Features
Column 4
Pooling Pennies for Playtime
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Dear Kim,
I am interested in starting a private fundraising drive for new playground equipment at a local park. Can you give me suggestions on how to get started? Are we required to get nonprofit organizational status in order to raise the funds?
Ready to Rock and Roll
Dear Rock,
Playground equipment is a wonderful and relatively easy thing to raise money for. Practically everyone knows what its purpose is and why it is important for kids and parents. You do not need to have nonprofit status to raise the funds, as long as you make it clear that a gift to this project
will not be tax-deductible. You may want to get your local community foundation or other community-minded nonprofit to agree to be your "fiscal sponsor." In this scenario, people would write checks to that organization and get their deduction, and the fiscal sponsor would then give your group
the money. Remember that 70 percent of U.S. taxpayers file a short form, which means they do not receive any tax benefit for their giving. Thus, tax deductibility—except for very large gifts—is not that important, although having a fiscal sponsor may give donors a sense of
confidence that the money will be properly spent.
Keep in mind also that the following process can apply to all sorts of fundraising projects, from building playground equipment to buying sports gear, opening a community garden, or supporting a daycare center. Follow these steps and the money will be in the bank before you know it:
Set a goal and a timeframe to reach it. For example, it will take $12,000 to buy the equipment and you want the playground ready to go by May 1. Allow at least one month to raise the money, but don't go much past six months or you will lose momentum.
- Put together a small committee of three or four people who will help with the project. A small committee can do the planning work quickly and can delegate tasks to a larger group of people, if they are available. However, a group of three or four people can pull this off by themselves.
Having a large group makes each meeting a special event in itself.
- Each of you should make your own gift first. This does two things: It makes you ask the question, "Is this really a good idea? Would I support it?" The answer should be yes. The second reason is that you are then asking everyone else to do what you have already done: "I have made my own
gift and hope you will join me." You are probably thinking, "I am giving a lot of time. Doesn't that count?" Of course it counts—time is our most valuable resource, but time is not money. Time and money have different functions. People will admire you for putting in your time, but
they will follow your example of putting in your money. You may not have a lot of money, so just give what you can: $5, $20, ten cents. The amount is not as important as the fact that you made a financial commitment in addition to your time.
- Spend an evening making a list of people and places you can go to for some of the money. List people you know who give away money, who like parks or kids, or who are community-minded. Focus your efforts on individuals and small businesses. Avoid foundations and large corporations as you
will just be frustrated by them. Foundations give away very little money in the scheme of things, and generally don't give to small projects, while corporations need a lot of publicity for any gift they make. (Note: if you know an individual in a corporation or a foundation, ask that person
if you should approach their institution.) Ideally, you will identify one or two people who can give 10 percent each of the goal and another three or four people who can give 5 percent each of the goal. In any case, go to the people most likely to say yes first. Then approach those people
in order of the possible size of their gifts. In other words, someone who could give $500 should be approached before someone who could give $100, but if the $100 person is easier to talk to and more likely to say yes, then she should be approached first. Ask everyone as personally as
possible, with a letter, followed up by a phone call, and, if appropriate, a meeting. Consider inviting all the big donor prospects to the park where they can see the need firsthand.
- Put signs up in the park with drawings of the playground and information about where people can send contributions. If possible, put up a "fund thermometer" or other visual which can be updated as money comes in. One park put up a picture of a slide with each step of the slide
signifying more money collected. When they got all their money, they drew a picture of someone joyfully going down the slide with the caption, "We did it thanks to all of you!"
- Also consider bringing letters with return envelopes to all the homes in the vicinity of the park. On two or three busy Saturdays, weather permitting, set up a table in the park and ask people in the park for money. Be sure to promptly thank everyone who gives. Contact your local radio
station and newspaper to get publicity for your effort.
What is useful about doing this as a community effort is that you will not only succeed, but you will also have a lot of people who bring their kids to "their" park, who watch out for the park and help keep it clean and safe because they have helped contribute to its creation.
For more on how to do any of this, visit www.grassrootsfundraising.org.
Good luck,
Kim
If you have a question you would like Kim to answer please email reading@idealist.org with the subject line "Dear Kim". Please note: Due to the large volume of email received, Kim will not be able to answer all the questions asked or respond
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