Accept Donations for your Fund Raiser
Planning a fund raising event can be a difficult task. There is a lot that goes into making it work. The best way to get involved is to make a list of ideas and choose the one that fits your religious organization the best.
Planning a church fund-raising event is an important job that needs the best approach for a successful event. The best way to ensure your event will become successful is to market the church fund-raising campaign and also make it easy for people to contribute. If people can easily contribute money, the more likely they will.
Once you've successfully setup your fund raiser, you can ask for contributions through written letters, on your website, by email, or in flyers and newsletters. Make sure to include good instructions on how contributions can be made. Contributions could be a weekly offering, monthly withdrawal or a one-time donation, depending on the member's choice.
To really streamline the process you could offer your members the ability to contribute to the fund raiser using their debit or credit card. This would allow them to easily make a donation without the hassle of dealing with cash. A lot of people don't carry cash or check anymore because it is inconvenient. Instead they carry credit and debit cards.
To accept credit or debit card contributions all you need to do is have an "Internet Payment Processing" account. These can be setup very easily and with little to no cost involved. One of the "Internet Payment Gateways" that specialize in these types of situations is the DowCommerce gateway. It has a built in automatic billing feature. There is not a setup charge for the Internet Gateway, and the Automatic Billing Option is included at no extra charge to churches and religious organizations. If you have a website you can even allow your members to donate online or you can sign them up as well. When they donate online they can decide how much to give and how often. It will automatically come out of their credit card account.
How to Increase the Support of your Church Fund Raising Event?
There are lots of ways to make people aware of your fund raising event. However, if you want to follow an easy and trusted method, you could collect contributions through the mail or online. While some people are not active members of the church, they can still contribute for your cause.
If you need extra money, you can also plan church fund-raising within your town. For instance, you can sell baked goods, hold auctions of food items or coordinate a penny drive. While these ideas can help you raise the funds you need, it could also improve the bond among your church members while getting ready for the event.
Church fund-raising can be a big responsibility. However, with the right planning, plenty of help and a good cause, you'll enjoy every minute of your fund-raising event.
This article was written by Mike Wilson, Marketing Specialist for Capital Merchant Solutions, Inc (www.holyprocessing.com). CMS has been in the merchant account business for nearly 10 years, and offers free merchant accounts to both online and retail businesses. This article may be republished as long as absolutely no changes are made, and the resource box is included. Copyright 2007 - Capital merchant Solutions, Inc. - All rights reserved.
Published May 22nd, 2007