Showing posts with label charity fundraising ideas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label charity fundraising ideas. Show all posts

Saturday, September 8, 2018

How to reduce or stop “Stressing Out” while planning your fundraising event.


We all live extremely busy lives today.  Between our families, work, friends etc. it’s hard to juggle it all.  We live full time lives, with full time jobs, with a full time family, with full time commitments and then…we are asked or we take on planning and hosting a fundraiser for a charity or someone in need of help.  Your stress level increases incredibly with all the responsibilities you take on and our lives become like a “House of Cards” – one mistake and it can come tumbling down.  The stress of it all weighs heavy on our minds. 

If you’re not a full time or professional event planner or fundraiser for a charity as a career, then this extra added pressure will consume you.  We all want to do a great job but if we “Stress Out”and worry – it just makes it that much harder to deal with.

Here are a few tips to help you not “Stress Out”:

#1 – Plan to Plan – create an outline or a plan in the very beginning.  A plan will help you tackle each task and allow you to check them off as you progress.

#2 – Building a Team – Team Building is perhaps the most important aspect of helping you battle stress.  If you are a control freak, try to “let go of the reigns” and ask for help.  You’re not going to be able to handle this on your own.   You can divide up tasks and get much more accomplished if you have people around you involved.  The larger the team, the easier it is.

#3 – Ask for help from a Professional – If you are not an experienced, successful fundraiser, you won’t have the foggiest idea on how to plan a successful fundraiser.  Unfortunately, what normally happens is – we attempt to duplicate the last fundraiser we went to.  However, we really don’t know if that fundraiser or the methods used were successful.  Contact a professional event planner but before you do, “Vet” them to see what “Charity Fundraising” experience they have.  Ask them if they specialize in planning and running a charity fundraiser.  Charity Fundraising is an art, it takes extensive knowledge about current trends, what to do and not to do, contacts with the appropriate vendors and so on.  Event planners are not fundraisers – like Mechanics aren’t Doctors.  Charity Auctioneers have extensive knowledge about what and how to be successful.  BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising is the only full service, Charity Fundraising event planning company in North America.   How many, a few people have the belief that not hiring a professional and saving the money is a much better way to raise funds.  However as the old saying goes “If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, wait till you see what it cost you when you hired an amateur.”  Ask for help from a professional.

#4 – “Chairman” – As you build your team, determine who are the best at what they do.  Appoint those people as part of your leadership team.  For instance, “Ticket Chairman” – this person handles all ticket sales and questions from potential buyers.  They hand out tickets to your team and collect the money and information from the buyers.  They also can help by doing your floorplan, placing people at certain tables etc.  “Merchandise Chairman” – this person can conduct a running inventory of all the donated items you received while also directing your team to go after certain items which will help your event and also acquire consignment items to build up the excitement level at your event.  “Event Team Leader” – this person can assign certain jobs at your event such as “Check In”, “Check Out”, “Games & Raffles” etc. 

#5 – Start Early – Don’t wait for the last minute to begin to get ready for your event.  Several days prior, start the process of ensuring you have “All your ducks in a Row.”  Get all the paperwork done, pack up everything so that the day of, you won’t have much to do other than go to your venue.  Get to the venue early as well as your volunteers and start setting up.  Leave enough time so you can go home and relax before your event starts.

These tips will greatly help you and your Team have a much better experience while also reducing your stress level.   BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising can greatly assist you by keeping your duties small while also directing you on what to do next.  BW will guide you and your team through the myriad of pitfalls so that everything is streamlined and highly successful.  BW will also help by being a major part of the planning, managing and hosting of your event so that you too can enjoy yourself and spend time with your guests, supporters, donors & sponsors.

If we can help you, please feel free to contact us at www.BWUnlimited.com, email at info@BWUnlimited.com or call us at 443-206-6121, we would love to help make your life a lot easier.

Saturday, September 1, 2018

When will fundraising start to hurt a charity?


Every single day, especially on Facebook, I see charities fundraising.   Many of these charities are the same one I see repeatedly asking for contributions or donations.   They are constantly asking to give to them so they can continue their mission.

With 104 Million charities constantly trying to fundraise for their missions, fundraising is a “Dog Eat Dog” competition.  Everyone, especially those who are in the same category such as Non Profit’s focused on Animal Welfare, is fighting over the same dollar.  Competition is tough!!! 

But at what point does too many fundraising begin to hurt a charity?  I’ve watched as certain charities are constantly asking for donations or running various fundraising campaigns.  Each time, the amount raised goes down and down.  Why is this happening?  Simply put – People are tired of being asked repeatedly to give.  It nearly becomes begging or even “Pick Pocketing.” 

A charity who does this type of fundraising will eventually see very little return while hurting their reputation.

Charities should devote their fundraising efforts on the following:

#1 – Cultivating Major Sponsors (i.e. Companies & Major Individual Donors).

#2 – Planning two fundraising events a year which we refer to as an “A” event and a “B” event.  The “A” event is a Gala or large scale fundraising event.  The “B” event can be “Golf Tournament”, “Walk-A-Thon” etc.  Charities can also look into hiring a company to run a “Capital Campaign” which sends out a massive mailer to everyone asking for donations.

However, constantly and repeatedly asking for donations is absolutely going to hurt you and your charity in so many ways and the damage will be unrepairable.
Just Food for Thought – If you were constantly asked by a friend to borrow money that they never paid back, how many times would you oblige their request?  Think about it before you ask.

If we, BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising can help you and your charity devote your time and effort into planning and hosting a successful fundraising event, contact us at www.BWUnlimited.com.

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Fundraising 101: Successful Fundraising is like Chess, not Checkers.

Yesterday, I was on the phone with a client who is now more of a friend.  We were discussing his problems with his charity coming to decision about their fundraising efforts.  During the conversation, I told him that people just don’t understand it.  They come and experience one of the events which we produce and say to themselves “Oh I can do what they do” and the following year they start off on their own trying to duplicate what we do.  They have no idea what they have got themselves into.

You see, people come to our fundraising events all across the country and they see it and think “hmmm, so they put items out on tables and people bid on them or buy raffle tickets, that’s easy.”  Then, they think they have it figured out and start thinking well, we really don’t need a Live Auction because that takes too long and not many people in the crowd bid on the items.  Then, they think about raffles…well we really don’t need all those raffles that they do in fact, I know, we should do a 50/50 raffle and just a couple of other ones.”   Then, here is when it really goes off the tracks “We shouldn’t hold it in a high end, expensive place.   We need to find a place that is cheaper and maybe we could get the food donated.”  As the train starts plummeting off the bridge down to the river below, they say this “Well, they put all of that consignment stuff in the silent auction that we have to pay for, donations are free and we keep 100% of the profit especially because the retail value of the items which he used in raffles is a lot.  They don’t know what they’re doing….we can do it better, cheaper and make much more money doing it our way.”  Just before the train hits the water in an explosive fire ball, they say “We need more entertainment, a band possibly and give people more time to dance.”  Then as the train is burning up, they decide “Lets save money and have a Cash Bar so we don’t have to pay for the alcohol too” and that’s when Taps starts playing.


Seriously that’s what happens….How do I know, because I see it time and time again.  So while I was talking to my friend, he said “the way you do your fundraising events is more like Chess instead of checkers” and he’s absolutely right!!!  Successful fundraising is EXTREMELY strategic.  There are reasons why we do what we do.  There are reasons why we promote having our events at higher end venues with great food.  There are reasons why we have a Live Auction, a silent auction and tons of raffles.  And there is definitely a reason why we promote the use of a DJ and not a band and definitely not a lot of “Dancing” time.  There are reasons why we don’t do 50/50 raffles and there are also HUGE reasons why we use consignment items over donated items all day and all night in Silent and Live Auctions and utilize the donations in raffles.

A very long time ago, we did several events which were in competition with other charities in the area which did something similar.  Those charities actually sent people to our events and they took video of our entire Silent Auction, Live Auction and Raffles.  They wrote down each and every item and where it was in the event.   Why?  Because they believed they could duplicate it – nope.  They tried and their events were disasters.

So….he’s 100% right!!!  Highly successful fundraising is exactly like Chess – it’s extremely strategic. You have to study it, study people and how they respond.  Talk to businesses and try different things year after year, time after time to figure out what works and what don’t.  There are reasons for everything – from the biggest things down to the tiny details that no one notices.  The logistics of our events are ridiculous.  You really have no idea what goes into something like what we do – but then again, that’s why we are a North American Charity Fundraising Leader. 

So before you launch off into what you think is going to be a highly successful fundraising event, stop and think – should I call them or not?  Then there are those charities out there who will hire a “FREE” Auctioneer or go after a “FREE” venue with “FREE” food and so on.

Then the stress, oh my god, the stress of putting something like this together is daunting.  Do you know how to promote your event?  Do you know what to tell your committee?  Do you have a committee?  Do you know all the equipment and paperwork needed for your “FREE” Event?

Your FREE event is going to cost you more than you could possibly imagine and then, you will lose more money than you could dream of, hoping to just break even. 
That is what playing fundraising checkers is all about – but we are the champions at fundraising chess.  If you would like our help, contact us at www.BWUnlimited.com, we would love to help.


BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising is a North American Charity Fundraising leader in a convenient “One Stop Shop” setting.  We can help guide you, your committee and your charity around the myriad of fundraising event pitfalls toward an incredibly successful fundraising event that will make a huge impression on your guests and raise you more money than you could ever dream of.  Many of our clients started out nervous, scared and skeptical but when it was all over, they couldn’t wait to start planning their next event.  Contact us at www.BWUnlimited.com.  

Monday, May 15, 2017

The Founder – the story of “McDonalds” and how it relates to charities

For some time, I’ve been wanting to see the movie the “Founder” which is the story about Ray Krok and McDonalds.  So the other night, my wife and I rented it and sat back. 

Going in, I thought it was going to be the story about how an idea grew into such a massive scale.  How one man single handedly built an empire – a great business movie to watch and learn from. 

But what was about is simply this – if you don’t take your incredible idea and grow it or move it to the next level, someone else will.  What happened in the story (which holds true in regard to charities), two (2) brothers came up with the idea of McDonalds and how to serve their customers in a “Speedy” constant way.  They did not have a lot of their menu, their goal was deliver quality quickly over quantity in a time when “Drive Up’s with girls on Roller Skates” were the hit.

Well, the two McDonald brothers did want to franchise their store.  Along came Ray Krok who could picture the ability to expand.  The brothers fought it for all they were worth, but Ray saw otherwise.  He took their idea, eventually figured out a way to improve it then overtook the ownership making it what it is today – the most popular restaurant in the world, feeding at least 1% of the worlds population on a daily basis, well worth in the billions.

What Ray, with help, figured out was they were in the “Real Estate” business, not food service.  They bought the land that the restaurants sit on and lease it to the franchisee.  If the Franchisee doesn’t follow his direction, he revokes the land lease.  That easy.  The land then builds value and his profits go through the roof. 

What should a charity learn by this?  Well, what I’ve been preaching all along.  It’s not about how great your hamburgers are or your charity is, it’s about expansion, constantly evolving, staying fresh and consistent.  Its about expansion in that your charity must do whatever it needs to do to constantly grow, reach new people, new donor’s and spur growth. 

If you stay the same, but have a great idea, believe me…someone will “swoop” right in and steal your idea and grow it.  You will be just a memory like the McDonald brothers are and were.  Seriously, do you even know their names?

Now – how does a charity expand?  By following these simple rules:

#1 – Your web presence must be stellar – Your website is the face of your charity.  If is not “Top Notch”, donors and sponsors will go look, not be impressed and you will never know they were there snooping around.  It’s not like the old days when people came to your office – they first go to your website.

#2 – Be the Dancing Monkey – If people felt so strongly about your mission, you would have no need to host fundraisers.  There would be stacks of checks in the mail every day.  Give them what they want – a fantastic event that attracts people to it first, then to your charity.

#3 – There are no emotions in business – People will steal your ideas.  Let me give you a very real life example.  A long time ago, people use to attend my events and literally video tape what we were doing and write down everything we had displayed.  But what they did not know was the method or reason behind it.  They wanted to steal my ideas and do them on their own – they failed.  Why did they fail?  Let me tell you why, because they did not know what the reasons were behind certain things.  What I mean by there are no emotions in business is this – people don’t care.  Everyone, every charity is out for themselves and themselves only. 

#4 – How to expand – This takes work.  If you have the ability to expand your charity into other states, do it.  Allow people from other areas in the country to get involved.  Remember, you own the land (your charity), they are just opening a store on it.  You control what goes on.

These are just ideas, notions to consider.  But like Ray Krok and the McDonald brothers, if you don’t move forward with your idea, someone else will.

BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising is a North American Charity Fundraising Leader in a "One Stop Shop" convenient setting.  If you would like our help, contact us at www.BWUnlimited.com or call us directly at 443 206 6121.



Sunday, May 14, 2017

Charity Fundraising “Flat Line” – The “Sophomoric Syndrome”

There is an old saying that says “If you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backward.”  This is incredibly true for charities that experience success early.  However, as their charity ages, they tend to get set in their ways and lose track of reality.

Furthermore, no one likes to hear the reality of things.  Most charities believe that their mission is the best and deserves the most but what most don’t realize is this – people give because they want something in return.  Whether it is acknowledgement of some kind, satisfaction or whatever, they want something.

The competition for charities trying to fundraise is stiff.  With over 104 Million charities in the United States, Non Profits need to be on their game per se.  They must grasp the plain and simple fact that in order to attract people or supporters to their charity, they need to be a “Dancing Monkey” of sorts.  Laying out the bait to gain the attention of people shopping the charity superstore is extremely important.  The best way of accomplishing this – is to host an incredible event for people to attend.  Making it more about the event and less about the charity and the fundraising aspect.  Does this make sense?  No it doesn’t but then why are BW Unlimited events so large and always so successful? 

Test Case #1:   Recently, we were asked to help a charity which had not been successful raising money for 6 years.  However, when we came on board, we were given “Carte Blanche” to do what we wanted and how we wanted.  This charity had a very hard time getting people to attend their small functions and within the 6 year period, they had only raised a grand total of $6,000.00. 

They did not question our methods, in fact, we provided guidance and they followed it a “T.”  Everyone prior to during the beginning discussion stages, was very critical saying that it would never work, people won’t come etc.

End result – 1,000 attendees and close to $80,000.00 in profit in the bank “PRIOR TO” the event.  People are excited about the charity and the next event – which will be much larger and much more profitable.

However – this leads to the next problem – a very real issue referred to as the “Sophomoric Syndrome.”

What is the “Sophomoric Syndrome”?  It’s when a group is extremely successful and the following year, they lay back and think that last year’s success will come rolling in without much work.  They don’t go after as many donations, they believe people will just buy tickets because of last year, they don’t go after financial sponsors as hard…they lay back and think people are going to come to them. 

Oddly enough, you need to work twice as hard.  Remember the “Dancing Monkey”?  People get distracted and want to be entertained.  The event needs to change and evolve to keep people interested and involved.  The charity must GROW to stay relevant.  They need to lay out the “Bait” thick and keep attracting more and more to their event.  Their event has to grow bigger, become more impressive etc.  Growing the committee is more important but the committee too must understand the “Reality of Charity Fundraising.”  Why people and businesses donate – because they want something. 

They must understand that they are not the only Charity in existence, because there will be 100 charities behind them asking them for donations and giving them what they want – the donor can sit back and make demands to see who wants their money.  This is reality folks.

Have you ever seen one of those business graphs with profits and losses going up and down?  Well the same holds true with a charity.  Charities must think like a business and use strategy to run it.  They need to ask themselves these questions: 

#1 – “How do we grow and become more profitable?” 

#2 – “How do we stay more relevant?”

#3 – “What can we do to attract more people to us?”

#4 – “How can we compete in such a competitive market place?”

And perhaps the most important question….

#5 – “Are we doing this for fun or do we want to do more, grow and become much more successful?”

Be realistic – ask yourselves the above questions.  How do you combat the problem detailed above?  Each year, you need to start over, keep everyone engaged and excited about what lies ahead.  Get rid of any negativity and grow your infrastructure.  If not, this is when the “Charity Flat Line” starts to happen.  You can tell this is happening when donations slow down. 

Let’s be real for a minute – do any of your charities walk out to the mailbox in the morning and find stacks of checks waiting for you?  No.  That is why you must go nuts when it comes to fundraising!!!  You absolutely must work even if you hire us – we will teach you how to stay relevant, how to stay competitive but in the end, it’s up to you to ensure your pulse keeps beating.

Everything ladies and gentlemen has a shelf life.  Case in Point – there was a very well-known Veterans charity with a very recognizable logo that just a year or so ago everyone loved.  Millions upon millions of dollars poured into this charity but then they lost their way.  It became more about the charity and marketing then it did about this mission.  People became very critical and before too long, investigations began, news stories exposed them and now where are they?  Gone.

Everything counts – EVERYTHING.  You must stay ahead of the pace.  Everything matters, your web presence, your mission and your fundraising efforts.  If not, your pulse will stop and your charity will flat line.  There are plenty of examples of this. 


BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising is a charity fundraising leader in a “One Stop Shop” convenient setting.  We can help you and your charity understand the competitive nature of charity fundraising and guide you toward a bright future while helping you by planning, managing and hosting highly successful charity fundraising events which will not only help you raise the money you need but grow your charity in ways you could not have predicted.  Check out our website at www.BWUnlimited.com or call us directly at 443 206 6121.  We would love to help you.

Thursday, September 15, 2016

What or who is BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising?

People always ask what we do and the answer is always “Everything you need.”  So many people think we are Auctioneers or Auction Item providers – True but we are actually much much more.  There are no companies like ours.  You can find pieces of what we do, but we absolutely specialize on helping Charities only.  For some reason, that answer never truly rings home.  So to answer the question “Who or what is BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising”, I thought I would answer it here. 

BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising is a North American Charity Fundraising leader in a “One Stop Shop” convenient setting.  Still don’t understand?  Here it is in laymen’s terms – if you are planning a fundraising event for just about anyone or anything, we can help you.  Whatever your needs are, we are a charities “Go To” company. 

#1 – Event Services – the reality of it is simply this…you are lucky if you are asked to do more than one fundraiser a year.  Normally, most only do one and most likely you have done a hand full over your lifetime.  Thinking you understand fundraising with that little experience is like asking your Mechanic neighbor for medical advice, you just would never do that.

We can help guide you around all the mistakes and falsehoods that inexperienced fundraisers encounter.  We can guide you to hosting an incredibly successful, high profile fundraising event. 

That includes pre-event consulting, graphically designed flyers, tickets and coaching your volunteer committee making their role much less time consuming and stressful. 

As part of our services, we have the unique ability to staff your entire event, allowing your guests to enjoy themselves instead of begging for help.  We can provide a highly qualified and experienced Charity Auctioneer, Raffle Staff, Silent Auction set up and tear down, check in and check out plus Mobile Bidding. 

You name it or need it, BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising can provide it.

#2 – Auction Items – we carry the wide array of Charity Auction Items from autographed Memorabilia, Décor and Charity Travel Packages.  These items are offered at absolutely “No Risk” – no cash, check or credit card up front.  BW sends you catalogs via email, you pick the items and we ship them directly to you.  Each item has an associated cost, you simply mark up the “Cost to Non Profit” 20% for the starting or “Reserve Bid” and you keep 100% of the profit no matter how much it is.  If the items do not receive bids, you simply return them.

So – I hope this answers your questions about who BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising actually is.  We are everything you need and more.

To learn more about how we can help you or your charity, contact us at www.BWUnlimited.com or call us at 410-658-8808.


Thursday, July 23, 2015

Would you ask your Mechanic to diagnose your health problems? www.BWUnlimited.com

I have to admit it, I don’t know the first thing about how to work on my car.  Honestly, I know how to put gas in it, change the oil and change a flat, but that’s it.  Recently, two of my brand new tires started leaking air slowly.  At first, I would fill it back up with air, but then it got to be a pain. 

I have a really good friend, his name is Aaron Younger.  I initially met Aaron when he was the Service Manager at a nearby car dealership.  We hit it off, because I knew right from the start that I could trust him.  Then, I helped him with a charity fundraiser for his daughter’s softball team – the Black Ice. 

So when I took my car in for the tire to be fixed, I went to where Aaron worked.  A few hours later, my phone rang and it was Aaron.  He told me that my brakes were “Shot” and definitely needed to be fixed.  Solely based on the fact that I trust him and that he knows what he’s doing, I told him to go ahead and fix them. 

When I need something done that I truly don’t know how to do, I go to who I know I can trust and who I know is the Expert – Aaron Younger.  While I was there sitting at his desk in his office, we started talking about fundraising because he wants to do another fundraising event for his team.  He told me about all the wasted time they lost while trying to do smaller, lesser fundraising events in the past and how he would love to have me help him with another fundraiser. 

Oddly enough, that is when it struck me.  When I needed help with my car, I went to the expert – Aaron.  I asked him to fix whatever what was broke, which he did perfectly at a very good price.  But, when that same Expert needs help fundraising, who does he turn to?  BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising.

Now consider this – why is fundraising the only time when inexperienced people think they can do it without a professional?  Would you handle your own medical needs or ask your neighbor who is a house painter to diagnose you?  No way.  Would you ask your friend who is a mechanic to handle your legal issues?  Are you kidding, absolutely not!

So when a charity or a group of people desperately needs to raise money to fund or contribute to something or someone, why do they decided to do it without hiring an expert?  Does it make sense?  I don’t think so.  Does a baseball team put a fan up to bat when they are down and about to lose?  Nope.  Does a football team allow one of the cheerleaders a chance as quarterback?  Uhhhhhh No. 

I totally understand that people think that paying a professional is not a good way to fundraise and that you need everything donated – but if you had to decide whether to raise $10k by doing it alone, without help – OR – raise $80k with the help of a professional, which one would you chose.  Well, I already told you that I went to Aaron to fix my car didn’t I?

What you don’t know is, there are a 1,000 different little aspects that need to be taken into account in order for you to host a “ROCKSTAR” of a fundraising event.  Plus keeping up with successful fundraising trends, what people like and don’t like, it’s a lot to understand.  But, we do…we are only charity fundraisers, in fact the best in the business.  Let us help you.

BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising is a North American Charity Fundraising leader in a “One Stop Shop” convenient setting.  BW Unlimited's vast knowledge about current successful fundraising trends and extensive knowledge about how to properly plan and manage a charity fundraising event makes them head and shoulders above their competition.  To learn more, contact us today at www.BWUnlimited.com.  We would love to help you.

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

BREAKING NEWS!!! Partnership with EveryEventGives.com - Fundraising Best Practices

We have been involved in the fundraising industry for a very long time.  Since we opened our doors seven (7) years ago, we have been approached by many companies wanting our help or asking to partner with us. 

The first thing I do is obviously look to see who the company is, how long they have been in business and the most important aspect – if their beliefs are like mine “Charity First.”  Are they only wanting to make money through charities across the United States and is what they are offering something truly needed.

Now you should understand, I have turned down some of the largest companies out there in the fundraising industry.  I truly feel most of the products they are offering are quite honestly just a way to get charities to waste money.

But in all this time, we were contacted by a company that offers charities much more than any other similar company out there.  The company I am speaking of is “EveryEventGives.com.” 

When we were first contacted, of course I did my due diligence to see if it was a “Scam” which is was and is not.  They are truly unique because their business motto is exactly like mine.  What I found most unique is, that they offer an extra profit to charities through ticket sales.  Then add on the ability to host both an On-Line Silent Auction and Raffle along with the ticket sales.

If that wasn’t enough, I spoke directly to the President of the business – Sean Spence.  I read his bio and had a very long conversation, digging into him about what he believes and how he runs his business.  I was and am truly impressed.

I was so impressed, we agreed to exclusively partner with them.  With the partnership, we will offer the “Best of both worlds” combining our Charity Auction items with their ticketing platform. 

If you are planning on hosting a fundraising event, please visit www.EveryEventGives.com and when you contact them, let them know George Wooden of BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising sent you. 

BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising is a North American charity fundraising leader in a “One Stop Shop” convenient setting.  Known across North America as the #1 provider of No Risk Charity Auction Items – BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising can help you and your charity with everything you can possibly need and more.  For more information about how BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising can help you, please visit www.BWUnlimited.com.