As the economy continues to squeeze donors, a recent report conducted by Campbell Rinker showed disturbing results—that nearly 7 in 10 Americans say they will give more sparingly to charities in the coming months. As a result, more organizations are looking to find ways for donors to help them financially without having to dip into their pocket-books again. Here are eight ways organizations can ask supporters to raise money with-out writing a check:
Shop online: As the holiday season approaches and people get set to spend significant funds on gifts, ask them to start their shopping at GoodShop. GoodShop is a shopping portal that donates a percentage of almost every purchase from more than 2,500 stores (including Gap, Target, Staples, and Macy's) to your organization. In addition, GoodShop lists more than 100,000 coupons, so your supporters can save money at the same time as they are earning money for your nonprofit! . Sign up at goodsearch.com and choose CASA-A Child’s Place-Wellsburg!
Recycle electronics: Hold a gadget drive where supporters bring in their old electronics (including phones, computers, calculators, etc.) and turn them in for cash. You can read more at Gazelle.com
Redeem credit card points. Turn their unused credit card points into A Child’s Place CASA, Ltd. Both American Express and Citi Card offer this program.
Search the Internet: GoodSearch.com is a Yahoo!-powered search engine that donates about a penny per search to your cause. You use it exactly as you would any other search engine, but each time someone does a search, a donation is made! Sign up at good-search.com and choose CASA-A Child’s Place-Wellsburg!
Meet someone for a drink: Partner with a local bar (or restaurant or retailer) and cre-ate a campaign whereby you will send people to their establishment, and each time someone "checks in" at that location via FourSquare.com, the establishment will make a donation to your cause. You'll earn money for your cause and provide great marketing for them.
Donate airline and hotel miles: Although airlines and hotels do not have specific pro-grams that allow flyers to donate miles to any organization they choose, most airlines allow people to use their frequent flier miles to buy tickets or office items for other people. Use your miles to buy tickets or office items for A Child’s Place CASA, Ltd..
Dine Out: You love to dine out. You may even do it several times a week. So, why not earn donations for your cause every time? As a member of GoodDining, you can earn do-nations by going to your choice of thousands of participating restaurants, bars and clubs–including many of your favorites. Gooddining.com
Volunteer: There are a handful of companies that match volunteer hours with funds. For example, Microsoft will match volunteer time at $17 an hour through its Volunteer Time Matching program. Boeing, Exxon, Intel, Chevron, and Bank of America have similar pro-grams.
As taken from article from Guidestar November 2011 and written by Scott Garell, GoodSearch.com© 2011, GoodSearch.com
