Today in the digital world, the website is one of the key tools for fundraising. All other digital tools like emailer, social media posts, etc. direct the donor to the website where the final step of ‘donating’ actually takes place; and in fundraising, this step is indeed the key. “Donate”/ “Donate Now” button on the website is where the donation process is initiated and thus, it is important that this is appropriately included in the website. Everyone visiting the website is a prospect. It … [Read more...] about How to include a “Donate”/ “Donate Now” Button on your charity organisation’s website?
Why is transparency important for fundraising?
For a donor, it is important to know where and how the donation made by them is being utilised. This will not only make them feel satisfied but will ensure that they repeat donations. For them, to donate- options are many. One of these is to donate directly to an NGO. But their numbers are large, for example, in India, there are over 2 million charity organisations; in the US, there are over 1.5 million charity organisations and so on. This makes the competition tough! Transparency is one such … [Read more...] about Why is transparency important for fundraising?
How does membership for supporters in your charity organisation is Beneficial?
In a charity organisation, membership can be of various forms. It also depends on the structure of the organisation. In some cases, membership is referred to as trustee and in others as supporters. Having membership for supporters is beneficial in various ways: Fees against specific benefits: One can charge membership fees, which could be monthly or annual, depending on how extensively members are involved. Thus, this is an additional income. However, there need to be specific benefits … [Read more...] about How does membership for supporters in your charity organisation is Beneficial?
Should there be a minimum amount of donation?
Sometimes when your fundraisers are interacting with a donor, they are often asked by the donor about the minimum amount, as they feel it’s a donation and any donation amount should be acceptable. For an organisation, it’s important to fix a minimum amount of donation (both for monthly and one-time) and accordingly work out details to communicate to donors too. Some of the basic and essential costs that you would incur include expenses towards: Servicing the donor including sending … [Read more...] about Should there be a minimum amount of donation?
What is Donor Management System?
Donor Management System (DMS) is not-for-profit’s customer relationship management (CRM) system and is a means to compile, organise, analyse and strategically implement communication strategy so as to maintain and grow the relationship with the donor. In other words, it’s a tool to maintain all the donor-related information so that the same could be used for the fundraising strategy. For a not-for-profit, the donor is the key as the organisation is dependent on his/ her support for its … [Read more...] about What is Donor Management System?
What kind of Risks and Mitigation should be included in the Project Proposal?
Risks are uncertain events or conditions, that if happens, may hamper the project goal and objectives, or delay the project activities and deliverables; depending upon type and the period for which the risk remains active. In a project proposal, donors want to know about the possible risks and its mitigation plan, as they would like to be sure that you are able to forecast the possible risks and have built in steps/mechanisms so that the impacts of these risks on the project goals and objectives … [Read more...] about What kind of Risks and Mitigation should be included in the Project Proposal?
What is a Gantt. Chart and how to develop a Gantt. Chart in a project proposal?
A Gantt. Chart is a project management tool, named after its inventor, Henry Gantt, who designed such a chart around the years 1910–1915. It is presented as a horizontal bar chart with tasks over time. It is a useful tool and assists in the planning of projects of all sizes and helps to present complex projects in simple ways. During project execution too, this is useful to help ensure all required tasks are initiated and completed in time. Though the Gantt. Chart can also be made complex … [Read more...] about What is a Gantt. Chart and how to develop a Gantt. Chart in a project proposal?
How does a Gantt Chart help the donor agencies?
For the donor, this is quite helpful as it provides a quick overview of project activities and the corresponding deliverables at a glance. It helps the donor understand almost complete project execution plan through a single chart!It helps the NGO/Project Agency also in getting a reviewed look at the various activities and how the execution and accomplishing of different project activities are linter-inked. The other advantage of a Gantt. Chart is that it is very helpful in project monitoring. … [Read more...] about How does a Gantt Chart help the donor agencies?
What is a Corpus Fund and why it is important for an NGO to maintain Corpus Fund?
Corpus Fund is a fund that an NGO can use when its survival is at threat or during a phase/period where project funds are very limited. It can simply be also called as “Emergency Fund”, as it is also used to help sustain the difficult times of an NGO. Given its nature, this is also called subsistence fund.An important aspect of the Corpus fund is that, with general body meeting approval, it can also be used to keep continuity in an organisation activity, say, when the grant is still not … [Read more...] about What is a Corpus Fund and why it is important for an NGO to maintain Corpus Fund?
In the area of fund raising, who are HNIs and how to get HNIs signed-up as supporters for your organisation?
HNIs are High Net-worth Individuals, meaning those having high net worth resource with them and thus, have a high potential of giving/donating.There is no specific definition of whom to call HNI and each organisation may develop and follow their own definitions and maintain their own databases of HNIs. In the Indian context, many organisations treat those individuals having an annual income of INR 7 million (USD 0.1 million) to INR 35 million (USD 0.5 million) as HNIs and they are large partners … [Read more...] about In the area of fund raising, who are HNIs and how to get HNIs signed-up as supporters for your organisation?
What are fundraising products and how to develop one?
Like in a market, when we go to buy any item or thing, we call such visible, tangible outputs, as products. In a charity organisation, based on the work the charity organisation is involved in doing, the impact of the work in the form of a difference it makes can be packaged into a fundraising product.Some examples of fundraising product are Children enrolled in school, patients provided with medical care, young people provided with skill training, books developed and published, etc. Fundraising … [Read more...] about What are fundraising products and how to develop one?
How to write a thank you letter to the donor?
A thank you letter is the most important form of gratitude from the charity organisation to the donor for the contribution received from them. Key elements of such a letter include:Mandatory information like date, donor’s addressSubject- This is the most important section of the letter. The subject should be short, mentioning thank you and the purpose or impact of the donation. For example- Thank You for your kind support towards sending a girl child to school.The body of the letter could … [Read more...] about How to write a thank you letter to the donor?
What are in-kind contributions and how to secure them?
In-kind contributions: The support that you receive from donors for your charity can be of two kinds:- Cash- when there is a direct monetary support; and - In-kind- which is, non-monetary support, for which you would have otherwise spent In-kind contribution could include:A donated product- for example- computer and peripherals, equipment’s, furniture, educational material, etc.A donated service- for example- finance audit expert service provided by a finance firmA voluntary (non-core) service - … [Read more...] about What are in-kind contributions and how to secure them?
Why do you need unrestricted funds?
There are certain core expenses of your organisation, which may not be funded by any donor. There are certain policy advocacy related activities, which donors may not be willing to fund but as an NGO it is important to undertake such activities, as it is required to achieve the mission of your organisation.In certain projects, there are components like your organisation contribution, which is mandatory to get a project grant. Whether this is done in cash or in kind, you will still need some … [Read more...] about Why do you need unrestricted funds?
How to raise unrestricted funds?
Since unrestricted funds are not bounded by an agreement, any method that does not bound the donation received by your organisation under specific expense head, is unrestricted funds for your organisation. The first recommended step is that while making your organisation budget, estimate how much of unrestricted funds would be required by you in the upcoming financial year. One way to reduce the pressure of the amount of unrestricted funds to be raised is, charging overheads in the project … [Read more...] about How to raise unrestricted funds?
