Thursday, July 29, 2010
Five Ways to Reduce Fundraising Auction Costs
One of my clients was brilliant. She dropped her charity auction catalog production costs from $14,000 to $7900. Impressive! But how did she do it?
1. Eliminated tabs in the benefit auction catalog Tabs are expensive. Although I think the tabs make it easier to find a particular section, I do not think they are worth the added expense. Have the printer show you some other options (heavier-weight paper) as an alternative.
2. Take a look at layout and get more text on each page. You can reduce the font size to get more text per page and you can completely change up the layout. One bit of caution, fundraising auction catalog text must remain large enough for someone over 40 to read it. It doesn't need to be as large as the font you might have on your website, but it needs to be a comfortable reading size. To test the font size, have your committee read it. They are representative of your guest population and can judge whether the font will work for most people.
Cutting costs by reshaping the charity auction catalog is an effective way to help your bottom line, but it's not the only place to reduce expenses. If a budget reduction is in order, reduce expenses in areas that have hard-to-prove ROI. In their auction planning, my clients have cut expenses in the following areas over the last two years:
- Create your own floral arrangements versus using a florist
- Eliminate the auction catalog. An option is to prepare an online catalog.)
- Redesign the benefit auction catalog to get more for less.
- Use a DJ instead of a band.
- One group eliminated the entertainment entirely, mentioning (after this organization and I worked together for a year) that the benefit auctioneer was entertaining enough without the added cost of entertainment.
You and your benefit auction committee should take time to figure out budget priorities. Here are a few hints about what WON'T make you money.
- A killer local band will not help you make more money.
- Elaborate centerpieces will not help you make more money.
- Beautiful decor will not help you make more money.
- An expensive venue will not help make you more money.
Copyright (c) 2010 Red Apple Auctions LLC
Author Bio:
Award-winning fundraising auctioneer Sherry Truhlar, CMP, BAS runs Red Apple Auctions, a firm specializing in teaching non-profits the techniques proven to grow auction profitability. She offers a number of FREE auction ideas on her website, including the popular Auction Item Guide, a meaty compilation of best-selling auction items. Sign-up for the Guide at Red Apple Auctions.
Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Five-Ways-to-Reduce-Fundraising-Auction-Costs&id=3956064
Top Five Fundraisers For Fraternities and Sororities
1. Anything food-based. There are tons of different ways that you can turn food into a fundraiser. Since everyone has to eat, most people don't mind spending a bit of money on food. A few ways to make a food fundraiser include hosting a barbecue, having a few eating contests, creating a simple bake sale, or putting on a fancy gala dinner. Tailor your fund raising idea to the type of community you're catering to, the type of charity you're raising money for, and the resources that your fraternity or sorority has available.
2. Events like golf tournaments. Events for which you can find advertising sponsors and people to pay to participate in them can make a whole lot of money. Think about events like tournaments and fun runs or walks where people can raise sponsorship to participate in the event and get something like a tee-shirt and a medal - which you can buy very cheaply - in return.
3. Auctions. You can auction off anything from dates with fraternity guys to home-made baskets of goodies. Silent and spoken auctions can both be used, and these fundraisers can be incorporated into other events, such as dinners and tournaments. Think about what your group has to offer, and then create an auction to suit those resources.
4. Raffles. Like auctions, you can raffle off anything, and you can also combine raffles with lots of other fund raising events. If you're looking for a way to cheaply and easily create a fundraiser, this might be a good choice. Unlike an auction, you don't actually have to get people together for this one. You just have to make sure you have their contact information when you draw their raffle tickets to see who will be the winner.
5. Trivia nights. These can be great fun for know-it-all college student - which is, let's face it, most of us. Center the trivia you choose on the charity you're raising money for, which will help raise the level of awareness about what that charity is all about. You can do individual trivia contests or contests with teams, and you can use this event for just a few people or for lots of people at once.
Keep in mind that all of these fundraiser ideas can be used in a variety of different settings, and that you can tailor them to your needs. Also, remember that you should always check with local businesses to see what they'll donate to help you raise funds, whether it's tickets to raffle or a place to host your event at half price.
Author Bio:
Crystal is the owner of GreekForMe - a licensed fraternity and sorority Greek merchandise store featuring Chi Omega merchandise.
In her free time, she volunteers at her kids' school and also actively supports Relay for Life for the American Cancer Society.
Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Top-Five-Fundraisers-For-Fraternities-and-Sororities&id=3708441
How to Choose the Best Single Serve Coffee Machine
The single coffee cup maker comes in three styles: the french press, automatic drip and most recently, pod coffee makers. Each has distinct advantages and disadvantages in terms of price, convenience, ease of cleaning and the types of coffee you can use. The coffee pods use premeasured grounds that are encapsulated in either paper, plastic or aluminum. No doubt they're convenient and handy, but there are limitations of the types and flavors of coffee you can have.
Many necessitate using only the pods that are compatible with the manufacturers coffee pod machines. Being required to forego your favorite gourmet coffee is a huge disadvantage to many. For other, not having to measure and deal with messy coffee grounds and filters outweighs this negative. There are many on the market today from which to choose, some top of the line machines with all the bells and whistles are quite spendy. Fortunately, there are some affordable choices that have recently come on the market.
The french press single serve coffee machine has been around for a long time. There are many people who swear by it. No doubt, it's certainly portable. Of course it does require you heat up water first, measure your grounds and use a filter. Some have resistant plungers, however, and it can be painstaking to get that single cup of coffee. Many presses make bitter coffee as well, or coffee with grounds that have surreptitiously made their way into the carafe. That being said, there are some presses on the market now that make a fantastic, smooth, non-bitter cup of coffee. These are great to have in the office or on a camping trip.
Finally, if you want to have your single cup of coffee in less than a minute, want easy clean-up, want to pop in the premeasured little package of coffee, it's hard to be the pod single serve coffee machine. Many definitely make an excellent cup of coffee. A few brands have finally expanded the pods they're compatible with, so you don't have to stick to the manufacturer's pods only. The better ones have temperature controls, automatic shut offs and controls for the amount you make from 4 ounces up to 12 ounces. Some can take any old regular coffee mug you already own. Many of these also brew coffee and make hot chocolate.
The automatic drip single serve coffee machine has also improved in recent years. You can brew many of these directly into travel mugs. These mugs range in material from stainless steel to ceramic. Like the pods, there's a lot of variety in terms of price and functionality. Some also have their own reusable nylon filters, so you don't have to buy and deal with flimsy, collapsing paper filters anymore.
If you want convenience and to save money buying your daily Starbucks, this could be the answer for you. It's just a matter of choosing the one that best suits your unique needs.
Author Bio:
Laura Nelson is an internet marketer and writer. As an MSW, her passions include helping women and children. She spends her free time shopping, playing with her cats, dogs, and children. For more information and a products review, please visit: http://hubpages.com/hub/Top-Picks-for-a-Single-Serve-Coffee-Machine
Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Choose-the-Best-Single-Serve-Coffee-Machine&id=3729334
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Evaluation and Post Car Wash Fundraiser Advice
COLLECTING PLEDGES
Try to make sure the same people that received the pledges knock on the same doors to collect them. With corporate pledges, the leader of your group or the treasurer should go to the company to personally collect the funds and thank them for supporting your group. If your members are reluctant to go back to collect pledges, send them in teams of two or three and cover all of their corresponding areas. If someone refuses to pay, act very sad and tell them how hard you worked. Obviously you are not going to sue them, if they fail to pay and threatening them makes no sense, there are just really scummy people in the world and that perhaps is a lesson all in itself?
EVALUATION
Try to be objective. If you can't, just tell everyone they did a perfect job and pat yourself on the back. If you think you can be a little objective, ask yourself:
What went wrong?
Did you meet your ticket goals?
How were pledges?
Did anyone complain and if so about what?
Was the property owner happy?
Did you use due diligence with wash water run off?
Did you cause a traffic problem?
How long was the line of cars?
Was your team exhausted?
Did anyone's temper get out of hand?
Did everyone enjoy themselves?
How much money did you make?
Could you have made more?
This will give you a very good start in evaluating your car wash fundraisers success. Then ask yourself these questions:
What could you change for next year?
What problems would that solve?
Would this create other problems?
Write down four to five pages. Be honest. This information will truly be invaluable for next year's car wash fundraiser group. Send your evaluations to our author. Fax them to 1-888-WASH-GAL. Is there anything left out of this book that you believe was significant? If you belong to a national organization send your basic plan and evaluation to them also. Other chapters of your organization may be planning a car wash fundraiser. No sense in making the same mistakes twice. These other chapters will have similar make ups of people types, ages and values that are different than other organizations. I have visited hundreds of organizations. I have watched them make mistakes at car washes that I myself hadn't thought of. Most of these mistakes are mentioned in this book. But there will always be new pitfalls. If you do everything in this book you can be successful and beat your projections even if you make a few mistakes along the way. Share your information and your wealth.
New additions to this book can be found on the Car Wash Guys International, Inc. corporate web site. The address is:
http://www.carwashguys.com/fundraisers/LAschools.html
SET A TENTATIVE DATE FOR NEXT YEAR
Put your evaluation pages in a folder with a piece of paper recommending a tentative date for next year's car wash fundraiser. Put a big rubber band on the folder so nothing falls out. Write across the folder "Top Secret - Car Wash Fundraising Information" at a 45° angle. On the tab on the folder write the month of your tentative date; give this folder to the treasurer of your group. This way it won't get lost and it will be automatically transferred to next year's treasurer. Even if you are not involved in the group next year, your car wash fundraiser event's legacy will live on. The treasurer in any group will generally be very responsible and will also know the reality surrounding your group's financial picture. They will surely bring this folder to the group's attention if they get low on funds. When picking a date for next year, stay away from three-day weekends, religious holidays, county fairs and predominately rainy months. Copy the e-book and stick it in the folder as well.
ANNOUNCE YOUR EARNINGS
Tally up the number of cars washed, ticket sales and donations. Let everyone know how much they earned. This is a form of instant gratification. Remember this is a country built on capitalistic value. By announcing the money made and an 'ata-boy', members will feel good about what they have done. The money represents success. Everyone wants to be a winner. Tell them they are winners. You did it! No excuses. You just did it. You accomplished something great through teamwork. If your group can do this, they can do anything. If you are a sports team you've united your team. If you have an upcoming game, you have a much better chance to win. If you're another kind of group you've built unity and confidence in the group and a 'We're in it to win it' attitude.
Your post evaluation and announcement of your success is important to the future of the group. Think on this.
Author Bio:
"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is an online writer in retirement.
Article Source:http://ezinearticles.com/?Evaluation-and-Post-Car-Wash-Fundraiser-Advice&id=41550
Monday, July 26, 2010
What is Indian Coffee and What Does it Taste Like?
Most of
Want to make a simple filter coffee? Here's how you do it.
It's is a fairly simple process, so just follow along. Using finely ground coffee beans and remembering not to grind them too much as very finely ground coffee will clog the holes in the bottom of the vessel, fill the top 'story' and add boiling water filling to the top. Next heat the whole unit, adding milk and sugar to taste - roughly about two teaspoons per person.
You could serve your coffee right now, but this would only equal to taste and flavour of the coffee made in the North of India. And remember, that's not too tasty!
However, if you want a really great tasting filter coffee, there is one more thing you need to do. And this is the main difference between the coffee brewed in the North of India, verses the brew served in the South of the country. This difference is the aeration process. While most Indian coffee served by vendors in the street would probably be done this way, the chances are if you mentioned the 'aeration process' to the vendor, they wouldn't have a clue what you were talking about.
However, the process is really simple. These guys are actually 'scientists' of a sort, pure genius! Once they had finished the 'brewing' phase, they pour the coffee from one vessel to another, several times, back and forth. And this simple idea is what makes the Indian (filtered) coffee a great coffee, not just a nice coffee!
This really brings out the flavour, by aerating the brew and is the most important part of the process. As simple as it sounds, 'just adding air' this really puts the flavour into your cup of coffee. If its made correctly, you will have a delightful cup of full flavoured coffee, with a head of bubbles on top.
Author Bio:
You will find more information about coffee at our website. And if you are interested in some serious coffee 101 facts, the articles on our website will open your eyes as there really is more to the black tar like substance we adore so much.
Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?What-is-Indian-Coffee-and-What-Does-it-Taste-Like?&id=4127124
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Coming soon
Take my word for it, if you want to learn about coffee fundraising, you will want to return to this web site.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Make the Most of Your Student Fundraising Efforts
So with such a large time commitment being made to raising money for students, one would hope to make that process as educational and worthwhile as possible. All of which leads parents, teachers, and students to the question - "How can I make the most of my student fundraising efforts?"
The answer is that if you feel like there could be more accomplished while you raise money, you should probably begin with searching for new fundraising ideas that are different from what you've done in the past. This will help alleviate the old 'if you always do what you've always done' routine.
The great thing about getting more out of raising money is that it's really not very hard to do. In fact, there is a whole category of student fund raisers that can elevate your programs to a whole new level. In fact, these so called earth friendly fundraisers seem tailor made for making school fundraising a much more educational experience.
By focusing on offering green products, you get the terrific opportunity to tie your money raising efforts in with the lesson plans from the classroom about reducing our impact on the planet. Some of these ideas even include selling items made from recycled materials which is a fantastic way to integrate your student fundraiser with the push to start a recycling club.
Other ways to put an educational twist on raising money include selling flower bulbs or trees to pay for a school garden and selling reusable shopping bags to teach about reducing plastic waste.
Author Bio:
For a number of eco friendly student fundraising programs be sure and check out Go Green Fundraising. They are the leaders in offering fun, easy, and high profit green school fundraisers.
Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Make-the-Most-of-Your-Student-Fundraising-Efforts&id=3940337