Donations and fundraisers

Filed in archive Bootstrapper Resources on August 21, 2007

Whether soliciting donations and running fundraisers for a religious organization or some other non-profit group, the same principles that govern a bootstrapped business still apply.

Keep your overhead low and you will be able to apply more of the money collected to the needs of your organization and less to pay for the expenses of fundraisers and other activities connected to getting the money in the first place.

Two suggestions emerge when considering how to accomplish this:

1. Expand the scope of your fundraising activities-Yes, the on line transaction service known as PayPal has revolutionized the retail industry empowering a new generation of Ebay auction entrepreneurs and on line drop shipping merchants, but the service also provides a donate function that should be on your website or blog and other services like Roobeo (as mentioned in the previous post) offer the option of donating Google AdSense earnings to charities...That means you if you've taken the proper steps

2. Look for new inexpensive fundraising options-Services like CafePress.com offer a whole new opportunity for fundraisers involving the sale of customized items like shirts, mugs etc. There is no upfront charge for most of these items and they can stay available in an on line store for an indefinite period.