What is nonprofit fund raising? Why is fund being raised? How will this fund help and who will it help? These are some important questions that fund raising at non-profit organizations often come across. This article shall answer some such basic questions regarding nonprofit fundraising activities.
Fund raising is basically a voluntary contribution, mostly monetary, but also otherwise, for some noble cause which is more often than not charitable. These causes may include building of schools for orphans, providing books or food to poor kids; building a new faculty; creating a new department at a hospital; a new generating relief fund for victims of various natural calamities and building of old age home among other things.
It is mostly a request based act, that is, individuals or groups of individuals and various entities are requested donation for a particular cause in which they may have faith. Apart from generating funds, this also raises awareness about the cause concerned which only adds to further benefits.
However, various non-profit organizations face a lot of problems in raising funds. These problems mostly arise because of an increased sense of suspicion among people regarding these non-profit organizations and the danger of them being fraud.
Absence of a proper strategy for raising funds is one of the prime problems with the fund raising programs. The goals or target that is set is not realistic and often relies on the sensitivity of the beneficiary rather than the ability of the volunteer to convince. The suspicion that is created among people is also because of the lack of ability of volunteers to explain where these funds will be allocated. All volunteers must be clear about the cause and process of transference of these funds. All volunteers must be clear about the nonprofit organization’s vision, mission and plans.
There are some ways of doing away with these problems and being a good fund raiser. Here are some skills that can be used to raise funds properly and in abundance:
- If you are good at communicating, you may easily convince people towards the genuine nature of your cause and generate donations from them. For this you may also want to dwell deeper into some research and use the data necessary for the rhetoric and ensure that you truly understand the organization’s needs and use of funds plan. Make the contributors feel their own good will.
- You must be good at organizing. Know how much time and energy to spend on one individual or company and set a target. You may also divide the target into two, one where individuals are approached and the other where big organizations are concerned. This will make your works easier and set a clear goal.
- Keep the donors well informed about the allocation of their funds. If you plan to construct a school for poor ids with their funds, invite them to its inauguration, make them meet the kids. And if you are receiving a major donation for your university, museum, hospital or other nonprofit organization, ensure his/her name will be listed in the donor wall or donor display if your organization have one.
- Inform donors about the campaign’s progress. This keeps them in touch with the issue and ensures a sense of belongingness.
These are some of the basics of fund raising and how they must be approached. It is a difficult task, no doubt, especially when for a non-profit organization, but not impossible.