Fundraising for any Non-profit is Optional.
Why?
Getting the money an organization needs is a mindset.
Mindsets have been closed because, well, if the organization is non-profit, it’s automatic that it fundraises. This is a myth. There many ways a non-profit can get the money it needs to operate and help their cause.
Really? Really!
How?
First, adopt a mindset that a non-profit is a business like any other.
Small business can be as profitable as large multinational corporations – it’s only a matter of zeros. Both can be successful in their own right.
Next, creativity can produce options which many organizations are blind to.
One organization’s board to whom I delivered a workshop about the board’s roles and responsibilities was stumped as to what to do to raise the money they needed. How blind were they? They claimed to have over 40,000 people on their mailing list. If they asked 40,000 fans to donate $5 or $10, do you think most of them would? Of course. Look at the numbers: $200,000 to $400,000 just by asking. They had a lot of events and activities with huge potential to raise money. But they just couldn’t see it.
Yet, they wouldn’t hire a consultant or a facilitator to help them get passed their blind spots – attending.
Brainstorm Options 
Why do you think large organizations want wealthy patrons?
Because of the big cheques these people can produce – tax deductible for their business.
One organization I know never fundraises and never has had to fundraise. The founder and the members of the board are a closed shop who support the cause entirely – entirely!
Another organization requires board members to pay to be on the board. You heard right – pay to be on the board. They created an “advantage” for board members to join and board members happily pay to sit on the board. Over and above their “fee”, they are required to fundraise X number of dollars every year or they lose their place on the board. Fundraising, this case, usually means writing another cheque!
Build a business. Many organizations have become very successful at selling services and/or products to support their cause, some with bragging rights for patrons. They never have to “ask for money” because they’ve created a highly successful produce/service line.
Fundraising is optional. It depends how well the organization utilizing imagination, knowledge, skills and markets available to them.
All a group needs to do is look at what they have, what they can offer the marketplace and use some imagination. How much fun can that be? A lot.
Lorraine Arams
On Contract Only
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