Fundraising ideas are good, but they are meaningless if people don’t remember to participate.  This is a simple way to provide a reminder to your supporters that helping your group is quite simple. These are printed two to a page, and then cut to 5.5 x 8.5 inches.

If you could use a supply of flyers similar to this one for an upcoming event, just let me know.

Dave

Sure, email, Facebook, Twitter – they all make it easy.  But when you’re speaking with someone in person, writing a www and a domain name and a slash and more letters just isn’t that convenient.

Enter the Promotion Card.

This is an easy tool to help you accomplish a couple of things:

1. Remember the web site every time you open your wallet, and
2. Explain to friends just how easy it is to help a fine organization.

This gives you a simple way to tell your family and friends how easy it is to help your group.  When speaking at a Pacific Northwest Search and Rescue meeting recently, I gave each person one or two cards to use.  It seemed to work. Feedback has been positive with at least one person taking a picture of the card and sharing it on Facebook! Others seem to be using the cards as a way to talk to friends and family.

If this is something that might be a valuable tool to help you and your supporters tell your “Click. Buy. Help.” story, I’d be happy to create a set of cards for you to test. Just let me know.

This information, along with the sample card will be filed in the Resources area, accessible through the top navigation bar.

Dave

Excerpt from sample Announcement Letter

One of the best first actions a school or non-profit organization can take after establishing their page on Click. Buy. Help., is to announce this new and innovative fundraising idea.

To help you share the message with your supporters, Click. Buy. Help. has provided a sample Announcement Letter for you to edit and use.  You can view the letter here.

Simply copy the text, update the placeholders with appropriate references, edit any of the message to make it your own and send it out.

This can be a great first introduction, and then again after a period of time.  Later, the letter can be updated to be more of a “reminder.”

Check the Resources section again for more tools to help you promote your Click. Buy. Help. page.

Every month, suggestions and resources are mailed to Click. Buy. Help. organizations to help you promote your page to your supporters.  The Resources Section will now be your library of all the marketing and promotional materials you need to expand the reach of your Click. Buy. Help. page – and to expand your earnings.

How it works.

This page will be your starting point for all resource materials.  You can access those materials in several ways:

• Select the specific topic through the navigational buttons above.  Hover over “Resources” in the navigation bar, and choose from the selections shown in the drop-down menu.
• If you prefer to browse what is available, you can view all resources together by simply choosing the Resource Category.  That way, you will be provided with all materials containing valuable resource information.
• Finally, look for the content in the Topics listing on the right side navigation bar. (Only visible from the Click. Buy. Help. pages – not organization pages.)

As more materials are developed and shared, they will appear in the library.  Different groups have different marketing needs at different times.  This will allow you to refer to any information previously announced in the monthly emails any time you need it.  Click. Buy. Help. stands ready to assist you with deploying these strategies, maximizing their effectiveness, and creating new tools together.

If you have a specific need that hasn’t yet been addressed, please ask.  If it is something valuable to you, it probably could be used by others – and it could become the next resource item!

Thanks,

Dave

NYT poses difficult question

The New York Times has published a story about fundraising fairness and how it is being tested in Portland, Oregon. Most of the Click. Buy. Help. organizations are based in the local Portland metropolitan area, but this issue affects all public school districts across the country.

Schoolhouse Supplies, a valued member of the Click. Buy. Help. community shared the NYT story on their Facebook page and as a former Gresham-Barlow School Board Member, and for two years, the Board Chair, I had to weigh in with my perspectives.

There are many complicated issues connected with the NYT story. From the move to centralized state funding from exclusively local property taxes, to the inequities in the socioeconomic make-up within the state (which is significant between Portland/Salem/Eugene and the rural “rest of” the state), many topics could have very in-depth analysis performed.

For this horse on which I’ve decided to ride, I will attack just the issue closest to Click. Buy. Help. – how to equitably disburse the funds raised from this or other fundraising strategies.

In the NYT story, there is considerable discussion about district-wide foundations, local school foundations, and the funding of teaching positions with privately raised funds. This writer supports the first two, but has issues with the last one. Let’s attack them one at a time.

DISTRICT FOUNDATIONS

If a school district – an entire district – has their own foundation, there should be no question that the foundation should support all schools equally. While most district foundations probably don’t go the extreme of allocating support on a per student basis, they should. In Oregon, there is a complicated formula called the State School Fund formula for disbursing state operating money to individual schools. It accounts for student population, school size, urban vs rural, and more. The point: this is a blanket system for equitably distributing funds to individual schools.

Philosophically, that is the only correct solution. A child in a small school in rural Oregon shouldn’t be penalized in the quest for an education simply for being born to a rural family instead of in an urban hot spot.

Seriously. Education is education. Distribute global dollars locally.

INDIVIDUAL FOUNDATIONS

At the risk of sounding like I’m speaking out of both sides of my mouth, a school’s Parent Teacher Club or if more formal, a foundation, should have the ability to help their own school. Does this contradict the previous position? Absolutely not. This is a “local” effort by “local” people (school parents.) A district foundation is a “global” effort by people who consciously commit to assisting at a “global” level.

The work of individual foundations or more casual parent groups should be considered the “two” of a “one-two” punch. Global funding from a district foundation is like the base-load electricity generated on the grid. It is an ongoing need. The local support from a parent group is like the peak-load. Specific, variable needs when they occur can be addressed in this manner. It is very appropriate since the parents involved usually know the needs better than anyone – it’s appropriate that they should be the group to pursue the support necessary to satisfy those needs.

FUNDING TEACHING POSITIONS

To this point, both above topics have been directed at funding “extras.” Reading programs, new computers, or a gym makeover are all appropriate to fund by parents and district foundations. They are the extra programs, tools, and resources that many districts simply can’t seem to acquire.

Teaching positions on the other hand, should have no place in local foundation funding. Teachers are a valuable component to a child’s education – possibly THE most valuable component. As a result, they should not be planned and funded with the influence of a parent group. They are simply part of a very complicated picture.

School districts take considerable time (or should!) in planning for how they disperse their teaching skills across schools, how various levels of experience and education places individual teachers on collective bargaining salary schedules and that impact to budgets, and how longer term strategic planning is involved for moving teachers and developing those who wish to become administrators.

It aint easy.

For that very reason, the decisions surrounding teaching positions should be left to the professionals.

Everything else? Fair game!

Get involved with a local school or non-profit organization. Help them in any way you can. Get them set up on Click. Buy. Help. and help them earn commissions from your regular online purchases. You’ll benefit from your involvement and they will too.

David Wiederrich
Founder
Click. Buy. Help.

Click. Buy. Help. is a unique model for fundraising.  We’re not “selling anything” in a fundraising world where groups sell everything from popcorn to flowers.  No, Click. Buy. Help. is more about “buying.” It’s all about encouraging supporters to simply buy what they would online anyway, but just start from the organization’s Click. Buy. Help. page.

That’s where the door-to-door twist comes in.

Let’s consider just how memorable it would be for the average resident to have someone come to the door and NOT ask them to buy anything or donate any money.  That’s right.  In fundraising circles, that’s NOT going for “the ask.”

Instead, what if the volunteer handed the resident a card when they introduced themselves and their cause?  The card had the group’s name and identity along with the web address link to their page and a brief description of how it works.  The volunteer simply asked the resident to begin their regular online shopping from the group’s page, thanked them for their time, and leaves.

The resident was just asked to help without “digging any deeper.”

Sure, there was an interaction and when fundraising, it’s good to raise money at every opportunity.  But there was nothing raised during this interaction.

Yet.

Consider the work it takes to get to the point where a one-time contribution or sale can be made.  Think about that same effort and have it result in a supporter not just making a donation that one time, but creating a donation (from the commissions earned) EVERY SINGLE TIME that person buys something online.

Now I’m not a lazy person, but really like to do things efficiently.  If I’m going to work hard to get my message across to a potential supporter, I want it to reap benefits for a long time into the future – not just this one time.

Give it a try and come back to share your experiences.

Click. Buy. Help. is an innovative fundraising idea and Schoolhouse Supplies is equally innovative. After being founded in 1999, Schoolhouse Supplies has enjoyed over a decade of supporting students and teachers throughout Portland Public Schools. They operate Oregon’s first and only volunteer-run Free Store to provide teachers with the classroom supplies needed to encourage the learning process for all students. Today, they are a nationally recognized leader in the Free Store movement, which creates direct links between students and members of the community.

As an award-winning nonprofit that supports public education in Portland, their mission is targeted at helping students achieve.  “To serve classrooms in need by operating a volunteer-run Free Store for Teachers, which is stocked with supplies donated by the community,” is based on the belief that every child deserves school supplies and has the right to a quality education.

Founded by Portland Public Schools parent Katie Gold, Schoolhouse Supplies has grown from serving 11 schools to all 130 Portland Public Schools. With supply drives and generous contributions of gently used supplies from leading businesses in the northwest, Schoolhouse Supplies has been able to keep their Free Store shelves stocked year round.

If you would like to help Click. Buy. Help. sustain the good work they are doing, start your online shopping from their page.  There, they have all three of the big office and school supply retailers shown along with direct links to purchase the items most in need. Tell your friends and share the link to their page.

If you know of a another non-profit organization that could benefit from a new and creative fundraising idea, send them to our Contact Us page and we’ll help them get started!

Web site hosting service?

This may not be the usual place to shop for most of your supporters, but think of this:  many of your supporters work for, or are owners of, companies.  Businesses who probably have web sites.  Web sites that need to be hosted somewhere. This isn’t a regular retailer found at “the mall” but is something that nearly every business needs.

The people at BlueHost are absolutely the best at providing support – something that is important to every business owner.  They always solve my (self-inflicted) problems quickly and with class. I expect to be with them for a very long time.  Not a mainstream fundraising idea, but not a bad one either!

If you click through from this post, Click. Buy. Help. of course earns a commission on the sale.  But if you want to become a part of those earnings, give some thought to your supporter base.  Do you have a group who are small business owners?  Do you have “hobby bloggers” who have their own web sites?  Do you have independent consultants who need solid web hosting and the best support around?  If so, let me know and I’ll get BlueHost set up for your Click. Buy. Help. page!

Dave

As a way to showcase the member organizations to each other, potential members and the general public who visit the site, I will begin an ongoing series of short focus stories for each group. Then, as new groups join, a story will be added, introducing them to the Click. Buy. Help. community.

Look for the first profile soon.  They will appear in the sequence they joined Click. Buy. Help.

This is a wonderful opportunity to thank the Group of 15 for allowing me to be a part of their work. Although I don’t participate directly, I am able to provide assistance through the commissions earned on supporters purchases. Fundraising is difficult and assistance is needed from any available direction. I am pleased to be able to provide support.

Dave

Open communication to your supporters is important, but then again, you know that.  Educating them about your intention and giving them an easy way to help is a great one-two punch. My hope is this provides you with an easy tool to get them to act.

Dave

(Click More for entire letter)

DRAFT LETTER TO SUPPORTERS

TO: Your Non-Profit Organization’s Supporter Community

FROM: Your name and title

The [Organization name] is pleased to announce the launch of a simple, but very innovative fundraising tool: Click. Buy. Help. G.A.P.S. has joined Click. Buy. Help. to earn commissions from your regular online purchases.

BACKGROUND

[Organization] recently joined Click. Buy. Help. to test the process and we found it to be simple and secure. With just a small number of people testing it out, we’re already earning commissions! Just think of the potential when all our loyal supporters are participating.

HOW IT WORKS

Click. Buy. Help. has created a very easy process for schools, churches, and all non-profit organizations to earn commissions on supporters’ online purchases – purchases already being made every day:

1. [Organization] supporters visit the [Organization] page on Click. Buy. Help. at http://www.clickbuyhelp.org/[organization page name]
2. Click on your favorite retailer’s icon to visit their site
3. Make your regular purchases
4. Click. Buy. Help earns a commission from your purchase; donates to [Organization.]

That’s all there is to it!

NO SELLING – JUST BUYING

Remember, we’re not selling anything with this service. These are purchases that you make every day anyway. The only requirement: you must start your shopping from our page EVERY TIME you shop online.

 TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY – HERE AND OUT OF TOWN

Anyone can help [Organization] through this program – and they don’t even need to live in the area. Do you have a sister in Montana? Tell her. Do you have a brother in Texas? Email him. What about grandma and grandpa in San Francisco? Show them how they can help. It doesn’t matter where they live – only that they begin their shopping from our page every time they shop online.

Since Click. Buy. Help. doesn’t compete with any of our other fundraising activities, it can be an excellent complement to other events. For example, when you are shopping for items to donate to our upcoming auction [or other event], you might consider starting your online shopping from the [Organization] page on Click. Buy.Help, buy the items through Amazon.com to save some money, and earn a donation for us. We can also promote our page at the event next year and in all the materials published leading up to it.

You can see the potential for this program and why [Organization] is excited to now release this to all our supporters. The next time you buy online, please be sure to CLICK through to your favorite retailer from our page, BUY online as you would normally, and HELP the [Organization]!

Sincerely,

[Name]

[Title]

[Organization]