial expenditure of $197, but it will be the best investment your organization ever made. You could potentially turn a $10,000 investment into a $2,000,.000 endowment in a year or less. It comes with a 60 day money back guarantee so you risk nothing.

Rather than open a live account at first, I suggest that you open a demo account and trade it for a month or so until you see how the system works and you have confidence in the program. Then you can open a live account, fund it, and let Maestro orchestrate your trades.

Once this secret is out, I suspect that every board member will be testing it with an account of his or her own. It would be foolish not to put this powerful automaton tool to work for you on a personal level as well as for philanthropy.

This system promises to take fundraising to a whole new level in a depressed economy when every non-profit is hard-pressed and the philanthropic well is running dry.

E-mail marketing + more: The ASPCA uses SMS text message marketing to increase donations

2009-03-07T08:55:00.000-08:00

E-mail marketing + more: The ASPCA uses SMS text message marketing to increase donations

How to communicate with groups with SMS for fundraising

2009-02-26T15:54:00.000-08:00

'Home Free Home' raises legal issues | detnews.com | The Detroit News

2009-02-23T14:24:00.000-08:00

'Home Free Home' raises legal issues | detnews.com | The Detroit News

Launch of the New NonProfit National Resource Directory : FundRaising Success

2009-02-23T14:22:00.000-08:00

Launch of the New NonProfit National Resource Directory : FundRaising Success

Undelivired Thoughts: Text Messaging Provides A Burst of Marketing Opportunities

2009-02-21T09:38:00.000-08:00

Undelivired Thoughts: Text Messaging Provides A Burst of Marketing Opportunities

Charities see donations drop as need spikes

2009-02-17T10:01:00.000-08:00

CNN recently reported that non-profit entities are experiencing a severe drop in contributions in these dire economic times, which comes as no surprise. The article also reports an increase in volunteerism showing that people do have the instinct to serve and to give the best they can. To read the full article, go to http://tinyurl.com/agma7b.

It is a pity that more non-profits are not familiar with the OurGV fundraising method, which does not ask people for money and yet allows supporters to make a substantial financial contribution.

To find out more about this revolutionary highly effective system that creates a sustainable, residual income, visit www.ourgvrewards.com. To view a slideshow about the system, click on the link to the right.

Nonprofit Technology News - Debunking Five Myths of Online Fundraising

2008-11-18T14:05:00.000-08:00

Nonprofit Technology News - Debunking Five Myths of Online Fundraising

RoboForm for Power Surfing, Shopping, and Auto Login

2008-10-24T16:25:00.000-07:00

One of the most tedious aspects of online shopping and logins is the laborious process of going through the shopping cart hoops and filling out the forms with all the required information. Well, that’s no longer an issue with RoboForm. This handy application remembers all your stuff and will automatically complete all the fields in any form with the single click of a mouse. I honestly think I would give up online shopping if it were not for RoboForm.

All you have to do is complete a RoboForm profile. It stores your info and can regurgitate it next time you need to fill out a form. It’s a pleasure to behold. It even remembers stuff like credit card information and expiration dates and puts it in the proper field flawlessly.

It allows you to have several profiles of completion data for your personal forms and another for you business, businesses, or another for your spouse. It conveniently provides for multiple users too.

What about security you say? No problem it is a multifaceted, secure, encrypted system that you can password protect. It will generate a secure password for you if you wish. You can actually password protect any fields you specify. You can create a master password before you enter the program if you wish.

RoboForm also has a Safenotes utility where you can store sensitive information securely. This is like having a secure electronic wallet for safely storing credit card information, bank accounts, passwords, insurance, IRS information and more. People pay good money for standalone programs like this, but it’s included free with RoboForm.

Form completion is not the only function that RoboForm fulfills. It will put your passwords on speed dial and automatically log you into a Website. For this purpose it creates a set of Passcards with the appropriate data for even multi-step login sites. It will also adjust for turing fields that you have to complete manually before submitting.

All you have to do is complete the login procedure as you normally would, and a Passcard window will automatically popup giving you the choice to password protect the login information or not. RoboForm creates a Passcard for this login and adds it to the list. Next time you want to login to this site, just click on it in the list.

Other nice features of RoboForm include a backup and restore function and a search box that allows you to create a SearchCard so that you can get back to that place easily. For instance, suppose you have a favorite spot or shopping place you found in Google Maps. Just create a SearchCard for it, and RoboForm will remember it and get you back there quickly.

What I particularly appreciate about RoboForm is that it places all its functionality on your Web browser in the form of a toolbar that you can make appear or disappear. I leave mine there permanently for instant access. RoboForm allows you to place an upper toolbar at the top of the page and lower toolbar at the bottom of the page if you wish. I can’t even imagine cruising the Internet without the help of RoboForm anymore. It has become an indispensible tool in my arsenal.

If you are a mobile type on the go a lot, you can use RoboForm2Go that runs from a USB thumb drive that can be plugged into any laptop or desktop computer. You can synchronize data between computers using GoodSync, another RoboForm product.

The really good news is that RoboForm is also phone friendly. RoboForm supports Windows Mobile, Palm, Symbian and Blackberry platforms. You will need GoodSync to sync data with a handheld device, which I highly recommend. The mobile versions have all of the same functionality of RoboForm Pro discussed above. What a godsend as more people use their PDAs for online shopping and more sites offer optimizations for small screen viewing. It is a digital native’s dream come true.

I had no idea what to expect to pay for such a powerful and useful multifaceted and indispensible tool. So,I was delighted to learn that it costs $29.95 for a license. A second license runs $9.95. RoboForm2Go is only $19.95. RoboForm for Palm is $9.95, but it’s free for Windows Mobile for some reason. Contact the company for discounted multiple licenses. You can try it out for free if you wish, but I cannot imagine anyone not wanting to have this amazing online solution.

To try or buy GoodSync, visit the following link:

www.goodsync.com/land/land.php?affid=tim86&frm=frame1

To try or buy RoboForm, visit the link below:

www.roboform.com/php/land.php?affid=tim85&frm=frame1

The Future of Text Message Marketing | Zednome Inc.

2008-09-30T08:34:00.000-07:00

The Future of Text Message Marketing | Zednome Inc.

Fundraising in Economically Challenging Times

2008-09-29T10:40:00.001-07:00

As the president of a non-profit board, I get all kinds of fundraising solutions on the phone, in the mail, and via email. One that made me laugh this morning was from an organization that wants to offer a solution for attracting sustainable income during economically challenging times.

Here's how their solution works. You select seven board members and send them to a two-day workshop where you will learn to put together a sob story about your organization's mission that you will present to invited guests and then slam them for donations as you pass out the tissues. The fee for the privilege of learning this technique, which I just divulged for free, is twelve thousand dollars ($12,000)! That does not include airfare, hotels, ground transportation, or meals, which can add up to several more thousand dollars. Then, be prepared for dealing with board burn out and a projected ten year program.

It's surprising to me that this fundraiser business even has the nerve to present such a program, especially in our current economic turndown. Not too many non-profits have that kind of time or money or board members who can leave their own businesses for four days in the middle of the week and at such a high cost to the organization.

At first I thought it must be a joke. How could they be serious? This is particularly true now that I have some special knowledge, a secret way to raise funds that any non-profit can do, and it doesn't even have to cost anything. Not only will I give you this information for free, but I will help you get set up free too. You see, I have my own mission of helping all the non-profits I can in my lifetime. Twelve thousand dollars indeed!

My free solution will also generate a sustainable residual income, but you don't even have to ask your supporters to take one cent of their own money out of their pockets. Do you think this would be a program that your supporters will embrace? I believe so because people like to give; it's just that sometimes they cannot afford it. In this time of need, every non-profit has its hand out. It's going to be the clever non-profit that can present a fundraising program that doesn't ask for money that will bring home the bacon.

The secret revealed

Here's the secret. Have you ever heard of online shopping? Of course you have. You probably do it yourself all the time as does everyone you know. Online shopping has grown to a 30 billion dollar industry in a few short years. Why not tap into some of this 30 billion for your organization? But how?

The answer is simple. You just design a shopping mall and invite your supporters to shop there and make agreements with all the stores in the mall to give you a percentage of their profits from each person shopping from your organization. Sounds a bit daunting doesn't it? It would take you several years and several million dollars to build such a system.

What if there were already a company that has done all this work and would be willing to give you your own Website for free with your organization's name on it for this purpose? Then all you would have to do is encourage your members to shop there. Remember, this is something your supporters are already doing and it doesn't cost them anything. Yet, they are still supporting the organization, perhaps more than they ever did before. Not only that, you may be able to attract even more supporters who could not afford to support you in the past.

This is no ordinary mall that you may find in your town with perhaps two or three dozen stores. This mall has over 1300 stores, every store you ever heard of and lots more from all over the world. Even the most hardcore shopping addict will be satisfied in this super mall.

How much money could you make?

Let's suppose you have a group of 1000 supporters or members to whom you mail your newsletter and have given you contributions in the past. If each of these individuals agrees to participate in the program and the average online shopping is only $100 each per month, which really is not a lot, your organization could make $8000 a month. That's almost a hundred thousand dollars a year without even asking your supporters for any money. Powerful, eh?

An even more powerful solution

Here is another fundraising tool that is even more powerful than online shopping. The glory is that they can be combined for an almost obscene profit-making machine for your non-profit organization. What if you could offer each of your supporters a free search bar that works on both Internet Explorer and Firefox that is powered by Yahoo and pays ten cents a link click? That's right, your organization earns ten cents a click. If every one of your 1000 members clicked ten times a day, each would earn a dollar for the organization. That's one thousand dollars per day. It sure beats selling a bunch of poisonous junk food no one wants or needs, doesn't it? That's thirty thousand dollars a month, $360,000 a year for just a few clicks a day.

It gets better. The search bar has your organization's name on it to remind people to click. It also has a button that says Mall to remind them to shop in your mall. So, you can be earning money from clicking and shopping. So, in our example of the thousand member organization, they would be earning $8000 from shopping and $30,000 from clicking--$38,000 a month or just short of a half million dollars a year—and you didn't even have to ask your supporters for any money.

If you would like to get such a system set up for your organization, please visit my blog where you will learn how: www.freenonprofitfundraisers.blogspot.com.

107 Ways to Promote Your Shopping Mall and Search Bar

2008-09-28T11:41:00.001-07:00

107 Ways to Promote Your Shopping Mall and Search Bar

Tent cards on tables and counters
Window Posters
Banner on building, across street, inside building
Pass out business cards with how to shop on the back
Book marks with shopping mall instructions
Brochures with program description
Do a monthly postcard campaign with program instructions and reminders
Introductory letter from Director
Introductory letter from Board President
Testimonial letter from members
Testimonials on Website
Create a blog for discussions and testimonials
Put OurGV banner on Website
Put links on various pages in Website
Participate in banner exchange program
Put toolbar download on your Website
Do a campaign to have supporters put toolbar on browser
Do a monthly campaign to remind people to use the toolbar for searching and shopping
Create a shopping mall newsletter
Mount a seasonal shopping campaign (e.g. Christmas) as a major fundraising goal
Mount a fundraising campaign to support a specific program or goal
Speak at various functions and explain the program to gain more supporters/users
Talk about the program at every event to remind people to use it
Mention the program to everyone you talk to during the course of a day
Insist that all board members and employees use the program and share their experiences with others
But shopping reminder on all emails as a signature
Do periodic public service announcements to local media outlets
Hold a press conference
Do periodic press releases to print media
Get the support and participation of all committees and members
Create a committee to promote the program
Put a reminder tag on every letter that goes out
Create a newsletter dedicated to the program
Always have an article about the program in all existing newsletters
Create an opt-in email list for promoting the program or use existing list for this purpose
Sign up for a text messaging account for the purpose of SMS marketing
Create a volunteer phone tree to call all supporters to explain program
Use phone tree to remind supporters about the program periodically
Launch an email campaign that asks people to explain the program to everyone in their contacts list
Create bumper stickers to promote the shopping mall
Encourage the city council to use the program to support your organization
Encourage the county supervisors to use the program to support your organization
Remind your supporters to use the program at every meeting
Require all employees and board members to put a reminder signature on their email
Leave brochures in racks around town
Leave brochures at check-out counters in other businesses
Leave brochures at the Chamber of Commerce
Promote the program at Chamber of Commerce meetings
Advertise in local media
Advertise in hotel room guidebooks
Advertise in visitor guides
Launch a word of mouth campaign in which every supporter of your organization will tell at least five people about the program
Advertise the program in local shopping papers
Reward big shoppers
Create a shoppers club support group
Promote monthly specials and coupons
Create coffee mugs that promote the shopping program and give them away or sell the
Create T-shirts that promote the mall shopping program
Create book bags, backpacks, or shopping bags that advertise the program
Advertise the program on buses and or benches
Advertise the program on supermarket shopping carts
Create an event for supporters where you can announce the program and give a PowerPoint presentation on how it works
Create an email signature inviting recipients to download the search toolbar
Put a tagline on every piece of correspondence inviting people to download the search toolbar
Create a brochure for the widest possible distribution that invites and demonstrates the search toolbar
Put the search toolbar invitation on the back of all business cards of staff, board members, and consultants
Create PSAs announcing the search toolbar
Create press releases announcing the search toolbar
Write articles about the virtues of the search toolbar for publication in newspapers, in blogs, in discussion groups, in social networking groups, and on Webpages throughout site
Place download links on every Webpage in organization's Website and blog
Create banners for toolbar download
Exchange banners with other Websites, particularly those of supporters
Pay for advertising about the toolbar in the local media
Purchase inexpensive advertising items such as pens and pencils with toolbar download invitation imprinted on them
Acquire T-shirts advertising the toolbar and require staff to wear them
Sell toolbar T-shirts to patrons and the public
Ask schools, churches and other sympathetic organizations to request that their members download your toolbar
Create toolbar bumper stickers
Sell grocery bags with toolbar ad on them
Email your list of supporters inviting them to download and use toolbar
Mail postcard to your list inviting the to use toolbar
Mail letter from director to list inviting use of toolbar
Mail letter from President of organization to list encouraging toolbar use
Create a video clip or slide show for viral marketing of toolbar
Create an SMS campaign to launch toolbar
Create a message on your phone system that advertises the toolbar
Place ads in local event brochures and programs for games, plays, concerts, symphonies, etc.
Put coop ads in chamber of commerce mailings
Have the chamber of commerce make an announcement about your program in the newsletter
Stand up and make an announcement about your program at chamber meetings and any other group you belong to
Get invited as a speaker to service clubs to present your program
Prepare a PowerPoint presentation to give at every opportunity
Put flyers on all the cars in parking lots and on the street around town
Pass out flyers at events
Get a booth at county fairs
Set up a booth in your local shopping mall
Set up a booth at farmer's markets
Set up a table as a non-profit in any high-traffic are and pass out brochures explaining your program
Create a slideshow for a digital photo frame and let it run where it will have exposure to explain your program
Run a slide show or a video explaining your program on a computer or a projection screen extolling the virtures of your program in a high traffic area
Have supporters wear large buttons that say ask me about our toolbar and shopping mall
Create business card magnets for distribution with your program on it
Create a mousepad with your promotion on it and give one to every supporter to remind the to click on your links every time they use the computer
Offer free ringtones recorded by local musicians in return for using the tool bar
Run a survey among your constituents to get a handle on how they perceive your promotion. Share the results and adjust your campaign accordingly.
Report user experiences and success stories to encourage widespread use of the system
Get an SMS short code account. Blast coupons, specials, and reminders to your list of cell phone users via text messaging

Can you contribute to this list? Please help to make it grow with good ideas that you have used successfully. Tell us about ideas that have not worked well too. That is always valuable information to share so that people do not waste time unproductively.

Help to make this a better world by helping your favorite non-profit organization.

The greatest marketing tool ever invented

2008-09-28T10:22:00.001-07:00

Who doesn't have a cell phone these days? Many people are eliminating their landlines and using a cell phone exclusively. People who pack cell phones are never without them wherever they go. That's what makes it the most powerful advertising tool in the history of the universe. You can get your message to your targeted, opt-in audience instantly with a measured instant response through SMS.

SMS stands for Short Message Service. Perhaps you are more familiar with the term Text Messaging, which is the same thing. The teen crowd has embraced this technology as the preferred method of communication and consider email something that their grandparents use. However, texting has now caught on across the board as a super quick method of communication because it is unobtrusive and not cumbersome like email.

Just think of the crisis that could have been averted if the University of Virginia had sent out an SMS alert to faculty and students instead of relying on email, which most people didn't see until they got home that night after the tragedy was all over.

Not only can you reach your audience immediately with timely information, but you can also deliver coupons and direct them to a more informative Website link. Suppose you are a restaurant owner who wants to run a special on a slow day. Send out a coupon an hour before lunch and watch the people flock in to your restaurant. Suppose you are a realtor and you put your text message code on your for sale signs. People can text to that number and immediately receive a response with all the specs of the house including pictures of the interior.

If you are running a non-profit organization and you want to remind people to use your shopping mall or apprise them of specials, use SMS. Most savvy shoppers shop on their phones anyway. Too bad more of the vendors, such as OurGV.com, are still in the Stone Age without .mobi sites optimized for small screen handheld devices. However, this is changing as vendors are beginning to realize their oversight.

Let's face it, more people have and use mobile phones today than computers, and they always have their phones with them. Accordingly, which do you think is the better medium for reaching people and informing them of your program?

Are you beginning to appreciate the power of SMS marketing? Clearly, it is the most powerful marketing method in the history of the universe. You should be using it to its full advantage.

To learn more about SMS and mobile marketing, please visit my blog at www.synergetics-sms.blogspot.com.

How NOT to fundraise successfully

2008-09-24T16:58:00.001-07:00

Suppose you are a new board member, a foundation director, or the chair of a fundraising committee, and you are brimming with enthusiasm eager to create a profitable new fundraiser for your non-profit organization. Or perhaps you are a tired, burned out fundraiser looking for something new. You realize that the traditional ways you've been doing things are beginning to yield diminishing returns because you are bugging the same people over and over again. Your events are becoming ho hum and not really fun anymore. And, you are running out of grant sources. What to do?

Maybe you will think of bringing up your browser and doing a search on terms such as non-profits, fundraising, charitable giving and so forth. You will be presented with a bewildering plethora of choices. Google yields over 35,000,000 results on the term fundraising. You could spend the rest of your life clicking on these links. So, you will probably read the first couple dozen before you grow too weary to continue.

Most of them will offer to send you a free catalog or will want your email address. Some will even be sites that represent a host of other companies and hope to match you up with a fundraiser that fits your fancy. Watch out!

You are setting yourself up for the greatest SPAM bomb ever created. Instantly your inbox will begin to bulge with emails offering fundraising solutions, and it will take forever to get off these autobot lists.

Unfortunately, virtually all the fundraising solutions you will receive will have the same negative factors in common.

Negative features of fundraisers

Most fundraisers require an upfront investment for products to sell.
Products are junk that nobody wants or needs.
You can get stuck with leftover product you don't sell.
The profit margin isn't big enough to justify the sales effort
You have to organize and sustain a sales force.
You have to spend money advertising, which reduces your profit.
You are tapping the same pool of weary volunteers over and over again.
You are hitting up the same old people for money and they are losing their enthusiasm.
There are no guarantees of success after all your efforts.
The effort uses precious staff time that takes away from your mission.
It is difficult to find board members and volunteers for these projects.
The fundraiser does not produce a sustainable residual income.

Sustainable residual income

The first eleven negative features of most fundraisers out there are bad enough, but if it doesn't offer a sustainable residual income, forget it. However, I guarantee you that it will be an almost impossible task to find such a source. What granting institution offers residual income? What bake sale offers residual income? What private donors offer residual income? Maybe some donor would give you an apartment house with so-called residual income. But there is maintenance, tenant turnover, and taxes to consider so that it is not a very good residual income after all.

What is residual income anyway? It is simply money that comes in perpetually for doing the work to set up the system once. The problem with most fundraisers is that you have to do them over and over and over again each year. Most libraries have annual

What if you could set up a system once with almost no effort on your part and it would continue to make money for your organization 24/7 like a perpetual motion money machine?

What if you could set this machine in motion without having to ask your supporters to pull one dime out of their pockets yet they would be supporting you by doing something they are already doing anyway?

There is such a system that taps into a 30 billion industry that will siphon some of the profits to any legitimate non-profit institution with a base of supporters.

To find out if you qualify and to set this system up for your organization, please click on the OurGV boxes to the right.

An Angel from Heaven

2008-09-23T13:16:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I visited a local non-profit homeless shelter that I knew was having financial difficulties and almost closed at one point but was rescued at the last minute—temporarily. The director gave me a complete and candid rundown of his entire operation, including the details of his financial woes, which were considerable.

After listening intently for over an hour, it was my turn to talk. I gave him a quick synopsis of the purpose of my visit. I told him that I was there to give him the opportunity to participate in a system designed to provide non-profit organizations with a sustainable residual income—an income not based on fundraising campaigns, asking people for money, or writing a grant, all of which are only temporary solutions at best.

I explained the power of combining the 30 billion dollar online shopping industry with the concept of affiliate marketing and tapping the profits for non-profit organizations by simply having supporters shop online at a special mall with over 1300 stores—the largest ever assembled anywhere to benefit non-profits.

Then I asked him the size of his supporter group. He said about 1000. When I explained that if he had a thousand people spending just $100 a month online, which isn't much, his organization could earn $8000 a month, about $100,000 a year-- more than half of his total budget.

For a moment he sat there looking dumbfounded. Stunned. Then, slowly he began to tell me a little story a friend had shared with him about when the need was dire the solution would materialize, often in the form of an angel. He said that I must be that angel arriving in his time of need.

Well, I've been called many things in my checkered past, but never an angel. In any case, I was pleased to be able to offer a viable solution to a worthy organization in a time of need.

If you want to become an angel to your favorite non-profit organization, please click on the OurGV links to the right.

Fundraising with Abundance

2008-09-22T17:45:00.001-07:00

Sadly, most people involved with fundraising develop the attitude that they are competing for limited funds in a limited universe with limited resources and grow weary of asking the same sources for money over and over again.

What if you could shift your thinking to embrace an unlimited universe of abundance instead of scarcity? What if you could show people how to support your cause with a sustainable residual income that didn't even take any money out of their pockets? What if you could expand beyond your current body of supporters to a wider support base?

What if you could accomplish this fundraiser's dream without any upfront investment? What if it actually saved your supporters time and money? What if it involved something that your supporters were already doing anyway?

All of this is possible. It's time to change your mindset. Get ready for a quantum leap into a new dimension of charitable giving.

First of all, most people like to be able to make a contribution. Out of the 250 billion dollars in charitable support raised each year, 80% of it comes from private individuals, not the government.

Let's eradicate that myth of scarcity right out of our minds. Yes, we are living in a tight economy with sky high fuel prices, rampant unemployment, a faltering stock market, bank bailouts, tight credit, a reeling real estate market, a gargantuan national debt, and wars raging around the globe. How can one possibly be positive and embrace abundance in such a glum financial atmosphere?

Two Great Reasons to Embrace Abundance

There are at least two reasons for embracing abundance in fundraising, and perhaps many others. For now, let's focus on the concept of online shopping. It has burgeoned to a 30 billion dollar industry in just a few short years. Now, no self-respecting business would think of not having a presence on the Internet. People simply do not take businesses seriously that do not have a Website these days.

Certainly you have done some online shopping and probably most of the people you know do so also because of the convenience.

The second reason to embrace abundance is affiliate marketing. If you are not familiar with the term, you have no doubt seen links from one Website to another. Amazon.com pioneered the concept and now it is a standard, respected marketing method on the Web. It's simply how business gets done. When a customer from one site is referred to another site and makes a purchase, the referring site receives a commission. It creates additional income for both Website partners.

Combine the power of online shopping with the concept of affiliate marketing, and you have a dynamite formula for abundance. Why not harness this money-making behemoth and channel some of the funds to your favorite non-profit organization?

If it sounds like a daunting task, and it normally would be, there is a company that has already made it simple and possible. All you have to do is sign up your favorite charity and invite the supporters to shop.

Each participating non-profit organization receives its own branded mall for its supporters to shop in so that the results can be tracked and the organization paid.

No matter what the state of the economy, people will continue to shop. They need to shop for their daily necessities. If they can save money in a tight economy by shopping online, they will embrace it all the more.

World's Largest Shopping Mall

Never before in the history of the universe has there ever been a larger, unified mall assembled for the purpose of charitable fundraising. It consists of over 1300 stores--stores that you would expect to find in any brick and mortar mall and much, much more. You will find all your favorites such as Macy's, Dell, Staples, Barnes & Noble, Bed Bath & Beyond, Safeway, and on and on. Plus there are specialty shops with unique gifts. There are shops from all over the world too that you couldn't find in your local mall.

Save Money as you Make a Contribution

Not only do shoppers receive a rebate for shopping, they also save time and money. They save money on gas too and don't have to worry about finding a parking space and paying high rates.

Non-profits can earn up to 80% of the rebate offered by the participating merchants in the mall. Suppose the average rebate is 10%, and your organization had 1000 supporters who spent just $100 a month in the mall. That would yield an income for the organization of $8000 per month—almost an extra $100,000 a year. Watch the revenue soar during special shopping seasons such as Christmas.

That's a lot of cookies you didn't have to bake. That's a lot of pizzas you didn't have to sell. You didn't have to organize a lot of manpower either. There were no upfront expenses, and the income is continual. You don't have to crank it up year after year for the annual fundraiser. It just goes on and on.

This sustainable residual income is without doubt a fundraiser's dream. Think of how much simpler this makes the job of being a board member too. Instead of having to focus on fundraising all the time, board members can turn their attention to improving the organization. What a novel idea.

To find out more about how this approach can benefit your favorite non-profit organization, please follow this link: http://www.ourgvrewards.com.