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Every nonprofit leader knows the common adage, "it takes money to make money," and that couldn't be more true than with fundraising events. To launch a successful event, organizations need event management software, food, decorations, marketing materials, and so much more.All these components can get costly even if nonprofits stick to a strict budget. Most organizations will have to seek aid from outside resources to support their event.Luckily raising money for events doesn't have to be a challenge if you know who to ask and are equipped with the right tips. That's why we've compiled a list of three ways you can collect donations for charity events.We'll provide in-depth tips on how you can reach out to each group to help fund your next event—so let's get started!1. How to Get Donations for Charity Events From CompaniesWhy You Should Ask CompaniesCorporations and local businesses should be the first group of supporters you ask for donations. Companies have plenty of philanthropic opportunities and programs to help support organizations.In fact, businesses regularly work with nonprofit organizations to showcase their corporate social responsibility and to improve the communities in which they reside.Best of all, companies can offer more than just monetary funds; they can provide your organization with enthusiastic volunteers as well as in-kind contributions.Organizations can make use of the many corporate programs that provide charitable donations, such as:Volunteer Grants. Companies will award donations to nonprofits after an employee has volunteered for a set number of hours. For example, Verizon donates $750 for every 50 hours of volunteer work per employee.Matching Gifts. When donors give to your organization, their employee might match their donations (usually at a 1:1 ratio). General Electric will match donations to most organizations one for one on up to $25,000.Donation Requests. Many corporations provide grants or in-kind donations to nonprofits upon request. Organizations can submit an application to Walmart for a chance to receive $250 to $2,500.Moreover, asking for donations to fund your event can lead to future partnerships. You'll also gain a new audience (the company's employees), making it easier to promote your cause and raise additional funds for future projects.How to Get StartedWith so many different companies and philanthropic programs, you might not know where to start when it comes to asking for donations for charity events.The first step is to do your research. Every company will have different guidelines and rules that not only dictate when you can submit a donation request but also what types of organizations they will support.As such, researching which programs you're eligible for will save time as you prepare to submit your requests.Finally, you need to write your request letters and submit your applications. Generally, larger organizations will have an application process that you should follow, but for smaller, local businesses, your organization can send a letter.If you're not sure what to say, here is an example of a donation letter template:As you can see, a fundraising request letter should be personal as well as state the reason for your request and explain the importance of your event.Additionally, you should be specific when asking for donations; ask for the exact items or an dollar amount. Companies are more likely to respond when you're transparent about your needs.Expert Tips to Reach SuccessIf your organization is looking for additional ways to raise money with the help of businesses, why not try a nontraditional route? You can partner with local retailers to launch a checkout charity!During a checkout charity, your organization will ask your retail partners to solicit donations from patrons during checkout. You can place donation kiosks or a donation jar in stores to collect funds.While this fundraising method often gets a bad reputation, checkout charities can be a very profitable way for organizations to raise money. Still not convinced?For example, Children's Miracle Hospitals conducted a successful checkout charity with donation kiosks. Supporters could simply dip their cards into the device. Plus, donors didn't have to have cash to contribute, opening the ability to give to a much larger group of patrons.2. How to Get Donations for Charity Events From DonorsWhy You Should Ask DonorsIt's no question that donor support is how nonprofits raise the bulk of their funds, and it's no different for events.While the donations you receive from supporters many be smaller than the money you raise from corporations, donors can be just as valuable because they can share your campaign with friends and family.From the donor who gives $25 every month to the major donor that gives $5,000 in one check, individuals can play a huge role in funding your event.Individuals can donate money as well as time and help raise awareness about your cause. Plus, the excitement that they build for your charity event, might persuade others to get involved, which can lead to more attendees and support.How to Get StartedYou probably have several ongoing campaigns where you ask donors for funds. Those campaigns can contribute to your fundraiser, however, you should also create a separate campaign dedicated to raising money for your event.This will make it easier for you to clearly explain how the funds will be used and why raising the money is important. Additionally, you can set a specific fundraising goal that supporters can aspire to reach.There are plenty of different ways you can raise funds, including these proven fundraising ideas:Launch a crowdfunding campaign. As we mentioned earlier, donors can be instrumental in raising awareness, and what better way to spread the word than with a crowdfunding campaign? Crowdfunding is a low-cost way to raise money and donors can utilize the social sharing features available on most platforms to spread the word.Sell merchandise. If you already sell merchandise to raise money for your cause, create a campaign where all the funds from purchased items will go to support your event. Since donors will know exactly what their funds are going toward, they'll be more likely to purchase an item to support your event.Appeal to major donors. Use prospect research and have key staff members reach out to major donors about making a contribution. You can also use your boards' connections to find potential major donors. Additionally, you could propose a challenge match donation, where your nonprofit must raise a certain amount that will then be matched by a major donor.Last, but certainly not least, don't forget to promote your primary giving methods.For instance, let donors know how simple it is to give via a donation kiosk when they're visiting your facilities. Share visuals like the image below on your social media accounts to show supporters that the giving process only takes a couple of minutes to complete.Thank you for reading my article.Please we need your help in supporting our Foundation. Lets both join hands in making the world a better place through Cryptocurrency. Nothing is small. Crypto Care Foundation (CCF) (www.cryptocarefoundation,com) is a nonprofit organisation dedicated to achieving global Sustainable development by unlocking the power of blockchain. We develop and test viable solutions that address the root cause of social problems to guide people out of the poverty trap. We hope the transparency and inclusiveness of the blockchain donation system will trigger donors’ willingness to participate and motivate end beneficiaries to fundamentally improve their living conditions. Giving is more. Save a child today. God Bless YOU.

The SEDL National Center for Quality After School has a number of resources.http://www.sedl.org/afterschool/Here is a free e-book on the topic of best practices (as well as including score carding templates for accountability and benchmarking):http://www.nationalserviceresources.org/online-library/items/w3982SEDL also has curriculum resources, as well as best-practices by individual subject matter.Other research focuses on traits such as the following:In 2005, the After-School Corporation (TASC) commissioned an evaluation of the after-school programs it funds in New York City to determine which programs were most successful in improving student academic performance and to identify what traits and features were common to them. The study was implemented by Policy Studies Associates (PSA) as a follow up to their multi-year evaluation of TASC. PSA found that shared characteristics among these high-performing programs include: a broad array of enrichment opportunities; opportunities for skill building and mastery; intentional relationship building; a strong/experienced leader/manager supported by a trained and supervised staff; and sponsoring organizations that provided an effective balance of support and autonomy. The findings of this study will be of value to new and existing national service-funded organizations seeking to establish or improve their programming, staffing, and support systems for out-of-school time (OST) programs.Source: http://www.nationalserviceresources.org/practices/17783More is available here on practice: http://www.nationalserviceresources.org/effective-practiceGiven that the SEDL focuses only on After School Programs, my gut says they will have the best info. However, given the degree that our government likes to do statistical work, I wouldn't be surprised if they had some decent data too.

Entrepreneurs looking to launch their startups are often faced with myriad difficult decisions, chief among them being the question of seed financing. If you’ve ever found yourself asking, “How can I fund this?” or “Can I fund this on my own, while I’m still holding my current job?” the answer is yes—you absolutely can.Vasu Akula and his two cofounders launched Voziq in late 2011 with one simple goal in mind: to help companies who purchase advanced analytics and business intelligence solutions better utilize the information they gained access to.What makes Washington, D.C.-based Voziq unique is that Vasu and his partners didn’t utilize outside investors in order to bring Voziq to life. Rather, they funded Voziq themselves while holding on to their day jobs. Vasu is a part of the 1M/1M premium program, and one of the many entrepreneurs who have bootstrapped a startup venture while holding on to a full-time day job.Vasu and his co-founders had originally toyed with several different ideas. However, Vasu took my advice about bootstrapping Voziq’s business through services, while holding on to his paycheck. It was a great way to bring immediate value to the customers, learning about their needs, all the while building a product with the long- term view in mind. Yes, the product has been on a slow-burner, but invaluable customer relationships have already been established, key customer inputs gathered, and of course, cash has continued to flow in.The idea behind Voziq started with Vasu and two fellow IT professionals, all of whom had spent fifteen-plus years working with over 100 Fortune 500 companies. Vasu realized that while most companies utilized some form of data analysis, they didn’t often move past that point. By his estimation, 95 percent of companies that purchased advanced analytics and business intelligence solutions weren’t utilizing the data to its full potential. Technology was sitting on shelves, not delivering value.Vasu realized that there was an untapped opportunity there, and Voziq is the platform that he and his associates built from the ground up. It focuses on social media analytics and helps to reveal the insights in large volumes of data. Using categories, benchmarks, and custom reports, Voziq transforms the voice of the customer, the voice of the client’s competitors, and the voice of industry influencers into actionable scenario-based information for various departments within the client’s organization.As a self-funded start-up, Voziq’s finances were always tight, and so its co-founders decided to retain their day jobs until they had achieved reasonable validation with actual customers. Vasu says that Voziq was able to reach this goal by utilizing oDesk and other freelance contractors outside of North America, where they were able to obtain quality work for a relatively lower cost.Voziq’s situation illustrates the scenario of a startup with two or more co-founders. Vasu notes that not all of the startup’s founders needed to move out of their day jobs at the same time; one or two could continue working while others are firming up the business plan and reaching out to prospects. This way, he says, you can fund your company through your paychecks while others are executing the core ideas of the startup.He also emphasizes the importance of being willing to sacrifice when first validating the business idea. Since each of Voziq’s co-founders maintained their day jobs, they each took a chunk of business and product development tasks and executed these during evenings and weekends. Once they began to see some traction, they each took on roles as independent consultants in related areas to continue to earn a paycheck while they continued to focus their outside efforts on Voziq.Vasu his associates have transitioned into Voziq 100 percent in 2014, as they bring in more customers and revenues.While getting off the ground and becoming profitable are the ultimate goals for any venture, these are especially significant milestones for a self-funded startup. With these goals within reach, Vasu says that Voziq plans to continue to follow the 1M/1M methodology, looking to customers rather than investors as a way to further bootstrap and validate their work. They have successfully transitioned into a cash flow-positive scenario, and are ready to take Voziq to the next level of success and profitability.What I find gratifying about the Voziq story is that it can be a template for numerous other entrepreneurs that we hear from constantly. Hundreds and thousands of professionals around the world harbor entrepreneurial dreams. Most of them lack capital. For these entrepreneurs—heavy in expertise, light on funding—bootstrapping with a paycheck is a fine path to get going!At 1M/1M, we're formalizing the process of 'bootstrapping with a paycheck' actively, in recognition of the fact that in many parts of the world, there isn't much of a seed capital eco-system. Thus, somewhere between 6-24 months of bootstrapping while holding on to a full-time job is a reasonable option for many aspiring entrepreneurs.In fact, I would go so far as to say that most aspiring entrepreneurs ought to start their entrepreneurial journey while sitting inside a corporate umbrella. Especially for technical people, it allows for the enhancing of their technical skills, while also developing the bricks needed to build a venture.One thing you will find, however, that no incubator will be willing to work with you until you have quit your job. As such, we've decided that at 1M/1M, we will support aspiring entrepreneurs while they line up their ducks and start putting together their ventures, without requiring that they quit their jobs.In a recent paper titled Should I Quit My Day Job?: A Hybrid Path To Entrepreneurship by Joseph Raffiee and Jie Feng of the University of Wisconsin– Madison published in the Academy of Management Journal, the authors cited research and statistics supporting this methodology:“According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2011, roughly 10 percent of self-employed workers were also employed by existing firms. Going a step further, research shows that many hybrid entrepreneurs ultimately decide to commit to their ventures full time (Folta et al., 2010). Indeed, anecdotal evidence indicates that some of the world’s most innovative and successful entrepreneurs started their companies as hybrid entrepreneurs. For example, Steve Wozniak remained an employee at Hewlett–Packard long after co- founding Apple (Wozniak & Smith, 2006), Pierre Omidyar launched eBay while working for the software development company General Magic (Cohen, 2002), and, with the help of investors, Henry Ford founded the Detroit Automobile Group while employed by the Edison Illuminating Company (Ford & Crowther, 1922). In 1997, 20 percent of CEOs on Inc. magazine’s 500 fastest growing private companies list indicated that they continued to work a paying job long after founding their organization (Inc. staff, 1997).”Excerpt from my new book, Bootstrapping With A Paycheck.