So often I hear about people who want new ideas for fundraising. “What if we ….” The problem with most new and interesting fundraising ideas is that they are almost always:

• more work then they are worth
• involving the sale of someone else’s product
• confusing when you should be asking and when you should be selling (one of the key concepts in my book)

If you are a volleyball team, church group on a mission trip, or other loosely affiliated group that may or may not be together next year, then by all means get creative in your fundraising and brainstorm crazy ways to make money.

But if you are a real non-profit, a real 501(c)3, even with the smallest of budgets, you owe it to yourself and your mission to not cast about looking for new ideas, but to learn the basics of fundraising. Using a professional system means you can repeat it again the next year, get more money, and not have to waste time trying to think of new fundraising ideas.

It’s not scary! Or, rather, it is a little scary, but my book gives a step-by-step through all the scariest parts of fundraising.