How to Raise Money for a Good Cause

People are good-hearted, and they want to help out when a great cause appeals to them. If you are interested in helping one of your local Non-profits raise money, here are a few ways you can get involved today.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Internet Connection
• Writing Skills
• Email account
• Access to social networking sites

1. Host a fundraising party. A little time and effort can go along way. For detailed information, see my previous article, “How to Host a Fundraising Party.”
2. Join a walk-a-thon for the cause you are interested in. Most large, national or state-wide Non-profits will host walk-a-thons or other yearly events that allow passionate people to raise money. Contact your local Non-profit or do a Google search to find out when the next one is.
3. Start a fundraising campaign through your friends and acquaintances, using viral marketing through email and with social networking sites. The best way to initially get the word out is through word of mouth. Supply each person with a series of points about what you are doing, or what it is you are promoting, and why it is great and important. Use sites like Myspace and Facebook to get the word out. Send emails and write bulletins. Ask people to help you spread the word by reposting bulletins and contacting their friends through the network. See my previous article on “How to Start a Viral Publicity Campaign Online” for more information.
4. Use Widgets and Blogs. Widgets are an application you can add to your Blog or social networking site that acts as a fundraising tool. Basically, it is a paste-able piece of code that you put on your Blog or Web site to provide content or a service.
5. Volunteer. All Non-profits use a volunteer work-force of some kind to help keep their costs down. Your skills can be put to work in a variety of ways, whether office skills, phone skills, or more advanced skills like web design and accounting. Contact your local Non-profit and ask how they can put you to work. You’ll meet new friends and feel great!
6. Write grants. If you are raising money for a Non-profit organization, there are hundreds of grants available for various causes, activities and events. You can search on http://foundationcenter.org/ to find out what grants are being given similar Non-profits, and then look up that foundation’s guidelines to write a grant of your own.

Tips & Warnings

• You might want to take a grant writing class if the grant writing process is unfamiliar to you.
• Always contact the Non-profit before attempting to raise money for them. Many larger Non-profits will already have a grant writing team in place, and you do not want to step on their on-going efforts.
• When writing a grant, always follow the foundation’s grant guidelines closely. If you do not, it will look bad on the part of the organization.