Putting the Fun Back Into Fundraising

Does your organization have a hard time rounding up volunteers? Studies show that people who donate their time to charities are getting harder to come by. It's probably because of an increasingly uncertain financial outlook that families have to spend even more time trying to look after themselves. Let's take a look at ways to run a fun fundraising campaign so the volunteers will stay with you for years to come.

Sales Incentives

This is a win-win situation for the organization and the volunteer. Give a token prize to the person who sells the most amount of chocolate bars or the largest total brought in during the campaign.

Keep it Fun

This one is simple and cheap to do. During the campaign you can post pictures of your volunteers on the street or doing different activities. Post some of the photos in the sales room. Buy some donuts for the phone workers. Another way to set a fun tone for the campaign is to keep things light while giving talks about the campaign. Just because you're keeping things humorous doesn't mean you're not taking the campaign seriously, your just keeping the intensity down.

Listen to Them

You might want to even get feedback from your volunteers in regards to what they liked about the campaign and what could be changed. There's nothing like feedback from the front line troops to keep your campaign sharp. This also lets your volunteers know that you're listening to them and that their feedback is important to the success of the fundraising.

Make it about Personal Development

Research psychologists such as Daniel Yankelovich have documented the fact that in the job market "job incentives are so unappealing that employees no longer are motivated to work hard. As a result they withdraw emotional involvement." Researchers Patricia Penwick and Kedward Lawler took a survey from 28,008 readers of Psychology Today and found that money and status were not motivational, but the top motivational factors were personal growth, a sense they are worthwhile and a feeling of accomplishment.

Show Appreciation

After the campaign is over spend some time and a little money if it's in the budget to send out thank you cards. Another alternative is to send out the cards through email. It's not about extravagance but letting someone know that their effort was much appreciated and contributed to the success of the fundraising campaign.
McKee, Thomas W, http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/news-views/viewpoints/doc/motivating-your-very-busy.html , Nov. 4, 08

Jolian Grant is owner and operator of justfundraising.com.He has over 16 years experience helping schools,churches and youth groups acheive their fundraising goals. To date Jolian has helped raise over 45 million dollars for charitable causes.