Sandy Rees ~ Fundraising Coach, Not for Profit Coaching, Development Audit, Strategic Planning

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Bright Ideas for Fundraising An e-tips newsletter for staff, Board, and volunteers of small nonprofit groups.
date About Sandy Rees Coaching services Other resources from Sandy Free Monthly Development Checklist Sandy’s blog LinkedIn Facebook Coming soon… Fundraising Planning Toolkit Everything you need to create a simple, workable, one-year Fundraising Plan. Sample calendar pages, work plan worksheets, and more! "The measure of life is not its duration but its donation." - Peter Marshall	Dear name, I'm delighted to bring you this first edition of my e-tips newsletter, "Bright Ideas for Fundraising"! If you've been around me very long, you know that I love sharing what I know. My hope is that you will find a nugget here that will enhance your fundraising efforts. Happy Reading!

	Get Organized for Fundraising Tomorrow is April 1. Here are some things you SHOULD be doing at the beginning of every month: Change up your Thank You letter. Don't send the same old stale letter. Change it monthly to let your donors know you're on the ball. Check your grant schedule to see what deadlines are approaching. Are there follow-up reports that need to go out this month? Start NOW writing newsletters or direct mail that you plan to mail in May. This will give you plenty of time for review and production. I remember so well when I sat in the Director of Development chair that there were lots of hats to wear. And lots of stuff to stay on top of. I had so many things that I wanted to do at the beginning of the month, that I created a Monthly Checklist for myself just to keep it all organized. You're welcome to download a free copy from my website.

	Ask Sandy (questions and answers about fundraising from readers just like you!) "I work for a not-for-profit that is funded primarily by a government agency. We really want to start fundraising from the community. How do we get started?" - Curious Dear Curious, Kudos to you for realizing the danger in relying on one source of revenue for your organization. I think the smartest thing you can do is to diversify your revenue from lots of different sources. Community support, particularly from individual donors, is one of the best things you can start working on. There are three steps to starting this kind of fundraising effort. First decide who your target audience will be. You won't get the entire community to support you (some people don't support charity and some who do already have their favorite causes and just won't support yours). Next, decide what are the key messages you want these folks to hear from you. This will be important in drawing new donors to you. Develop a strategy for communicating with your target audience. Will you send direct mail? Connect through the internet? If you create a timeline and some realistic, measurable goals, you'll be well on your way to getting the support you want. Got a question? Email Sandy at sandy@sandyrees.com.

Websites: www.sandyrees.com, www.getfullyfunded.com Blog: www.getfullyfundedblog.com Email: sandy@sandyrees.com

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