Global Village fundraising guide GLOBAL VILLAGE FUNDRAISING GUIDE • GETTING STARTED 1 Getting started Congratulations on joining a Habitat for Humanity Global Village team! You play a “Everybody can be great vital role in our work to help people build strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter. We want to thank you again for using your time, energy and resources ... because anybody can toward eradicating inadequate housing conditions. Together, we are creating a world where families and communities have safe, affordable and decent places to live. serve. You don’t have to This handbook is a comprehensive guide to the many ways Global Village participants have successfully spread awareness about Habitat for Humanity’s have a college degree to efforts and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to support our shared mission. In addition to this handbook, we offer fundraising coaching conference serve. You don’t have to calls. Details on conference call topics can be found online at habitat.org/gv/ resources.aspx. The fundraising coaching conference calls are designed to make your subject and provide more specific information on the topics covered in the handbook, as well as answer your questions and give you new and creative ideas for reaching your verb agree to serve. You fundraising goal. only need to have a heart Build a better world: Join the GV Challenge! full of grace. A soul gen- The GV Challenge is our response to the growing global need for decent, safe erated by love.” and affordable shelter. More than 1.6 billion of the world’s citizens do not have an adequate place to live. Habitat is challenging Global Village volunteers to make an even greater impact on the global issue of inadequate housing by raising — The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. additional funds above individual program costs to support Habitat’s building projects worldwide. Take up the challenge! Join us in sharing our story, building hope and making an impact on the world. You are much more than a fundraiser! Remember that while you are raising funds for your GV trip, you will be talking to people who might not know much about our mission. You are a spokesperson for Habitat. Your investment in your GV trip puts you in a unique position to advocate for our mission and share your passion with others. As much as we wish otherwise, we alone cannot ensure housing for all simply by building or rehabbing more Habitat houses. That’s why advocacy is a natural GETTING STARTED • GLOBAL VILLAGE FUNDRAISING GUIDE 2 extension of the Habitat mission and supplements our home-building efforts. We want to get as many other people and entities involved as we possibly can. Certainly the experiences you have on your Global Village trip will make you uniquely qualified to describe Habitat’s work to others. But you can fill the role of advocate even before your trip. Even if you are able to fund your entire program cost, travel expenses and more, we encourage you to invite your community to support your trip. You don’t just have to ask for money — you can also ask for prayers, in-kind gifts, emotional support and more. Whether you raise significant funds or not, our ultimate goal is that you engage as many people as possible in caring about your journey and your passion for eliminating inadequate housing. Our ability to truly further our mission rests on our volunteers becoming vocal advocates around the world. Often, it is the countries where the Global Village program sends volunteers that most need these advocates. The more you share your story, the more impact you will ultimately have on this enormous global need. GLOBAL VILLAGE FUNDRAISING GUIDE • TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 Table of contents Setting a fundraising goal. 4 Assessing your network: Whom to ask . .6 Fundraising strategies: How to ask. 10 Crafting your message. 11 Writing your appeal letter. 13 Online giving . .15 Asking in person. 16 Event-based fundraising . .19 Selling stuff . .22 Other creative ideas for spreading the word and raising money . .24 After returning from your GV trip. 26 Thanking your supporters . .27 Appendices Creating a Share.Habitat personal fundraising web page . .29 Sample appeal letters . 31 Other Global Village resources. 34 Tax deductions for donations . .35 Global Village Challenge FAQ . 36 About Habitat for Humanity. 39 SETTING A FUNDRAISING GOAL • GLOBAL VILLAGE FUNDRAISING GUIDE 4 Setting a fundraising goal Many people are nervous about the idea of fundraising; some are downright intimidated by the thought of asking others for money. So how do you begin to set a goal? Global Village trips offer opportunities for our volunteers to try new things, stepping outside of their comfort zones and transforming their own lives while serving others. Stepping into your fear and discomfort is where the most learn- ing and growth will happen. Set a GV Challenge goal that stretches you, but doesn’t paralyze you. Set a goal that you aren’t quite sure how you will achieve, but doesn’t feel so enormous that it feels impossible. Give yourself the space to amaze yourself! Participants sometimes set fundraising goals based on the cost of a house or of a rehab/repair project in the region they are visiting. This cost varies by country and region. Ask your team leader to get this information if you don’t already have it. We have had participants set individual goals as high as building 20 additional houses, and as small as $100. The more funds you raise, the more Habitat can do. And remember, the more people you ask, even if they say no, the more people know about our mission. Another way to set a goal is to fill out the Assessing Your Network worksheet on page 8. Consider who you know and how much they could give you if asked in the right way. On page 10 is a list of ways that people fundraise. You can get as creative as your mind allows. Think about whom you will ask for support and how you will ask them, and then create a goal that feels right for you and your unique network. Many teams have established team goals. You can use this team goal as a guideline. How much of the team goal do you want to try to raise funds for? Some participants have even vowed to match the team by raising the entire amount themselves, and then having the team double it. We recommend a minimum GV Challenge goal of $500 per person over and above the program cost. For people who are new to Habitat and new to fundrais- ing, we have found that this goal is surprisingly achievable and yet a big enough stretch that newer participants have to make an effort to reach it. People who are veterans of the program have seen what a small amount of money does in regions that so desperately need our support. We recommend a minimum goal of $1,000 over the cost of the program for our past participants and for our ambi- tious new participants. GLOBAL VILLAGE FUNDRAISING GUIDE • SETTING A FUNDRAISING GOAL 5 “Often, when I am on a speaking trip, someone will speak to me with a word of advice. It goes something like this, ‘Millard, I am a strong supporter of Habitat for Humanity, but you send out too many letters ask- ing for money.’ My reply is always the same, ‘We’ve Those who have strong social networks, access to corporate matching tried asking and not ask- gifts, fundraising experience or other fundraising resources are encouraged to try to personally raise the funds to build at least one additional home or fund a ing. We always get more rehab/repair project (or even as many as 20!). Tonight, 1.6 billion people in the world will sleep on the streets or in unsafe when we ask!” and unsanitary conditions. No matter how much you raise, every extra dollar goes directly into service for the families and communities that most need us. In the words of George Bernard Shaw, “The reasonable (person) adapts — “Building Materials for Life, herself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to change the Volume II,” by Millard Fuller, world. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable person.” So founder of Habitat for Humanity whatever goal you set, remember, 1.6 billion people are counting on us. Be unreasonable! ASSESSING YOUR NETWORK • GLOBAL VILLAGE FUNDRAISING GUIDE 6 Assessing your network: Whom to ask The first priority in fundraising for your goal is whom to ask Start by soliciting the people you know well. That inner circle will most likely be eager to support your efforts. Then move on to casual acquaintances, work or school associates, church members, local companies and civic organizations. The truth is, many people you ask will support you. People will donate simply because you are asking! Professional fundraisers put people into categories when they think about how to raise large amounts of money. These are the ones that you might come across: High donors and family foundations For trip-based fundraising, a high donor is typically defined as someone who can give at least $1,000. These are people whom you want to ask in person whenever possible. Corporate, church, civic organization donors or sponsors Many local businesses like to sponsor people in their community who are do- ing exciting charitable work. Which businesses do you have relationships with, or where are you a frequent customer? Also, many large corporations have a matching gift program that matches donations given by their employees.