25 Good Fundraising Ideas (and One Bad One)

During the first-ever FundRaising Success Virtual Conference & Expo held on May 20 (and available on-demand until Aug. 24), FS columnist and creative director at TrueSense Marketing Jeff Brooks provided 25 good ideas and even one bad one for fundraisers. Here is a rundown of his ideas from his session, “Feel the Power!”

1. Donate
If you don’t donate money to organizations yourself, Brooks said, then stop fundraising and go join an industry you’re willing to participate in.

2. Get on every mailing list
The more lists you are on, the more people you reach.

3. Hang around with older folks
“Older people are your donors,” Brooks said. So make sure you spend time with your elders to learn about their likes and dislikes, how they read things, how to make communications easier. That way, you can present them with the most relevant, easy-to-read information about your cause.

4. Go to church
“Most donors are religiously active,” Brooks said, “and a lot of that shapes how they think about giving, causes they support and how they can change the world.”

5. Read the popular press
“They’re all about getting read, and they’re very good at it,” Brooks said. Take what attracts you to stories in the popular media outlets and apply it to your communications so they get read.

6. Be not afraid
“A lot of us are afraid of failure, looking bad, losing bad,” Brooks said. “Fear makes us do really stupid things. Get fear out of your mind. Fear does more damage to you than the things you are afraid of.”

7. Ignore your brand guidelines
“Brand guidelines are about us, but fundraising is about donors,” he said. Worry more about your donors and what’s important to them, not what your board demands in branding.

8. Work without committees
The more people involved, the more convoluted and disconnected the message could be.