Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Ideas That Work (97)

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The "Write" Way to Fundraise


As the new year commenced I received a large package in the mail. No card was included, simply a gorgeous calendar of floral portraits and a pad of writing paper with the teddy bear logo of the Learning Centers. The Monroe Litho logo on the calendar and the address of the Rochester (NY) Learning Center told me all I needed to know - Stephen Whittaker's fundraising project for his LC was in motion.

Ill. Brother Whittaker, Active for the state of New York works at Monroe Litho (the calendar is their annual showpiece demonstrating the extraordinary quality of their work) and is a solid supporter of the Rochester Learning Center. Always looking for a creative solution to problems, Whittaker found and idea to support the LC that was literally under his nose. Looking at a promotional pad of note paper, he thought that this would be a great fundraising opportunity - one that could engage students and board alike.

With help from his associates and friend in the business, Stephen produced 650 2-pad sets of paper. He set the donation price at $10/set and built a distribution network of families board members and Masonic friends. "Each board member took a case of the pads (14 sets)," said Wittaker. "Most of the kids in the program and their parents took sets to sell, also. This became a good way to get everyone involved."

The goal for this program is to net $5,000 without a lot of work.

While you may not have a printer on your board, the principles of this success in the making are worth considering.
  • gather the resources you have. What resources do your contacts have that can be translated into an efficient fundraising project?
  • focus on your network. Include the current and past families of students/ scholars.
  • set a reasonable goal. $5,000 is both reasonable and relevant. Avoid goals being too low to matter or too grandiose to achieve.
Success might be right under your nose.

ps: Happy Groundhog Day!! (unfortunately we're in for another 6 weeks of winter)

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

great idea and one that could be used by other Centers.
Steve Park
CNY103 Chair

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