A Fundraising Offer You Should Try: 100 Percent to Programs

The 100 percent model—the idea that 100 percent of funds raised will go to programs, none to overhead—attracts nonprofits, as well as donors.

Charity:water is one well-known nonprofit following this course. But is it a good idea for your nonprofit? Let's see.

First of all, if you look at it from the donor's perspective, you have to admit that it's a pretty compelling idea. "Every cent of my gift goes toward doing good"—not to salaries or other money-wasters, like electricity and pencils. Many donors have been trained to think of overhead as bad. The media and the charity watchdogs have encouraged them to think of every penny that's not directly funding programs as "waste."