There are many components involved to successfully administer a fundraising program. First of all, the money that is going to be raised needs to be used for a cause that people can get behind. Secondly, the fundraising effort needs to utilize as many volunteers as possible to successfully raise the fundraising goal. In addition, those volunteers that are recruited need to be effectively trained. Thirdly, a fundraising plan needs to be developed. This could entail a selection of a product that will be sold, conducting a special event, or simply asking people for money.

With all of these components in place there is one missing emphasis. That emphasis is a strategy on how to market your fundraising program.

In fact, it can be argued that before beginning your fundraising program, it is important to have a foundational plan in place to market your fundraising program. Therefore, before beginning your fundraising effort it is important to know what is marketing, gathering a marketing team together and discussing strategies.

What Is Marketing?

Marketing is a communication process that is centered on a product, event or service in which the intent is to increase the awareness of the audience towards that product in hopes that they will eventually purchase that item. Therefore, it can be clearly seen that it is paramount to market your fundraising program.

Within the marketing tool box there are many tools that can be utilized to market your fundraising program. Some of those tools can be newsletters, use of television, radio, word of mouth, mailings, e-mail, etc. In addition, a plan to market your fundraising program should be concentrated in that all of these tools are used during a specific timeframe. This timeframe should be the leading edge into the fundraising effort as well as during the campaign.

Gathering A Team

As part of a plan to market your fundraising program it is important to recruit as much help as possible. The help that is recruited should be individuals who have knowledge about marketing or who may be part of the professional marketing world.

Examples of these types of individuals could include marketing directors from businesses and those affiliated with the public media. This public media could include newspapers, radio stations and television stations. Often, these individuals wish to give back as well as portray the company that they represent as community minded. Therefore, more often than not, these individuals wish to participate in such fundraising events.

Strategies

There are many strategies that can be utilized when beginning to market your fundraising program. First of all, it is important to note that many public media outlets will advertise your fundraising event at no cost. These are called public service announcements.

Also, many television and radio stations have morning programs in that they are always looking for guests to come on to their morning shows. It is important to ask well in advance and try to schedule a spokesperson’s appearance on one of the shows during the fundraising event.

Finally, businesses have marketing dollars. Often by submitting a proposal to a business you can tap into marketing dollars. This can be accomplished by asking the business to sponsor the event and provide appropriate advertising. This win-win situation allows for the company to advertise their name in the community as well as portray themselves as the sponsor of a good fundraising cause.

see the full article at: For more information on fundraising ,do visit Fundraising Ideas a website that specializes in providing Fundraising

A Candle Fundraiser is not complicated. However, you want to ensure that certain things are in place to achieve maximum success. Just like you wouldn’t attempt a peach cobbler without a recipe, fundraising involves a recipe of its own.

Our group has partnered with many fundraising groups, and I would like to share some must-do fundraising steps for a successful fundraiser.

Read below carefully. Each of the fundraising steps is critical in achieving your goal.

Step 1. Acknowledge and discuss your WHY?

This may seem like a very obvious and unnecessary step. However, reiterating why raising funds is important with others will help to motivate all who is involved. Also, understanding WHY will help convey these same concerns with those who benevolently contribute to your cause. This is the most important among all the fundraising steps listed.

Step 2. Set a financial Goal.

Do you want to raise $50 or $5000? Set this goal ahead of time. This will help you determine the amount of resources, including time and personnel, required to reach your financial goal.

Step 3. Analyze all your available resources.

* time

The amount of time necessary to raise $5000 is different than the amount of time necessary to raise $50. Organizations usually set aside 1 to 4 weeks for a candle fundraiser. If longer than 4 weeks is required, it may be necessary to run multiple fundraisers. The reason why we recommending maxing at 4 weeks is to have organized control over the process and to ensure that customers receive their gourmet candles in a timely fashion.

Keep in mind that the overall time includes planning, taking orders, placing orders, shipment, and distribution. To minimize time in planning, consider organizing a fundraiser online.(http://www.yes-i-candle.com/fundraising-online.html) Check out fundraising online to download applications, order sheets, and compilation sheets. These can be submitted online and minimize the need for excessive meetings.

* money

Obviously, we want to minimize this resource, if not get eliminate the use of it. The best thing about our candle fundraiser is that there is no upfront costs or hidden fees, outside of shipping.

Choosing a product that that everyone loves and can benefit from in a healthy manner is important. (No more candy!) Even more important is choosing a product, like scented candles, that profits on the order of dollars and not cents. This is another critical fundraising step.

* personnel

Unfortunately, it can sometimes be difficult to get your own people to volunteer their time with the organization’s fundraiser. This is why fundraising step #1 is helpful. But wouldn’t it be great if the distributor provided an incentive to the most successful volunteer at no cost to your organization. See fundraising online for more details. If your organization is a daycare or sports league, parents also can be offered an incentive to participate in fundraising. When one is benefited, it is a great motivation to be successful. Each volunteer’s success will then be the organization’s success collectively. Contact me for more details on this!

Step 4. The fun part: Choose 10-15 scents that you would like to provide to your donors.

We have 90+ scents to choose from. From Hot Apple Pie to Juniper Breeze to Sweet Orange & Chili Pepper. The list is long. However, keeping the list between 10 – 15 scents will minimize confusion, and maximize the amount of orders you get. Click on gourmet candles (http://www.latoyaroomes.scent-team.com/candles.php) to check out all of our scents.

Step 5. Print all paperwork right from the web.

The great thing about online fundraising is that all the paperwork and instructions is online. You can customize your order sheets once you’ve selected your 10 – 15 scents. Once you’ve read thru the fundraising steps, go to fundraising online for more details.

Step 6. Meet with your volunteers and set goals.

Show your volunteers what 10 orders by 10 volunteers will bring in. And hopefully, if you’ve selected the right product, this should be pretty lucrative. If you have 20, 30 volunteers, the results are exciting.

The great thing about candles, is that they are in over 85% of households. Everyone loves candles. No aggressive selling is necessary.

When you contact me, I would love to share the profit potential of fundraising with our gourmet candles. I can assure you that you will be pleasantly surprised with what you can earn per candle.

Step 7. Fundraise!

Go at ‘em. Remember to educate your patrons about the benefits of burning a soy/veg candle. You can find some of those details on the homepage of this website, or click here to find even more details. To find specific fundraising tips about your particular organization, visit the links at the top of this page.

Step 8. Acknowledge all your volunteers!

Another important fundraising step! Have a meeting. Share individual strategies and plan how to do even better next time. Most importantly, thank all your volunteers.

Step 9. Compile all order forms and submit them online!

Once I receive your order, I will sort them by participant and deliver. Allow for 10-14 business days for all shipments.

Step 10. Celebrate your success!

To get started, go to fundraising online, to retrieve all the documents you need. And please feel free to contact me for any questions you may have.

For more information, visit:

[http://www.yes-i-candle.com]
LaToya Roomes is a Candle Fundraising Consultant. She uses her products to help non-profit groups raise funds for their individual cause. For more information about these gourmet candles, visit [http://www.yes-i-candle.com].
Interested in becoming a candle fundraising consultant? Visit [http://www.yes-i-candle.com].

Fundraising letter templates are a mistake. They
insult donors. They mislead fundraisers. And they
don’t work. You cannot generate sustainable income,
build relationships and retain loyal donors by mailing
fill-in-the-blanks letters. Here are some sound
reasons for avoiding boilerplate appeals.

1. They are, by definition, too generic

On the website of one fundraising coach is a “very
general donation request letter” that you are
encouraged to customize by filling in “the details that
are specific to your organization.” The problem with
this approach is that non-profit organizations are
radically different.

What, for example, does Mothers Against Drunk
Driving have in common with the Boy Scouts of
America? What common goals does the Sydney
Opera House share with The National Rifle
Association? Could you take one “very general
donation request letter” and customize it to meet the
unique needs, case for support, brand image, voice
and personality of each of these organizations? I
think that idea is [fill in the blank]
___________________.

2. They miss the main goal of fundraising
letters

The goal of every appeal letter you mail is not to
raise a gift but to retain a giver. You are after the
donor first, their donation second. The most
important gift in fundraising is not the first, but the
second. You can twist a gift out of just about
anyone, once. But getting subsequent gifts is where
your challenge lies. And where you demonstrate your
expertise. The big failing with fundraising letter
templates is that they are after money only. Donors
sense that attitude when they read the letter
(assuming they do).

3. They treat donors as purses, not people

The only way I know of to get money without human
contact is to use an automated banking machine.
Bank tellers are personal. Automated banking
machines are impersonal. Just walk into your local
bank any morning and count the number of senior
citizens waiting in line for a teller. They choose the
human being over the machine because senior
citizens are often lonely. They crave human contact.
When you approach donors with generic, impersonal,
copy-and-paste fundraising letter templates, you
treat them as automated banking machines who
should simply do as they are told and cough up the
cash without delay. And who likes being treated that
way? Not [pick one] me/you/us.

4. They mislead sincere fundraisers

The biggest problem that I have with fundraising
letter templates is that they fool some fundraising
staff into thinking that raising funds by mail is easy.
All you need to do is “copy and paste the following
text into your word processing program,” “fill in the
details that are specific to your organization,” “print
out the letters on your organization’s letterhead,”
and conclude your letter thus: “Today, you can make
an immediate difference in the life of
[homeless/orphans/etc.] Each [$ amount] you send
provides [specific goods/services] to [number of
people].” Then you recline your office chair and wait
for the mailbags of donations to arrive from your
fervent donors.

Conclusion

Direct mail fundraising, like all fundraising, is about
relationships, not revenue. And you can’t develop
relationships built on trust and mutual respect if your
fundraising methods are standard, impersonal and
disrespectful. There are no short-cuts to long-term
donor loyalty, despite what some publishers of
fundraising letter templates imply.

New Handbook shows you a better way

The best way I know of to learn the craft of
creating, writing and designing successful fundraising
letters is not to fill in the blanks but to fill your head
with examples of excellent letters that worked. Study
successful direct mail appeals. Analyze why they
worked. Put what you learn into practice.

Anatomy of a Profitable Fundraising Letter,
the fourth Handbook in the Hands-On Fundraising Series,
features a line-by-line analysis of a successful direct
mail fundraising package that Habitat for Humanity
mailed to prospective donors. If you use the mail to
raise funds, this handbook will help you discover
what to do right—and what to avoid. Learn more about this new Handbook at http://www.RaiserSharpe.com

—-
About the author
Alan Sharpe publishes Direct Mail Fundraising Today, the free, weekly email newsletter that helps non-profit organizations raise funds, build relationships and retain loyal donors. Alan is the author of Breakthrough Fundraising Letters and 25 handbooks on direct mail fundraising. Alan is also a speaker and workshop leader who delivers public seminars and teleseminars on direct mail fundraising. Sign up for Alan’s newsletter at http://www.RaiserSharpe.com.
© 2007 Alan Sharpe. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the “About the author” message).

With the current economic climate, people don’t have a lot of time to spend on fundraising. We all want fundraising ideas that are quick, easy and effective.

There are many fundraising ideas available to you; right now is a great time to choose a fundraiser that doesn’t require start up cost and one that will make your group, team or club the money you need from fundraising.

Some of the best easy fundraising ideas are the most simple. Back to basics! Have you considered a bake sale for your upcoming fundraiser? With news and the economy getting worse daily, a bake sale could be the perfect easy fundraising idea. Most people would love a pick-me-up right now with all of the bad news in the media. Why not meet these needs with your fundraiser and make people happy?

By choosing a bake sale for your next fundraiser, you can start making money with very little start up cost. Brainstorm bake sale fundraising ideas to make the sale more creative – create fun unique cookie flavors, add treats that people may not be able to buy in the store for your fundraiser. It is great to make your baked goods extra special so that your friends and family will not be able to resist your fundraising efforts.

Tips for your Easy Bake Sale Fundraiser

1. Make creative and beautiful treats that friends, neighbors and business owners can’t resist

2. Have each group member commit to making and selling a certain amount of fundraising treats.

3. Brainstorm bake sale fundraising ideas with your group to take your fundraiser to the next level – consider selling at local events, around a holiday like Easter or Mother’s Day to maximize your fundraising profits.

4. Price your treats right – you are fund raising but still want to offer a great value to your customers/supporters. Supporters expect to pay a little bit of a premium for fundraisers but don’t break the bank!

Another easy fundraising idea that is slightly healthier but just as fun is a Spinner’s Fundraiser. With no money up front, you can start this easy fundraiser that offers the best profit percentage available in the fundraising industry. Spinner’s Fundraisers are a fun unique way to get your friends and family to donate to your group’s fundraising efforts without spending a lot of money.

Donors spin the Spinner (which is like a game piece board) to determine an amount to donate to your group. In return for their fund raising donation, each donor gets a valuable sheet of coupons. This easy fundraising idea makes money for your group and puts coupons in the hands of your friends and family for savings on local restaurants and services. Best of all this fundraiser can make as much money as your fund raising group desires. Spinners are the first reusable fundraiser, making them a cool “green” fundraising idea.

Tips for your Spinners Fundraiser:

1. Encourage each member of the group commit to raising a certain amount of money during your fundraiser and give frequent updates on progress and success stories.

2. Run the Spinners Fundraiser consecutively with a Bake Sale fundraiser so that you can increase your profits. Sell a cookie – have the donor spin and donate for coupons too!

3. Fundraisers that have a deadline tend to do better as there is a sense of urgency for your group members to get it done – about 2 weeks of fundraising tends to be a good amount of time.

In this tough economy, you can still take easy fundraising ideas and make them successful fundraisers. It will take more commitment and dedication from your team or group members but you can still have a super profitable and fun fundraiser!

Jenny Ann is an expert fundraiser and writes exclusively for ABC Fundraising.
For other great fundraising ideas and to receive a Free sample go to http://www.AbcFundraising.com
America’s #1 Fundraisers

Putting on a school fundraising event can be a hair pulling experience. This is especially true if you are the one in charge of planning it. Here are 7 simple guidelines that may help you run a smooth and profitalble school fundraising program

1.) Plan for Success

Efficient planning is integral to the success of not only your school fundraising campaign but any project you might think of. Without a well thought out plan of action chaos will reign and your project will suffer as a result no matter how good your fundraising ideas are. In fact, you should have a primary plan as well as a secondary and tertiary.

2.) There can be Only One!

There can only be one captain of a ship and the same holds true for your school fundraising program. Too many chiefs and not enough Indians is a recipe for failure as well as a bad idea. Pick a competent person to be in charge and then let them be in charge.

3.) Delegate Authority

Assign specific tasks to people in whom you have confidence and trust. In your planning create a list of tasks that must be accomplished and choose personnel for each task. Ensure that each of your chosen staff understands that accountability for their assigned task falls squarely on their shoulders.

4.) Promotion is the Key

Get the word our about your school fundraiser. Promoting your school fundraising project will help you greatly in the quest to reach your goals. Send out press releases to local media outlets. Don’t forget your own school web page is a great way to post your fundraising ideas and opportunities and get the word out about it. The type of fundraiser you are planning will dictate if creating promotional flyers and soliciting local business to place them in store windows would be helpful in making your fundraising event better. There are many ways to promote an event and you should take advantage of as many of them as possible.

5.) Pre-Sell for Success

This tactic will work effectively for any type of school fundraising event. If your fundraiser is an event like a dance or dinner or some kind of ticketed event, you will do much better pre-selling your tickets. Start early in getting your fundraising machine going. When items such as cookie dough or Christmas gift items are your main products start mentioning it to friends, family, and neighbors ahead of time.

6.) Multiple Income Streams

Do not put all of your eggs in one basket. Multiple income streams have been a recipe for success in business for many years and you should be running your school fundraising just like a business. If you are placing your whole years planning on the success of only one program, then you may find yourself in a shortfall. You might even have another nearby school start the same thing your were planning to do the week before you kick your fundraiser off. If you are located in a small town, this can be a huge blow to your school fundraising success. Try using multiple events to your advantage. This is an excellent way to reach your goal as quickly as possible and spread out some of the risk.

7.) Post Event Analysis

While not part of the actual event planning phase this is something that you should not overlook. Analyze how each of your school fundraising efforts performed. Which ones did your customers like the best? Which ones made you the most money? What school fundraising event was the easiest to do? You can use your analysis of your current campaign to enhance future fundraising efforts. It is especially helpful to write these things down in a journal for the next board to view in case all the faces on the board change from year to year. Doing this will make it much easier on the inexperience leaders who follow you to pick up where you left off!

Copyright (c) 2008 AIM Fundraising

Coming up with fundraising ideas that are profitable should be a simple process. If you have been disappointed with your school fundraising results lately, then click on one of the links above and see how you can improve your results.

Church Fundraising is a very effective way to reach out to your community, build member relationships, and raise funds for your organization. Church fundraising is necessary to keep a church running and especially if the church is seeking to build or expand its current building. Church fundraising is a very rewarding experience, not only for you, and the church, but from the standpoint of those who donate as well.

Fundraising

Church fundraising starts with careful planning and delegation of responsibilities, which can then grow into great church fundraiser ideas. There are a lot of different fundraising ideas/events and choosing the right one for your Church can be a challenging task. An important thing to realize is that you have an entire congregation of individuals that can help you brainstorm, and implement the church fundraising ideas.

Fundraising is more than a single mere financial tool. Church fundraising provides an effective way to reach out to the community for donations as well as to spread the word about your Church. Church Fundraising is special and held in a high regard due to the fact that the only way a church and its ministries will thrive is directly tied to the success of the church fundraisers.

Events

Fund raising events can be done in a small or large scale. There are different types of church fundraising ranging from tithing/offerings donated during religious services to phone solicitations, direct mail campaigns, and specific types of church fundraising events like gala dinner events or bake sales. Other event options include youth rallies, youth worship services, retreats, concerts, endurance events, movie nights, auctions, and other fun and life-changing opportunities. These events are for building community ties, worship, service, outreach, and fun.

Volunteers

The congregation is a wonderful place to recruit the help you need that goes into getting a church fundraising event together. In addition to asking for monetary donations, take advantage of the wide range of talents in your church congregation/ministries and canvass your membership for help. It is important to take into consideration the talents and skills of the volunteers that will be working on the Church fundraiser when contemplating different fundraising ideas. Make sure that your volunteers thoroughly understand the plan with a clear picture of objectives and are motivated through praise for their good works.

Church fundraising is a great way of getting everyone in the church together for a social activity, and at the same time to generate some money for the church. Remember, every dollar that you earn through church fundraising is an extra dollar for your building program, youth program, or other ministry needs. As well as raising money for church projects, church fundraising is a great way to build community within your church and increase membership by showing that your church plays a vital and important role within your community.

For guidance, tips, techniques, events, and ideas that can be the foundation for your church fundraising efforts visit us at http://www.church-fundraising-idea.org James S. Brown is the author of Church Fundraising Idea Guide an all inclusive Church Fundraising Guide. Church Fundraising can be a very rewarding experience for all that participate.

Need money and support? The best and most practical way to get it is to fund raise. Fundraisers are profitable, fun, and well worth the trouble of organizing. You may be raising financial support for relief during a calamity or a tragedy, or the funds may be intended to support a particular organization. Nonetheless, a fundraising event works just like any other fundraising activity since it aims to collect money during donations, although usually in exchange for a particular service or product.

Fundraising vs. Donation Solicitation

Fundraiser events are organized by various groups and kinds of people and organizations-from multimillion companies to small non-profit organizations, from ordinary individuals to people of power and influence. The idea here is that the revenue gained from the fundraising event will not be used for personal gain. So why are fundraiser events more preferred than donation solicitation? Many view donation solicitation as too aggressive. Also, contrary to what many may think, donation solicitation will take too much time and effort. A fundraising event is a one-time event. Soliciting donations, on the other hand, is a continuous process. Besides, how many donations will an organization need to receive in order to collect sufficient funds?

Fundraising – A Mutual Benefit

The advantage of fundraising events is the exchange for the monetary support donors will give. The donors do not simply give their money to the fundraising event – they give it because they are expecting something in return. And what they will get depends on what type of fundraiser event an organization or individual plans to hold.

For example, a popular fundraising event idea is the car wash fundraiser. People will give money to the fundraisers and in turn, the fundraisers will wash the car of the donors. Other popular fundraising events include benefit dinners, benefit concerts, bake sales, auctions, and benefit sporting competitions. In all of these endeavors, the fundraisers provide something for the money they will receive. A popular form of fundraising done today is the televised fundraiser, where celebrities encourage viewers to phone in their donation pledges. Those who phoned in will then deposit their pledges in designated bank accounts.

Making Profit

Of course, the services or products given at fundraising events are more expensive if compared to their normal prices. This is expected and acceptable – after all, fundraiser events are held with the purpose to gain revenue in mind. Generally, fundraising events are not the best place to look for a bargain, although there are some exceptions, such as when the fundraising event is an auction or a bargain sale.

Imagination – the Key to Fundraising Success

Forming the fundraising activity into an event not only dramatically increases the revenue. It can also spread awareness and interest, which are both important if the fundraising event is done for a sports team or for a particular advocacy. Hence, many do not consider pre-order fundraising as a fundraising event, since it is merely an activity which is done to collect funds and not an actual event. Holding a fundraising event is definitely more exciting and more dynamic, and can obviously attract more supporters and donors. Door-to-door fundraisers may be effective, but it is bland and lifeless. Fundraising events inject life to charity.

So use your imagination! Be creative and different. Stand out from the crowd and turn heads with your fundraising event. And as long as you remember to stay organized and to have fun, success should be at your fingertips.

Jessi McCafferty writes about fundraising and recommends the friendly folks over at http://www.easy-fundraising-ideas.com/ as a great resource for accurate information and profitable fundraising product ideas.
Easy Fundraising Ideas is the fastest growing internet based fundraising company in the country. With their legendary service and help, they make you the hero!

In the last four years, the number of websites that help individuals design and implement their own group fundraising campaigns has exploded. Networks of friends, family, and activists can now raise money effecitvely and collectively for any number of causes. But with all the options available, sometimes it is difficult to know which platform to choose and how best to put it to use.

This guide features:

5 questions to ask yourself before starting a fundraising campaign, and

3 factors to consider when choosing a group fundraising platform.

A New Model for Fundraising
The phenomenon goes by several names: viral fundraising, team fundraising, grassroots fundraising, group fundraising, and even network-centric fundraising. In each case, the concept is the same.

An individual or group creates a page on a website and sets a fundraising goal on behalf of a non-profit organization or project. The initiator then emails friends and family requesting financial support for the cause.

On occasion, friends and family are so enthusiastic that they forward the announcement to their individual networks. Sometimes news of the project reaches the “blogosphere” or catches the attention of a journalist.

Suddenly thousands of people are responding and the fundraising goal is met in record time. Well, that’s the best case scenario. More often than not, close friends, family, and a few anonymous philanthropists come through with the cash needed to meet the fundraising goal.

Group fundraising success stories can be found on most websites that provide the service. Here are links to a few collections: FirstGiving Storybook, GiveMeaning Successes (click on the “Successes” tab), Fundable: Recently Completed Group Actions.

Reflecting the diverse interests of donors, viral fundraising delivers cash to initiatives as distinct as one-person independent projects and full blown BINGOs (slang for Big International Non-Governmental Organizations).

If you have friends, family, and a passion for a specific issue, then you’re ready to start a group fundraising campaign.

Starting a Group Fundraising Campaign
Before initiating a fundraising campaign, there are five important questions you’ll need to answer.

What issue does your campaign target?
Where is the money going to go?
Who can you ask for financial support?
When do you need to meet the fundraising goal?
How are you going to convince people to support the campaign?

Unfortunately, most network-centric fundraising websites offer limited support in helping individuals to respond to these questions. They provide the tools with the expectation that visitors will supply the vision.

Selecting a Fundraising Website
Your responses to the “getting started” questions will probably influence your choice of a group fundraising website. Below are three factors you should think about when choosing one of the nine websites mentioned in this guide.

Factor 1: Registered Non-profit versus Informal Project
Most team fundraising websites are very selective in the organizations and projects you can raise money on behalf. They often limit the recipient list to registered non-profit organizations.

Firstgiving, JustGive, Network for Good and whatgoesaround.org (WGA), for example, use GuideStar’s registry of 1,500,000 U.S.-based non-profit organizations.

All fundraising campaigns that make use of these four websites must target an organization that is represented in the GuideStar directory. GuideStar is an online service that displays the public records and contact information for all U.S.-based 501(c)3 organizations.

JustGiving is the British sister company of FirstGiving (mentioned above). Their website uses the same technology as FirstGiving, but requires that individual campaigns target non-profit organizations registered in the United Kingdom.

GiveMeaning, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, allows individual fundraisers to build a campaign on behalf of any registered U.S. or Canadian non-profit organization. GiveMeaning also offers personal support in formulating a fundraising campaign and selecting an organization. If you have identified the cause but are looking for a worthy organization, the staff at GiveMeaning will help you identify a list of potential recipients.

All of the websites mentioned so far are obliged to deliver funds to registered non-profit organizations. Drop Cash, Fundable.org, and ChipIn permit users to raise money for any individual, group, company, or non-profit organization.

These sites do not automatically offer a tax receipt on monies collected. As a result, Drop Cash, Fundable.org, and ChipIn are ideal for raising money on behalf of an unincorporated individual do-gooder, a religious or church group that lacks 501(c)3 status, an initiative that does not have non-profit certification, or an informal group of people working on an independent project.

ChipIn’s check out system, however, allows the campaign founder to customize the “thank you” message. This feature can be used to insert an organization’s EIN number for tax-deduction purposes. The resulting email receipts could serve as proof of a tax-deductable donation.

Factor 2: How much are you willing to pay?
The biggest drawback to online group fundraising is that the amount collected is usually subject to a 3% to 8% commission. Virtually all of the websites mentioned in this guide charge a commission for accessing their tools and for processing online donations.

GiveMeaning is an exception in this regard. The Vancouver-based foundation uses corporate sponsorship (banner advertising) to offset the costs associated with delivering funds to the recipient organizations and projects.

As long as you’re willing to accept a banner ad hovering over your personal fundraising page, GiveMeaning offers a platform that ensures the maximum amount of cash reaches its target. All of GiveMeaning’s banner ads are screened to ensure that only ads for socially responsible companies appear on the site. GiveMeaning also honors requests from campaign organizers to have certain ads blocked if there is an ethical conflict between the advertisement and the fundraising campaign.

JustGive and whatgoesaround.org offer the second most affordable platform for delivering funds to a registered non-profit organization or project.

Both sites apply a 3% charge on all donations in order to recover charges related to processing credit cards. Network for Good comes in third with a service charge of 4.75% (effective November 1, 2006).

Unfortunately, JustGive, whatgoesaround.org, and Network for Good do not currently permit users to specify a fundraising goal or to display a barometer of progress made toward reaching that goal.

According to Katya Andresen, Vice President for Marketing,Network for Good is planning to launch personal fundraising web widgets in late November 2006, which will allow individuals to track and publish the amount they have raised.

DropCash, a freeware online project created by Andre Torez and Jason Kottke, relies entirely on PayPal for credit card processing. The site passes a fee of roughly 3% from PayPal to the fundraisers.

When ChipIn launches in November 2006, it will offer three forms of payment: via PayPal, directly to a checking account, and by way of a conventional check. Initially, ChipIn campaigns will not be subject to any commission beyond the cost of credit card or PayPal processing. Olin Lagon, Chief Operating Officer, reports that ChipIn will eventually add an additional commission of 1% to 2% for certain types of group fundraising campaigns while continuing to provide a commission-free version for the remaining campaigns.

FirstGiving and its sister company JustGiving both charge 5% on all funds raised, in addition to the credit card processing fee (fixed at 2.35% and 1.4% respectively). Both entities are for-profit businesses. They offer sophisticated email support for contacting friends and family, and provide advanced tracking of progress made toward the fundraising goal (see special features below). But along with these tools comes the 5% commission.

Despite the commission, many nonprofits are turning to FirstGiving and JustGiving to coordinate their viral fundraising programs. The company reports threefold increases in the amount of money raised through group fundraising compared to traditional offline fundraising. FirstGiving provides a list of case studies that demonstrate how the 5% commission can quickly pay for itself.

Thanks to a U.K. charity program called Gift Aid, all donations made through JustGiving receive a top-up of 28%, which offsets both the commission and the credit card processing fee. A £10 donation becomes £11.93.

Fundable applies the largest commission on money raised. Like FirstGiving, JustGiving, and ChipIn, Fundable is a for-profit business. They charge a 7% commission on all donations, in addition to the credit card processing fees.

If commissions are the determining factor in your campaign, then GiveMeaning would make the most sense for U.S.- and Canada-based campaigns. ChipIn or DropCash would provide the platforms of choice for individuals collecting money for non-registered organizations and projects.

In some cases, however, the special features that come with a group fundraising platform can reduce the importance of the commission and processing fees.

Factor 3: Special Features
Every group fundraising campaign is unique. Sometimes the initiator requires sophisticated email support and tracking of all donations made. Other group fundraising campaigns call for barebones email support but a speedy start-up and check out procedure.

The table below details the unique features of each grassroots fundraising website mentioned in this article. Pros and cons are listed in the last two columns on the right.

View the table of Group Fundraising Websites [http://www.first-of-its-kind.org/site/how-to-use-the-internet-for-group-fundraising]