Easy Church Fundraisers
When it comes to easy church fundraisers, there
are numerous options. Candles is an obvious choice since
a lot of churches burn candles themselves during their
services. Candles are not difficult to sell these days as
they are used to create a warm environment, or a relaxing
atmosphere, depending on the fragrance used, and are no
longer just for emergencies when the power
fails.
Your choice of fundraiser depends of course on
your purpose. Are you raising funds purely to provide
items for your church, or are you also trying to raise
awareness in your community? Would a car wash raise more
awareness? Do you have members who could wash cars, or do
you have an older congregation that would find this
difficult?
What about holding a craft fair, with tables
available to the community for a small fee? To organize
this you wouldn't necessarily have to have items to sell
for your church even, you could rent out all of your
tables, and just host the event. You could serve
refreshments, or snacks, if you are able to cater
them.
There are many options for easy church
fundraisers, so pick one that the majority of you are
comfortable with, and have fun. You may need to write
some letters to hepl your fundraising campaign, so take a
look at the following article.
For more information on fundraising that will
help you boost your sales, click here.
Successful Non-for-Profit Fundraising Letters
Share Eight Qualities
by Alan Sharpe
You'll be encouraged to know that the art of writing effective
fundraising letters can be learned. I learned it. So can
you.
Successful fundraising letters share a number of things in
common. Once you know what these things are, your letter is
already half-way written. Before I share what they are, let me
explain what I mean by a successful or effective fundraising
letter. I mean a letter that generates a gift, certainly, but I
also mean a letter that builds upon the relationship you have
with your supporters. You can easily craft a guilt-inducing
letter that brings in a donation for now but repels a donor
forever. Successful fundraising letters take the long-term
approach, knowing that donors need to be nurtured and educated
over time.
So here are some things that all successful fundraising letters
have in common. Include as many of them as you can in each
letter you write.
1. Is personal
Effective fundraising letters sound as though they are written
by a human being, not an institution. Unlike grant proposals or
special events, they are person-to-person pieces of
communication. With the exception of a phone call, fundraising
letters are the closest thing that you can get to a
face-to-face meeting with a donor.
2. Is conversational
Again, unlike grant proposals and charity auctions, effective
fundraising letters read like a conversation (though admittedly
a monologue) between two people. Wouldn't you agree that good
letters involve the reader? Like you, I believe that effective
letters involve the supporter in the message whenever possible
without sounding contrived.
3. Is addressed to a person by name
Don't send form letters to make friends. Friends don't mail
form letters. They send personal letters. Letters addressed to
their friends by name. My wife never sends me a letter that
begins, Dear Friend. Neither do my friends. I realize that
personalization costs more. But personalization is the right
thing to do. And it boosts response, which is a bonus you get
for doing the right thing.
| These days it is
much easier to write personal letters because
of the technology of computers. With mail merge
software, it is possible to send letters to
hundreds of people addressed to them
individually, and this is what you want to
encourage a good response. Thank goodness the
days of handwriting letters is over, although
you may want to try this to see if you get an
even better response from your mailout. They
would have to be written by someone with
legible hand writing though! ~ Site
Editor |
4. Describes the case for support in human
terms
The best fundraising letters translate institutional needs in
terms of people, not programs, remembering that people give to
people to help people. So instead of saying we need $10,000 for
our general fund, a savvy fundraising letter says our soup
kitchen aims to help over 100 needy toddlers this Christmas
Eve, and your gift today will make that possible.
5. Is donor-centred
The best-received fundraising letters say you more than they
say we. As Jeff Brooks, senior creative director at the Domain
Group, says, Donors are interested in you because of what you
help them do. You are their agent in their personal mission to
make the world better. That should be the topic of all your
fundraising. Not the inner workings of the organization. Not
the accomplishments of notable others. Not the need for raised
consciousness or philosophical buy-in.
6. Asks for the gift
I've read letters that were so high-pressure that I kept my
donation in my pocket. And I've read others that were so vague
that I wasn't sure if the sender wanted my gift--or expected
it. In the fundraising profession, we say that if you don't
ask, you won't receive. Which is a true statement most of the
time, because sometimes you'll receive gifts unsolicited. But
with a fundraising letter, you need to ask for a donation, and
more than once in the letter, if you expect to cover your
costs.
7. Educates donors
The best fundraising letters leave donors better-informed than
they were before they opened the envelope. They give donors
more reasons to support your cause by describing how your
organization helps its constituents, how a donor's past gifts
are changing lives, or in other ways reinforcing your case for
support.
8. Appeals to the heart
Donors give to causes that win their hearts and their minds,
usually in that order. Good appeal letters stir feelings of
compassion, mercy, empathy, altruism and more so that the donor
identifies with your cause on more than a cerebral level.
Copyright © 2005
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