Healthy and Sustainable Fundraising Activities

Budgeting

When planning a fundraising event, an essential element to consider is budgeting. For those new to the process, a budget is simply a quantified, planned financial course of action over a period of time. It attempts to estimate costs and revenues.

Creating a working budget for a fundraising event is important for many reasons. First, it forces you to consider the expected demand for your products and services. Considering demand makes you aware of the resources you need to meet your goals. Budgeting for fundraising events also highlights problems you may face in meeting your goals and allows for sufficient time to correct the deficiencies. Lastly, budgeting creates a standard against which results can be compared and is vital for event evaluation (Gordon, Hilton, & Welsch, 1988).

A thorough budget must be developed prior to approving the event and must include both operating and material costs. Operating costs include the cost of staff, sales expenses (e.g., automobile gas, telephone usage), and administrative tasks such as choosing the fundraising activity, developing the proposal, implementing the activity, evaluating the project outcome, and reporting the outcomes to the organization. People taking on administrative or coordinative roles will need time to develop and implement the project. They will also spend many hours coordinating and leading staff. Each event requires a committed administrative staff and at times their efforts may require a financial reward. At other times, these administrators are offering in-kind assistance, which is their way of donating to the fundraising campaign. So make sure during the planning stage to address what costs will be levied by any administrators.

Materials are the other regular budget item for fundraising projects. Costs that typically fall under the materials category include stationery supplies, mailings, copying expenses, phone calls, gas for transportation, web page design and maintenance, up-front cost for products used in the activity, advertising or promotion fees, and electricity. These line items differ depending on the activity, but generally will be your primary financial concerns. Insurance policies are required for some activities.

You need to be as thorough as possible with your fundraising budget: it should show all sources and quantities of cash flow expected for each event. The budgeting process can be broken into the following seven simple steps (Vohwinkle, n.d.):

1. Gather every financial statement you can. This generally includes bank statements, recent bills, and any other information regarding past sources of income and expenses. The main purpose of gathering this information is to compile averages from prior events and to use them as a basis for evaluation.

2. Record all sources of income. Compile all sources and quantities of income expected from an event including all revenue sources as well as interest income from notes, debt recoveries, and credit saves. This revenue budget is simply a forecast because it is based on projections of future sales rather than known, substantial figures. When compiling a revenue budget, take into consideration your competitors, advertising budget, sales force effectiveness, and other relevant factors. From the various projections assembled, attempt to select the most feasible price to charge your consumers for your event.

3. Create a list of expenses for events. Compile all sources and quantities of expenses from a future event including wages for employees as well as the costs of utilities, entertainment, promotions, data processing, and miscellaneous items. Expense budgets list the primary activities undertaken and assign monetary amounts to each of them. When compiling expense budgets, pay particular attention to the fixed expenses as addressed in step 4.

4. Separate expenses into two categories (fixed and variable). Fixed expenses are those that are required for each event and remain stable from event to event. They are essential to the budgeting process and are very unlikely to change. A good example of a fixed expense is utilities. Variable expenses, on the other hand, fluctuate greatly depending on the event and include categories such as labor wages, entertainment, and promotional fees.

5. Total your income and expenses for each event. If your calculation shows more income than expenses, the event is off to a good start. You can disburse the excess income to other areas of the budget. If, however, there is a higher expense column, you will need to make some changes.

6. Make adjustments to expenses. If expenses are higher than income, search through your variable expenses for the discrepancy and look for possible areas in which to cut back. It is much easier to cut variable expenses than it is to cut fixed expenses because variable expenses are generally nonrecurring.

7. Review your budget frequently. Budget reviews should be conducted often to compare projections to actual outcome. They will show where you did well and where you need to improve for the next event.

When formulating budgets for fundraising events, a preliminary budget may be superseded by the actual budget. A preliminary budget is a premature estimate of the total time and funds required for the event. The final budget will be a precise financial evaluation of your fundraising campaign to use for future similar events. It is always good to see a final budget that shows lower expenses than the preliminary budget (Levine, 2001).

Donation Networking

As discussed, any fundraising organization can benefit from a well-organized plan that involves free online tools. One such tool is donation and charity mall websites, which are viable, low-cost Internet fundraising tools. As with Facebook, however, someone (we suggest an adult leader) must set up a basic web page for the group and monitor it.

A donation or charity mall site allows registered organizations to receive a percentage of the purchases made on the site. Some charity malls specialize in schools and school-related groups, (e.g., One Cause at www.onecause.com/causes), similar to the program Box Tops for Education. The entire structure is built on commission. Some websites, such as Bidding for Good (www.
biddingforgood.com/online-auction-services) and iGive (www.igive.com), offer online auction fundraisers. Other sites are not affiliated with shopping or auctions and simply accept donations for a cause. Following are some examples:

• Donors Choose (www.donorschoose.org). School project requests are posted on the site, and donors can browse and give any amount to the project of their choosing. Once the project meets the desired funding goal, the materials are sent to the school. Donors receive photos of the project, thank-you letters, and a cost report detailing how the donation was spent.
• ChipIn (www.chipin.com). At this site, groups describe the project they are collecting money for, the amount they want to raise, and the date by which the funds are required. A ChipIn Widget, or application, that can be installed and completed within a web page (groupname.chipin.com) is embedded on the group's favorite social networking sites, and funds are collected via PayPal.
• Crowdrise (www.crowdrise.com). This site is a compilation of crowdsourcing, social networking, incentives, and more. Crowdsourcing or crowdfunding are terms used to describe openly calling upon a group of people or a community to carry out a request, perform a task, or solve a problem. Like Facebook, a designee from the group signs up for a charitable profile page. Next, the group starts a fundraising campaign by setting up a project page on the website. The share button on the project page is used to message people using e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, or a combination.

Regardless of the social network(s) your group chooses to use, when constructing your online fundraising project sites, you may want to consider the following (Kirkwood, 2010):

• Make personal contacts. Directly invite people who have an affiliation with the group's members or governing body whenever possible. Mass or generic postings, tweets, or e-mails can be used to reach a larger audience; however, they can lack a personal tone that makes people feel connected to the group or the goal of the project.
• Narrate your cause. Describe the project and how it will affect those who will benefit from the funding in detail. Share the meaningfulness of the project and how contributing financially or as a volunteer can make a difference in the lives of others. Describe personal experiences and events that led up to the development of the project, and offer comments from students or community members.
• Be realistic and relevant. Describe an attainable goal that includes the allocation of funds. Clear and in-depth descriptions instill confidence that you will have a successful outcome. Be creative in your attempts to reach contributors, but provide an easy way to make a simple and immediate donation. Effortlessness is an important aspect of online donations. You can also provide choices­ (e.g., small, noninvolved commitments or larger, more involved commitments) so participants can choose what works best for
  them.
• Be professional. A well-organized and error-free site is appreciated by the people navigating it and, therefore, can increase the likelihood of contributions. Donors who receive reports of the results of the project may be more inclined to donate again. It is also important to thank and otherwise recognize those that have donated in any possible way.

Budgeting

When planning a fundraising event, an essential element to consider is budgeting. For those new to the process, a budget is simply a quantified, planned financial course of action over a period of time. It attempts to estimate costs and revenues.

Creating a working budget for a fundraising event is important for many reasons. First, it forces you to consider the expected demand for your products and services. Considering demand makes you aware of the resources you need to meet your goals. Budgeting for fundraising events also highlights problems you may face in meeting your goals and allows for sufficient time to correct the deficiencies. Lastly, budgeting creates a standard against which results can be compared and is vital for event evaluation (Gordon, Hilton, & Welsch, 1988).

A thorough budget must be developed prior to approving the event and must include both operating and material costs. Operating costs include the cost of staff, sales expenses (e.g., automobile gas, telephone usage), and administrative tasks such as choosing the fundraising activity, developing the proposal, implementing the activity, evaluating the project outcome, and reporting the outcomes to the organization. People taking on administrative or coordinative roles will need time to develop and implement the project. They will also spend many hours coordinating and leading staff. Each event requires a committed administrative staff and at times their efforts may require a financial reward. At other times, these administrators are offering in-kind assistance, which is their way of donating to the fundraising campaign. So make sure during the planning stage to address what costs will be levied by any administrators.

Materials are the other regular budget item for fundraising projects. Costs that typically fall under the materials category include stationery supplies, mailings, copying expenses, phone calls, gas for transportation, web page design and maintenance, up-front cost for products used in the activity, advertising or promotion fees, and electricity. These line items differ depending on the activity, but generally will be your primary financial concerns. Insurance policies are required for some activities.

You need to be as thorough as possible with your fundraising budget: it should show all sources and quantities of cash flow expected for each event. The budgeting process can be broken into the following seven simple steps (Vohwinkle, n.d.):

1. Gather every financial statement you can. This generally includes bank statements, recent bills, and any other information regarding past sources of income and expenses. The main purpose of gathering this information is to compile averages from prior events and to use them as a basis for evaluation.

2. Record all sources of income. Compile all sources and quantities of income expected from an event including all revenue sources as well as interest income from notes, debt recoveries, and credit saves. This revenue budget is simply a forecast because it is based on projections of future sales rather than known, substantial figures. When compiling a revenue budget, take into consideration your competitors, advertising budget, sales force effectiveness, and other relevant factors. From the various projections assembled, attempt to select the most feasible price to charge your consumers for your event.

3. Create a list of expenses for events. Compile all sources and quantities of expenses from a future event including wages for employees as well as the costs of utilities, entertainment, promotions, data processing, and miscellaneous items. Expense budgets list the primary activities undertaken and assign monetary amounts to each of them. When compiling expense budgets, pay particular attention to the fixed expenses as addressed in step 4.

4. Separate expenses into two categories (fixed and variable). Fixed expenses are those that are required for each event and remain stable from event to event. They are essential to the budgeting process and are very unlikely to change. A good example of a fixed expense is utilities. Variable expenses, on the other hand, fluctuate greatly depending on the event and include categories such as labor wages, entertainment, and promotional fees.

5. Total your income and expenses for each event. If your calculation shows more income than expenses, the event is off to a good start. You can disburse the excess income to other areas of the budget. If, however, there is a higher expense column, you will need to make some changes.

6. Make adjustments to expenses. If expenses are higher than income, search through your variable expenses for the discrepancy and look for possible areas in which to cut back. It is much easier to cut variable expenses than it is to cut fixed expenses because variable expenses are generally nonrecurring.

7. Review your budget frequently. Budget reviews should be conducted often to compare projections to actual outcome. They will show where you did well and where you need to improve for the next event.

When formulating budgets for fundraising events, a preliminary budget may be superseded by the actual budget. A preliminary budget is a premature estimate of the total time and funds required for the event. The final budget will be a precise financial evaluation of your fundraising campaign to use for future similar events. It is always good to see a final budget that shows lower expenses than the preliminary budget (Levine, 2001).

Donation Networking

As discussed, any fundraising organization can benefit from a well-organized plan that involves free online tools. One such tool is donation and charity mall websites, which are viable, low-cost Internet fundraising tools. As with Facebook, however, someone (we suggest an adult leader) must set up a basic web page for the group and monitor it.

A donation or charity mall site allows registered organizations to receive a percentage of the purchases made on the site. Some charity malls specialize in schools and school-related groups, (e.g., One Cause at www.onecause.com/causes), similar to the program Box Tops for Education. The entire structure is built on commission. Some websites, such as Bidding for Good (www.
biddingforgood.com/online-auction-services) and iGive (www.igive.com), offer online auction fundraisers. Other sites are not affiliated with shopping or auctions and simply accept donations for a cause. Following are some examples:

• Donors Choose (www.donorschoose.org). School project requests are posted on the site, and donors can browse and give any amount to the project of their choosing. Once the project meets the desired funding goal, the materials are sent to the school. Donors receive photos of the project, thank-you letters, and a cost report detailing how the donation was spent.
• ChipIn (www.chipin.com). At this site, groups describe the project they are collecting money for, the amount they want to raise, and the date by which the funds are required. A ChipIn Widget, or application, that can be installed and completed within a web page (groupname.chipin.com) is embedded on the group's favorite social networking sites, and funds are collected via PayPal.
• Crowdrise (www.crowdrise.com). This site is a compilation of crowdsourcing, social networking, incentives, and more. Crowdsourcing or crowdfunding are terms used to describe openly calling upon a group of people or a community to carry out a request, perform a task, or solve a problem. Like Facebook, a designee from the group signs up for a charitable profile page. Next, the group starts a fundraising campaign by setting up a project page on the website. The share button on the project page is used to message people using e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, or a combination.

Regardless of the social network(s) your group chooses to use, when constructing your online fundraising project sites, you may want to consider the following (Kirkwood, 2010):

• Make personal contacts. Directly invite people who have an affiliation with the group's members or governing body whenever possible. Mass or generic postings, tweets, or e-mails can be used to reach a larger audience; however, they can lack a personal tone that makes people feel connected to the group or the goal of the project.
• Narrate your cause. Describe the project and how it will affect those who will benefit from the funding in detail. Share the meaningfulness of the project and how contributing financially or as a volunteer can make a difference in the lives of others. Describe personal experiences and events that led up to the development of the project, and offer comments from students or community members.
• Be realistic and relevant. Describe an attainable goal that includes the allocation of funds. Clear and in-depth descriptions instill confidence that you will have a successful outcome. Be creative in your attempts to reach contributors, but provide an easy way to make a simple and immediate donation. Effortlessness is an important aspect of online donations. You can also provide choices­ (e.g., small, noninvolved commitments or larger, more involved commitments) so participants can choose what works best for
  them.
• Be professional. A well-organized and error-free site is appreciated by the people navigating it and, therefore, can increase the likelihood of contributions. Donors who receive reports of the results of the project may be more inclined to donate again. It is also important to thank and otherwise recognize those that have donated in any possible way.

Budgeting

When planning a fundraising event, an essential element to consider is budgeting. For those new to the process, a budget is simply a quantified, planned financial course of action over a period of time. It attempts to estimate costs and revenues.

Creating a working budget for a fundraising event is important for many reasons. First, it forces you to consider the expected demand for your products and services. Considering demand makes you aware of the resources you need to meet your goals. Budgeting for fundraising events also highlights problems you may face in meeting your goals and allows for sufficient time to correct the deficiencies. Lastly, budgeting creates a standard against which results can be compared and is vital for event evaluation (Gordon, Hilton, & Welsch, 1988).

A thorough budget must be developed prior to approving the event and must include both operating and material costs. Operating costs include the cost of staff, sales expenses (e.g., automobile gas, telephone usage), and administrative tasks such as choosing the fundraising activity, developing the proposal, implementing the activity, evaluating the project outcome, and reporting the outcomes to the organization. People taking on administrative or coordinative roles will need time to develop and implement the project. They will also spend many hours coordinating and leading staff. Each event requires a committed administrative staff and at times their efforts may require a financial reward. At other times, these administrators are offering in-kind assistance, which is their way of donating to the fundraising campaign. So make sure during the planning stage to address what costs will be levied by any administrators.

Materials are the other regular budget item for fundraising projects. Costs that typically fall under the materials category include stationery supplies, mailings, copying expenses, phone calls, gas for transportation, web page design and maintenance, up-front cost for products used in the activity, advertising or promotion fees, and electricity. These line items differ depending on the activity, but generally will be your primary financial concerns. Insurance policies are required for some activities.

You need to be as thorough as possible with your fundraising budget: it should show all sources and quantities of cash flow expected for each event. The budgeting process can be broken into the following seven simple steps (Vohwinkle, n.d.):

1. Gather every financial statement you can. This generally includes bank statements, recent bills, and any other information regarding past sources of income and expenses. The main purpose of gathering this information is to compile averages from prior events and to use them as a basis for evaluation.

2. Record all sources of income. Compile all sources and quantities of income expected from an event including all revenue sources as well as interest income from notes, debt recoveries, and credit saves. This revenue budget is simply a forecast because it is based on projections of future sales rather than known, substantial figures. When compiling a revenue budget, take into consideration your competitors, advertising budget, sales force effectiveness, and other relevant factors. From the various projections assembled, attempt to select the most feasible price to charge your consumers for your event.

3. Create a list of expenses for events. Compile all sources and quantities of expenses from a future event including wages for employees as well as the costs of utilities, entertainment, promotions, data processing, and miscellaneous items. Expense budgets list the primary activities undertaken and assign monetary amounts to each of them. When compiling expense budgets, pay particular attention to the fixed expenses as addressed in step 4.

4. Separate expenses into two categories (fixed and variable). Fixed expenses are those that are required for each event and remain stable from event to event. They are essential to the budgeting process and are very unlikely to change. A good example of a fixed expense is utilities. Variable expenses, on the other hand, fluctuate greatly depending on the event and include categories such as labor wages, entertainment, and promotional fees.

5. Total your income and expenses for each event. If your calculation shows more income than expenses, the event is off to a good start. You can disburse the excess income to other areas of the budget. If, however, there is a higher expense column, you will need to make some changes.

6. Make adjustments to expenses. If expenses are higher than income, search through your variable expenses for the discrepancy and look for possible areas in which to cut back. It is much easier to cut variable expenses than it is to cut fixed expenses because variable expenses are generally nonrecurring.

7. Review your budget frequently. Budget reviews should be conducted often to compare projections to actual outcome. They will show where you did well and where you need to improve for the next event.

When formulating budgets for fundraising events, a preliminary budget may be superseded by the actual budget. A preliminary budget is a premature estimate of the total time and funds required for the event. The final budget will be a precise financial evaluation of your fundraising campaign to use for future similar events. It is always good to see a final budget that shows lower expenses than the preliminary budget (Levine, 2001).

Donation Networking

As discussed, any fundraising organization can benefit from a well-organized plan that involves free online tools. One such tool is donation and charity mall websites, which are viable, low-cost Internet fundraising tools. As with Facebook, however, someone (we suggest an adult leader) must set up a basic web page for the group and monitor it.

A donation or charity mall site allows registered organizations to receive a percentage of the purchases made on the site. Some charity malls specialize in schools and school-related groups, (e.g., One Cause at www.onecause.com/causes), similar to the program Box Tops for Education. The entire structure is built on commission. Some websites, such as Bidding for Good (www.
biddingforgood.com/online-auction-services) and iGive (www.igive.com), offer online auction fundraisers. Other sites are not affiliated with shopping or auctions and simply accept donations for a cause. Following are some examples:

• Donors Choose (www.donorschoose.org). School project requests are posted on the site, and donors can browse and give any amount to the project of their choosing. Once the project meets the desired funding goal, the materials are sent to the school. Donors receive photos of the project, thank-you letters, and a cost report detailing how the donation was spent.
• ChipIn (www.chipin.com). At this site, groups describe the project they are collecting money for, the amount they want to raise, and the date by which the funds are required. A ChipIn Widget, or application, that can be installed and completed within a web page (groupname.chipin.com) is embedded on the group's favorite social networking sites, and funds are collected via PayPal.
• Crowdrise (www.crowdrise.com). This site is a compilation of crowdsourcing, social networking, incentives, and more. Crowdsourcing or crowdfunding are terms used to describe openly calling upon a group of people or a community to carry out a request, perform a task, or solve a problem. Like Facebook, a designee from the group signs up for a charitable profile page. Next, the group starts a fundraising campaign by setting up a project page on the website. The share button on the project page is used to message people using e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, or a combination.

Regardless of the social network(s) your group chooses to use, when constructing your online fundraising project sites, you may want to consider the following (Kirkwood, 2010):

• Make personal contacts. Directly invite people who have an affiliation with the group's members or governing body whenever possible. Mass or generic postings, tweets, or e-mails can be used to reach a larger audience; however, they can lack a personal tone that makes people feel connected to the group or the goal of the project.
• Narrate your cause. Describe the project and how it will affect those who will benefit from the funding in detail. Share the meaningfulness of the project and how contributing financially or as a volunteer can make a difference in the lives of others. Describe personal experiences and events that led up to the development of the project, and offer comments from students or community members.
• Be realistic and relevant. Describe an attainable goal that includes the allocation of funds. Clear and in-depth descriptions instill confidence that you will have a successful outcome. Be creative in your attempts to reach contributors, but provide an easy way to make a simple and immediate donation. Effortlessness is an important aspect of online donations. You can also provide choices­ (e.g., small, noninvolved commitments or larger, more involved commitments) so participants can choose what works best for
  them.
• Be professional. A well-organized and error-free site is appreciated by the people navigating it and, therefore, can increase the likelihood of contributions. Donors who receive reports of the results of the project may be more inclined to donate again. It is also important to thank and otherwise recognize those that have donated in any possible way.

Budgeting

When planning a fundraising event, an essential element to consider is budgeting. For those new to the process, a budget is simply a quantified, planned financial course of action over a period of time. It attempts to estimate costs and revenues.

Creating a working budget for a fundraising event is important for many reasons. First, it forces you to consider the expected demand for your products and services. Considering demand makes you aware of the resources you need to meet your goals. Budgeting for fundraising events also highlights problems you may face in meeting your goals and allows for sufficient time to correct the deficiencies. Lastly, budgeting creates a standard against which results can be compared and is vital for event evaluation (Gordon, Hilton, & Welsch, 1988).

A thorough budget must be developed prior to approving the event and must include both operating and material costs. Operating costs include the cost of staff, sales expenses (e.g., automobile gas, telephone usage), and administrative tasks such as choosing the fundraising activity, developing the proposal, implementing the activity, evaluating the project outcome, and reporting the outcomes to the organization. People taking on administrative or coordinative roles will need time to develop and implement the project. They will also spend many hours coordinating and leading staff. Each event requires a committed administrative staff and at times their efforts may require a financial reward. At other times, these administrators are offering in-kind assistance, which is their way of donating to the fundraising campaign. So make sure during the planning stage to address what costs will be levied by any administrators.

Materials are the other regular budget item for fundraising projects. Costs that typically fall under the materials category include stationery supplies, mailings, copying expenses, phone calls, gas for transportation, web page design and maintenance, up-front cost for products used in the activity, advertising or promotion fees, and electricity. These line items differ depending on the activity, but generally will be your primary financial concerns. Insurance policies are required for some activities.

You need to be as thorough as possible with your fundraising budget: it should show all sources and quantities of cash flow expected for each event. The budgeting process can be broken into the following seven simple steps (Vohwinkle, n.d.):

1. Gather every financial statement you can. This generally includes bank statements, recent bills, and any other information regarding past sources of income and expenses. The main purpose of gathering this information is to compile averages from prior events and to use them as a basis for evaluation.

2. Record all sources of income. Compile all sources and quantities of income expected from an event including all revenue sources as well as interest income from notes, debt recoveries, and credit saves. This revenue budget is simply a forecast because it is based on projections of future sales rather than known, substantial figures. When compiling a revenue budget, take into consideration your competitors, advertising budget, sales force effectiveness, and other relevant factors. From the various projections assembled, attempt to select the most feasible price to charge your consumers for your event.

3. Create a list of expenses for events. Compile all sources and quantities of expenses from a future event including wages for employees as well as the costs of utilities, entertainment, promotions, data processing, and miscellaneous items. Expense budgets list the primary activities undertaken and assign monetary amounts to each of them. When compiling expense budgets, pay particular attention to the fixed expenses as addressed in step 4.

4. Separate expenses into two categories (fixed and variable). Fixed expenses are those that are required for each event and remain stable from event to event. They are essential to the budgeting process and are very unlikely to change. A good example of a fixed expense is utilities. Variable expenses, on the other hand, fluctuate greatly depending on the event and include categories such as labor wages, entertainment, and promotional fees.

5. Total your income and expenses for each event. If your calculation shows more income than expenses, the event is off to a good start. You can disburse the excess income to other areas of the budget. If, however, there is a higher expense column, you will need to make some changes.

6. Make adjustments to expenses. If expenses are higher than income, search through your variable expenses for the discrepancy and look for possible areas in which to cut back. It is much easier to cut variable expenses than it is to cut fixed expenses because variable expenses are generally nonrecurring.

7. Review your budget frequently. Budget reviews should be conducted often to compare projections to actual outcome. They will show where you did well and where you need to improve for the next event.

When formulating budgets for fundraising events, a preliminary budget may be superseded by the actual budget. A preliminary budget is a premature estimate of the total time and funds required for the event. The final budget will be a precise financial evaluation of your fundraising campaign to use for future similar events. It is always good to see a final budget that shows lower expenses than the preliminary budget (Levine, 2001).

Donation Networking

As discussed, any fundraising organization can benefit from a well-organized plan that involves free online tools. One such tool is donation and charity mall websites, which are viable, low-cost Internet fundraising tools. As with Facebook, however, someone (we suggest an adult leader) must set up a basic web page for the group and monitor it.

A donation or charity mall site allows registered organizations to receive a percentage of the purchases made on the site. Some charity malls specialize in schools and school-related groups, (e.g., One Cause at www.onecause.com/causes), similar to the program Box Tops for Education. The entire structure is built on commission. Some websites, such as Bidding for Good (www.
biddingforgood.com/online-auction-services) and iGive (www.igive.com), offer online auction fundraisers. Other sites are not affiliated with shopping or auctions and simply accept donations for a cause. Following are some examples:

• Donors Choose (www.donorschoose.org). School project requests are posted on the site, and donors can browse and give any amount to the project of their choosing. Once the project meets the desired funding goal, the materials are sent to the school. Donors receive photos of the project, thank-you letters, and a cost report detailing how the donation was spent.
• ChipIn (www.chipin.com). At this site, groups describe the project they are collecting money for, the amount they want to raise, and the date by which the funds are required. A ChipIn Widget, or application, that can be installed and completed within a web page (groupname.chipin.com) is embedded on the group's favorite social networking sites, and funds are collected via PayPal.
• Crowdrise (www.crowdrise.com). This site is a compilation of crowdsourcing, social networking, incentives, and more. Crowdsourcing or crowdfunding are terms used to describe openly calling upon a group of people or a community to carry out a request, perform a task, or solve a problem. Like Facebook, a designee from the group signs up for a charitable profile page. Next, the group starts a fundraising campaign by setting up a project page on the website. The share button on the project page is used to message people using e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, or a combination.

Regardless of the social network(s) your group chooses to use, when constructing your online fundraising project sites, you may want to consider the following (Kirkwood, 2010):

• Make personal contacts. Directly invite people who have an affiliation with the group's members or governing body whenever possible. Mass or generic postings, tweets, or e-mails can be used to reach a larger audience; however, they can lack a personal tone that makes people feel connected to the group or the goal of the project.
• Narrate your cause. Describe the project and how it will affect those who will benefit from the funding in detail. Share the meaningfulness of the project and how contributing financially or as a volunteer can make a difference in the lives of others. Describe personal experiences and events that led up to the development of the project, and offer comments from students or community members.
• Be realistic and relevant. Describe an attainable goal that includes the allocation of funds. Clear and in-depth descriptions instill confidence that you will have a successful outcome. Be creative in your attempts to reach contributors, but provide an easy way to make a simple and immediate donation. Effortlessness is an important aspect of online donations. You can also provide choices­ (e.g., small, noninvolved commitments or larger, more involved commitments) so participants can choose what works best for
  them.
• Be professional. A well-organized and error-free site is appreciated by the people navigating it and, therefore, can increase the likelihood of contributions. Donors who receive reports of the results of the project may be more inclined to donate again. It is also important to thank and otherwise recognize those that have donated in any possible way.

Budgeting

When planning a fundraising event, an essential element to consider is budgeting. For those new to the process, a budget is simply a quantified, planned financial course of action over a period of time. It attempts to estimate costs and revenues.

Creating a working budget for a fundraising event is important for many reasons. First, it forces you to consider the expected demand for your products and services. Considering demand makes you aware of the resources you need to meet your goals. Budgeting for fundraising events also highlights problems you may face in meeting your goals and allows for sufficient time to correct the deficiencies. Lastly, budgeting creates a standard against which results can be compared and is vital for event evaluation (Gordon, Hilton, & Welsch, 1988).

A thorough budget must be developed prior to approving the event and must include both operating and material costs. Operating costs include the cost of staff, sales expenses (e.g., automobile gas, telephone usage), and administrative tasks such as choosing the fundraising activity, developing the proposal, implementing the activity, evaluating the project outcome, and reporting the outcomes to the organization. People taking on administrative or coordinative roles will need time to develop and implement the project. They will also spend many hours coordinating and leading staff. Each event requires a committed administrative staff and at times their efforts may require a financial reward. At other times, these administrators are offering in-kind assistance, which is their way of donating to the fundraising campaign. So make sure during the planning stage to address what costs will be levied by any administrators.

Materials are the other regular budget item for fundraising projects. Costs that typically fall under the materials category include stationery supplies, mailings, copying expenses, phone calls, gas for transportation, web page design and maintenance, up-front cost for products used in the activity, advertising or promotion fees, and electricity. These line items differ depending on the activity, but generally will be your primary financial concerns. Insurance policies are required for some activities.

You need to be as thorough as possible with your fundraising budget: it should show all sources and quantities of cash flow expected for each event. The budgeting process can be broken into the following seven simple steps (Vohwinkle, n.d.):

1. Gather every financial statement you can. This generally includes bank statements, recent bills, and any other information regarding past sources of income and expenses. The main purpose of gathering this information is to compile averages from prior events and to use them as a basis for evaluation.

2. Record all sources of income. Compile all sources and quantities of income expected from an event including all revenue sources as well as interest income from notes, debt recoveries, and credit saves. This revenue budget is simply a forecast because it is based on projections of future sales rather than known, substantial figures. When compiling a revenue budget, take into consideration your competitors, advertising budget, sales force effectiveness, and other relevant factors. From the various projections assembled, attempt to select the most feasible price to charge your consumers for your event.

3. Create a list of expenses for events. Compile all sources and quantities of expenses from a future event including wages for employees as well as the costs of utilities, entertainment, promotions, data processing, and miscellaneous items. Expense budgets list the primary activities undertaken and assign monetary amounts to each of them. When compiling expense budgets, pay particular attention to the fixed expenses as addressed in step 4.

4. Separate expenses into two categories (fixed and variable). Fixed expenses are those that are required for each event and remain stable from event to event. They are essential to the budgeting process and are very unlikely to change. A good example of a fixed expense is utilities. Variable expenses, on the other hand, fluctuate greatly depending on the event and include categories such as labor wages, entertainment, and promotional fees.

5. Total your income and expenses for each event. If your calculation shows more income than expenses, the event is off to a good start. You can disburse the excess income to other areas of the budget. If, however, there is a higher expense column, you will need to make some changes.

6. Make adjustments to expenses. If expenses are higher than income, search through your variable expenses for the discrepancy and look for possible areas in which to cut back. It is much easier to cut variable expenses than it is to cut fixed expenses because variable expenses are generally nonrecurring.

7. Review your budget frequently. Budget reviews should be conducted often to compare projections to actual outcome. They will show where you did well and where you need to improve for the next event.

When formulating budgets for fundraising events, a preliminary budget may be superseded by the actual budget. A preliminary budget is a premature estimate of the total time and funds required for the event. The final budget will be a precise financial evaluation of your fundraising campaign to use for future similar events. It is always good to see a final budget that shows lower expenses than the preliminary budget (Levine, 2001).

Donation Networking

As discussed, any fundraising organization can benefit from a well-organized plan that involves free online tools. One such tool is donation and charity mall websites, which are viable, low-cost Internet fundraising tools. As with Facebook, however, someone (we suggest an adult leader) must set up a basic web page for the group and monitor it.

A donation or charity mall site allows registered organizations to receive a percentage of the purchases made on the site. Some charity malls specialize in schools and school-related groups, (e.g., One Cause at www.onecause.com/causes), similar to the program Box Tops for Education. The entire structure is built on commission. Some websites, such as Bidding for Good (www.
biddingforgood.com/online-auction-services) and iGive (www.igive.com), offer online auction fundraisers. Other sites are not affiliated with shopping or auctions and simply accept donations for a cause. Following are some examples:

• Donors Choose (www.donorschoose.org). School project requests are posted on the site, and donors can browse and give any amount to the project of their choosing. Once the project meets the desired funding goal, the materials are sent to the school. Donors receive photos of the project, thank-you letters, and a cost report detailing how the donation was spent.
• ChipIn (www.chipin.com). At this site, groups describe the project they are collecting money for, the amount they want to raise, and the date by which the funds are required. A ChipIn Widget, or application, that can be installed and completed within a web page (groupname.chipin.com) is embedded on the group's favorite social networking sites, and funds are collected via PayPal.
• Crowdrise (www.crowdrise.com). This site is a compilation of crowdsourcing, social networking, incentives, and more. Crowdsourcing or crowdfunding are terms used to describe openly calling upon a group of people or a community to carry out a request, perform a task, or solve a problem. Like Facebook, a designee from the group signs up for a charitable profile page. Next, the group starts a fundraising campaign by setting up a project page on the website. The share button on the project page is used to message people using e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, or a combination.

Regardless of the social network(s) your group chooses to use, when constructing your online fundraising project sites, you may want to consider the following (Kirkwood, 2010):

• Make personal contacts. Directly invite people who have an affiliation with the group's members or governing body whenever possible. Mass or generic postings, tweets, or e-mails can be used to reach a larger audience; however, they can lack a personal tone that makes people feel connected to the group or the goal of the project.
• Narrate your cause. Describe the project and how it will affect those who will benefit from the funding in detail. Share the meaningfulness of the project and how contributing financially or as a volunteer can make a difference in the lives of others. Describe personal experiences and events that led up to the development of the project, and offer comments from students or community members.
• Be realistic and relevant. Describe an attainable goal that includes the allocation of funds. Clear and in-depth descriptions instill confidence that you will have a successful outcome. Be creative in your attempts to reach contributors, but provide an easy way to make a simple and immediate donation. Effortlessness is an important aspect of online donations. You can also provide choices­ (e.g., small, noninvolved commitments or larger, more involved commitments) so participants can choose what works best for
  them.
• Be professional. A well-organized and error-free site is appreciated by the people navigating it and, therefore, can increase the likelihood of contributions. Donors who receive reports of the results of the project may be more inclined to donate again. It is also important to thank and otherwise recognize those that have donated in any possible way.

Budgeting

When planning a fundraising event, an essential element to consider is budgeting. For those new to the process, a budget is simply a quantified, planned financial course of action over a period of time. It attempts to estimate costs and revenues.

Creating a working budget for a fundraising event is important for many reasons. First, it forces you to consider the expected demand for your products and services. Considering demand makes you aware of the resources you need to meet your goals. Budgeting for fundraising events also highlights problems you may face in meeting your goals and allows for sufficient time to correct the deficiencies. Lastly, budgeting creates a standard against which results can be compared and is vital for event evaluation (Gordon, Hilton, & Welsch, 1988).

A thorough budget must be developed prior to approving the event and must include both operating and material costs. Operating costs include the cost of staff, sales expenses (e.g., automobile gas, telephone usage), and administrative tasks such as choosing the fundraising activity, developing the proposal, implementing the activity, evaluating the project outcome, and reporting the outcomes to the organization. People taking on administrative or coordinative roles will need time to develop and implement the project. They will also spend many hours coordinating and leading staff. Each event requires a committed administrative staff and at times their efforts may require a financial reward. At other times, these administrators are offering in-kind assistance, which is their way of donating to the fundraising campaign. So make sure during the planning stage to address what costs will be levied by any administrators.

Materials are the other regular budget item for fundraising projects. Costs that typically fall under the materials category include stationery supplies, mailings, copying expenses, phone calls, gas for transportation, web page design and maintenance, up-front cost for products used in the activity, advertising or promotion fees, and electricity. These line items differ depending on the activity, but generally will be your primary financial concerns. Insurance policies are required for some activities.

You need to be as thorough as possible with your fundraising budget: it should show all sources and quantities of cash flow expected for each event. The budgeting process can be broken into the following seven simple steps (Vohwinkle, n.d.):

1. Gather every financial statement you can. This generally includes bank statements, recent bills, and any other information regarding past sources of income and expenses. The main purpose of gathering this information is to compile averages from prior events and to use them as a basis for evaluation.

2. Record all sources of income. Compile all sources and quantities of income expected from an event including all revenue sources as well as interest income from notes, debt recoveries, and credit saves. This revenue budget is simply a forecast because it is based on projections of future sales rather than known, substantial figures. When compiling a revenue budget, take into consideration your competitors, advertising budget, sales force effectiveness, and other relevant factors. From the various projections assembled, attempt to select the most feasible price to charge your consumers for your event.

3. Create a list of expenses for events. Compile all sources and quantities of expenses from a future event including wages for employees as well as the costs of utilities, entertainment, promotions, data processing, and miscellaneous items. Expense budgets list the primary activities undertaken and assign monetary amounts to each of them. When compiling expense budgets, pay particular attention to the fixed expenses as addressed in step 4.

4. Separate expenses into two categories (fixed and variable). Fixed expenses are those that are required for each event and remain stable from event to event. They are essential to the budgeting process and are very unlikely to change. A good example of a fixed expense is utilities. Variable expenses, on the other hand, fluctuate greatly depending on the event and include categories such as labor wages, entertainment, and promotional fees.

5. Total your income and expenses for each event. If your calculation shows more income than expenses, the event is off to a good start. You can disburse the excess income to other areas of the budget. If, however, there is a higher expense column, you will need to make some changes.

6. Make adjustments to expenses. If expenses are higher than income, search through your variable expenses for the discrepancy and look for possible areas in which to cut back. It is much easier to cut variable expenses than it is to cut fixed expenses because variable expenses are generally nonrecurring.

7. Review your budget frequently. Budget reviews should be conducted often to compare projections to actual outcome. They will show where you did well and where you need to improve for the next event.

When formulating budgets for fundraising events, a preliminary budget may be superseded by the actual budget. A preliminary budget is a premature estimate of the total time and funds required for the event. The final budget will be a precise financial evaluation of your fundraising campaign to use for future similar events. It is always good to see a final budget that shows lower expenses than the preliminary budget (Levine, 2001).

Donation Networking

As discussed, any fundraising organization can benefit from a well-organized plan that involves free online tools. One such tool is donation and charity mall websites, which are viable, low-cost Internet fundraising tools. As with Facebook, however, someone (we suggest an adult leader) must set up a basic web page for the group and monitor it.

A donation or charity mall site allows registered organizations to receive a percentage of the purchases made on the site. Some charity malls specialize in schools and school-related groups, (e.g., One Cause at www.onecause.com/causes), similar to the program Box Tops for Education. The entire structure is built on commission. Some websites, such as Bidding for Good (www.
biddingforgood.com/online-auction-services) and iGive (www.igive.com), offer online auction fundraisers. Other sites are not affiliated with shopping or auctions and simply accept donations for a cause. Following are some examples:

• Donors Choose (www.donorschoose.org). School project requests are posted on the site, and donors can browse and give any amount to the project of their choosing. Once the project meets the desired funding goal, the materials are sent to the school. Donors receive photos of the project, thank-you letters, and a cost report detailing how the donation was spent.
• ChipIn (www.chipin.com). At this site, groups describe the project they are collecting money for, the amount they want to raise, and the date by which the funds are required. A ChipIn Widget, or application, that can be installed and completed within a web page (groupname.chipin.com) is embedded on the group's favorite social networking sites, and funds are collected via PayPal.
• Crowdrise (www.crowdrise.com). This site is a compilation of crowdsourcing, social networking, incentives, and more. Crowdsourcing or crowdfunding are terms used to describe openly calling upon a group of people or a community to carry out a request, perform a task, or solve a problem. Like Facebook, a designee from the group signs up for a charitable profile page. Next, the group starts a fundraising campaign by setting up a project page on the website. The share button on the project page is used to message people using e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, or a combination.

Regardless of the social network(s) your group chooses to use, when constructing your online fundraising project sites, you may want to consider the following (Kirkwood, 2010):

• Make personal contacts. Directly invite people who have an affiliation with the group's members or governing body whenever possible. Mass or generic postings, tweets, or e-mails can be used to reach a larger audience; however, they can lack a personal tone that makes people feel connected to the group or the goal of the project.
• Narrate your cause. Describe the project and how it will affect those who will benefit from the funding in detail. Share the meaningfulness of the project and how contributing financially or as a volunteer can make a difference in the lives of others. Describe personal experiences and events that led up to the development of the project, and offer comments from students or community members.
• Be realistic and relevant. Describe an attainable goal that includes the allocation of funds. Clear and in-depth descriptions instill confidence that you will have a successful outcome. Be creative in your attempts to reach contributors, but provide an easy way to make a simple and immediate donation. Effortlessness is an important aspect of online donations. You can also provide choices­ (e.g., small, noninvolved commitments or larger, more involved commitments) so participants can choose what works best for
  them.
• Be professional. A well-organized and error-free site is appreciated by the people navigating it and, therefore, can increase the likelihood of contributions. Donors who receive reports of the results of the project may be more inclined to donate again. It is also important to thank and otherwise recognize those that have donated in any possible way.

Budgeting

When planning a fundraising event, an essential element to consider is budgeting. For those new to the process, a budget is simply a quantified, planned financial course of action over a period of time. It attempts to estimate costs and revenues.

Creating a working budget for a fundraising event is important for many reasons. First, it forces you to consider the expected demand for your products and services. Considering demand makes you aware of the resources you need to meet your goals. Budgeting for fundraising events also highlights problems you may face in meeting your goals and allows for sufficient time to correct the deficiencies. Lastly, budgeting creates a standard against which results can be compared and is vital for event evaluation (Gordon, Hilton, & Welsch, 1988).

A thorough budget must be developed prior to approving the event and must include both operating and material costs. Operating costs include the cost of staff, sales expenses (e.g., automobile gas, telephone usage), and administrative tasks such as choosing the fundraising activity, developing the proposal, implementing the activity, evaluating the project outcome, and reporting the outcomes to the organization. People taking on administrative or coordinative roles will need time to develop and implement the project. They will also spend many hours coordinating and leading staff. Each event requires a committed administrative staff and at times their efforts may require a financial reward. At other times, these administrators are offering in-kind assistance, which is their way of donating to the fundraising campaign. So make sure during the planning stage to address what costs will be levied by any administrators.

Materials are the other regular budget item for fundraising projects. Costs that typically fall under the materials category include stationery supplies, mailings, copying expenses, phone calls, gas for transportation, web page design and maintenance, up-front cost for products used in the activity, advertising or promotion fees, and electricity. These line items differ depending on the activity, but generally will be your primary financial concerns. Insurance policies are required for some activities.

You need to be as thorough as possible with your fundraising budget: it should show all sources and quantities of cash flow expected for each event. The budgeting process can be broken into the following seven simple steps (Vohwinkle, n.d.):

1. Gather every financial statement you can. This generally includes bank statements, recent bills, and any other information regarding past sources of income and expenses. The main purpose of gathering this information is to compile averages from prior events and to use them as a basis for evaluation.

2. Record all sources of income. Compile all sources and quantities of income expected from an event including all revenue sources as well as interest income from notes, debt recoveries, and credit saves. This revenue budget is simply a forecast because it is based on projections of future sales rather than known, substantial figures. When compiling a revenue budget, take into consideration your competitors, advertising budget, sales force effectiveness, and other relevant factors. From the various projections assembled, attempt to select the most feasible price to charge your consumers for your event.

3. Create a list of expenses for events. Compile all sources and quantities of expenses from a future event including wages for employees as well as the costs of utilities, entertainment, promotions, data processing, and miscellaneous items. Expense budgets list the primary activities undertaken and assign monetary amounts to each of them. When compiling expense budgets, pay particular attention to the fixed expenses as addressed in step 4.

4. Separate expenses into two categories (fixed and variable). Fixed expenses are those that are required for each event and remain stable from event to event. They are essential to the budgeting process and are very unlikely to change. A good example of a fixed expense is utilities. Variable expenses, on the other hand, fluctuate greatly depending on the event and include categories such as labor wages, entertainment, and promotional fees.

5. Total your income and expenses for each event. If your calculation shows more income than expenses, the event is off to a good start. You can disburse the excess income to other areas of the budget. If, however, there is a higher expense column, you will need to make some changes.

6. Make adjustments to expenses. If expenses are higher than income, search through your variable expenses for the discrepancy and look for possible areas in which to cut back. It is much easier to cut variable expenses than it is to cut fixed expenses because variable expenses are generally nonrecurring.

7. Review your budget frequently. Budget reviews should be conducted often to compare projections to actual outcome. They will show where you did well and where you need to improve for the next event.

When formulating budgets for fundraising events, a preliminary budget may be superseded by the actual budget. A preliminary budget is a premature estimate of the total time and funds required for the event. The final budget will be a precise financial evaluation of your fundraising campaign to use for future similar events. It is always good to see a final budget that shows lower expenses than the preliminary budget (Levine, 2001).

Donation Networking

As discussed, any fundraising organization can benefit from a well-organized plan that involves free online tools. One such tool is donation and charity mall websites, which are viable, low-cost Internet fundraising tools. As with Facebook, however, someone (we suggest an adult leader) must set up a basic web page for the group and monitor it.

A donation or charity mall site allows registered organizations to receive a percentage of the purchases made on the site. Some charity malls specialize in schools and school-related groups, (e.g., One Cause at www.onecause.com/causes), similar to the program Box Tops for Education. The entire structure is built on commission. Some websites, such as Bidding for Good (www.
biddingforgood.com/online-auction-services) and iGive (www.igive.com), offer online auction fundraisers. Other sites are not affiliated with shopping or auctions and simply accept donations for a cause. Following are some examples:

• Donors Choose (www.donorschoose.org). School project requests are posted on the site, and donors can browse and give any amount to the project of their choosing. Once the project meets the desired funding goal, the materials are sent to the school. Donors receive photos of the project, thank-you letters, and a cost report detailing how the donation was spent.
• ChipIn (www.chipin.com). At this site, groups describe the project they are collecting money for, the amount they want to raise, and the date by which the funds are required. A ChipIn Widget, or application, that can be installed and completed within a web page (groupname.chipin.com) is embedded on the group's favorite social networking sites, and funds are collected via PayPal.
• Crowdrise (www.crowdrise.com). This site is a compilation of crowdsourcing, social networking, incentives, and more. Crowdsourcing or crowdfunding are terms used to describe openly calling upon a group of people or a community to carry out a request, perform a task, or solve a problem. Like Facebook, a designee from the group signs up for a charitable profile page. Next, the group starts a fundraising campaign by setting up a project page on the website. The share button on the project page is used to message people using e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, or a combination.

Regardless of the social network(s) your group chooses to use, when constructing your online fundraising project sites, you may want to consider the following (Kirkwood, 2010):

• Make personal contacts. Directly invite people who have an affiliation with the group's members or governing body whenever possible. Mass or generic postings, tweets, or e-mails can be used to reach a larger audience; however, they can lack a personal tone that makes people feel connected to the group or the goal of the project.
• Narrate your cause. Describe the project and how it will affect those who will benefit from the funding in detail. Share the meaningfulness of the project and how contributing financially or as a volunteer can make a difference in the lives of others. Describe personal experiences and events that led up to the development of the project, and offer comments from students or community members.
• Be realistic and relevant. Describe an attainable goal that includes the allocation of funds. Clear and in-depth descriptions instill confidence that you will have a successful outcome. Be creative in your attempts to reach contributors, but provide an easy way to make a simple and immediate donation. Effortlessness is an important aspect of online donations. You can also provide choices­ (e.g., small, noninvolved commitments or larger, more involved commitments) so participants can choose what works best for
  them.
• Be professional. A well-organized and error-free site is appreciated by the people navigating it and, therefore, can increase the likelihood of contributions. Donors who receive reports of the results of the project may be more inclined to donate again. It is also important to thank and otherwise recognize those that have donated in any possible way.

Budgeting

When planning a fundraising event, an essential element to consider is budgeting. For those new to the process, a budget is simply a quantified, planned financial course of action over a period of time. It attempts to estimate costs and revenues.

Creating a working budget for a fundraising event is important for many reasons. First, it forces you to consider the expected demand for your products and services. Considering demand makes you aware of the resources you need to meet your goals. Budgeting for fundraising events also highlights problems you may face in meeting your goals and allows for sufficient time to correct the deficiencies. Lastly, budgeting creates a standard against which results can be compared and is vital for event evaluation (Gordon, Hilton, & Welsch, 1988).

A thorough budget must be developed prior to approving the event and must include both operating and material costs. Operating costs include the cost of staff, sales expenses (e.g., automobile gas, telephone usage), and administrative tasks such as choosing the fundraising activity, developing the proposal, implementing the activity, evaluating the project outcome, and reporting the outcomes to the organization. People taking on administrative or coordinative roles will need time to develop and implement the project. They will also spend many hours coordinating and leading staff. Each event requires a committed administrative staff and at times their efforts may require a financial reward. At other times, these administrators are offering in-kind assistance, which is their way of donating to the fundraising campaign. So make sure during the planning stage to address what costs will be levied by any administrators.

Materials are the other regular budget item for fundraising projects. Costs that typically fall under the materials category include stationery supplies, mailings, copying expenses, phone calls, gas for transportation, web page design and maintenance, up-front cost for products used in the activity, advertising or promotion fees, and electricity. These line items differ depending on the activity, but generally will be your primary financial concerns. Insurance policies are required for some activities.

You need to be as thorough as possible with your fundraising budget: it should show all sources and quantities of cash flow expected for each event. The budgeting process can be broken into the following seven simple steps (Vohwinkle, n.d.):

1. Gather every financial statement you can. This generally includes bank statements, recent bills, and any other information regarding past sources of income and expenses. The main purpose of gathering this information is to compile averages from prior events and to use them as a basis for evaluation.

2. Record all sources of income. Compile all sources and quantities of income expected from an event including all revenue sources as well as interest income from notes, debt recoveries, and credit saves. This revenue budget is simply a forecast because it is based on projections of future sales rather than known, substantial figures. When compiling a revenue budget, take into consideration your competitors, advertising budget, sales force effectiveness, and other relevant factors. From the various projections assembled, attempt to select the most feasible price to charge your consumers for your event.

3. Create a list of expenses for events. Compile all sources and quantities of expenses from a future event including wages for employees as well as the costs of utilities, entertainment, promotions, data processing, and miscellaneous items. Expense budgets list the primary activities undertaken and assign monetary amounts to each of them. When compiling expense budgets, pay particular attention to the fixed expenses as addressed in step 4.

4. Separate expenses into two categories (fixed and variable). Fixed expenses are those that are required for each event and remain stable from event to event. They are essential to the budgeting process and are very unlikely to change. A good example of a fixed expense is utilities. Variable expenses, on the other hand, fluctuate greatly depending on the event and include categories such as labor wages, entertainment, and promotional fees.

5. Total your income and expenses for each event. If your calculation shows more income than expenses, the event is off to a good start. You can disburse the excess income to other areas of the budget. If, however, there is a higher expense column, you will need to make some changes.

6. Make adjustments to expenses. If expenses are higher than income, search through your variable expenses for the discrepancy and look for possible areas in which to cut back. It is much easier to cut variable expenses than it is to cut fixed expenses because variable expenses are generally nonrecurring.

7. Review your budget frequently. Budget reviews should be conducted often to compare projections to actual outcome. They will show where you did well and where you need to improve for the next event.

When formulating budgets for fundraising events, a preliminary budget may be superseded by the actual budget. A preliminary budget is a premature estimate of the total time and funds required for the event. The final budget will be a precise financial evaluation of your fundraising campaign to use for future similar events. It is always good to see a final budget that shows lower expenses than the preliminary budget (Levine, 2001).

Donation Networking

As discussed, any fundraising organization can benefit from a well-organized plan that involves free online tools. One such tool is donation and charity mall websites, which are viable, low-cost Internet fundraising tools. As with Facebook, however, someone (we suggest an adult leader) must set up a basic web page for the group and monitor it.

A donation or charity mall site allows registered organizations to receive a percentage of the purchases made on the site. Some charity malls specialize in schools and school-related groups, (e.g., One Cause at www.onecause.com/causes), similar to the program Box Tops for Education. The entire structure is built on commission. Some websites, such as Bidding for Good (www.
biddingforgood.com/online-auction-services) and iGive (www.igive.com), offer online auction fundraisers. Other sites are not affiliated with shopping or auctions and simply accept donations for a cause. Following are some examples:

• Donors Choose (www.donorschoose.org). School project requests are posted on the site, and donors can browse and give any amount to the project of their choosing. Once the project meets the desired funding goal, the materials are sent to the school. Donors receive photos of the project, thank-you letters, and a cost report detailing how the donation was spent.
• ChipIn (www.chipin.com). At this site, groups describe the project they are collecting money for, the amount they want to raise, and the date by which the funds are required. A ChipIn Widget, or application, that can be installed and completed within a web page (groupname.chipin.com) is embedded on the group's favorite social networking sites, and funds are collected via PayPal.
• Crowdrise (www.crowdrise.com). This site is a compilation of crowdsourcing, social networking, incentives, and more. Crowdsourcing or crowdfunding are terms used to describe openly calling upon a group of people or a community to carry out a request, perform a task, or solve a problem. Like Facebook, a designee from the group signs up for a charitable profile page. Next, the group starts a fundraising campaign by setting up a project page on the website. The share button on the project page is used to message people using e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, or a combination.

Regardless of the social network(s) your group chooses to use, when constructing your online fundraising project sites, you may want to consider the following (Kirkwood, 2010):

• Make personal contacts. Directly invite people who have an affiliation with the group's members or governing body whenever possible. Mass or generic postings, tweets, or e-mails can be used to reach a larger audience; however, they can lack a personal tone that makes people feel connected to the group or the goal of the project.
• Narrate your cause. Describe the project and how it will affect those who will benefit from the funding in detail. Share the meaningfulness of the project and how contributing financially or as a volunteer can make a difference in the lives of others. Describe personal experiences and events that led up to the development of the project, and offer comments from students or community members.
• Be realistic and relevant. Describe an attainable goal that includes the allocation of funds. Clear and in-depth descriptions instill confidence that you will have a successful outcome. Be creative in your attempts to reach contributors, but provide an easy way to make a simple and immediate donation. Effortlessness is an important aspect of online donations. You can also provide choices­ (e.g., small, noninvolved commitments or larger, more involved commitments) so participants can choose what works best for
  them.
• Be professional. A well-organized and error-free site is appreciated by the people navigating it and, therefore, can increase the likelihood of contributions. Donors who receive reports of the results of the project may be more inclined to donate again. It is also important to thank and otherwise recognize those that have donated in any possible way.

Budgeting

When planning a fundraising event, an essential element to consider is budgeting. For those new to the process, a budget is simply a quantified, planned financial course of action over a period of time. It attempts to estimate costs and revenues.

Creating a working budget for a fundraising event is important for many reasons. First, it forces you to consider the expected demand for your products and services. Considering demand makes you aware of the resources you need to meet your goals. Budgeting for fundraising events also highlights problems you may face in meeting your goals and allows for sufficient time to correct the deficiencies. Lastly, budgeting creates a standard against which results can be compared and is vital for event evaluation (Gordon, Hilton, & Welsch, 1988).

A thorough budget must be developed prior to approving the event and must include both operating and material costs. Operating costs include the cost of staff, sales expenses (e.g., automobile gas, telephone usage), and administrative tasks such as choosing the fundraising activity, developing the proposal, implementing the activity, evaluating the project outcome, and reporting the outcomes to the organization. People taking on administrative or coordinative roles will need time to develop and implement the project. They will also spend many hours coordinating and leading staff. Each event requires a committed administrative staff and at times their efforts may require a financial reward. At other times, these administrators are offering in-kind assistance, which is their way of donating to the fundraising campaign. So make sure during the planning stage to address what costs will be levied by any administrators.

Materials are the other regular budget item for fundraising projects. Costs that typically fall under the materials category include stationery supplies, mailings, copying expenses, phone calls, gas for transportation, web page design and maintenance, up-front cost for products used in the activity, advertising or promotion fees, and electricity. These line items differ depending on the activity, but generally will be your primary financial concerns. Insurance policies are required for some activities.

You need to be as thorough as possible with your fundraising budget: it should show all sources and quantities of cash flow expected for each event. The budgeting process can be broken into the following seven simple steps (Vohwinkle, n.d.):

1. Gather every financial statement you can. This generally includes bank statements, recent bills, and any other information regarding past sources of income and expenses. The main purpose of gathering this information is to compile averages from prior events and to use them as a basis for evaluation.

2. Record all sources of income. Compile all sources and quantities of income expected from an event including all revenue sources as well as interest income from notes, debt recoveries, and credit saves. This revenue budget is simply a forecast because it is based on projections of future sales rather than known, substantial figures. When compiling a revenue budget, take into consideration your competitors, advertising budget, sales force effectiveness, and other relevant factors. From the various projections assembled, attempt to select the most feasible price to charge your consumers for your event.

3. Create a list of expenses for events. Compile all sources and quantities of expenses from a future event including wages for employees as well as the costs of utilities, entertainment, promotions, data processing, and miscellaneous items. Expense budgets list the primary activities undertaken and assign monetary amounts to each of them. When compiling expense budgets, pay particular attention to the fixed expenses as addressed in step 4.

4. Separate expenses into two categories (fixed and variable). Fixed expenses are those that are required for each event and remain stable from event to event. They are essential to the budgeting process and are very unlikely to change. A good example of a fixed expense is utilities. Variable expenses, on the other hand, fluctuate greatly depending on the event and include categories such as labor wages, entertainment, and promotional fees.

5. Total your income and expenses for each event. If your calculation shows more income than expenses, the event is off to a good start. You can disburse the excess income to other areas of the budget. If, however, there is a higher expense column, you will need to make some changes.

6. Make adjustments to expenses. If expenses are higher than income, search through your variable expenses for the discrepancy and look for possible areas in which to cut back. It is much easier to cut variable expenses than it is to cut fixed expenses because variable expenses are generally nonrecurring.

7. Review your budget frequently. Budget reviews should be conducted often to compare projections to actual outcome. They will show where you did well and where you need to improve for the next event.

When formulating budgets for fundraising events, a preliminary budget may be superseded by the actual budget. A preliminary budget is a premature estimate of the total time and funds required for the event. The final budget will be a precise financial evaluation of your fundraising campaign to use for future similar events. It is always good to see a final budget that shows lower expenses than the preliminary budget (Levine, 2001).

Donation Networking

As discussed, any fundraising organization can benefit from a well-organized plan that involves free online tools. One such tool is donation and charity mall websites, which are viable, low-cost Internet fundraising tools. As with Facebook, however, someone (we suggest an adult leader) must set up a basic web page for the group and monitor it.

A donation or charity mall site allows registered organizations to receive a percentage of the purchases made on the site. Some charity malls specialize in schools and school-related groups, (e.g., One Cause at www.onecause.com/causes), similar to the program Box Tops for Education. The entire structure is built on commission. Some websites, such as Bidding for Good (www.
biddingforgood.com/online-auction-services) and iGive (www.igive.com), offer online auction fundraisers. Other sites are not affiliated with shopping or auctions and simply accept donations for a cause. Following are some examples:

• Donors Choose (www.donorschoose.org). School project requests are posted on the site, and donors can browse and give any amount to the project of their choosing. Once the project meets the desired funding goal, the materials are sent to the school. Donors receive photos of the project, thank-you letters, and a cost report detailing how the donation was spent.
• ChipIn (www.chipin.com). At this site, groups describe the project they are collecting money for, the amount they want to raise, and the date by which the funds are required. A ChipIn Widget, or application, that can be installed and completed within a web page (groupname.chipin.com) is embedded on the group's favorite social networking sites, and funds are collected via PayPal.
• Crowdrise (www.crowdrise.com). This site is a compilation of crowdsourcing, social networking, incentives, and more. Crowdsourcing or crowdfunding are terms used to describe openly calling upon a group of people or a community to carry out a request, perform a task, or solve a problem. Like Facebook, a designee from the group signs up for a charitable profile page. Next, the group starts a fundraising campaign by setting up a project page on the website. The share button on the project page is used to message people using e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, or a combination.

Regardless of the social network(s) your group chooses to use, when constructing your online fundraising project sites, you may want to consider the following (Kirkwood, 2010):

• Make personal contacts. Directly invite people who have an affiliation with the group's members or governing body whenever possible. Mass or generic postings, tweets, or e-mails can be used to reach a larger audience; however, they can lack a personal tone that makes people feel connected to the group or the goal of the project.
• Narrate your cause. Describe the project and how it will affect those who will benefit from the funding in detail. Share the meaningfulness of the project and how contributing financially or as a volunteer can make a difference in the lives of others. Describe personal experiences and events that led up to the development of the project, and offer comments from students or community members.
• Be realistic and relevant. Describe an attainable goal that includes the allocation of funds. Clear and in-depth descriptions instill confidence that you will have a successful outcome. Be creative in your attempts to reach contributors, but provide an easy way to make a simple and immediate donation. Effortlessness is an important aspect of online donations. You can also provide choices­ (e.g., small, noninvolved commitments or larger, more involved commitments) so participants can choose what works best for
  them.
• Be professional. A well-organized and error-free site is appreciated by the people navigating it and, therefore, can increase the likelihood of contributions. Donors who receive reports of the results of the project may be more inclined to donate again. It is also important to thank and otherwise recognize those that have donated in any possible way.