For those who haven’t been living in a cave for the last few decades, it’s obvious how many causes, both new and old, are competing for our tzdekka dollars. Schools, shuls, yeshivas, youth-at-risk, shelters, mental health assistance, Zaka, Hatzolah, Yedidim…..the list is endless.

Many organizations are starting to realize that they have to go beyond the letter-writing campaigns and even beyond the online Charidy.com and ChessedFund.com  platforms to keep moving forward.  If your organization is trying to do some innovative fundraising, you can move beyond the glitz of a online casino bingo night and give one of these ideas a try.

Virtual Event

Fundraising dinners, concerts and lectures draw a lot of interest, especially when the performer or speaker is someone well-known or someone who has a lot of knowledge in the specific subject at hand. The problem is that, for many people, the time commitment is problematic, especially when you factor in preparation, finding a babysitter, driving to the event, etc.

You can draw in more participants if you give people the option of attending online. Many people who might otherwise pass up on your event will have more incentive to contribute if they know that they’ll be able to listen in from the comfort of their own home.

Endowment Fund

Endowment funds are an increasingly important funding source for non-profits but it’s an oft-overlooked source of income because setting up an endowment fund can be complicated and costly. The fact that so many large organizations have endowment funds should tell you how useful it can be in keeping your tzdekka funded.

Many existing donors and potential donors like the idea that they can leave a legacy that will be of benefit to the community for generations to come. There are various types of endowment funds including those that allow the gift to be given over the course of time and those that give the donor the chance to make the gift immediately. Some endowment funds encourage participants to take an active role in deciding how the gift will be used and that’s appealing to many givers.

An endowment program can allow your program to maintain a self-sustaining, permanent source of income so you can plan more effectively.

Fantasy Sports

If you have donors who take an interest in sports, liven things up with a bonding activity in which the organization starts and runs a fantasy sports team. A few dedicated participants can run the team while others place bets throughout the season. Through the charity fantasy league, (there are several such leagues including FantasyCares, FantasyNerds and WarriorBowl) participants can have fun with the knowledge that a portion of the funds will go for a charitable cause.

In addition to the funds raised, charity fantasy sports draw attention to the cause.

Dedicated Donor Page

Even in the frum community, a large percentage of big givers ($200K+) prefer to give online. That’s why it’s imperative that you have a dedicated donor page that makes it easy for donors to click and give. Your donor page should be easily accessible and noticeable from your homepage, easy to navigate and have multiple options by which people can give (credit card, Paypal, etc).

Use the donor page to summarize your organization’s work and highlight how donations help keep that work going.

Matching Gifts

If you have a big giver who you can call on, consider asking him/her to, instead of giving a big gift, match other gifts (up to a specific amount if the big donor requests or, if s/he doesn’t make that request, leave it open).

Studies have shown that people are much more likely to donate to a cause when they know that their donation will be matched, thereby multiplying the good that their own donation offers. By saying to someone “your $100 will do $200 worth of good” you’re giving him or her even more incentive to find that $100 to donate!

Recurring Donations

As easy as it is to donate today, you still have to make it as easy as possible in order not to deter a potential giver who can’t be bothered to type his/her name and credit card number into the online donation page. That’s where the Monthly Giving Program comes in. Once a donor signs up for your monthly giving program his/her credit or debit card, bank account or PayPal account will be automatically billed every month.

Don’t forget that there are offline donors too so make sure you promote the program both online and offline and that potential givers can sign up either online or offline.

Silent Auction

Silent auctions are a great way to fundraise because, if you’re successful in getting local businesses to donate goods and services (don’t forget to remind them that they can write their donations off on their yearly taxes), your only expenditure is the time that it takes to organize the auction.

To get a silent auction going, collect donations of goods and services from local businesses who want to have their businesses promoted.

Create both an online and an offline auction page where the items are featured along with a box where people can make their bids.

After the deadline for bids to be submitted arrives, compare all the bids (those that have come in online and offline) and determine the winners.

Deliver the prizes — make sure that you give plenty of publicity to the businesses that donated items (don’t forget, you’re going to want their cooperation next year) and lots of fanfare when announcing the winners.

People will have more incentive to donate to your cause knowing that there’s a chance that they might win something.