Nonprofit – Page 2 – Fundraising Ideas Blog

Relay For Life Cancer Cookbook

Cookbook more than a fundraiser for Canadian Cancer Society – Many west coast residents will be Cooking For Life this summer.

Andrea Newell, community resource co-ordinator for the Canadian Cancer Society, said the fundraiser in aid of the society’s western Newfoundland chapter came to them.

She said Transcontinental made the suggestion and the partnership grew from there. She said it was an offer the society could not refuse.

“We worked with the team at Transcontinental and the cook to develop the cookbook. Once they were published and put together, Transcontinental gave us 5,000 copies to sell with 100 per cent of the profit for the Canadian Cancer Society,” said Newell.

“That’s quite a gift. It’s a wonderful gift to have and we’re hoping to make the most of it that’s for sure.”

Newell said the cookbook is more than a fundraising project. The book contains the inspirational stories of cancer survivors, along with some of their tastiest dishes. She said the stories are her favourite part of the project.

“The stories are important because they led to the book and they give it some character,” she said. “It’s nice that there are stories from all areas of our region on the west coast. We have people from St. Anthony to Port aux Basques featured in the cook book and I think that’s something we need to push a little bit.

“I think people see cookbooks and fundraising things and they don’t realize there is a local twist to this, so I think that’s something we need to promote a little more heavily. There’s someone in this cook book that you know, you should pick up a copy.”

Shawn Woodford, publisher of The Western Star and Transcontinental’s western Newfoundland and Labrador weekly papers, said it was a pleasure to be involved with a project like this that has a chance to make $50,000 for the society.

He said the idea for the book originated in Port aux Basques with Natalie Musseau, reporter at the Gulf News. She was chair of the local Relay for Life and wanted to do a project to help out. The company had already done cookbook projects with Come Home Years in Stephenville and Codroy Valley, so it seemed a natural idea.

Woodford said Melissa Cormier, a noted local chef, came aboard and the project started to grow.

“We started talking about it and met with Melissa late last year about maybe doing a cookbook for the Port aux Basques area,” said Woodford. “Then we talked to the Canadian Cancer Society and it expanded larger and larger to encompass the five sites on the west coast – St. Anthony, Deer Lake, Corner Brook, Stephenville and Port aux Basques.”

He said the cookbook, if it’s successful, could become an annual item.

“We wanted it to be more than just a cookbook, we wanted it to be something that would be a keepsake as well,” he said. “That’s why we decided to do profiles of people that had lived through the illness.

“We profiled two from each of those five regions that had Relays for Life and it went over very well.”

Click here for more Relay For Life fundraiser ideas.

Fundraising: How to recruit more volunteers

Fundraiser Preparation: Recruiting Volunteers
How to advice on recruiting volunteers and the best ways to handle personnel assignments.

Start early
As previously discussed, to get enough volunteers you need to start early. The best way to do that is by pre-recruiting them. In other words, go through last year’s files and select the members that you think will be the most helpful.

Have each of them make a list of three to five potential volunteers and then instruct them to invite each potential helper to the first meeting.

Create an easy sign-up checklist
Next, use your written job descriptions to create a checklist form that has clearly defined positions and time requirements. At your first meeting, circulate a signup sheet where volunteers can place their name and number next to the description of a suitable position.

There is never a better moment to recruit than at the first meeting!

Click here to read more on recruiting volunteers.

eBay Auction Niche Finder

Wonder how you’ll ever find a profitable niche on eBay? Blindly diving in to a new product niche without knowing the competitive landscape and potential profit margins is a quick way to go broke!

If you want to avoid that pain and turn a tidy profit off niches with little or no competition and high demand, check out this video demo of a new eBay auction niche finder.

It’s ten minutes, but time well spent because the guy shows you exactly how this killer eBay app is actually a license to print money.

Yale Student Critically Injured On Fundraising Bike Ride

Yale fund-raiser ‘critical’ after Kansas accident

A Yale University student was in critical condition in a Kansas hospital Tuesday after he was hit by a car during a cross-country Habitat for Humanity Bicycle Challenge fund-raiser.

Dan Lewis of Denver, Colo., was hit by a car Saturday in Lincoln County, Kan., while riding his bicycle for the 4,000-mile fundraiser.

As state by the personal injury lawyers from Barry Deacon Law firm, the accident occurred on eastbound Kansas Highway 18 at 1: 40 p.m. Saturday. Lewis, 20, was taken by a helicopter to St. Frances Hospital in Wichita, where he currently remains in critical condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

“He seems to be stabilizing, but he’s still in critical condition,” said his father, Hal Lewis, speaking by telephone from the hospital Tuesday. He said the family plans to transfer Dan Lewis to a rehab hospital in Denver for concierge addiction treatment in three to four weeks.

Lewis, who was hearing a helmet and safety gear, was riding with his Habitat group when his bicycle crossed in front of the car, which hit him on the left side, authorities in Kansas said on a Highway Patrol Web site. The traffic accident lawyer suggests the group rides must be maintained in small groups by keeping in mind the safety procedures that should be followed to try to prevent accidents from happening.

The driver, Jessica White, 16, also was taken to the hospital but was later released, authorities said. A passenger in the vehicle was not hurt.

The Habitat Bicycle Challenge, which left in early June, has three teams with four leaders each. Each group rides to a different location: Seattle, Portland, Ore., and San Francisco. Lewis’ group was headed toward San Francisco.

The event is held every summer to raise money to help people obtain affordable housing.

“He was very close with the other riders and he was an important member of their team,” Hal Lewis said of his son. “I think he really enjoyed the biking from coast to coast.”

The riders have resumed their trip, but four riders stayed at the hospital for a day-and-a-half to show Dan moral support.

“We are grateful about their support and friendship,” Hal Lewis said. “We’re glad to stay in touch with them as Dan recovers.”

Bike Ride Deaths

Other accidents have occurred since the start of Habitat Bicycle Challenge in the early 90s. The data could be verified with the help of ATX traffic accident lawyers or other law firms that have been serving for decades.

Yale senior Rachel Speight, 21, of Houston, died two years ago when a car in Western Kentucky struck her after she collided with another biker and spun off into the road, according to Habitat of Humanity Development Officer Moira Cotlier.

Also, Yale sophomore Alexander Capelluto, 20, of New York City, died last year as he practiced for a then-upcoming Habitat for Humanity annual cross-country cycling trek, when his bike collided with a 10-wheel truck at Route 34 and Forest Road in West Haven.

Appeal Letter Tips

The Art Of The Appeal Letter
What’s the best way to raise money? Face-to-face, of course. What’s the best way to raise money when you have 2,000 or 200,000 people on your mailing list and not enough volunteers to make all those visits? The solicitation letter.

Whether it’s called an appeal letter, an annual letter, a membership letter or a desperate cry for help, almost all organizations have to send solicitation letters.

What is an appeal letter?
Like the Supreme Court said about pornography, a good appeal letter is hard to define but you certainly know it when you see it. An appeal letter is not a business letter or an essay. It must communicate your mission and compel the reader to invest in that mission with a check.

And it has to accomplish all that in about 500 words. The average reader will only spend two seconds reading an appeal letter before deciding where to file it: on the desk or in the trash.

Writing a compelling and successful appeal letter is an art — but lots of organizations still seem to be writing in crayon. Here are some suggestions that can move your masterpiece from the refrigerator door to the gallery wall.

Letter Writing Tips

Segment your list and write to the segment
Current members, large donors, prospects, one-time visitors, students, museum professionals — these are all different segments and need different approaches in the appeal letter. Divide up your list and write letters that will be compelling to each type of donor or prospect.

Click here to read the rest of the article on appeal letter tips.