[...] Click here to read full post [...]

Dear Nell,

Thank you for posting such excellent guidelines for fundraising. We are a small not for profit organization and realtively new. We have been incorporated in 2008. However, we do not have a charitalbe registration number yet, which has been a major constraint in receiving donations, since we are not able to provide tax deduction receipts to our prospective donors. I was wondering if you have some creative ideas for fundraising for an organization like ours?

Thanks

Marziya

[...] 9 Ways Board Members Can Raise Money Without Fundraising | Social Velocity. Written by Editor Posted in research Tagged with nonprofit fundraising, social [...]

Marziya,

Unfortunately I don’t have any creative ideas for your organization. Without official registration as a nonprofit and the tax benefit that donations receive it is nearly impossible to raise money. I would recommend that you get your registration as soon as possible. Good luck!

[...] 9 Ways Board Members Can Raise Money Without Fundraising | Social Velocity. This entry is filed under Revenue Development. [...]

Hi Marzlya, Unless you are looking for large donations or donors who itemize their contributions (i.e., home owners who right of their mortgage interest etc.) actually use of the tax deductible contribution is more about confidence in the organization than about the financial benefit to the donor. Also, If you are planning on filing for nonprofit status have someone with experience review or help prepare your documents so that you make sure that meet eligibility requirements. The application process has changed since we applied in 2002 – http://www.betteragreements.org but it wasn’t that hard and if your budget isn’t expected to be that big the cost for filing may be less. You can also partner with a nonprofit organization that has a similar program mission and set up a special project where donations are designated for that project. Donors and especially grant funding is increasingly favorable for projects that demonstrate large community support and partnership.

For Marzlya

Could you perhaps find another exisiting non-profit with very similar aims and goals and who already have the charitable registration? You could possibly merge with them by adding your mission statements to theirs,expanding their number of directors to include yours, and arrange the staffing to include yours. Just wondering.

Great article, we are singing the same song.

Thanks Norm!

great idea sir for fundraising

I had worked in fundraising for charities for sometime and always found Board Members involvement a headache…I like your suggestions…particularly the 10min talk at home socials….will probably suggest this to our Monthly Supporters…..to raise new monthly supporters…

Rosa, I’m glad the post was helpful. Good luck!

See my posting on this probelm, which dies have a number of solutions
http://thegoodcounsel.com/2011/09/23/through-the-eye-of-the-needle/

Thank you for posting such first-rate article for fundraising. I am working on poverty reduction. It’s much difficult to come up with new ideas and solutions, policies. But I think point no 2, 3, 5 and seven can be more effective if implemented as a SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) in nonprofit organization. In my opinion Marketing of what you have done and what’s your plan is most important from everything if you fiercely present your work than there is 100% guarantee for future.

[...] 9 Ways Board Members Can Raise Money Without Fundraising. [...]

Nell, this is an excellent post! I have been helping churches, private schools, and a few other non-profits raise funding for their mission for almost 12 years, and the things you suggest are some of the “best practices”, in my experience. Personal, public, and private conversations that connect people’s hearts to the vision are the key to attracting those individuals to commitment. There is a place for generic appeals that reach out to those who will attach at a lesser level, and those gifts count, too. However, there is no substitute to the personal touch that shares why someone else connected to the vision.

Danny

Thanks Danny, I agree!

Thank you for this Nell. I work on two non-profit companies. One is to preserve music education in South Carolina and the other is work I do with the Governors Office and the Department of Social Services to recruit foster and adoption families. Fund raising for board members is always a grind for most people. Great points and ideas. Thank you for sharing.

Clark

You are very welcome, Clark. Good luck in your work!

Maybe the non profit who laid me off will heed these important ideas. I was laid off because the head management FAILED in fundraising. I was punished for their lack of leadership.

H,

I’m sorry to hear that. However, I would say that when an organization fails in fundraising, they are failing on a larger scale. It wasn’t just the head of fundraising who failed, it was also the executive director and the board.

I hope you can move on from this unfortunate situation and find a much better, stronger, more sustainable organization. Good luck!

Can you sugest Fiscal sponsor in USA which is having 501c3 and UK based Charity for act as Fiscal sponsor for Indian NGO’s.
By Joseph
General SecretAY, Grace Foundation.

Dear Nell,
A very inspiring and fruitful guideline for the board members.You’ve touched a very crucial part of an organisation and if every member in an organisation adopts these rules i think there could be an enoromous multiplication of nonprofit sustainable organisations.Well done.
Shakeel Abro
BoD IACD UK

i find this post quite excellent and interesting but the difficulty with my organization is that we have young persons on our board and most of our programs are run on funds from donations and contributions from these youths. Non profit organizations do not get funds from government in Nigeria. we are registered with our corporate affairs as NGO but the idea of charitable registration is new to us. We have established networks and program but lack funding. pls help.

Joseph,

Unfortunately I am not familiar with nonprofits that act as fiscal sponsors for Indian NGOs, however perhaps one of my readers can point you in the right direction.

Chukwuemeka,

If you have a good program that is getting results and you have networks of people you can tap into, you are well on your way to finding funding. The trick is articulating the value your program has to those networks and getting them to tap into their networks. Then your support begins to grow exponentially. I encourage you to check out the various posts in our Financing Not Fundraising series to find out more: http://www.socialvelocity.net/tools/financing-not-fundraising-a-social-velocity-blog-series/

Thanks Shakeel! I agree that if nonprofits could start doing things differently they could become much more sustainable.

Thank you for your helpful posts. Our positive youth development program has been supported by me and my family since 1996. For 15 years, we have operated with no salaried staff and have video testimonies from youth who have benefitted from our work through capacity-building, technical assistance, an awards program, scholarships, fellowships, and individual development accounts. In 2006, we incorporated and received 501c3 status as a national organization. Since our intake process is online, we have started a social enterprise that provides web development, hosting, webinars, live meetings, document sharing tools, polling and database management. We also have a partnership with FDIC to provide FREE online financial literacy classes to youth and adults. We have submitted some grants but none have been funded. Yet, after several submissions, we see our ideas implemented. We have no debt. There are three young adults on our board who were program beneficiaries and four adults. None of them desire to do fundraising. We need to increase clients for our social enterprise, purchase new hardware/software, identify additional program funding, and hire staff. Any suggestions other than replace the board?

Stephanie,

The broader the network of a nonprofit the more successful it will be. From the little you have told me it sounds like your nonprofit’s network is fairly small — mostly friends, family and former clients. I would encourage you to expand the reach of your organization and you can start by recruiting new people, preferably with new networks, to join the board. But at the same time, you can expand your reach through social media, friend-raising events, and other activities that create an inviting space where people want to learn more and become involved. Good luck!

Thank you for sharing. It is a very useful source of information. Have a great weekend and best regards from Warsaw, Poland – Andrzej Puchacz

Marziya,

Charitable donations are not the only way to raise funds. Try coming up with an event that can both generate interest and be profitable for your organization. If you need some ideas let me know.

[...] Organization: 9 Ways Board Members Can Raise Money Without Fundraising (Social [...]

[...] 9 Ways Board Members Can Raise Money Without Fundraising [Social Velocity] 0 Comments [...]

Nell,

Thanks for this excellent article. I plan to use it with nonprofits that I work with. I do think that most Board members are underutilized and that’s because all we think of is give and get and forget about all the possible steps in between.

Your readers may be interested in a recent popular post of mine which also talks about what board members can do without fundraising – and this is all very painless. Here it is: Demonstrating Board Leadership with Facebook
http://www.marionconway.com/2012/02/demonstrating-board-leadership-with.html

That’s great, Marion. Thanks for sharing your post!

This is great. It is indeed true that organizations must not always rely on fundraising to fund their organization. Company Directors who are determined to become good managers must envision their organization services and hope to put them uproar competitively the future we go.

I like the idea of a board member hosting a small gathering at their home to provide information and support to the non-profit they care about. However some board members are reluctant to even consider that. They feel that just by inviting friends they are implying that a contribution is expected. One way around that is to ask them to just host and the organization (CEO, Director of Development, other Board members) will do the inviting. That way they are only providing the space and not “asking”. A short welcome as the host and testimonial about why they are involved with the non-profit will go a long way without putting them in an awkward and uncomfortable spot.

It’s true that many Boards are not at all comfortable with hands on fundraising however “friend-raising” is critical and opening their networks and contacts is vital. My networking with law firms and listed companies is yielding results with valuable offers of in kind support (construction, pro bono legal, charity partnerships) worth tens of thousands of dollars this year. I rarely ask directly, but when people ask what I do, I have my set piece spoken with passion, and they soon offer – the best way to proceed. I start with an achievable ask, that sets a relationship in motion and build from there. But it’s lots of corporate lunches, seminars to tap the right people.

[...] Nell Edgington from Social Velocity offers 9 Ways Board Members Can Raise Money Without Fundraising. Check it out!  http://www.socialvelocity.net/2012/01/9-ways-board-members-can-raise-money-without-fundraising/  This entry was posted in Uncategorized by admin. Bookmark the permalink. [...]

9 Ways Board Members can Raise Money without Fundraising!
So good to see the points put across so well. Have beeen on courses and heard all of the points, but not all at the same time. We have a good board and they have been of great support especially in the hard times we are all experiencing at the presently. Every Rand raised is precious, because it makes a great difference in our children’s lives.
The words that stood out for me at this time are” ‘Financing not Fundraising’. We need to make this important shift!. Thanks!

[...] full article……..via 9 Ways Board Members Can Raise Money Without Fundraising | Social Velocity. Share OptionsPrintTwitterEmailMoreFacebookLinkedInStumbleUponRedditDiggTumblrLike this:LikeBe the [...]

[...] recruits think through the commitment they’re about to make by asking about their ability to meet board fundraising requirements (if you have them), and if they have time to devote to your nonprofit. Ask prospects to consider [...]

Thank you so much you’ve given me clarity and plan for our upcoming board meeting.
I was a bit stressed until I read your articles now I calm focused and ready.
Thank You!

Jamil, you are very welcome. Glad it was helpful!

Excellent post! When it comes to fund-raising for board members, there are many ways to cut the pie besides making direct asks. This is especially important for young professionals just starting out who may have limited resources or feel uncomfortable asking others for donations. I agree that sweat equity in terms of writing/evaluating a business plan is a great way to positively impact the bottom-line. Thanks for providing some progressive, outside-the-box thinking on a thorny topic for many.

[...] recruits think through the commitment they’re about to make by asking about their ability to meet board fundraising requirements (if you have them) and if they have time to devote to your nonprofit. Ask prospects to consider [...]

Thanks Nell you are spot on, was scratching my head thinking l was going to drain my reserves but you are helpful. One non governmental organization l work with is going into Business building and l think this is a great article for us, thanx.

Glad to hear it, Frankline. Thanks!

[...] Neil Edgington from Social Velocity has practical and nonthreatening suggestions on his article 9 Ways Board Members Can Raise Money Without Fundraising. [...]

Nell, thank you for the very informative article.

Are there templates available that provide “ideal” (or goal setting) financial ratios for various types of not-for-profit organizations? In particular I am seeking information pertaining to a Trade Membership Organization where funding is primary from membership dues.

Richard, you might look at Kirsten Gronbjerg’s Understanding Nonprofit Funding and P. Dalsimer’s Understanding Nonprofit Financial Statements.

Thank you very much for the article. I guess for now money from government is more available (!) than money from business in this crisis time. But I don’t have any idea how to kick of my Board members to be more active in racing funds for our Foundation. I will share this article with them…

[...] other day, a woman with whom I volunteer shared a fantastic article by Nell Edgington highlighting several ways board members can raise money with out writing a check or directly asking others to do so. The key point of the article is that [...]