People
looking for a “Magic Bullet” often fall prey to those selling them.
In the
charity and non-profit world, I see this all the time. Between software that allegedly will make
your life easier, to counterfeit autographed items from Musicians and
Celebrities that no one else in the world has and also to direct mail campaigns.
Then there
are charities who ignore the “tried and true methods” of fundraising because
they are convinced that those are wore out.
They often spend an enormous amount of work and lose hundreds of
thousands of hours wasting their time to profit very little.
Just like “Get
Rich Quick” schemes never pay off, neither do the fundraising fads that
will
make you more money and your life easier.
The real charity
fundraising “Magic Bullet” is hard work, determination and more importantly –
TIME!!! No one, not even me, can show up
to a first-time fundraising event and somehow make your charity millions. Charities and Non-Profits will often compare
themselves to well established, centuries old charities who have been in
existence for a very long time. They
will believe that if done correctly, they will fundraise the same amount as
those non-profits do – WON’T HAPPEN!!!
Then when they do not raise a very large amount of money, will drop anything
they are currently doing and begin again with some other plan. When along they should know they have to
stand in the fundraising trenches and build on what they have.
Yet another
method is, they will easily fall for a company promising that a direct mail
campaign will raise them millions. Then
the hammer hits, the direct mail company wants an enormous fee and then wants
you to provide the names for them to mail too.
Recently, I sat through a sales pitch by a fundraising software company with one of my clients. Because I’ve been around the block about 1,000 times in 12 years, their “Magic Bullet” tactics stood out like a sore thumb. With my client being the President of a 2 year old charity, he had no experience and they knew it. They showed him an “Example” of their software along with “Examples” of Sponsors such as Coca Cola, Google, McDonald’s etc. They showed insanely successful auctions raising hundreds of thousands of dollars. He fell for it hook, line and sinker and bit hard. I could hear the salesperson slobbering over the phone at the monster commission she was about to get. But then, there was me, a fundraising wolf in sheep's clothing standing beside him.
But what
they failed to tell him, which I did was simply this. We will call him “Bob” – I said “Bob, you
know all that incredible stuff there shown in this presentation?” He said “Yes and we want them too.” I said “Well Bob, those are only examples and
not real at all. This company is using
those brands and logo’s just to dress it up.
In fact Bob, you have to look at this software like going to a restaurant
for dinner and you have to buy your own food, cook it and then the restaurant
sells you the plate. You or we have to
do all the work. This software is just
that, an empty slate.” “Oh” in a down
voice he said “So they don’t give us these people at all?” I said “No not at all, in fact, they don’t
help us advertise it or get anyone to bid – OR – provide all those beautiful
auction items – we must do everything.”
Well, that ended quickly with the salesperson wondering who in creation
I was.
In closing,
the charity or non-profit fundraising “Magic Bullet” is simply “hard work,
determination and time.” Plus educating
you and your charity on the current fundraising trends that seem to change day
to day. Don’t fall for “Magic Bullets”…the
only thing that will make you rich takes years of dedication and commitment.
Just put in
the work.
BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising is a North American Charity Fundraising leader in a
convenient “One Stop Shop” setting. BW
is known all over the country for expert guidance and assistance in the planning
and management of highly profitable fundraising events as well as a leading
provider of auction items for both Silent and Live Auctions. Contact BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising
today at www.BWUnlimited.com.
