How to secure a donation: Make Specific and Direct Asks for Money People give because they are asked—if you don't ask, the answer will always be no. It can be tough to look someone in the eyes and ask for money, but somewhere in your pitch, some... — read more 

How to increase your chances of getting a grant: Never Apply for a Grant Without Contacting the Foundation First As much as you might want to believe that grants are awarded simply due to the fit of the program and the excellence of the application... — read more 

How to get your board more involved in fundraising: Stage a Board Member Thank-a-Thon Tons of nonprofits experience frustration with getting their boards to fundraise; in fact, it's the second biggest reason why executive directors leave their posts... — read more 

Brainstorm the best way to approach each group. A few examples: Set up a donation jar at work and ask your coworkers to put a dollar in every time they swear For networks like your college friends, making a Facebook page or group with the link to... — read more 

Get organized. Make a list of all the different social groups you’re part of, both online and off: church groups, coworkers, classmates, etc. Sometimes support can come from unexpected places: An online Bronies group started a second fundraiser for... — read more 

Diversify your event. Create as many opportunities to collect donations as possible. Couple a benefit dance with a live auction or raffle. Get your friends involved in donating some prizes for the raffle to increase your revenue. Sell drinks and... — read more 

Get creative with your event. Have a cook-off, a roller skating marathon or organize a sports game and donate the proceeds to your cause. Stand out by setting a theme to your event or by incorporating costumes. People are more likely to remember a... — read more 

Itemize expenses. If possible, make an itemized list of exactly how much money you need and for what. It’s easier to get donations from people when they know exactly where their money is going. Someone might not know it only costs $20 for one bottle... — read more 

Take advantage of significant dates. Use birthdays and surgery dates as reasons to donate – for example, if the birthday of the person you’re raising money for is on the 10th of the month, ask donors to donate $10 on that day. If they are having... — read more 

Get inventive. Have a weird talent like holding your breath or drawing with your feet? Have sponsors donate $1 for every 10 seconds you hold your breath or pay $5 for each foot portrait you make them.

Play to your strengths. If you’re a hiker, set a goal to climb a steep mountain and get sponsors to back you by donating to your cause.

Protection. With protection, people have to donate to protect themselves from something they don’t want to happen. Scary as it might sound, you can get really creative with the punishments, as exemplified by the many purple toilet campaigns sprouting... — read more 

Set silly mini-goals. Similar to rewards, setting a mini-goal that goes with a punishment for the organizer will help motivate people to donate. If you’re just starting with a goal of $5,000, you can boost donations by saying you’ll shave your head... — read more 

Rewards. Give donors an unconventional reward for their donation. One of our favorite examples of this method is Jorts4Jay. Jay’s brother-in-law sent donors a photo of himself wearing jean shorts (AKA jorts) each time they gave $50, helping raise... — read more 

Pay attention to detail. On the day of your sale, make sure your garage/yard is a place people will enjoy spending time. Play some music, provide beverages and above all, make sure your merchandise is well-organized. There’s nothing worse than... — read more 

Advertise appropriately… and aggressively. The way you’ll advertise will depend on the audience you’re trying to reach. Make interesting flyers that complement the type of sale you’re having and put them all over town, but especially in neighborhoods... — read more 

Get some help from your friends. Once you have an idea for the “theme” of your sale, ask friends to donate any items they want to get rid of that would fit in. Collaborating makes for a killer selection of items, which will attract more buyers.

Know your audience. Take a good, long look at the stuff you’re planning to sell and build a profile of your ideal customer. Selling a bunch of grandma’s sweaters and old china sets? Maybe you’re catering to an older, more conservative crowd. Got some... — read more 

Get foot traffic. Organize your sale around a larger event if you can, like a sports game or a carnival. But don’t count on strangers to make your sale a success. Make sure you promote the heck out of it with old-school flyers and more modern social... — read more 

Don’t generalize. The quickest way to be overlooked is to have a run-of-the-mill bake sale. Try specializing in one specific product, and give your sale a compelling tagline. A great example of the bake sale model done right is Alex’s Lemonade Stand... — read more 

As you do trying to convince people of these lies, you might actually have a steady career like I do.

You're going to need it to keep up the false hopes of Strategic staying in business after the massive fine.

It will be more like November 15th.

The company will no longer be able to afford the payroll and overhead for those locations, due to the $1M+ fine in South Carolina.

What an ass!

I haven't checked this site in a long time, as Strategic Fundraising is part of my past, not present. But I had an urge to look, and am happy I did. The company being fined is the best news I've had all week.

http://www.blufftontoday.com/bluffton-news/2014-10-22/sc-fines-fundraiser-1-million#.VEm_WPl4pcQ Hell I didn't even know some of these are/were clients, good job f***ing it up echo!

Read the post below.

http://www.fox19.com/story/26858274/fundraising-company-fined-more-than-1-million-for-violating-state-charity-law

Take your booze elsewhere you losers!

Gigety!

Troubled waters ahead. Are we closing?

I have a couple extra tickets for the Buck's season opener if anyone is interested.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and November is now Hail Jack Daniels Month. Jack and Coke all day long served in the break room.

We3eeeee willlll ddddrinkkk outttrrr trubbulllllls awayyyyy alllll daaaaay whhhile weeeeeee3eeeeeeeeee caaaallll.

A little truth in advertising is essential in today's competitive world.