…that wants other people to fund their good idea !!
The email said: “We have started a NPO with the premise of completing a project to support a religious group. The project is a book we plan to market, with the profits going to that group. Our team consists of experts to write, design, produce and market the book, but we do not have any depth in fundraising.
This is a side project. We each have families to support, and we do not have the funds needed to get lift off.
All the articles we have read warn (against having a) fundraiser working on commission. No doubt we are not alone with our dilemma. What suggestions might you offer to help? Cost to get to production is $50K. Total cost, including marketing, is $250K.
This is a project at the point of now obtaining the funds from donors, investors, etc., so that this project can then be turned a finished product for sale. We have a prototype as part if our presentation.
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Not knowing the details of the situation, and whether the NPO is a 501(c)(3), I can only observe that a large percentage of new nonprofits fail because the people who start them don’t/can’t obtain and/or commit the funds needed.
A nonprofit organization is not a hobby. It takes serious commitment to do what needs to be done to survive/succeed. Just having a good idea and/or wanting to help is not enough. And, “if the people who have the idea aren’t willing or can’t support it, why should/would anyone else?”
And, a basic concept of fundraising is that people give to satisfy their own needs. If those needs coincide with those of the NPO, all the better, but that’s not always the case.
From what you said, it seems that the “book” itself could be a vehicle for raising money. What if there was a list, at the front of the book, of those who made it possible — the “major donors.”
And, rather than go into a discussion of what is a major gift and how to go about obtaining such (and at the risk of sounding self-serving), I suggest that “The Fundraising Series” of ebooks might help you clarify your thinking about raising money — one book in particular, “Major Gifts,” might help you determine the best direction for your fundraising efforts. (See the link below.)
I also remark upon the “lumping together” of investors and donors. The former expect a financial return on their money, the latter, shouldn’t….
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Have you heard about
The Fundraising Series of ebooks?
They’re easy to read, to the point, and inexpensive ($1.99-$4.99)
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Have a comment or a question about starting, evaluating
or expanding your fundraising program?
AskHank
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We’ve been posting these pieces for the last five years,
and we welcome your questions/problems.
They are likely to engender further discussion.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Comments & Questions
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