Spring Observer - News
Charities use innovative ways to help each other
By KEVIN KOLOIAN
By sitting on the board of directors for two local nonprofit groups and one national group, Deana Sellens thought of the wonders a common data gathering point for charities could do.
Looking at the needs of nonprofits from a practical standpoint, she saw how most of them shared similar problems; there’s never enough money, volunteers or time. She also noticed that many times, one nonprofit had an asset or an overabundance of something another group needed.
“When I first started working with charities I screwed up so many things,” Sellens said. “I would spend all of this time and effort trying to do a fundraiser and something would go wrong. If I just had some people to give me advice, it would be great.”
Seeing the need for a guiding light, Sellens started the Charity Workshop about a year and a half ago to share materials, resources and knowledge.
“Shortly after I started the group weird things came up like a group of ladies who make quilts for cancer patients had extra fabric and one of the animal shelters was able to use the leftover fabric to make animal beds,” she said.
As director of fundraising for Adopt A Cat, Sellens has learned the ins and outs of charitable donations.
“A lot of people don’t realize all the stuff that is there for them,” Sellens said. “A problem I see with most small charities is that they get into the nitty gritty of the charity work and they don’t do enough innovative fundraising. The smaller charities have to take two steps backwards and focus on their fundraising.”
A couple of money-raising ideas have been around for awhile, yet few people know about them.
Link sharing allows a group to put web links on its website for retailer advertisement. The retailers give a portion of the sales amount every time someone follows the link and makes a purchase.
Through a credit card processing program, nonprofits can generate steady, monthly income with supporters who are businesses owners. All the owners have to do is sign up for credit card processing through the their favorite charity and the charity will receive a percentage of every transaction the company runs every month.
“This is total untapped revenues that people aren’t taking advantage of,” Sellens said.
The Charity Workshop has monthly conference calls and an ongoing dialogue on its website for people to share ideas and learn from others’ mistakes.
More than 56 groups are using the database, and being so easily accessible allows for charities from all over the United States to partner up.
“With the economy being so bad charities need to think of ways of making money that don’t rely on just a percentage,” Sellens said. “Now more than ever, fundraising has become very hard. People are not giving as much. We need to come up with new and innovative ways to bring money into our organizations.”
web link
www.mycharityworkshop.com
Looking at the needs of nonprofits from a practical standpoint, she saw how most of them shared similar problems; there’s never enough money, volunteers or time. She also noticed that many times, one nonprofit had an asset or an overabundance of something another group needed.
“When I first started working with charities I screwed up so many things,” Sellens said. “I would spend all of this time and effort trying to do a fundraiser and something would go wrong. If I just had some people to give me advice, it would be great.”
Seeing the need for a guiding light, Sellens started the Charity Workshop about a year and a half ago to share materials, resources and knowledge.
“Shortly after I started the group weird things came up like a group of ladies who make quilts for cancer patients had extra fabric and one of the animal shelters was able to use the leftover fabric to make animal beds,” she said.
As director of fundraising for Adopt A Cat, Sellens has learned the ins and outs of charitable donations.
“A lot of people don’t realize all the stuff that is there for them,” Sellens said. “A problem I see with most small charities is that they get into the nitty gritty of the charity work and they don’t do enough innovative fundraising. The smaller charities have to take two steps backwards and focus on their fundraising.”
A couple of money-raising ideas have been around for awhile, yet few people know about them.
Link sharing allows a group to put web links on its website for retailer advertisement. The retailers give a portion of the sales amount every time someone follows the link and makes a purchase.
Through a credit card processing program, nonprofits can generate steady, monthly income with supporters who are businesses owners. All the owners have to do is sign up for credit card processing through the their favorite charity and the charity will receive a percentage of every transaction the company runs every month.
“This is total untapped revenues that people aren’t taking advantage of,” Sellens said.
The Charity Workshop has monthly conference calls and an ongoing dialogue on its website for people to share ideas and learn from others’ mistakes.
More than 56 groups are using the database, and being so easily accessible allows for charities from all over the United States to partner up.
“With the economy being so bad charities need to think of ways of making money that don’t rely on just a percentage,” Sellens said. “Now more than ever, fundraising has become very hard. People are not giving as much. We need to come up with new and innovative ways to bring money into our organizations.”
web link
www.mycharityworkshop.com
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