Practical Fundraising - Fundraising

16. Fundraising - Services

Services for hire: Rather than selling products, some non-profits find that they benefit by offering services. Usually all that is needed are some volunteers willing to work for free. Donors need to be approached in order to be asked whether they would like a shoeshine, or whatever your group is offering.

In general, the cost of the service should be free and you should note that the money is going for a non-profit cause. This type of fundraising is often effective for a shorter-term project rather than for regular funds. Among some of the services that your group can offer for a fee are the following:

Shoeshine services

Portrait sketching of passers by (tourists sometimes like to buy pictures of themselves in a particular spot)

Photo taking using an instant camera

Car wash

Dog walking services

Grocery carrying services (you will need to ask for permission from a store to do this)

Yard work or general handy work

Boat rides or horse drawn carriage tours

Remember that you may well be able to recruit volunteers from your local high school or college to help with your fundraising, since students are often looking for extra curricula activities.

Door to door appeal: Some non-profits ask for donations through a door to door appeal for funds. The idea is that donors are less likely to say "no" when asked in person. If you decide to go this route, be aware that this method is time consuming and likely to result in plenty of "no" responses anyway - many people find that door to door sales people and requests are intrusive and some people will not even answer their doors if they see someone unfamiliar on their step.

Donation boxes: Donation boxes can be set up at store counters. In most cases, these are clear plastic boxes with your non-profit group's name and mission printed on them. The idea is that store patrons can put extra change in the boxes if they like to. In most cases, these donation boxes fill up very slowly but they are also inexpensive to set up and as long as you can convince a few store owners to keep your box next to the cash you can make some small extra fundraising money each month. You can't really rely on these boxes for all your fundraising needs, but they can supplement the donations you get from others methods.

Group cooperation: Many non-profits have found that they can get great fundraising results if they can cooperate with other groups. For example, if schools and churches are willing to fundraise on your behalf, you will be able to get more money through their efforts since these groups contain many people. Approaching other groups to help in fundraising efforts takes time and effort, but the results are often worth it.

Useful resources

16. Fundraising - Services

Practical Fundraising Ebook - Table Of Contents