[Cash-and-caring] ideas

Wed Dec 21 14:35:21 UTC 2016

I have been in contact and participate on both the president and president university listserves. We have tried a lot of suggestions, so far, not a lot of success, but we continue to work at it and try new things.

Whether in fundraising or membership building, one problem is the lack of motivation. If people don't want to do something, little will motivate them. They have to want to do it. This is a problem in my area. Can't really identify the core issue, but lack of motivation and enthusiasm seems key.

Here's hoping efforts in 2017 pan out, smile.

Happy holidays,
Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: Cash-and-Caring [mailto:cash-and-caring-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of walhoframona--- via Cash-and-Caring
Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2016 7:18 PM
To: Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter via Cash-and-Caring <cash-and-caring at nfbnet.org>
Cc: walhoframona at gmail.com
Subject: Re: [Cash-and-caring] ideas

Bridgit, I love to do fundraising, but membership is another big project for many chapters. Jeannie Massay is chair of our national membership committee and has wonderful tools and ideas for building membership. If you have not been in touch with her, she is president of the NFB of Oklahoma and treasurer of the NFB.
Ramona

On Dec 19, 2016 8:30 AM, Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter via Cash-and-Caring <cash-and-caring at nfbnet.org> wrote:
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> Yeah, our young people are non-existent. Across our state, our younger membership has grown smaller and smaller through the years. I’m only 35, but finding members younger than me, especially active ones, is not common right now. My chapter actually has a few younger members, but none are interested in this type of thing.
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> Our local senior division is much more active than our student division these days, grin.
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> Bridgit
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> From: Cash-and-Caring [mailto:cash-and-caring-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Michelle Clark via Cash-and-Caring
> Sent: Monday, December 19, 2016 6:31 AM
> To: 'Fund-raising assistance for Chapters and Affiliates' <cash-and-caring at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Michelle Clark <mcikeyc at aol.com>
> Subject: Re: [Cash-and-caring] ideas
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> You need to bring in some of the young people to help. I’m 62 and I still like to shake a leg every once in a while!
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> From: Cash-and-Caring [mailto:cash-and-caring-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter via Cash-and-Caring
> Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2016 7:05 PM
> To: 'Fund-raising assistance for Chapters and Affiliates' <cash-and-caring at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter <bkpollpeter at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Cash-and-caring] ideas
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> We tried a couple of years to have a dance during our banquet, when we still had it, but no one was interested. So we stopped bringing up the idea.
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> Bridgit
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> From: Cash-and-Caring [mailto:cash-and-caring-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Michelle Clark via Cash-and-Caring
> Sent: Saturday, December 17, 2016 5:41 PM
> To: 'Fund-raising assistance for Chapters and Affiliates' <cash-and-caring at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Michelle Clark <mcikeyc at aol.com>
> Subject: Re: [Cash-and-caring] ideas
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> I am not sure. It seems as though the DJ needs to assure the dancing gets started. At our last Anniversary, we were able to get President Riccobono to speak. I asked he and Melissa to make  sure they started the dancing.
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> Well, the DJ did one of those “Everyone in the community on the floor” type songs that had a whole lot of people up on the floor dancing and laughing. I was trying to finish up some things but took the time to at least dance that first dance. I am told Sharon Maneki got up as well.
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> After the event, the comments were that the event went well, but the excitement was all about the dancing. If people know that, they will come.
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> Michelle
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> From: Cash-and-Caring [mailto:cash-and-caring-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter via Cash-and-Caring
> Sent: Saturday, December 17, 2016 12:30 PM
> To: 'Fund-raising assistance for Chapters and Affiliates' <cash-and-caring at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter <bkpollpeter at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Cash-and-caring] ideas
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> Michelle,
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> I love the idea of the dance fundraiser. This sounds similar to my chapter’s banquet we used to do, but it stopped being successful. I would like our affiliate to try something like this, but we need more participation from our general membership to pull off a bigger event. Curious to how you, and others, stimulate participation for events like this.
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> Bridgit
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> From: Cash-and-Caring [mailto:cash-and-caring-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Michelle Clark via Cash-and-Caring
> Sent: Friday, December 16, 2016 11:48 PM
> To: 'Fund-raising assistance for Chapters and Affiliates' <cash-and-caring at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Michelle Clark <mcikeyc at aol.com>
> Subject: Re: [Cash-and-caring] ideas
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> 1.       What are the most successful fundraising ideas you employ?  Every other year we have an Anniversary Dinner and Dance along with a speaker. Of course from the NFB and an auction. We can make around $2,500 or more on this. We happen to be celebrating our 7th on Feb 4, 2017.
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> 2.       2. What has not worked or is no longer working? We had a Yard Sale in my front yard. It was a bust. It turns out my street is not as busy as I thought. The only money we earned was from buying from one another and from the para-transit drivers bringing the members to my house. LOL!
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> 3.       What precipitated you signing up for this listserv. We do a lot of activities and we need funds. It is also good to see what others are doing and share.
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> Michelle Clark
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> President
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> National Harbor Chapter/NFBMD
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> I will start by answering these myself.
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> Over time the best fundraiser our Illinois affiliate has employed is gift certificate sales. It has run its course in Illinois for now but it works like this. A not for profit buys gift certificates from a broker like the Manna Group (888) 272-1952. The entity pays less than the face value of the certificates. You sell them at face value and keep the difference. There is a minimum order to avoid fees. The percentage is generally low in terms of what you make on each order but overtime this is amazing. It also goes to core funding which is awesome.
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> We also do something called “15 for funds” which Dr. Jernigan taught us decades ago. The legend proclaims that Illinoisans were lamenting our lack of funds at a convention and Dr. Jernigan promised that he could fix that problem in fifteen minutes. He made the direct ask for contributions during our state convention banquet by starting at $500 and working his way down. We have done this every year since. It illustrates the point that you must make the ask before people will contribute.
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> AmazonSmile is not doing well. We have never gained more than $30 in a quarter. It is a nuisance to sign up for and we already have many NFB affiliates on the system.
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> I signed up for this listserv because I serve as our Director of Outreach and one of the things I am tasked with is helping our affiliates to fundraise in an efficient manner with an eye towards the longer term and plans to cultivate those who give to NFB.
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> Hope this good start is helpful.
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