Our First FUNDrive®—A Recipe for Success

FUNDrive® fundraiser is a great way to earn funds for your nonprofit, but getting started can be a bit intimidating. Nevada Progressive Coalition (NV-PC) held its first FUNDrive® fundraiser in December 2018 and we believe we found the recipe for success. Read below to see how we launched the first of what we hope are many successful fundraisers to come.

Find a Cause that Moves You

Our FUNDrive experience began when NV-PC board member Rose Ann Rabiola Miele saw a post on Facebook. Save the planet and keep “stuff” from landfills? Absolutely, our organization sees recycling and reuse as a priority for all. The fundraiser seemed perfect for our organization since FUNDrive offers the opportunity to raise funds without asking for money. We were able to utilize a fundraiser that didn’t contribute to donor fatigue and allowed us to engage with our donor base in a lighthearted way.

Move Fast, Establish Your Team

Rose Ann reached out to a FUNDrive representative in our area and got all the important details. It was presented to the rest of the board and after a quick vote, we were good to go! Board member Jeoff Carlson offered his property for the storage of the items and we formed our fundraising team. Team members Kristal Allen, Michelle Lee and Marci Armstrong pitched in and put in sweat equity above and beyond the call of duty. They quickly reached out to their networks to spread the word, prepared materials, picked up donations and made sure the event was planned down to the last detail.

Advertise, Advertise, Advertise

We learned valuable lessons during our first FUNDrive, namely, advertise a lot and often. You can’t overdo advertising such as sharing on Facebook and other social media sites. We were excited to see how enthusiastically our supporters shared our posts and encouraged their friends to participate.

Let’s not forget offline activities are still effective. Our team made phone calls to supporters and even offered to pick up donated items. This added convenience made our collection that much more successful. We even had board members who were so motivated, they spoke at their weight loss interest group meeting and encouraged the group to donate pounds and pounds of items.

Know Your Audience and Create a Sense of Urgency

When choosing the duration of our event, we chose what we thought would work best for our donor base. We went with a one-day event and setup collection hours at a designated location. Limiting our collection to one day allowed us to concentrate our resources and showed donors they had one chance to drop off their items. A little urgency sometimes goes a long way.

Get to Know Your FUNDrive® Coordinator

We can’t say enough about our FUNDrive representative every step of this fundraiser. FUNDrive rep. Dani Campbell was knowledgeable, friendly and very helpful. Furthermore, when NV-PC Executive Director Gabrielle d’Ayr and Rose Ann dropped off more than 1,500 lbs. of donated items at the drop off location, they were greeted like old friends. The location supervisor was one outstanding person who is an example of perfect customer service. There were hugs all around by the time all the items were weighed.

Thank You

The NV-PC owes a big thank you to FUNDrive and everyone who donated to our organization for being a part of this event.