How Does “Fundraising Ideas” Always Seem to Mean “Fundraising Events”?
For charities, schools, sports teams, clubs, and community nonprofits alike, inevitably someone is tasked with being a first-time “fundraiser”, and with no experience or idea where to start, searches on Google some variation of “Fundraising Ideas” only to find pages and pages of blogs/articles that say “Easy fundraising ideas!” “Cheap fundraising ideas” “The 70 best fundraising ideas for nonprofits!”
Sure enough, these pages list out 50, 70, or more than 100 “ideas” that all land somewhere between a date night and a summer camp activity. Most or potentially ALL of these sites are actually suggesting only one singular idea: hold a fundraising event. We know from years of data, that fundraising events are one of the slowest and most difficult ways to raise money, especially when compared with peer-to-peer asks and major gifts fundraising. Various experts like Forbes suggest that a 60% margin on an event is considered a win, and that does not take into account the staff and volunteer hours lost or paid to organize the event. And yet, nonprofit ranking sites like Charity Navigator suggest that margins be at least 85% (so only spending 15 cents to raise each dollar.) That is a substantial discrepancy.
It’s not that fundraising events can’t have a place in a well-rounded fundraising program, but suggesting them as a “good” or “easy” fundraising ideas isn’t helpful to those trying to give back to and make an impact for their communities. They are one tool in a fundraiser’s tool belt, but for seemingly most organizations trying to raise money, they are the first and ONLY tool.
Perhaps the problem lies in the language that many people not in the fundraising industry use? When asked about fundraising, most people do think of a gala or 5k fun run in support of a local foundation, so it may be only natural to think all “fundraising ideas” fall within this scope. The perception is that people won’t give money to a cause if they can’t show up and get an activity in exchange, and we in the industry know that not to be true.
It IS true that one of the primary reasons people give is to feel connected to the organization. Other reasons include: belief in the mission, trusting the organization, seeing the impact of their gift, and several other factors that don’t involve wanting to play in a golf tournament.
If like us, you want to see the fundraising ecosystem flourish, then we need to spread the word about shifting the model of a “fundraiser” from an activity or event to a more comprehensive effort in talking one-on-one with those wanting to connect to our mission. We love a bake sale as much as the next person, but hopefully the industry can mature past that.
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