Category: Charities

The success of a charity walk lies in the efforts of the volunteers. Their commitment and dedication are key towards achieving set targets. Expressing your appreciation towards these volunteers is very important. Here are a few ideas:

Certificate – Give each volunteer a certificate of appreciation. You can even design these certificates on your computer and print them out. To make things easy, use one of the many free templates available online, just remember to customize it. You could even put the certificates in inexpensive frames before presenting them to your volunteers.

Thank you note – Send personalized thank you notes to each volunteer recognizing their contribution towards the charity walk. Make the note extra special and handwrite them. They will be treasured.

Public thank you – Thank your volunteers publicly at the walk and related events. Make it a point to recognize them and their efforts. Single of those who worked the hardest for specific praise and you can be guaranteed that they will always put as much effort into future projects.

Newsletter – Mention names of volunteers in your organization’s monthly email or newsletter, thanking them for their hard work. You could even consider writing features on volunteers who made significant contributions.

Appreciation – Express your appreciation for each volunteer personally. Talk to them and thank them, even in private. It will go a long way and ensure their continued support in future charity events.

Gifts – Give volunteers inexpensive gifts to say ‘thank you’. Make sure each volunteer is given the same gift.

Responsibilities – some volunteers might have contributed more than the others. Provide them with new opportunities and perhaps even added responsibilities to contribute towards your organization.

Showing appreciation towards volunteers will motivate them to continually support your organizations work in the future.

Charity wristbands are all the rage. It has become a fashion statement of sorts. A large number of charitable organizations sell colored wristbands to raise money and awareness. These organizations range from those promoting breast cancer awareness, the Red Cross, to even religious groups. This new method of fundraising is not just hugely popular in the United States. Organizations in Europe, Australia and even Asia have adopted this method for charity fundraising. Its popularity extends to the fact that is reasonably priced and lets people donate even in a small way, and also becomes a way of exhibiting their support to a cause they believe in and want to promote.

With most charity wristbands selling for less than five dollars, some are as cheap as a dollar. It is easy to give these wristbands such a small price tag as they are produced out of inexpensive silicone or rubber. Some manufacturers even offer discounts for charity organizations buying wristbands in large numbers. They come in a wide variety of colors and can have any wording embossed on them, be it a slogan or name. With its wide popularity, certain colors are attributed to certain charities or causes. The yellow wristband, one of the most popular, is sold by the Lance Armstrong Foundation, while pink wristbands signify breast cancer awareness and red for the Red Cross.

A good marketing effort would be to get a celebrity or even a person popular on a local note to wear it, to draw media attention.

If the thought of starting a charity fund raising event has crossed your mind, there are a few questions that you must ask yourself. These include: what are the fund raising needs of the non-profit charity? Who will help run the fund raising event? A clear idea of what the fund raising will be used for is absolutely necessary, while you must have a suitable venue for the event as well.

With any fund raising effort, the task is Herculean, and it’s easy to become disappointed or lose motivation. Here are a few ideas that should help you along the way:
– Realistic Goals – decide on a realistic number reachable with your team. This will enable you to understand and plan for what you can do to achieve that goal.
– Plan Ahead – the more time you have, the more the rate of success you’ll have to accomplish your set goals. It gives you time to assign tasks to your group, spread your efforts and gives you time to spread the word.
– Objectives – set time-based objectives to ensure you can assess from time to time if you are on schedule and within budget.
– Incorporate businesses – encourage your group to network with people as well as businesses they might have connections with. Some businesses are open to dedicating a percentage of funds every year to charities and community efforts.

Whether you reach your goal or not, the sense of satisfaction on time well spent is absolutely rewarding, knowing the funds you’ve generated are directed towards a worthy cause.

Any organization requires a mission statement. A mission statement provides its readers a brief outlook on what the organization does and how they are going to do it. Therefore a mission statement can be extremely important for a small charity. Here’s why:

It guides charity leaders when making key decisions. Many charities start projects that may not exactly suit the cause they hope to uphold. A clear mission allows the leadership to differentiate between the programs that require attention and those that don’t. A clear mission also provides a road map for employees of the charity and it’s volunteers. The mission tells the charity’s stakeholders how it intends to operate and what goals it hopes to achieve. This will provide the volunteers and employees a sense of purpose and they will know the end result they are working toward. A clear and concise mission statement isn’t just about internal stakeholders. It will suggest to external stakeholders what to expect from the organization. Also, one of the most important reasons to have a mission statement is so that donor’s have a bird’s eye view of your charity and they know what you do from the onset. Having a clear mission statement paints an accurate and powerful image of what your work is about and how you plan to change the environment and fill a certain need.

A mission statement isn’t always a bunch of words on a wall. On the contrary, it usually has deep meaning and can be a useful tool, especially for a small charity.

Barbara Streisand, the actress, the one we all love, has decided to get rid of her “stuff.” But she doesn’t plan to get rid of it the usual way (really, could you see Barbara Streisand having a garage sale). Actually she plans on having an auction in which she will auction some of her collectibles. Among the many items that are to be auctioned off will be costumes she wore in Funny Lady, and in Meet the Fockers.

The items to be sold are largely diverse, and may be something as simple as a wicker chair she had in her sun room, to a pair of trousers she liked back in 1986, there is even a record player she bought at the age of 18. The items are to go on show in Newbridge, Co Kildare, and Ireland in September and then sold in New York October 17th and 18th.

Streisand has donated the proceeds of over 400 items to the Streisand Foundation, whisch supports various children’s, women’s, political and environmental issues. These items come form her home in Malibu, New York and Beverly hills, and are being sold because she is tired of having the extra stuff hanging around. In her own words she says “I am a collector, but I can’t just keep collecting everything and there is no sense in keeping it in storage.” She believes others can better benefit from the sale of these items. She says, “it is just a good time to clean out the closets.”