Fundraising Part 2
In the previous blog I shared some of the fundraising issues that many nonprofits in America and around the world face. Some of the issues pertained to All Things New and some of them did not. Today I want to focus on our short and long term ideas for fundraising. The truth is we knew when we started All Things New that fundraising would be a large part of our job and we knew it would be tough. As I mentioned in the previous blog neither of us are experts in this field and we are still learning a lot about it every day. We were protected, at least somewhat, from this reality for the first couple of years as our expenses were kept low by our living situation (read our last blog to understand why). However, fundraising has recently become a much bigger part of our job lately, and over the next few months we plan on making this our top priority. I will take the rest of this blog to explain some of the reasons we are focusing more on fundraising and to also explain some of the issues and challenges in regard to fundraising that directly affect All Things New.
Short-Term Fundraising Efforts
Our move into the new rental houses greatly increased our yearly operational costs while at the same time bringing with it many one-time costs that, while necessary, forced us to dip into our reserves. Because of this, for the next 4 months, fundraising will be one of our top priorities (next to getting our children ready for school). We plan on being in the states and available for speaking engagements, dessert fellowships, and lunch/dinner opportunities to speak with potential All Things New supporters for the majority of the fall. We are also looking for churches, Sunday School classes, small groups, civic clubs, etc. who would be willing to have us come and speak to your group. As I mentioned in our previous blog, we really need your help to make this time a success. Our plan is to be back in America to fundraise in the fall. We will publish actual dates soon, but in the meantime please begin thinking of ways you could help us make this fundraising trip successful.
As many of you know, we had a very successful fundraiser in Jacksonville in April and we are looking forward to our LaGrange fundraiser soon (date TBA soon). Our fundraiser in Jacksonville was so successful that it enabled us to furnish our 2 rental houses, provide consistent electricity in 1 home while the kids’ home has intermittent electricity, and cover many of the new expenses that we incurred with the move. We believe our LaGrange fundraiser will also help us immensely in the short-term so if you live in the area please be on the lookout for more information about this vital event for All Things New. However, as you probably know, the expenses that we incurred in moving into rental houses were not completely covered by the fundraiser and they depleted a large percentage of our reserves. This is why we are renewing our emphasis on fundraising. While these fundraisers help, we still need you to help us plan speaking engagements to get the word out about the ministry of All Things New and to add new supporters, prayers, and givers to the All Things New team.
Long-Term Fundraising Efforts
Our long-term fundraising efforts will only succeed with your help. We will continue to focus on our child sponsorship program and if you are unfamiliar with that program or would be interested in sponsoring a child, please click here. We will continue to seek new speaking engagements at churches, small groups, dessert fellowships, and large or small scale event fundraisers. These are things that have been successful for us from the beginning and we need your help for continued success.
On top of that, we have a new initiative that we believe could help All Things New to take great strides forward and that is our business partnership program. We are asking businesses to partner with All Things New by donating $100/month (or more) to help us keep each and every one of our employees. Each business will be teamed with one of our employees (our employee will work in a related field to the business when possible) and will receive photos and other All Things New promotional materials to place around your office or workplace. We hope that these partnerships are beneficial to your business as a way to promote unity behind a cause within your workforce, to show your customers that you care about the world, and we will also highlight your business through social media. Click here for more info.
Please be on the lookout for 1 more follow-up blog about fundraising where I will describe some of the issues that are unique to All Things New and give you specific ways that you can help us move forward. We appreciate everything that our supporters do for us on every level, and we will continue to communicate opportunities that you can get even more deeply involved with our ministry. Our biggest need at this point in time is bringing in new people and raising funds and we would appreciate your continued prayers and involvement in these areas.