Trying to raise money for that special project, emergency, or charitable venue can be a task but with the options available to day the chances of success are increased.

In the old days the chances of success with a fundraiser depended on lots of work regarding setting up things via print, holding events, and the like. It took lots of time, effort, and money just to get off the ground floor. This meant a lot of planning and sacrifice that didn’t always translate into success. Today the odds of your success increases because you now have a global reach thanks to the internet.

The internet is the game changer regarding fundraising success. The reason being is because you’re able to search, analyze, and contact untold millions of people who may be interested in your project or cause. Whether it’s to rescue pets, save the plants, fix a school, it doesn’t matter, there is going to be some people who are passionate about a legitimate cause and want to participate and hook things up.

The old ways aren’t to be sneezed at but they may not be as effective. It’s on a case by case basis and that means you need to examine and evaluate the ways to fundraise and apply the ones that are going to get you the results you need. Covering the old school ways and the new school ways means a broader chance of success.

1.) Send out snail mail promo

The old tried and true method of sending out snail mailings still works. Ou need to make sure you are sending out a a message that clearly explains what your goal is and if your cause is nonprofit, not for profit, or just a plea for help. In your mailings you should include picture or pictures, graphics, statistics, testimonials and well written copy that covers the entire gambit of what you’re raising money for. Contact information should be clear and prominent so that people don’t get confused. Terms of the fundraising must be prominent as well. There may or may not be laws in your area regarding mailings for fundraising so you need to be aware of them and compliant. Once you’ve got your mailings out make sure your phone and messaging systems are good to go and wait and respond accordingly. Your mailings might include your email or links to your websites or blogs. Put as much pertinent info in your mailings and you’ll have a strong foundation to work from.

2.) Hold an event

This might be costly but experts at fundraising events know the routine. You generally rent a hall or auditorium and serve dinner, lunch, maybe even a pancake breakfast. These are still very popular events and go back a very long time. Again, this allows you to talk directly to the public, hand out flyers, posters, mailings, gather information, share information, and make lots of friends and perhaps gather up extra volunteers. People love to pitch in and help and when they find someone doing something fun they’ll stand up and be accountable. They’ll then share your info to their friends and on down the line. You could get some local press or more especially if you’re lucky ot have a celebrity connection such as a hometown sports or television or recording star who likes your cause as well. This kind of event can be sponsored and takes some footwork to do but you can do very well with hit.

3.) Contests and raffles

Again, a tried and true way of raising funds! Nothing works like a good contest or raffle. It takes ome legwork but it can be quite a resounding success. There are laws regarding such things so check with your local attorney to make sure you follow the rules and are in compliance with the law. What you want to do here is give something away that is valuable and desirable to as broad an audience you can. You can get local stores to contribute things like computers, sports equipment, clothing, big ticket items like refrigerators, air conditioners and more. You sell tickets by hand or by mailings, website, blogs etc. Even social media. Again check with the law to make sure you’re not violating some rule or regulation. Once you’ve sold enough tickets to the contest or raffle you’ll have raised a good deal of money for your cause. Make the winning person’s victory one they’ll and the public will remember and you should find you’re making more friends than you thought of. Having 1st to 3rd prizes is a good idea and giving those that didn’t win anything some kind of goodie might be an idea too. It makes them feel like you’re a good person to trust and your cause one to support regardless.

Contests are awesome. Beauty contests, pet competitions, fishing contests, sports, cooking, you name a talet and you can have a contest surrounding it. Participants pay to join, the public pays to show up, local stores contribute their goods and services for advertising and support and you’re rocking and rolling. This can be a major step up if successful because if popular and newsworthy you can bet that people will remember and can’t wait for your next event. Don’t underestimate contests for raising funds.

4.) Social media

Social media is proving a major boon to fundraising. It’s due tot he fact you can reach people who are not only interested in what your cause is but you can reach them worldwide. With the click of a mouse you can reach who knows how many people on a global basis and solicit funding. Using sites like Facebook have become the choice for social media fundraising. It’s due to the massive reach of the site. It also has categories where you can target the choices and find like minded people. Just one post might solve your fundraising needs due to things going viral. Using social media strategically can be a major source of fundraising and millions of people and organizations around the world use it.

5.) Crowdfunding

The new kid on the block for raising money is crowdfunding. Crowdfunding has been around since the late 1990s but is now a powerhouse in fundraising. Sites like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Gofundme, are taking the planet by storm. Other crowdfunding sites in other countries are doing as well. The reach, targeting, and ease at which these sites work are amazing. It’s no guarantee that you’ll be successful at crowdfunding but it does enhance your chances of success rather fast. You’ll need to study the successful ways that crowdfunders achieve. Some have big fan sites that contribute to the traffic to their crowdfunding pages. You might need to hire a crowdfunding pro to help out. Either way, crowdfunding isn’t something to be underestimated regarding fundraising.

Overall

Fundraising is still a viable way to get things off the ground. Using the classic and new techniques can be the difference between success and failure. Study and you’ll do well.