Have you seen the bumper sticker - "Fundraisers are asking for it?"  Well, they are...and they have been for a long time!

 From the NY Public Library's annual dinner that raised $2.8 million last year to the thousands of dollars raised by service club rubber ducky races or all-you-can-eat contests, fundraising efforts produce much needed funds to continue important programs and causes. 

 Here are just a few of the possibilities:  Food Events, Fashion Shows, Dance/Balls, Goods and Services Auctions (our specialty), Product Sales, Event Sales, A Night at the Theatre, Carnivals, Trike, Bike or Jog-a-thons, Newspaper Drives, Recycling, Celebrity Events, Contests, and Golf or other Sports Tournaments...

 Busy volunteers in organizations around the world are always asking for it!

 From major campaigns like the United Way, the American Cancer Society, Muscular Dystrophy and others...

 Fund Development professionals around the world are asking for it, too!

 Have you ever wondered how fundraising got started in our country?

 Probably the most basic grassroots event efforts took the form of a bake sale or a quilting bee at a local church.  And certainly, it must have been the Catholic Church that took fund development to its height centuries ago with planned giving programs.

 I'd like to share some interesting fundraising history facts.

 The American Society for the Control of Cancer (now the American Cancer Society) was founded in 1913.  Originally begun by the medical community, over the years they began to turn to lay leadership and using volunteers.

 Corporate giving in the 20's and 30's typically went to community chest and causes of the Great Depression.  Corporate giving shot up dramatically after WWII from $266 million in 1945 to $20.77 billion in 2017.

 In 1938 the March of Dimes was considered the most successful mass campaign to date.  It was started in the early 30's by President Franklyn Roosevelt.  His "Birthday Balls" raised more than $1 million.  When they began to involve the Hollywood community, things changed dramatically.  Comedian, Eddie Cantor, is credited with renaming the campaign "The March of Dimes".  In an offhanded remark he suggested people just send their dimes directly to the White House.  Hence, "The March of Dimes".  The response was so overwhelming that White House staffers were opening daily loads of dimes instead of performing their regular duties.  $268,000 in dimes was received in that first campaign.  The program moved quickly to the streets...out of the White House.  Movie stars made pitches in theatres and cans were distributed everywhere.  A creative idea took place in the 1950 drive, where people left porch lights on for 1 hour to make it easy for volunteers to make collections.

 World War II perfected fundraising techniques in many other ways, too.  The YMCA, YWCA, the National Catholic Community, the Salvation Army and the Jewish Welfare Board joined forces to form the National United Welfare Committee to finance activities in communities hard hit by the war.  These efforts led to another organization known as the United Service Organization for National Defense, Inc. or USO.

 The Red Cross brought experience, imagination and polished performance to the art of raising money in 1945.

 The need for fundraising drives became apparent, so united funding programs sprouted up everywhere.  Los Angeles was the first community to adopt the name United Way in 1963.

 This eventually paved the way for payroll deductions of charitable contributions.

 The first united fund for colleges started in the Black community in 1944, to support Black colleges.  This program is now known as the United Negro College Fund.

 In 1954 a matching gift program was begun by the General Electric Foundation.  Today there are more than 1,000 companies with established programs that match employee gifts, mostly to colleges and universities.

 Advances in technology are rapidly creating additional changes to fundraising.

 The 1980's exploded the concept of planned giving, though as I mentioned before, the Catholic Church had been doing it for centuries.  The first formal, broad based marketing of a planned giving program took place at Pomona College in the 80's.

 Telemarketing also began in earnest after WWII.  But it wasn't until 1977 when William Freyd of IDC in Bloomfield, New Jersey developed a more personal combination of direct mail and telemarketing follow-up that led to extremely effective telemarketing for the raising of money.

 Telethons started with one for Muscular Dystrophy in the early 1950's.

The War Bond drives of WWII eventually took to the airwaves with celebrities making appeals for contributions.  Little did they know back then that today's fundraising technology would eventually include the cyberspace airwaves of the Internet!  Today most service clubs, churches, schools and other grassroots organizations have a web presence. 

 Moving to events-oriented fundraising...

 San Francisco's first Black Tie Dinner Dance for charity was held in 1954, benefiting the California Pacific Medical Center.  Since then, they've taken their efforts to new heights. They have now developed partnerships with other medically-oriented causes, like the Betty Ford Center to support the needs of the local community.

 Creativity has always been the key to good fundraising whether it be a corporate entity lending its support to a worthy cause or simply a bake for the local PTA.

 As we enter a new decade, there is continued need for effective fundraising. Your programs and causes are important! For this reason, I am sharing my years of expertise to support your grassroots FUNdraising efforts. By applying the techniques larger organizations have used over the years, your volunteers can also grow to do their best too. They can become increasingly effective in achieving the financial goals and program objectives you have.

 If you’d like to know how to put the FUN back into your FUNdraising and make more money than you’ve ever dreamed possible.

Ask for Free Consultation Today!

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