Fundraising a Different, New and Unique Way - The INTERNET Way

The internet has changed, and continues to change our lives. Many things we used to do one way, we now do another. Banking. Shopping. Contacting friends. This has positive aspects as well as maybe some downside.
Fundraising the internet way is an idea whose time is ripe. Here is how it can work (with participating or cooperative companies): You promote a service or product that has an on-line website. Something potential contributors may be interested in. Set things up with the company. Then send emails to your friends, family, post it on your Facebook, Twitter, blogs. Get the word out anyway you can. Also hard copy printed flyers (simple one page black and white is easiest). Then when people buy the product/service YOUR CAUSE gets a certain amount of credit per sale. No need to collect any monies, deliver anything.
Now, some companies are very supportive of this idea, and help you out tremendously. You will get your very own web page to direct potential contributors to. They will help you write (or take your idea/goal and write it basically all for you) "copy" to cut and paste into a simple Word document for you to print flyers from. And subject lines for emails. They will sometimes help you do just about everything, making it super-easy for you.
Percentage of sale varies according to company. Most have a time limit such as: This fundraiser will run 3 weeks starting from a given date. But it is really a risk free option for the organization. It is usually FREE (except for any printing you may want to do of hard copy flyers, which can be done easily on any printer).
The more your organization promotes the service/product, the more you make. And promotion is easy and quick. Send out an email to your friends and family. They can also forward it. You can post a link on blogs, Facebook, chat rooms, bulletin boards, most social media places. Probably about 5 minutes per member to promote. EASY. Fast. Not limited geographically (that is REALLY nice)!
Many fundraisers require lots of organization by a committee. Setting a date for it, getting space for it, supplies, scheduling members to work it, collecting orders, delivering merchandise. Lots of time and energy. So this new internet method of fundraising is a gem. Folks can put their efforts into activities that support the cause rather than the fundraiser (okay, so they need to do a little bit of work on the fundraising, maybe 5-10 minutes per person doing the emails and posting on the blogs, etc.).
One more point. If a company has a product or service you like, that you think would work with this idea, but they have never done this kind of thing, you could choose to try to work with them. Explain in detail your needs, how it might work for them, how THEY will benefit as well as you. Work with them to set up a cooperative venture. Sometimes this is effective, sometimes companies will resists the idea, or not understand how to implement it. (Implementation is not hard at all if they have savvy web design fellows, but sometimes companies are resistant to change.)
Give internet fundraising a try! You will be happy you did!
Author Bio:
One company that has devoted a fair amount of time and energy to this idea is http://www.MomsGreatDeals.com/fundraiser.htm They are a subscription newsletter/website devoted to helping consumers save money by smart shopping and finding good and great deals. They are set up for internet fundraisers and have a product (the newsletter and site) which appeals to all.
Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Fundraising-a-Different,-New-and-Unique-Way---The-INTERNET-Way&id=4055902&opt=print