Greetings!  I hope you and your families are having a great holiday season so far.  I know this is a busy time of the year, with getting the last minute donation appeals out the door, but if you have time, I urge you to check out the selection of articles this month on our sister blog, TopSchoolFundraisers.com.  There have been some interesting news items this month that I have written about, and I’d love to get your comments on them! (I have included some short blurbs from a few of the articles to get you interested!)

As always, if you are looking for fundraising ideas or great products to raise money for your school, please head on over to FastTrackFundraising.com!  They have an amazing selection of products with proven results.

From TopSchoolFundraisers.com

Is It OK to Take from the Rich Schools to Give to the Poor Schools?

There is an interesting debate that has been percolating in more than just a few school districts lately.

Basically, there are some school districts in this country, with vastly different levels of family income within its boundaries. Some schools within a particular district may receive Title I funds from the federal government to help with low-income families, while other schools in the same district may have a much higher level of income among its families.

The problem is that schools with wealthier families are typically able to raise more money than schools with less well-to-do families

7 Ways To Use Your School’s Alumni More Wisely

Increase Your School Giving One Person at a Time

Healthy Fundraising Events That are Good for Your Body

As parents and educators, we are obviously very concerned with the overall health of our children. Although it has become very easy in our society to make unhealthy choices, we are increasingly becoming aware of opportunities to opt for those things that will make us stronger, more fit, and in the long run, happier.

This attention is starting to turn toward our schools. With the vast amount of time that a child spends at school each year, this is a very important front in the battle for a building a healthy lifestyle.

Many schools are addressing the issues of soda and candy vending machines in the schools. And although candy sales have long been a successful form of fundraising, some schools are now looking for ways to integrate their desire for good health into their need to raise money to support vital school functions.

Here are a few ideas of physical activities that combine exercise, fun, and the opportunity to generate lots of income.

Your School Could Raise $7,800 from Collecting Box Tops!

School Spirit is Essential to Your Fundraising Success

Awesome Example of a PTO Gettin’ After It

How to Keep Your School Fundraiser from Dragging

How a Restaurant Gift Card Fundraiser Could Work for You

34 Basket Auction Ideas

A couple of years ago, I wrote an e-book called the School Carnival Money Making Guide. It’s 186 pages long and gives all sort of practical advice on how to earn more money for your school at your school carnival.

Here is an excerpt from the book about how to run a basket auction. If you enjoy it, check out the entire book atwww.everybodyhatesfundraising.com.

Basket Auction

Another great way to make a significant sum of money at your carnival is to add in the element of a basket auction. This strategy of bundling together a group of related items into a beautifully wrapped package has become very popular at silent auctions. So, it’s easy to transfer the idea over to your carnival without too much difficulty.

Here are some very important things to consider when deciding to add a basket auction to your carnival:

Is a Blurb in a School Newsletter Enough to Get People to a Meeting?

Is the “T” Missing from Your PTO or PTA?

5 Sure-Fire Ways to Increase Revenue in Your Product Sale Fundraiser

1. Use a company that guarantees your organization gets to keep a higher percentage of the profits. There are many so-called fundraising companies out there that think it’s ok to rip the non-profits off and take 60% or more of your hard work. If this is what you have encountered, I suggest you check out FastTrack Fundraising, where you absolutely get the highest percentages on high-quality products.

2. Pick a product that is proven to be popular. Don’t just pick what you personally think would sell well. You need a broad sampling. For instance, your fundraising company will be able to tell you what their best sellers are. Again, FastTrack Fundraising has a website that is packed with a wide variety of products you can sell and make money on. Each product has reviews by actual customers that relate their experience. There is also a profit calculator which you can use to figure out how much you can make on each product. You just have to type in the number of people you expect to be selling and you’ll get a very good estimate of what you can make.

3. Give your supporters plenty of notice that the sale is coming and clearly state your goal. Communication with your customers is key. Don’t just expect them to buy whatever it is you are selling, when you are selling it. Do some homework, find out when there is a lull of fundraisers at local schools and other non-profits. Also, be up front with them about how much you’re hoping to make and what that means for every participant. If you need every person to buy $20 worth of product, tell them that.

4. Tell your group members what this money will be used for (Make sure it’s for a reason they will support!). In order to get people to part with their money for something they may not really want or need, you’ve got to make a compelling case. Work on developing a story about why you need the money and what exactly it will be used for. Don’t just say all the money goes toward the “general fund”. People want their donation to mean something important. Even if you have to move things around in your operating budget, find an expense that is directly related to the participant’s experience. If you can make it personal to each one of your members, you’ve got a much better chance of getting them to respond as you want them to.

5. Keep the participants enthused about the sale. Don’t just pass out the information about your fundraisers and then don’t mention it again until the day you’re supposed to collect the money. Keep people fired up each step of the way. Set benchmarks you’d like to meet. Offer fun incentives, but don’t spend any money on them. Save your money for the group. Something fun and free would be like you offering to shave your head bald if the group reaches the goal. Be creative.

Photo by: R/DV/RS

Many readers at StepByStepFundraising enjoy this monthly peek at articles from our sister site TopSchoolFundraisers.com.

Even if you don’t have anything to do with school fundraising specifically, there is sure to be something interesting for you to check out.  Here is a list of article links to October’s posts.  I’ve included a short excerpt from a few of the posts, as well.

As always, if you are looking for easy to manage and highly popular fundraising ideas, I urge you to check out FastTrackFundraising, the great sponsor of both this site and TopSchoolFundraisers.  They have an outstanding selection of product fundraisers with extensive reviews from satisfied customers.

See you in November!

If You Could Pick Only Three Fundraisers to Have this Year, Which Would You Choose? Part I

If You Could Pick Only Three Fundraisers to Have this Year, Which Would You Choose? Part II

Would You Like to Make More Money at Your Next School Carnival?

Raise Thousands of Dollars through Recycling with FactoryFunding.com

If you would like to raise money for your child’s school, but you know you have to be careful not to ask too much from the other parents in the community, this is a great idea for you.

FactoryFunding.com is an established business that can help you raise significant revenue without asking parents to keep chipping in. They do this through an effective recycling program that includes ink jet cartridges, laser toner cartridges, cell phones, MP3 players and all sorts of personal electronics. A complete list of the qualifying items can be seen here.

Here is how FactoryFunding works:

When you recycle your used ink cartridges, cell phones, laptops, and small electronics with FundingFactory, your recyclables convert to cash and rewards that can get your school or nonprofit organization the things you need — for free.

School Fliers for only $5!

A Conversation with a Frustrated Fundraising Mom

Today I would like to share parts of a conversation I had just a couple of days ago with the mother of two children in a local public school system. Her daughter is in high school, and she also has a son who is in third grade. So, she’s seen the whole gamut of school fundraising in her time as a parent.

She did not know that I write a blog on this topic of raising money for schools, and I wanted her to speak freely, so I did not mention it.

We got on to this topic while our kids were at swim practice, so we had plenty of time to talk in detail. She mentioned that her daughter’s high school was doing a “test drive a car” fundraiser, very much like what I wrote about yesterday. She said that she really liked this kind of a fundraising event, because it was a very low-level commitment, both time and money-wise.

I should say that this is a very involved mother, who does regularly participate in school events, including fundraisers. Therefore, I took what she had to say with a great deal of seriousness.

Here are some of her opinions on the state of modern fundraising in our schools. See if you share any of these beliefs. My guess is that you probably do.

The Drive One 4 UR School Fundraiser by Ford Motor Company

Fundraising Bracelets Very Popular with Students

Is There a Zombie in the House?

Chocolate Fundraiser is Out, Beer & Wine Fundraiser is In!

 Back in March of this year, I wrote a blog post here that talked about the dangers of including alcohol for adults at a school fundraiser. I wrote that alcohol can add an unpredictable element to your event, which could possibly spoil what you and your team worked so hard to create.

It’s not that I’m against alcohol in any way personally, it’s just that some people get carried away with drinking, and these few individuals can ruin the event for the rest of the audience. That can negatively impact your school’s reputation as a fundraising entity and make your job much harder.

As evidence, I included in my blog an excerpt from a news article that reported on a school auction that included alcohol sales, and some parents got drunk and started to swear loudly at each other, and they came to blows.

Do You Approach Fundraising Like an Entrepreneur Would?

Recently, Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki teamed up to write a book on the subject of entrepreneurship called “The Midas Touch”.

In this book, they list five attributes that separate successful entrepreneurs from unsuccessful ones. These characteristics are:

1. Character
2. Focus
3. Brand
4. Relationships
5. The Little Things

No matter what you think of Donald Trump, he has had a long and storied career as an entrepreneur, so it’s worth at least considering what he has to say on this matter.

I’ve stated many times before that I believe that school fundraising is a total sales job. You are trying to convince people to spend their money to buy a better product, namely a better school experience for their children. It doesn’t matter if you’re running an auction for your school, or a carnival, or a walk-a-thon. It could also be a product sale or a direct mail appeal. Whatever form your fundraiser takes, you are engaged in the art of sales.

There’s a formula in the business world that somehow proves it is less expensive to sell to established or previous customers than it is to find and develop new customers.

I’m not much of a businessman, but that seems to make sense, right? After all, you already have your previous customers’ (or clients’) names, email addresses, physical addresses, phone numbers, and even information about what they bought from you, which indicates preferences and tastes.

You just don’t have that kind of information on people you haven’t dealt with yet. So, you have to work hard and spend lots of money to get new people to become part of your non-profit community.

Now, that’s not to say that you shouldn’t always be looking to grow your community, but what I am driving at is there are many reasons to put a significant effort into getting more out of the people already part of the group, alumni, if you will.
Here are three ways alumni can help your organization in very important ways. The final four examples will come in the second part of this article to be published soon.

1. Fundraising. It is much easier to make a compelling fundraising case to people who already have been touched in a positive way by your non-profit. In fact, it is possible that alumni would be extra-open to receive fundraising solicitation letters by mail, since you really don’t have to convince them to give. Letter drives are much cheaper to run for the non-profit, so the overhead costs normally associated with product sales or lage events are eliminated. You just have paper, printer ink, envelopes, address labels, and postage. Not bad.

2. Public Relations. If you keep in good touch with your alumni donors and/or clients, it’s not too much of a stretch to ask them to help you spread the good word about your organization in your city or town. This doesn’t have to be very formal, but they could use a coffee mug with your organization’s logo on it at work, they could just post on their Facebook page an event of yours that they are planning on attending, they could upload photos of their volunteer experience with your group to Flickr, they could tell their friend who works at the local newspaper what great work you’re doing on behalf of…. The ist goes on. Just ask your alumni to keep thinking of you and how more people could be turned on to the group. The rest will come on its own.

3. Board Members. Non-profits are always on the look-out for new board members. The alumni ranks is a great place to start the search. And this doesn’t have to be a rushed process. Usually, alumni that are invested in the organization aren’t going anywhere. This gives the director of the group, as well as the existing board members, time to get to know the person in question and vet their background to make sure he or she is a good fit. Love of the organization is so important when picking new board members. An actively involved alumnus or alumna comes with that built in.

4. In-Kind Donations. The fourth way that alumni can be used more effectively by non-profits is to solicit goods and services at greatly reduced prices, possibly even donated completely. If you have a gentleman who was once part of your organization, and he went on to become an architect and you need blueprints for a new building, he might be able to work with you on a great price. If there was a lady who used to be a client or customer of your organization, and she is now an attorney, you might get some pro bono work out of her. The same is true for craftsmen, like electricians, plumbers, and landscapers.

I strongly suggest that you start finding out what your alumni members do for a living, and then start becoming friends with them, if you aren’t already. In a time when new income is hard to generate, reduced expenses are a great method for helping your bottom line.

5. Recruitment. The fifth way alumni members can be helpful to an organization is to help recruit new customers for you. Why spend lots of money on marketing, when we all know that word of mouth advertising works best. A strong recommendation from a friend is much more effective than a print ad or radio spot. Therefore, you should look at your alumni as walking billboards. Perhaps you can create some talking points for your alumni, so they are current on what your group offers, but really count on their passion and enthusiasm for your cause to convince others to try you out.

6. Volunteer. A sixth way that alumni can lend a hand to your organization is to volunteer. This may seem like a no-brainer, but with everybody having a busy schedule, volunteerism is often forgotten. If you can create a volunteer experience that is well-planned, rewarding, and appreciated, you’ll have your alumni clamoring to sign up.
I have often found it is also a little easier asking alumni to volunteer for things because at one point in their lives, they benefited from volunteer help. So, I’m simply asking them to pay it back a little.

7. Historical Development. The seventh suggestion I have for non-profits to use their alumni more effectively is to find a few interested people to undertake historical projects. This might include sorting through and labeling old photos, slides, and movies. Or, it could be writing histories of specific events or periods in your group’s past. It could also mean trying to collect pictures of mementos from previous eras. I think you could also get some volunteers to create attractive historical displays that could be hung in your group’s facility.

People love remembering and honoring the past, especially if they were part of it. You should capitalize on this human inclination and get as many alumni involved in preserving your organization’s history as you can. A non-profit that knows and can share its past has a much better chance to have a long and prosperous future.

Photo by: J.harwood

Greetings!  Today I want to share with you a selection of articles I wrote this month on our sister blog- TopSchoolFundraisers.  While it’s true that the articles are written from the perspective of a school fundraiser, there are many general principles that apply to all kinds of non-profit organizations.  So, please don’ t be put off by the word “school” in the name of the blog!

For a few of the articles, below, I have included a couple of paragraphs to “tease” you into reading them.  I hope it works!

Thanks again for reading with us all this month, and stay tuned for another great month in October. – Jim Berigan

Are You a Fundraising Bully?

I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I think and write about fundraising most every day, but I really am bothered when I personally encounter fundraising attempts that are just downright inconsiderate and poorly thought out.

I had two such incidents occur just this morning in my own home with my own kids.

First, one of my sons asked me for $5 on his way out the door to school. Ok, that’s not usually a big deal, but I asked him what he needed it for anyway. “I need it to pay for a pink t-shirt for my (sports) team.”  Then he leaned in toward me and whispered, “You know what pink t-shirts are for, right, dad?” (more…)

School Halloween Carnival Game Ideas

Schools Coming Up with Unusual Fundraisers!

Free & Easy Volunteer Sign-Up Sheets

Ideas on How to Raise Money in Low-Income Schools

7 Tips on How to Think Like a Board Member

Today’s post is directed primarily at the people who are responsible for leading private school fundraisers. In a public school setting, fundraising events are usually funneled through the building principal, who is accountable to the superintendent, who, in turn, answers to the overarching school board. In most situations, your grassroots level efforts probably won’t rise all the way to the top.

However, in the case of a private school, the board of directors is very much involved in fundraising. In fact, some people would argue that the board’s most important function is that of ensuring the school stays well-funded. Remember, that in a non-profit organization, the board is the supreme authority.  The principal and all other employees are accountable to the board members. By the textbook definition, what the board says, goes. Therefore, it is wise to keep them happy and well-informed.

The goal of this article is to help a school employee or parent volunteer to think like a board member in order to move your plans forward with total buy-in and cooperation. (more…)

A Very Popular and Profitable Product Sale for Your School

Today, I’d like to share a very practical piece of fundraising advice.  Sometimes, a product sale can be just the right fit for your school’s needs.  Of course, you want the product to be high-quality and a proven seller.  You also want it to be good for the people buying it, because you know how important it is to keep a relationship built on trust with your fundraising audience.

It can be tough to find an item to sell for your school that meets all of these criteria.  However,FastTrack Fundraising has an excellent solution.  It’s the Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Fundraiser.  Read on to find out how this fundraiser works, what kind of money you can raise in your school, and even read reviews of how this fundraiser has worked in other schools.  I think you’ll be very impressed! (more…)

What’s Wrong with this Picture?

I won’t reveal where I took this picture, in order to protect the reputation of this non-profit, but I did take it on September 15, 2011. I just happened to be passing through this building and was so surprised by what I saw, I had to take this picture.

I will admit, it was taken here in Michigan, where I live. Bottle drives are very popular here, because there is a ten cent deposit paid on every single carbonated beverage bottle or can. Non-profits and schools can really rack up a tidy profit if they’ve got a bunch of students and supporters bringing in big trash bags full of returnables.

However, there are several things that disturbed me about this organization’s effort at fundraising. Let me list a few. (more…)

If You Could Only Tell Your Fundraising Audience Five Things, What Would They Be?

Yesterday, I wrote about how using a numbered list format for your fundraising letters could help you get more people reading them and acting upon them. I gave an example of “The Top 10 Things You Can Do to Help Your Child’s School”. I argued that these kinds of numbered list articles or letters have a greater impact than traditional letters with just one paragraph just stacked up on another.

Today, I’d like to talk about using this strategy of a numbered list and applying it to a very specific kind of letter.

Since we know everyone’s time is at a premium, if you had to narrow down your entire year’s fundraising info into just five bullet points, what would those points be? (more…)

The Number One Way to Get Parents to Read Your Fundraising Letters

School Raffle in 2011-2012? Read This First!

Should a School Only Have One Fundraising Goal All Year Long?

Do Your School Families Know Why You are Raising Money?

Recently, I was asked to serve on a non-profit board of directors. This has got me thinking a lot about what goes into making a good board member. It also got me to thinking about all the bad behaviors I’ve experienced from board members during the years. These are the traits I hope that I don’t exhibit, if I choose to serve on this board.

So, here are ten examples of board member actions I’ve actually dealt with in my non-profit career that have really turned me off. Of course, I won’t use any names, but sadly, these are real-life situations.

1. On two separate occasions, with two different organizations, I’ve had board members mis-use alcohol and actually get drunk to the point of making other people uncomfortable. The first time was at a golf outing and the second was at a board meeting/dinner that was held at a restaurant. Both situations required damage control afterward.

2. I had another situation, where the owner of a local computer store offered to donate several used, but refurbished computers to my organization. We didn’t really need the computers, but I wanted to develop a better professional relationship with this computer store owner, so I happily accepted the donation. I figured, I’d find some families in our community that didn’t have a computer at home for their kids and pass the computers on to them. The computer store owner was very happy, and said he’d deliver them to me later that week.

Well, one of my board members coincidentally happened to go into that computer store shortly after and overheard the owner tell one of his workers that those computers needed to be delivered to me. The board member heard that and asked why we were getting those used computers. The owner explained the situation and the board member flipped out. He said we had enough computers already and didn’t need any more. So he canceled the donation, right on the spot without consulting me at all.

Later that day, the computer store owner called me up and told me what had happened. My board member had really offended him, and I had to fix a relationship that I was working on building. This is a perfect example of a board member sticking his nose into day-t0-day management, where it doesn’t belong.

3. Here’s a great one. One of the non-profits I worked for had two portions to each board meeting- the public session and the closed session. The closed session was only used for sensitive staff issues that the general public didn’t need to hear about. One of the board members, however, would regularly bring his wife to the meetings, and she would stay for the closed sessions. We pointed out to him that since his wife wasn’t on the board, she shouldn’t be there. He responded by telling us that he would tell her everything that happened at the board meeting afterwards, anyway, so she might as well be there to hear things first hand. For many different reasons, this particular board member had great influence on the board, so she ended up being allowed to stay. This made other people, including myself, very uncomfortable. This is an example of a board member not understanding the concept of boundaries.

4. I was shocked when I learned that this one had happened. I worked for a non-profit once, where I put together an informational packet for board members that had private financial figures in it. Later on, I learned that one of my board members had passed this packet onto a person who was interested in getting onto our board. We didn’t know this new person at all. We had never interviewed her. She had not been introduced to the board at large. But, our board member thought it was ok to share private info with strangers. This is a failure in understanding the confidential nature of some portions of board meetings.

5. I worked for a non-profit summer camp once. The summer camp only lasted nine weeks per year. It would make sense then, that board members would want to schedule some time to visit the camp while it was operational. I know summers can get busy, but nine weeks, when you know the dates ahead of time, is still a pretty big window to plan a weekend get-away.

Well, we had a board member who did not make the time to visit the camp at all one summer. I was not the executive director of the camp, so perhaps I wasn’t privy to the reasons why he didn’t show up, but I was high up enough at the camp to realize that the board member who didn’t make an appearance, still had lots to say about how we ran the camp.
If you are going to make a commitment to be a board member for a non-profit, you have to make it a priority in your life, even if that is inconvenient from time to time. Service to a non-profit shouldn’t be only when it fits into your schedule. If you can’t go “all-in”, there’s no reason for you to be on that board.

6. I have written numerous times about how a non-profit needs to carefully cultivate relationships with local businesses. If we are going to ask them for donations and try to sell them ads, we should really do everything we can to make purchases from their store during the year.

Well, I once had two volunteers come back to my office and tell me that while they were out selling ads for a program we were creating, they went to a local electronics store. They introduced themselves politely and asked if they would be willing to purchase an ad with us. The manager broke into a tirade about how terrible our organization was!

A couple of months earlier, it turns out, one of our board members had gone into that store to buy a computer part. He talked to the manager for at least 15 minutes about the part and after all that time, my board member told the manager that he had seen the same part at WalMart for fifty cents cheaper. Therefore, he was NOT going to buy the part at the Mom& Pop shop, but rather go back to WalMart to save money.

The manager told my volunteers that they had some nerve to come in asking him to buy an ad for our school when we couldn’t even toss him an extra fifty cents. Needless to say, the volunteers were very embarrassed. I had to later go into the store personally and apologize on behalf of our organization.

7. Here’s another experience that was not handled well. I was part of a non-profit once and the board received a letter from a family in the community that was critical of the way we handled an event. The letter offered specific examples of the problems and expressed frustration and a reluctance to volunteer again due to the incidents detailed in the letter.
However, the family who wrote the letter did not sign their name, as they wished to remain anonymous.

A few members of the board were very offended by the letter, and they became singularly focused on finding out who had written it. In fact, they became so consumed by discovering the identity of author, that they totally ignored the reason why the letter was written in the first place.

Board members need to keep their egos in check. They shouldn’t be defensive, if they truly want the organization to prosper.

8. In yet another example of poor board behavior, I worked for a non-profit that had a very drama-filled board. Everyone was older than I was at the time, but many of them acted like children.

The worst of this came from two grown men. To each other’s faces, they were friendly and care free. However, in private, I had to hear constant complaining coming from each one of them about the other. I kept telling them to talk to the other one and settle things between them, but that never happened. I felt terribly caught in the middle and my relationship with both men became very strained because of that. Ultimately, that hurt the organization.

9. I worked for another non-profit that was very traditional and old-fashioned in its leadership. In fact, the board was made up of seven people. All seven were men. All seven were white. And all seven were over the age of 50. And, to make this worse, a board appointment was “for life”. The only time we ever got new board members was when one of them died or chose to retire.

There was no spark of imagination from this board. No diversity of thought. Everything was totally monolithic and predictable. And none of them made any move to change this situation. I think it’s a board’s responsibility to keep itself fresh and relevant to changing needs in society. This entire group was guilty of only looking inward. In the long run, that has hurt that particular organization.

10. The last example of bad board behavior I’ve experienced first hand comes from a group I have been involved with over the years as a volunteer and supporter, but not involved officially on a board. This organization requires many volunteers to provide its service, but surprisingly, there is no volunteer manual, no welcome letter, no official expectation sheet whatsoever. In fact, they don’t even have a unified volunteer policy.

Therefore, what has happened is that the same very few people end up doing almost all of the work and most of the so-called supporters avoid any responsibility at all. This has caused a handful of people to be overworked, stressed out and resentful of the people who hide out from volunteering.

While it’s very easy to be mad at the folks who aren’t helping out, I have to lay a lot of blame at the feet of the board members, who know this problem exists, but hasn’t done anything to solve it.

There are many examples of organizations who have figured out how to institute a fair volunteer policy. And, many of these groups have posted their volunteer policies online. It’s not hard to see what other groups have done and tailor a plan to your specific needs.

The board just needs to realize the problem it currently has on its hands and then do something about it.

Photo by: Evil Erin

You gotta love the people in charge of fundraising for breast cancer research. They’ve been coming up with some great ideas to get people talking about the cause and wanting to raise money for it.

Just think about all the sports teams you’ve seen in the past couple of years wearing pink versions of their uniforms. This has been at all levels- high school, college, and in the professional leagues. It’s almost not a big deal to see this anymore. Their drive to increase awareness and revenue through donations has been incredibly successful and culturally penetrating. Everyone knows pink is the color of breast cancer research now.

This, in and of itself, is a remarkable story that other non-profits can learn from. No matter the size of the organization, an effort to apply a “brand awareness” campaign to an overall fundraising effort is a marketing necessity. And, if you can challenge some social norm, like “jocks don’t wear pink” and add a little shock value, all the better, right?

But, now, I really have to say that I’m impressed. The Keep a Breast Foundation has been raising money by selling bracelets that say “I love boobies” on it. This follows the “Save the Tatas” campaign by the foundation of the same name. Of course, the message is a little taboo and it gets people talking about the cause. The irreverence of the slogan makes the organization seem edgy and an attractive place to donate money. Who wouldn’t want to proclaim to the world that he or she loves the boobies?

But, the latest twist to this story is true genius. I don’t want to imply that the Keep a Breast Foundation meant for this to happen, but it’s surely good news for them. According to a report in the Time & Transcript online, parents at a New Brunswick (Canada) school

“…received an automated phone call from the principal Janet Miller saying students were not to wear the plastic fundraising bracelets sold by the U.S.-based Keep A Breast foundation emblazoned with the slogan “I Love Boobies” because they were a “distraction.”

As a result, people started choosing sides in this debate and passions have been inflamed. Everybody in town is talking about the bracelets. And the media is providing free advertising and promotion about the uproar.

As they say, there’s no such thing as bad publicity, and in this case, that’s right on. As long as people are talking about the bracelets, people are buying the bracelets, and money is being raised for research.

And, when you tell people, especially young people, that they can’t do something, like wear the “I love boobies” bracelets to school, that’s all they want to do. Brilliant.

Hello!  Today is the day of the month when I share with you some great news articles and blog posts that have caught my eye over the last thirty days.

Many of these links below are from guest writers to StepByStepFundraising, so you’re already familiar with their great work.  I strongly encourage you to check these writers out in greater depth! 

Enjoy the reading! ~Jim Berigan

I’ll start off with a shameless plug for a new eBook that I help to write, along with Sandra Sims, who is probably very familiar to those of you readers who’ve been around here for a while.

The eBook is called Raffle Secrets and it’s top-notch, if you ask me!  It’s packed with very practical advice on how to run a financially successful raffle and has several interesting ideas on how to run some rather unique raffle events.

There are several free articles posted on our sales site, which makes it worth clicking on over there just by itself.  But, while you are there, I’d love it if you bought a book, too! If you are even thinking about running a raffle for your non-profit this year, this book is for you!

This article is from earlier in the summer, but it introduces an excellent series of posts that Maureen Carruthers has been working on the last three months. The series is called The Showcase of Small Voices, and it is very much worth digging into.

Here’s a fun article from Betsy Baker of Your Grant Authority.  It’s called What MTV, Dale Carnegie and Winning Grants Have in Common.  Betsy mentions her childhood love of music videos from the 1980s, which was exactly my era, as well, so she had me hooked right away.  Great article!

When it comes to running successful benefit auctions, there’s no one with more great information and advice than Sherry Truhlar of Red Apple Auctions.  Here is a link to a video she put together titled “Which Is Better: An Auction Underwriter Or Auction Sponsor?”  If you’ve never heard Sherry talk before, this is a great way to get to know her work.

Amy Eisenstein of TriPointFundraising always puts out terrific information for non-profits on her blog.  Here is a link to a recent article called “4 Steps to Raise More Money AFTER Your Event”.  This is excellent information for any group that wants to maximize every single revenue-producing opportunity.

Greetings!  I hope you’ve all had a great summer!  September is now upon us and many of you non-profit leaders are just now entering into your busy season.  To you, I wish you a great year filled with lots of fundraising success.  For those of you whose busiest season was summer, I hope you met all your goals and can take a little time to relax and re-group this fall.

We’ll be plugging away all year, here at StepByStepFundraising, and we hope you stay with us.

As always, if you are ever in need of ideas for fundraising events or sales, please click on over to FastTrackFundraising.com.  They have an amazing variety of items and services that are proven to help all kinds of non-profits raise money.

In addition to writing and managing this blog, we also have another great site, TopSchoolFundraisers.com, with helpful information, geared specifically toward fundraising in schools.  If you have a minute, please take a look at a few of the articles I posted this month.  The links are below.

We’ll see you back here in September!

~Jim Berigan

TopSchoolFundraisers

School Fundraising Tips from Tim Sullivan, PTO Today President

How Does Your School Stack up in Fundraising with Other Schools in Your District?

What Kind of Fundraiser is your School’s Principal? Part I

What Kind of Fundraiser is Your School’s Principal? Part II

A Genius Idea to Get Parents to Sign up for Stuff!

VolunteerSpot.com- An Excellent Resource for Schools

Start the Fundraising Year Off with a Smile

Act Now to Protect Your School from Embezzlement

Start the Year Off with Lots of Options

The Number One Key to a Successful Fundraising Strategy

Have You Been Nurturing Your School’s Business Sponsors?

What to Ask on Your Volunteer Questionnaire Form

But, Are YOU Ready to Fundraise?

In a recent edition of the online CharlotteObserver, there was an editorial that really got my attention.

It was written by Will Miller, who is a former executive director of Charlotte’s host committee for the Democratic National Convention. The editorial is titled “Nonprofit boards must be bold, not too cozy with staff”.

I highly recommend you taking a moment to click on and read the entire article, because it is very thought provoking, but I thought I’d post a few excerpts from the piece here and ask a few questions for you to ponder.

Miller starts out with his contention that:

In the non-profit world, leadership begins with strong boards, comprised of bold leaders, committed to hiring the best staff available. Our boards are appointed to ensure that we use our community’s resources in the most effective and efficient ways possible to achieve positive, social outcomes. To the extent they do not live up to this responsibility, the community suffers.

Ok, I agree with this. He’s putting a heavy, but appropriate, burden on the shoulders of board members. I’m not sure that everyone who is appointed to board service fully grasps his or her obligation not only to the non-profit, but to the community at large. That’s an important distinction to recognize.

Miller then goes on to say:

CEOs and their staffs typically spoon-feed their boards only the information they want them to know, and avoid or gloss over the less flattering information. “Activity” is invariably substituted for “impact.” Most board business is non-controversial and conducted through consent agendas. Busy board members go along and all is well. Except that it isn’t…

In this section, Miller uses some language that jumped off the page to me. He says that “CEOs and their staffs typically spoon-feed…” and “Most board business…” It kind of sounds like he is making some broach proclamations about the non-profit industry. I do understand the point he is trying to make here, and I’ve been involved with boards where this has been the actual case, but do you think this particular problem he’s writing about is as pervasive as he’s suggesting?

The last section I’ll post here today is:

Early on, organizations begin to focus more on themselves, and less on the community that they serve. Board members get close to the staff members, and are extremely hesitant to replace them due to these cozy relationships. Far too much time is spent on fundraising and marketing, and too little on understanding the best way to meet their missions. Organizations tend to measure the things that are positive, and ignore the things they are charged with improving – otherwise known as “mission creep.”

Again, I believe there is a nugget of truth to what Mr. Miller is writing about. I’ve seen boards that have not pushed their executive director very hard, because they knew it would be much harder to go through he process of firing him and hiring/training someone new. I’ve also witnessed non-profits get so wrapped up in funding their organization, that the mission has gotten lost.

Has this kind of situation ever happened to you? How have you course corrected to get back on track?

I’d love to hear your experiences. Please share them with us in the comment section!

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