How and where do I find people interested in donating to a wonderful, unique non-profit?
Answers:
Word of mouth is still the best advertising. In CA, the CA Conservation Corps and in L.A. the Los Angeles Conservation Corps does very similar work. You can try applying for grants/contracts through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and with the forest service itself. CDBG grants are operated through your local city and possibly county, too. If there's a Community Foundation in your area (many large cities have one), there are grants available from them. If you like working with gov't, look at how they do bidding. It's usually a Request for Proposal. At the local Community Foundation, they offer classes on how to do fundraising. Many corporations have foundations that give to non-profits. Reference books about charitable foundations are available in the library. If you belong to a church, Kiwanis club, Chamber of Commerce, etc these places can be good resources of how to find support. Go to the meetings with business cards in hand and network. Do it in the grocery store, the barber/beuaty shop, wherever. People waiting in lines anywhere are a good audience.
Try contacting the human interest editor of your local paper. Their name is on the articles that they write. Call them up and ask them to interview you for a possible community interest article. Call about 1 month before an event/holiday of specifc interest to your organization, like Arbor Day (just an example).
Good luck!
Put together a group of 12 people who really care about your work. Ask them to each host a coffee or desert in their home and invite their friends for just an hour. You talk about your work, and they ask their friends to give. Keep the names of everyone who comes and contact them afterward for feedback. Ask if they're interested in getting more involved. This is cheap and easy to do, and you can get more than 100 people to donate to you in about ten days. Also see the video at www.benevon.com and make use of their free resources. Good luck!
try to go to schools and churches, you will most likely find a lot of people there willing to donate. :)
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