by Ellen S. Ryan

All non-profit organizations need resources to carry out their work. The time invested by members and volunteers is usually the greatest resource of a non-profit organization.

Members and volunteers also support non-profit organizations financially. But expanding the base of support beyond the immediate membership and volunteer force of an organization is key to a non-profit group's long-term effectiveness.

Expanding the base of financial support can be difficult because grassroots organizations focused on social and economic justice work are often so busy working on their issues and programs that they develop a hand-to-mouth relationship to money. Everything that comes in is consumed immediately, or at best is earmarked for program work for a future period.

Just as for-profit companies need to invest in research and development of new products, training and improving technology and equipment, non-profits must invest in the future, too. The problem is that non-profits often have too few revenue sources to make this possible. Under-funded and un-staffed or under-staffed, with little experience in fundraising, the hand-to-mouth existence continues.

Effective grassroots fundraising over the long-term is the best way to move beyond the basic struggle for organizational survival, improve the quality of the organization's work and be able to plan for the future.

Attitude

Attitude, the way the leaders and members of an organization think about the role money plays in their organization, is often the biggest obstacle to raising money in non-profit groups.

Successful grassroots fundraising comes down to asking for contributions - money, goods, services - from a wide variety of people, both inside the organization and out. The active members of small grassroots organizations are usually very willing to contribute to their own organizations, but may be uncomfortable asking others for support. Over time, this sets up an unhealthy dynamic, in which a few core members contribute more time, money and goods (like office supplies) than anyone else.

Not expecting, asking for, and seeking out new opportunities to raise money shuts new members and supporters out of participation in the organization. The organization can develop into a small club over time, with the most active members thinking that since they do all the work, they should also be able to call all the shots in the organization. They stop seeking out new relationships and ideas from outside the core group, and the organization stagnates, or eventually dies for lack of interest.

The term "grassroots fundraising" means raising money and contributions of goods and services, mostly from individuals, that you need to work toward your organization's goals. Grassroots fundraising usually requires face-to-face asking, rather than filling out grant application forms. But grassroots fundraising is about more than raising money. It is a way to publicize the work of your organization, build new networks of relationships in the community, get more people actively involved in working to achieve your organization's goals and expand the effectiveness of the organization. It can add fun to being a part of the organization, help people gain new confidence and skills and insure the long-term vitality of your organization in the community.

Start with your mission

To begin to increase financial support for your organization, take a look at your mission, the reason your organization exists. Is your mission short-term, long-term or continuing? For example, if the sole mission of your organization is to stop a toxic waste dump from locating in your community, your mission is short-term, even if you wind up fighting the dump plans for five years. You have one specific, concrete objective and you can achieve it with active community involvement. Your need for funds is modest, perhaps $3,000 a year or less, and you can probably raise all the money you need by asking for contributions and holding fundraising events locally. Small, local, short-term organizations should see grassroots fundraising as their primary, if not only, source of funds.

If your mission is longer-term but specific, like building and managing 300 units of affordable housing, you may have to look for a wider variety of sources for financial support - foundation and government grants, loans, investors. But adding grassroots fundraising to your mix of revenue will give you greater flexibility and control over your work, and will help you attract outside support from grant funders as well.

If your mission is continuing, such as working to combat racism in any form it takes in your community, then you will need a healthy mix of grassroots fundraising that expands over time. Why? While some grant sources might be available, they also dry up, shift and change frequently. Almost all grant sources have time limits.

Foundation and government grants for the start-up of new non-profit organizations are few and far between, and competition is stiff. Ongoing operating support beyond three to five years is uncommon. Grant funding for specific short-term projects beyond three to five years is available, but again competition is stiff, and foundations and governments shift their areas of interest all the time. If your organization has a long-term, continuing mission, then grassroots fundraising must become a major and growing source of revenue over time.

If you want to be around for the long-haul, set financial goals now

Look at your organizational budget from the revenue side. What were your sources of funds last year, and what percentage came from grassroots fundraising? If the answer is zero, set a goal to raise at least 10 percent of your budget from grassroots funds this year. If the answer is anything other than zero, set a goal to increase your grassroots fundraising income by at least 10 percent over last year.

Start to break the hand-to-mouth habit

Now look at your budget from the expense side. If your budget does not already have a line-item marked "contingency," add one and make it 5 to 10 percent of your total operating budget. Small non-profits rarely have contingency funds, although larger ones do. Contingency funds are simply set aside for some unforeseen purpose. They are not the same as funds set aside for a specific future purpose. Plan to put at least a portion of the grassroots funds you raise this year into your contingency fund.

If your expense budget does not include a line item for fundraising expenses, add one now. It usually takes money to raise money, and non-profit groups often lose money on fundraising efforts, or net less money than they could, by not carefully considering how much they will need to spend in order to carry out their fundraising work.

In addition, groups often overlook the opportunity to get donated goods and services that will increase their net fundraising income. For example, if a group raises $200.00 from a bake sale, but spends $40.00 on paper products for the sale, the net income from the sale is $160.00. If the group gets the local supermarket to donate the paper products, the net from the sale is $200.00, plus they have received a donation of $40.00 worth of products from a local company and made a connection with someone at the supermarket as well.

Take a look at the expense side of your budget again. What are you spending money on? Rather than looking for ways to cut the budget, as non-profits often do, look for ways in which increasing your expenditures would help your organization to grow. Would having a telephone line and voice mail system help people find you more easily? Would having a computer help you do mailings and keep records more accurately? Would having a fax machine save time in receiving information related to issues you are working on?

Get in the habit of thinking about how to improve and expand your organization. Why? It will increase the effectiveness of your work, and motivate members and volunteers to raise additional grassroots funds and ask for donations of goods and services from local companies and organizations as well.

Strategy

Your grassroots fundraising strategy should tie into the basic purpose of your organization and help you reach your goals on the issues or projects you are working on, recruit new members and increase the recognition of your organization in your community. The list of possible grassroots fundraising activities is limited only by your imagination; coming up with an effective plan means choosing a few activities to get started, and improving on them as you gain experience.

Some of the most common ways to raise money include: membership dues; special events such as house parties, dinners, dances, concerts, carnivals, walk-a-thons; individual face-to-face donor solicitations; direct mail appeals; sales of cookbooks, tee shirts, mugs and the like; sales of food or other items at major community events such as county fairs or sporting events.

Other fundraising techniques such as raffles, bingo and casino nights are also possibilities, although some organizations choose not to use gambling to raise money because gambling is not compatible with the organizations' values. There are often state and local restrictions or regulations related to gambling as well, and your group should investigate them before sponsoring activities that involve gambling. Many other public events, such as dances and concerts, may require special permits, security personnel or liability insurance. As a matter of habit, check on possible restrictions and regulations for any event you may sponsor as the first step in planning the event.

A two-pronged approach

Most community groups focus their fundraising efforts internally, raising money through their existing membership and volunteers. This is a good place to start, especially if you are just beginning to raise grassroots funds. However, it makes sense to balance your internal fundraising with external fundraising - seeking support from people in the community who are not actively involved in your organization - from the very beginning.

Here are some common ways to build up and diversify your sources of grassroots funds:

•        Individual members or donors - If yours is a membership organization, setting membership dues is usually the first step in generating financial support. For the most part, dues should be seen as a way for members to provide basic support to an organization and receive voting rights in the organization.

  Some groups make the mistake of including premiums - gifts like tee shirts, coffee mugs, baseball caps - with the cost of membership. It is important to make sure that the cost of premiums does not exceed the cost of membership. At a deeper level, it is important to distinguish that membership in your organization means supporting and being active in the organization's work, not collecting gifts.

  Other organizations include a newsletter or other publication in the cost of basic membership. While a newsletter may be necessary in order to keep members informed about the work of the organization, do the arithmetic on the cost of producing and mailing a newsletter before deciding whether to include it in the basic dues cost. For example, if it costs $1.00 a month to produce and mail each copy of the newsletter, and dues are $12.00 per year, you are probably losing money on membership dues, since it also costs time and money simply to collect dues and keep records on them.

  One way to reduce newsletter costs is to ask for donations of goods and services for producing the newsletter, and this is a form of grassroots fundraising as well. If you can get a local print shop to donate the cost of printing, or a store that sells office supplies or stationery to contribute the paper, you have increased the income into your organization and established a relationship with a local business or two as well.

  If your group is not established as a membership organization - that is, a general membership does not have voting rights in the organization - you probably call the people who are active in the organization "volunteers." You can still ask volunteers to provide some standard amount of financial support to the organization each year, and call them volunteer donations instead of dues.

  Deciding how to set the amount of dues (or basic donation to the organization) requires looking at a number of factors. You want to set dues high enough to cover some of the basic operating costs of the organization without excluding people from membership because they cannot afford to pay dues. Some groups recognize that some people just can't afford a standard dues amount, so the organization allows very low-income members to request a waiver of their dues or contribute less than the standard amount.

  One thing that really helps in collecting dues is having pre-printed dues cards and envelopes pre-addressed to your organization for people to fill out and mail in or give to a member of the organization to turn in. Active members of your organization need to be asked to recruit new members, and having an envelope to give people helps everyone in the organization keep track of who has been asked and who has joined.

•        Additional donations from the members or volunteers - If your organization has had an active dues-paying membership or active group of volunteers who make annual donations for some time, one way to expand your grassroots fundraising income is to ask existing members to contribute more on a regular basis. You can create a special category of sustaining members who pledge an extra amount over basic dues on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis. The additional contributions do not give members extra voting rights in the organization, but are simply a way for loyal supporters to contribute more.

  As a matter of habit, asking for contributions at each meeting and event of the organization is a good idea.

  Keeping track of the special skills some of your members have, and the places they work, can also help generate additional resources for your organization. A member employed by a local bank might be able to get the bank to contribute its phone lines for use after banking hours for your group to conduct a phone-a-thon to call members to renew their dues.

  A member who works for a large company may be able to get the company to donate its old fax machine to your organization.

  A member who is a carpenter may be willing to get some of his co-workers to donate a day for a building project you are doing.

  Some companies prefer to make donations to non-profit organizations in which their employees are active. Having your members check out what contributions of cash, goods or services might be available at their workplaces expands the resources available to your organization.

  Members with special talents can also be asked for special contributions. For example, a member who makes quilts could be asked to donate one for a raffle. Getting the quilt materials and printing of the raffle tickets donated, too, would increase the net proceeds that go to your organization as well.

•        Events that attract people from outside your organization - Special events like concerts, dinners and carnivals also raise funds. Non-profit groups often overlook the potential for attracting new donors beyond their existing members and supporters for these kinds of events. Like all other forms of fundraising, it is important to do your arithmetic on paper before holding such events, and try to get as many of the things you need donated in order to increase your net proceeds.

  Just as important is looking for ways to attract people beyond your membership to such an event. Asking your entire membership to bring friends and associates to the event is basic; doing advance general publicity is necessary as well. Consider the location of your event carefully. If you want to attract the general public, the event needs to take place at a location that is familiar to most people and that has adequate parking.

  Take advantage of general community traffic patterns as well. If you plan a carnival in a park, for example, choose a park that usually has a high volume of people passing by and through it. Also choose the activities for your event carefully. If you plan a musical event, make sure there is a following in your community for the type of music you will offer. At any event, make sure you have membership envelopes available to encourage people to join or send a donation after the event.

•        Major donors - Asking board members and other active members to think through specific names of people in the community who might make a major donation to the organization is the first step in developing a major donor base. Anyone who might be supportive of your organization's goals, but not necessarily an active member, is a candidate for a face-to-face visit by a member to ask for a major contribution.

  To get started, at your next Board meeting, take a few minutes to ask yourselves if you can together come up with the names of 10 people outside the membership who might be willing to make a $100.00 contribution to your organization. Then develop a plan to sit down with each of these individuals and ask for a major contribution.

Remember to thank and evaluate

Remember to personally and publicly thank everyone who supports your organization. Hand-written thank-you notes to each person who makes a contribution of money, goods and services is a way of extending thanks personally. Listing the names of all your contributors in your newsletter or an annual mailing is a way of expressing thanks publicly.

Also, evaluate each activity in your grassroots fundraising plan on a regular basis. For example, if you set a goal of raising an additional $500.00 this year, with $100.00 coming from new dues-paying members, $300.00 from a special event, and $100..00 coming from a new major donor, then evaluate how well you are meeting your goals at least every three months, perhaps at a Board meeting.

Keeping tabs on how well you are doing allows you to adjust your plans, which makes it more likely that you will reach your goals and surpass them. It also allows you to learn from your experiences and improve your activities as you go along.

You may learn that concerts in the park are a great deal of work for the amount of money they net, but that asking major donors for individual contributions is the most successful and cost-effective of all your ideas so far. Knowing this may lead you to cross concerts in the park off your list of events and increase the number of members who are making major donor contacts.

Remember, also, to celebrate your success. An annual pot-luck celebration for all those who have helped to raise funds over the last year is a way of saying thanks and inspiring people to keep raising money. (Don't forget to get the food and supplies for the celebration donatedd>