The key to continued fundraising success is to follow-up afterwards: Supporters and participants need to be thanked.

Merchant contributors need to be debriefed on their results from participating. Records need to be gathered, copied, and stored.

Communicate the results to everyone involved.

Informing everyone who took part in your most recent fundraising is of utmost importance. Nothing charges up your organization for the future better than a group celebration.

Give recognition to your volunteers.

Enjoy the sound of “We did it!”

Conduct a post-mortem analysis of the fundraiser just completed.

Gather information and record impressions while everything is still fresh. Make notes about supplier relationships, any process problems, and what aspects need fine-tuning for the next time around.

Gather those recommendations for future fundraisers.
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Here are four keys to better nonprofit fundraising results.

Non-profit fundraising is all about multiple streams of income, so how do you make more money for your organization?

Simple. When you put together your annual plan, you need to include as many ways to raise money as possible.

So, you’re probably thinking: ‘That’s easy for you to say, but how exactly do I go about it?’ Easy! You just have to be “smart” about it, with a well thought-out plan that doesn’t make too many demands on any one facet of your organization.

Every fundraiser that you conduct places various demands on your volunteers, your supporters, and your leadership. Those demands can be time consuming, expensive, and stressful.

The more large-scale fundraisers you conduct in one year’s time, the greater the load you place on the people you depend on.

You need to be ‘smart’ in how you go about your fundraising.

Four Keys to Non-Profit Fundraising:

Think Smart
Plan Smart
Work Smart
Be Smart

Non-Profit Fundraising – THINK SMART
Thinking smart means taking the time to review past results and strategizing about how to do better this year.

If you don’t spend some time brainstorming some new and creative ideas to increase your bottom line, how are you going to rise above last year’s results?

Define your three best income streams. Now, daydream a little about what changes or enhancements you can make that will add additional volume to those streams.

Non-profit fund-raising is all about reaching more people with a compelling message that inspires them to take immediate action to assist your organization.

How can you reach more people? By exploiting two things – personal networks and personal motivators.

Your non-profit fund-raising has to be structured to achieve maximum leverage of everyone’s self interest by providing sufficient incentives for giving time or money to your cause.

How can you make your message more compelling? By giving it ‘story-like’ visual imagery that speaks to your supporters emotions.

Decisions are made on an emotional level, not a logical one. A ‘story’ allows people to visualize their contribution having a positive impact on what they’ve visualized.

How can you inspire a higher percentage to immediate action? By combining your story with a call to action.

A call to action leverages the immediacy of the emotional reaction to your story with a request to help now BECAUSE their contribution will have a positive impact.

Everyone wants to help. They just have to be properly coached about your situation and motivated to act now.

Non-Profit Fundraising – PLAN SMART
Planning smart means taking concrete action to put your ideas into an annual business plan. Yes, I did say ‘business plan.’

No self-respecting, non-profit fund-raising organization should be without a written business plan to guide their fundraising efforts.

Your plan should spell out roles and goals along with detailed instructions on how you’ll get there. It should be grounded in the past and targeted at the future.

Each non-profit fund-raising activity should be broken down into the necessary action steps that will produce the highest level of results with the most cost-effective effort.

Everyone should know exactly what’s expected of them. A well-organized team where everyone understands their role is able to execute their mission flawlessly.

Everyone should know and be able to state your group’s value proposition.

If they can’t articulate, in two sentences or less, a convincing reason why you are raising funds, then you need a plan that helps communicate your message more effectively.

Non-Profit Fundraising – WORK SMART
Working smart means taking your plan and putting it into action with an eye towards getting the most bottom line results from every facet of your organization.

You’ll get the best long-term results if you stay focused on not overburdening your volunteers, your supporters, and your leadership. Overworking volunteers will ensure that many will not be around to help next year.
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Looking for a good fundraising idea? Candle sales are easy and profitable. What, exactly, is a candle fundraiser?

Candle fundraisers are your basic order taker fundraiser. You need to do more than just show pictures of candles. Showing fragrant samples will dramatically boost your candle fundraiser’s results.

The basic concept is the same as all order taker fundraisers. You equip your sellers with a brochure, an order form, and a basic sales script.

The brochure describes the various candle selections and provides details on color, aroma, size, shape, weight, and container type. Price points are usually on the order form itself.

Unlike candy or cookie dough, it’s easy for your sellers to carry samples. Their non-perishable nature makes them a great fit for weeklong sales efforts.

One of the great things about candle fundraisers is how the aroma of your samples makes the selling process so much easier. Most buyers will sniff several samples and imagine how the candles will fill their homes with their pleasant smells.

Perennial favorites are french vanilla, bayberry, apple, pumpkin spice, apple cinnamon, holiday pine, melon burst, and citrus breeze.

Candle sizes range from small two-ounce votive candles all the way up to giant three-pound ball or bell-shaped versions with multiple wicks.

Several fundraising companies have candles in decorative shapes like various fruits, animals, wizards, trees, and figurines. In addition, large rectangles, cylinders, half-rounds, and tapers are always readily available.

Some companies also offer container-based candles which burn more slowly and safely. They also avoid messy cleanup problems. Popular styles are Mason jars, jars with handles, jars with screw tops, and square glass containers.
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