| Just how are you
still standing, were the words uttered to the executive director of the
arts organization as he sat down with the others! This was a meeting of
non profits and many of which where on the verge of or had recently closed
their doors for good and no one could figure out how this particularly
small organization was not only staying afloat but thriving during this
economic recession! This scenario is being played out all around the country as the non profit organizations are faced with grim reality of looking for operational and program funding without the support of the community, city or government. The money for many of these projects and organizations simply isn't there and their constituents in many cases are not in a financial position to invest into the vision of the organization. |
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In the last 18 months we have witnessed an unprecedented number of closures in the non profit arena with experts predicting that things will continue to get worse as more people lose their homes and jobs! The people simply do not have the monies to donate to worthy causes in many cases because they are already behind on their current obligations and when it comes down to it, their personal bills comes before the non profits mission. Couple that with the already cumbersome grant process and you truly have a recipe for disaster where one has to seriously consider if there is a plot to destroy all non profit organizations. It's truly very hard out there for a non profit organization to exist. Even the major non profits are having issues with donation shortfalls and operational budget overruns. Is there a solution? Of course there is and I am thankful for the opportunity to share some of these ideas with you! The first tip is know that because this is a recession you will really need to run a super tight ship that has no room for excess expenditures. Many non profits were already running with skeleton crews but during a recession that problem gets even worse so as hard as it may seem you will need to ensure that you only have paid staff persons in the most critical positions. You will also want to ask for volunteers with specialized knowledge to lend their time in light of their money. You will then look for what I call innovative monetization strategies. Basically what part of your non profits mission and scope of work can be broken down into products that consumers and supporters will want and/or need to purchase. We can go a couple ways with this one so let me give you a few examples of what I am talking about here. Lets say your non profit creates art projects for public display. You could have an annual calendar displaying 12 of your projects from the last year that you could distribute for donations at the end of the year. This serves 2 primary purposes with an added intangible benefit. First it puts your organization right there in the home of your supporter where they see it all the time and get a constant reminder that your non profit still exists and is depending on them for support. It also now serves as a conversation starter as others will see it and inquire which could potentially lead to a new supporter or donation even. You also now have a growing database of potential new volunteers and supporters from the people new to your organization who purchase a calendar. These initial contacts when followed up over time can produce huge dividends for a growing non profit that is always seeking more resources. The last and most important part of this involves the actual commerce and product creation mindset. Understand that as a progressive non profit organization you must continue to look for ways to push the envelope and create residual income streams. Having a panel or sub committee who continually works on new funding opportunities based off the current portfolio of projects should be a part of every boards make up. Over the last 15 months we have perfected a innovative fundraising system that is quite simply the best thing to happen in the non profit world since the creation of the 501c3 designation. Powerful words but when you implement our fundraising system you begin to experience some things not seen often in your smaller non profit organizations who seem to always struggle financially. With our system we are taking small non profits who are on financial life support and we literally walk them through a no cost process that in as little as 48 hours can create a growing monthly residual income stream for the organization. So in essence, once you implement our system in your area you will begin to see instant results that will simply blow you away! For instance, Jackson State University in Mississippi just recently raised over $25,000 using our system! Now what would an extra $25,000 do for your organization, do you think you could complete a few more outreach programs or green light that big project you have been wanting to do. Can I guarantee your organization will raise that kind of money, of course not, but what if you only did 20% as good as they did! And did I mention that the income stream comes back next month and next month and next month and I think you get the picture. So just how do you get your hands on this program and all of the details you ask? Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tyron_Mcdaniel Need fundraising assistance? Call us toll free 1-866-813-9437 To return to the Article index please click here
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