FUNDRAISING
Stewardship


Accountability
The club must account for the proper use of the funds received. After allowing for appropriate expenses, the net proceeds must be used to support the exempt purpose of the organization. There is no list of approved expenses for "exempt purpose" provided by the IRS. Some are clear; gifts to other charities, including our Foundation. If in doubt consider the following:

1. Did the use of funds support or strengthen the ability of the club to fulfill its purpose and mission?

2. Did any member receive a personal financial benefit? (the answer should always be no) Examples would include payment of club dues or meals at club meeting.

A more detailed discussion of these issues is found in the Club Treasurer Section of the Club Manual. Review that section and work with your Treasurer on accounting for your non-dues revenues.

Donor Relations
This is more than just thanking a donor, though that is easily the most important. It involves all communications related to promotion and reporting on fundraising efforts. It is important that:

1. When asked to participate or contribute, people clearly understand the need and purpose their support will address.

2. Every donor or participant receive at least one thank you? (more than one is better.)

3. Every donor and participant receive, or have easy access to a report on the how the funding made a difference in the stated need?

Evaluation & Reporting
All non-dues revenue activities are subject to public evaluation and review. The club should see that members understand these programs and can address any question from members of the community. The most common elements of evaluation include the following:

Community Impact
Community impact is, in the end, the purpose of any fundraising activity. Measuring impact is not a simple formula, as it will depend upon the stated need. Impact is stated in results, such as: how many scholarships were generated, how many people fed, or home repairs made. To just state an amount raised, as net or gross, is of limited value unless understood in context of community impact. For the benefit of the volunteers, donors and the community, always evaluate outcome in terms of impact and not just dollars.

Cost per Dollar Raised (CPDR)
CPDR is found by dividing the total expenses by the gross proceeds. As example, the expense for an event is $3,500 that generated $8,700 the CPDR would be 3500/8700 = .40. For that event it cost $0.40 to raise $1.00.

Another presentation of this is as the percentage of fundraising costs. This percentage is calculated by taking the CPDR times 100. For the example above the percentage of fundraising cost is 40 percent.

NOTE: This is the most discussed and misunderstood evaluation tool. It is especially an issue when comparing organizations or events. Larger organizations will usually show much lower percentages than small organizations, due to having more resources. New programs will usually show a higher percentage than mature programs, due to start-up expenses. Special events and new donor acquisition programs have the highest percentages. Yet all these techniques are appropriate.

There are ranges for different types of activities, but there is no fixed percentage. It is important to evaluate each activity individually, and all activities in total.

Volunteer Time
There is one irreplaceable commodity in this world, time. Every moment a volunteer gives is one taken from family, business and self. It would be an error to not calculate the value of that time as part of the investment in any non-dues revenue effort. Collectively and individually the time commitment of each volunteer should be tracked. This is important for future planning as well as appropriate recognition of the volunteers' contribution.

Fundraising - Table of Contents

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