Fundraising

Supporting Ideas for Fundraisers

• Conduct public awareness campaigns to help garner visibility prior to a fundraiser
• Keep statistics on your initiative records that demonstrate results
• Generate and use letters of support
• Use the advice of a professional fundraiser

Projects to Raise Money

• Intergenerational Coffee House
• Pancake Breakfast
• 24-Hour Relay Challenge (www.commatters.org)
• Pledges for A-Thons: Bike, Walk, Run, Read
• Phone-A-Thon, Tele-A-Thon (through public access TV)
• Sports tournaments: tennis, golf, basketball, volleyball, softball, etc.
• Intergenerational Dances
• Sell products (Flowers for Mother's Day, Candy, Subscriptions)
• Other sale ideas: community-wide garage sale, cookbook, bake sale, plant sale
• Raffle (get donations from local businesses, sports figures, etc.) Hold on a regular basis or in conjunction with other events
• Become restaurant wait staff for 2 hours and get a predetermined percentage of total sales during that time period is donated to your project
• Auctions: silent or live (with auctioneer).
• House tours
• Luncheons or dinners: with speaker, style show, young people talent show 
• Theatre or concert party - tickets at different levels: patron saint, arch angel, angel, cherub! (For the luncheons/dinners and theatre/concert party, personal invitations to the event works best)
• Antique, handicraft, or art fair
• Carnival
• Sports Bingo
• Direct mail
• Door to door canvassing (by kids - provide training)
• Ask a local service club (Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, etc.) if they would agree to buy out a local live theatre performance and then sell tickets for slightly above the ticket price as a benefit
• Serve-A-Thon (classes, schools, youth groups): Initiatives and families get pledges to do service projects on a specific day in the community
• Sell temporary tattoos - Logo of a school team on tattoos that can be sold at games. Multi-colored temporary tattoos can be purchased for about 9¢ a piece when bought in lots of 10,000.

Ideas that Help Raise Public Awareness

• Create a mural on the wall of a community building, use professionals to work with students
• Write articles for your local newspaper
• Produce Radio/TV public service announcements 
• Arrange for media coverage for any of the above projects to raise money

Suggestions for a Face-to-Face Presentation Requesting Funds

• Make a good impression, have a positive approach, be specific
• Be prepared with answers to these questions:
  • What do I specifically want to accomplish?
  • What have I accomplished to-date?
  • What have I done, up to now, to get funds?
  • What resources do I have already?
  • What's missing?
  • How's it working out?
  • What else could I do?
  • What will happen if I don't get funding?
  • What do I want from the grantor?
    (example)
    Describe how attendance at the conference helps develop youth leadership skills.
• Remember: You need to ask!!!

Sources of Funds

• Center for Substance Abuse Prevention within SAMHSA, DHHS
• Department of Juvenile Justice
• Local foundations (especially community foundations)
• Service clubs (Rotary, Kiwanis, Elk, etc.)
• Civic organizations
• Check with local Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Chapters about ways to match what you expect to raise during a fundraiser
• Schools raise funds to bring athletic teams/choirs on trips there is a process in your community
• Organizations that have funds left at the end of the fiscal year 
• Community citizens and board members of organizations interested in youth development determine how your interests meet the interests of the individual or organization
• Local businesses including law firms, health and insurance organizations
• Congregations
• Ask organizations to sponsor youth to attend the conference
• Ask organizations to donate their frequent flyer tickets to help sponsor youth travel to the conference

Writing a Grant Proposal

If the granting agency does not require a particular format, consider using this approach:

1 - Executive summary: Clear and concise, outlines the problem, the objectives and the expected outcomes, project activities and the audience to be addressed

2 - Organization information: mission, history, structure, other funders/partners, nonprofit status

3 - Statement of need: Keep this focused on the need for the proposed project

4 - Project description: State objectives in measurable outcomes

5 - Key staff dedicated to the project short biographies

6 - Budget

7 - Conclusion (includes the "ask")

8 - Always include a cover letter

• Have someone unfamiliar with your project read the proposal and give feedback
• Try The Foundation Center's web site (www.fdncenter.org) for information on free proposal writing seminars

Web Sites with Information on Grant Opportunities

http://www.grantselect.com/
http://www.nonprofit.gov/
http://www.youthdevelopment.org/research.htm

Fundraising Web Sites

Sell Products