HOW TO RAISE FUNDS FOR ANIMAL WELFARE

HOW TO RAISE FUNDS FOR ANIMAL WELFARE
	When organising an event, you need to think not just about the fundraising potential of the event, but of the cost and effort involved in putting it up and the possible risk of losing money rather than making it. Every event may attract a large crowd and give everyone a good time but sometimes it may simply collapse because of rains or if the sponsorship money is withdrawn in the last moment. While there is money to be made from a well-run event, it may involve a great deal of energy and deliver only small returns. Therefore, before you organise an event think about your capacity, likelihood of getting the audience you expect and whether you will actually make money from the event.Too many events are organised by NGOs which bring in small bits of money but require a lot of effort and many IOUs to be returned. Remember , when you ask a corporate have for giving a hall free or alcohol companies for alcohol for a cocktail evening then, in your calculation , that should also be added to the cost of the event. However , there are companies that would never give money to you but only alcohol , for instance. In that case, their offering can be used as a lure to organise an event around. Too many NGOs spend 50 % of their money in order to raise the other 50 %. This is bad planning. Your entire cost should not be more than 5% and you have to include the cost of the transport,salaries,IOUs taken and time into that. Your events can be organised as: a. individual fundraising activities b. part of a larger event c. part of someone else’s event. Before organising an event, the first thing to do is to plan a strategy about what you seek to achieve and set targets. Keep in mind why you are raising money, who or what it is for and how it will be spent. Since organising requires a collective effort from every participant, it is essential to have good co-operation between all those people who get together themselves for the purpose of accomplishing any given task. Responsibilities will need to be shared from planning an event, getting sponsorships, selling tickets, publicity, dealing with legal matters and permissions, finance, etc. If you manage the events yourself you need to make sure that you have the time and the skills. You can get a professional to do it for you - they may do it free or on a commission basis. Or you can get a group of volunteers to do it for you. Use professional designers to help you with any publicity material. They can make it lively and attract more people, make the event unusual - give it a catchy title. Do not be shy of asking for money as that is the purpose of having the event. Every event may not earn huge amounts of money, but it will earn you valuable experience. Plan the next event but do it better next time, get more people to attend, raise even more money, get better publicity. The success of an event depends on getting the maximum participants to commit to raise a certain of sponsorship. You can offer a prize for the person raising the most sponsorship as an incentive. After the event everyone should be written to and thanked and this also provides you with the opportunity to ask them for additional support. The names and addresses of the participants and sponsors can be added to your mailing list. You can show sponsors what their money has been used for achieve and ask them to become regular supporters. They may have had little or no interest in the cause at the outset (they may have sponsored because a friend asked them) but if you capture their imagination by putting on a fun-filled and well-organised event and promote your work in a lively way, then they might be happy to support you further. Here are several ideas to raise money for animals. Although you can raise money from anything, these ideas may give you a start or set you thinking in new directions. Some of these are single events and some are on going. 1. ANIMAL-FRIENDLY CLUB - MEMBERSHIP 2. RAFFLES 3. MOVIE PREMIERES 4. PET SITTING 5. PET HOTELS 6. AMBULANCE SERVICES 7. CELEBRITY EVENTS 8. CHARITY ART SHOWS 9. PORTRAITS 10. T-SHIRTS and CAPS 11. JEWELLERY 12. PET PRODUCTS 13. FUN RUN 14. AUCTIONS 15. COLUMNS 16. COLLEGE FESTIVALS 17. BANDS 18. AIRLINE PACKETS 19. CHARITY BOXES AND HOTEL PAMPHLETS 20. TWO RUPEES ON EACH PURCHASE 21. ADS FROM COMPANIES 22. ANIMAL DAY 23. STALLS (INDIAN DOG SHOWS, FAIRS, FETES, FESTIVALS ETC) 24. ANIMAL SHOP 25. DIRECT MAIL 26. 30 SECOND TELEVISION SPOT OR STILLS IN CINEMAS 27. SELLING STAMPS 28. FOOD FESTIVAL 29. CREDIT CARD TIE-UPS 30. FUNDS FROM EMBASSIES 31. QUIZ SHOWS ON TELEVISION 32. CORPORATE GIFTS 33. GREETING CARDS 34. AUTOGRAPH SALES 35. BOOT SALE 36. LUCKY DIP 37. DISCOURSE SESSIONS 38. TEMPLE ALMS 39. BENEFITTING FROM DISCOUNTS 40. Engraving bricks 41. Birthday parties at animal shelters 42. RANGOLI/MEHENDI DECORATION 43. Rakhis 44. PAINTING CERAMICS & POTTERY SELLING 45. GROW A SAPLING 46. Scratch cards 47. PAINT A CANVAS 48. PICNICS AND OUTINGS FOR FAMILIES 49. TIE UP WITH CONFECTIONARY/TOY COMPANIES 50. ORGANISE A SINGING NITE/DANCE PARTY 51. FETE GAMES:RING THROWING/AIM YOUR TARGET 52. RANDOM TABLES 53. BEAUTY CARE 54. BEAUTY CONTEST 55. FAST PARTY 56. PROMISE AUCTIONS 57. NEWSPAPER ADVERTISMENTS 58. AIRLINE MAGAZINES 59. CHILDRENS, MAGAZINES 60. SELLING COUPONS 61. ADVERTISING ON THE AMBULANCE 62. MPLADs TWO CRORES AND MLAs FIFTY LAKHS FUNDING SCHEMES 63. USES OF THE WEBSITE 64. ROTARY/LION CLUBS, YOUTHREACH ORGANISATIONS 65. NICHE EXHIBITIONS 66. CELEBRITY MANUFACTURED THINGS 67. CELEBRITY FROM ABROAD 68. FILMSTAR EVENTS 69. WRITING TO CHARITIES ABROAD 70. FREEBIES 71. TOMBOLA/HOUSIE 72. SPORTING EVENTS AND TOURNAMENTS GETTING STARTED IN FUNDRAISING AND SOME IDEAS Fundraising is never easy - there is too little money to meet the demands of everyone who needs it, and most of the time you ask you will be refused. But it becomes easier if you understand the fundraising process and if you learn whom to approach and how to ask. Fundraising is not just about raising money. It is also about learning to communicate effectively with the public, developing a network of enthusiastic and committed supporters for your cause and building a strong and successful organisation which is able to face the future with confidence. Funds are the foundation upon which most animal-protection work is based. It buys doctors, food, medicine, petrol, telephones and other help. Most local NGOs do not know how to raise money. The lack of money eventually tires a volunteer out and he leaves the movement. The more money you can raise, the more work you can do, and the more impact you can have. But if you are to succeed in fundraising, this requires -- A new approach as to how you see your organisation and its work, which focuses on communicating to the public about the needs you are addressing and the importance and effectiveness of what you are doing. This means getting away from the terminology of development, and learning how to touch people’s hearts and minds (and pockets). - New skills in identifying potential donors and in finding ways of asking them effectively and then in thanking them and in building a long-term relationship so that they continue to support you. If you do not have the time and ability to rescue and treat animals directly but would like to help them, an important way would be to collect money for animal welfare organisations. By doing this you allow them to get on with the task of actually rescuing and caring for animals. Every animal welfare group needs a corpus. Half the money raised should always be put into a fixed deposit -even for 61 days - so that the money is available when really needed. REASONS FOR WANTING TO FUNDRAISE Membership development and fundraising are important. Animal rescue work does not allow time for extra programs. If you have a large supporting membership, you are at an advantage. Members are instrumental in spreading the humane message throughout your community. The more people you reach with this message, the more successful your organisation can be in solving animal problems. The membership constitutes a readymade audience for your programs. In turn, that audience can help to change community attitudes towards animals. Animal welfare organisations should emphasize eliminating the causes of cruelty and reducing the population of dogs humanely, for instance, rather than just treating the symptoms . You will have to change attitudes by communicating with a large percentage of the population.All this requires money. The public quickly perceives whether or not an organisation is active and productive. An organisation must outline it's objectives and goals. Written plans of action and regular reviews help to determine whether or not progress is being made. This is necessary to be successful in your plans. There are several reasons that you should take into account for fundraising for your organisation. 1. To increase the amount of resources available for your work, to meet the running costs of your programme and to expand and develop the work of your organisation. 2. To create ‘free money’ to develop your organisation’s own agenda on your terms. To create some sources of funds which are not tied to donor requirements and which can be used for what you want to do and when you want to do it. You may also use the money to create a reserve fund or ‘corpus’ to generate an income from interest received on the money, or to tide you through difficult times. 3. To reduce dependency and the impact of donor withdrawal as the donors may have their own agenda which may change as their policies change. It is better if the organisation is supported from several sources. 4. To create greater sustainability of income for a long period. You can do this by finding a committed group of supporters interested in contributing to your work, or by organising successful fundraising events which can be repeated every year. 5. To raise capital through a one-off appeal - eg, to pay for a new hospital or an ambulance. This will require a major funding effort. Many people who support your capital or one-off appeal may continue to support your other requirements as well. 6. To develop community links by getting the support of local people, local companies and local government. Raising money from local sources is an important aspect of building a successful organisation. If heavily funded by foreign sources, it does not create a feeling of ‘local ownership’ of the project. It may also give the impression that your work is being heavily funded from abroad and demands may be made on money that you do not have. However, this is a boon for the NGO if it is undertaking various projects on animal welfare. There is an increasingly successful local business community who are very wealthy and an expanding middle class population with disposable income to spend, all of whom are potential contributors to social needs. 7. Government funding to voluntary organisations is increasing, as many governments recognise that they cannot do everything on their own, and that other delivery systems might be more efficient or more effective. 8. To build a constituency of support so that the organisation has the power of popular support behind it. This is important during campaigning.Everyone who has given money to your cause is likely to defend it as well. 9. To involve prominent people as stakeholders and partners, to create greater accountability - as being accountable to an individual who lives locally and to show that their money is being well spent, is different from being accountable to foreign organisations. 10. To develop local pressure for the work you are doing and the issues you are addressing. Having local supporters brings the issue into local consciousness and politics. 11. Market your organisation and its work to donors, convincing them to give their support. Many donors like to support ideas that are new or different. Innovative projects provide you with a particular opportunity to raise money. 12. To raise the profile of the organisation - fundraising means public communication that leads to greater recognition of the value of what you are doing and the importance of your organisation. 13. Because people are generous want to give and you can give them the opportunity to support something worthwhile. 14. To build a strong and successful organisation that can face the future with confidence. TO BECOME A GOOD FUNDRAISER There are a number of important skills that you will need if you are to be a successful fundraiser. Assess your strengths and do things that you are good at. Learn skills you need to acquire and find ways of compensating for your weaknesses by mobilising others to help. The skills required in a fundraiser are - 1. Commitment to the cause You must really believe in the work that your organisation is doing and the need for it. Your enthusiasm 2. The ability to ask Many people feel uncomfortable asking for money or any other support. Whether it is writing an appeal, making a speech at a meeting, telephoning a business to ask for donation in kind or personally visit a major donor - all this requires an ability to ask effectively. 3. Persuasiveness You need to persuade people to support your organisation as they have choices as to what to do with their money. Make a good presentation in a persuasive way. 4. Confidence and dealing with rejection When asking for money, radiate confidence. If you are apologetic or hesitant, people are much less likely to give to you. If people reject your proposal, pull yourself together and approach the next prospective donor with equal enthusiasm, hope and commitment as you did the previous one. 5. Persistence Most fundraisers give up too soon. People often take ‘No’ to mean No, rather than as a challenge to try to convert it into a ‘Yes’. If you feel that they should be supporting you then you should try to find another way of persuading them and try to get them to change their mind. 6. Truthfulness The fundraiser has to be truthful at all times. You must be truthful about the work of your organisation, its success and the impact of the work. Present your work in a good light but do not exaggerate or distort facts. Remember if you are caught out in a lie, that donor will never give any money to any other similar organisation in future so, in effect, you are destroying the market. 7. Social skills A good fundraiser needs confidence and patience. A confident appeal is harder to refuse by the donors. A good fundraiser should also like meeting and dealing with people, should remember names and faces (and even personal details) and be chatty and cheerful. 8. Contacts and the ability to make contacts It will be an advantage if the fundraiser has a number of existing contacts in an area or in the business sector. But this does not mean that these people will want to support your organisation. Have confidence to ask anybody for what is needed. In India, especially, find people who know people. 9. Imagination and creativity Create events or present your work in an exciting and imaginative way that will inspire the supporters to support you. 10. Opportunism Grasp every opportunity that presents itself. If a leading company has announced or published in newspapers about a major hike in their annual profits, an appeal to them might work. 11. Organisational skills Fundraisers must keep records of correspondence and information on donation history for each donor. This necessary so that no past event or generosity is forgotton. CAMPAIGNING FUNDAMENTALS AND PUBLICITY People tend not to contribute their money and other support unless they are asked. The more people you ask for contributions, the more donations you will receive. Never assume that because you have publicized something once, everyone has heard it and, therefore, you will not need to repeat the message. Each day, there are citizens who will hear your message for the first time. One or two persons should be assigned the responsibility for directing all facets of your publicity campaign. He or she should be permitted to delegate tasks, such as researching the topic of your campaign. This committee must develop information that will form the basis of letters, brochures and other publicity. The main objective in developing a membership base and raising finds is to acquaint as many people as possible with the community’s animal problems and the steps your organisation is taking to solve them. Your primary goal should be to obtain as many members and contributions as possible to help support this objective. Primary fundraising tools are direct mail appeals and newsletters, supplemented by personal letters and visits to larger supporters. Before mailing a major fundraising appeal and increasing public awareness, develop news releases, public service announcements, newspapers, television, radio advertisements. These media are not necessarily used to request funds for but to inform about your organisation’s work. Publicising the work of your organisation is very important to raise money use : • National and local television and radio-stations • National newspapers and the local press including newspapers in regional languages when organising an event • Magazines, journals and newsletters • Posters, fliers, bumper stickers, billboards * Personal letters, personal visits, telephone * Direct mailers * International media The timing of your campaign activities is important for achieving the greatest response. Therefore, develop a definite timetable for events, mailings, and press releases. You need to understand the importance of publicity and to seek it wherever you can to highlight your organisation’s objectives. A few sources are discussed briefly -– Different sources of funds – Individual donors – Fundraising events – Corporate donors – Trusts, foundations and other grant-making agencies – Overseas non-resident communities – Tourists and visitors – Government sources – International aid and foreign funding There are also some ways of saving money to reduce your need to fundraise -– Gifts-in-kind, where products or services are donated. – Using volunteers rather than paid staff. The following detailed discussion about sources of fundraising will help you to approach donors with clear perspectives.
INDIVIDUAL DONORS
	Each donor has a different characteristic, different motivation, each preferring a different way of giving. Your target donors have to be defined: • The less well off • the rich. • The young • older groups • corporates • Those who are affected by the problem or in some way involved with it. • Those with a known commitment or interest in the issue or those mildly interested. • Professionals such as lawyers, doctors, teachers, etc. • Those living in a particular region or city where your programme is located. • Family and friends of existing supporters. Test different audiences to see what the response is. Individual donors will give you because of the following reasons – They are Concerned about the problem – Duty - many people feel a sense of social responsibility to do something. – Guilt - it encourages the donor hoping that the problem will go away. – Personal experience of the problem. – Personal benefit - status or recognition that comes with giving when their genorosity is publicised. – As a memorial - people give to remember someone who has died or to celebrate an occasion. – To participate in a fun event such as a marathon. – Peer pressure - where people know that their friends are giving or colleagues are asking them to give. – Tax benefits on gifts made for charitable purposes. A donor can support you by -- Giving a one-off donation or continual support on a regular basis. - Sponsorship where a regular donation is linked to the particular project such as the ABC programme or weekly first aid camps. - Giving a major gift in response to an appeal. - Leaving a legacy to you when they die. - Making a gift-in-kind - this can be anything from an office space to items to sell at charity auctions. - Purchasing a gift item or promotional material such as cards, t-shirts or posters. - Supporting a charity fundraising event. - Participating in raffles by purchasing a chance to win a prize. - Raising money from family, friends and colleagues at the work place. - Becoming a member on paying a regular subscription or membership. - Giving time as a volunteer to help in your work in your fundraising programmes. When asking for donations, it is important to find out how much people are willing to give as they do not like to be seen as either mean or over-generous. Start with how much you need to raise and how many people you think you can persuade to give. Make an appeal so that you can ask for more - ask for a specific sum, rather than a generous contribution when they won’t know how much to give. You can also provide people with a range of options. You can ask for money in a personal meeting, by address a group of people, a telephone conversation, a personal letter from either a known or unknown person to the recipient, a circular letter. The more personal you make your approach, the better the chances of success as people respond to the cause and the way you are addressing them, the organisation and its reputation, you personally and the leadership of the organisation, the beneficiaries and real life examples showing their need and the impact of your work on them. Meet them at your premises where they can see your involvement in your work. Write to clubs or associations to include your letter or a leaflet in their mailers/magazine/journals and send it to their subscribers. Get a list of credit card holders from banks, cellphone companies, etc. CORPORATE DONORS Why companies give -– To create goodwill in the local community - to be seen as good citizens in the local community where they operate and as a caring company by society at large. – To create goodwill amongst employees who will get a good image from the good works that the company supports. – To be associated with certain causes that interest them. – Because they are asked and it is expected of them. – A special interest - the chairperson or other senior directors are interested in the cause. – Publicity for their products and for their corporate image. Marketing and public relations are two important reasons why companies give. If you can deliver good publicity in return for their support, then they are more likely to want to give. – There are tax reliefs on giving - this is an added benefit for the company but rarely a determining factor. – Entertainment opportunities - this is why companies like to sponsor entertaining and sporting events because they can invite their important customers and suppliers. Companies can give -- a cash donation. - sponsor an event or activity. - sponsor promotional and educational materials. - engage in a joint promotion where the company contributes a donation to the voluntary organisation in return for each product sold in order to encourage sales. - make company facilities available including meeting rooms, hotels, printing or design facilties, help with mailing, etc.- give support in kind by donating company products or office equipment that is no longer required. Giving things rather than money is often easier for a company. - lend a member of staff to work with your organisation, where a member of the company’s staff helps on an agreed basis while remaining employed (and paid) by the company. - provide expertise and advice. - be involved as a board member - the company can agree to contribute a senior member of staff to serve in this capacity. - encourage employees to volunteer. - organise a fundraising campaign amongst employees. - advertise in brochures and publications produced by the voluntary organisation. It is often easier and less costly to the companies to support your cause in some other way than a cash donation. With a donation, the company gets nothing back except some form of thanks and acknowledgement. With sponsorship, the company aims to get a return for the money it is spending (publicity, opportunities for entertaining clients, improving its image through an association with a good cause, etc). Type of companies that give • Leading national companies - includes manufacturing companies, shops and the service sector. For sponsorship, contact the marketing director or brand manager or the company¡¦s advertising agency can be approached with your proposal. •International and multinational companies -companies operating across the world often have a worldwide donations policy. Approach the manager who deals with and decides on charitable appeals -the top management may also have some say in what is supported. The decisions may be made international donations committee based at their international headquarters. • Small local companies - these companies will often feel a responsibilty to do something to support voluntary action and community initiatives. For general appeals local companies can be approached for their support. It is usually the top person, that is, the chairperson or managing director, who decides. Even people who own single petrol pumps/gas agencies are good for an advertisement in a souvenir. In fact when making a souvenir, go to the local textile shops, restaurants etc. To identify likely companies make use of existing contacts. Find out who in your organisation (board members and other members) knows who. Look in the business press to see who is doing well, who is expanding their business or who is been awarded a major contract. Get hold of trade directories or business telephone directories to be used to identify local suppliers. Make contact with local and national business associations. The major networks are Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI, Federation House, Tansen Marg, New Delhi-110001) and Association of Chambers of Commerce (ASSOCHAM, Allahabad Building, Sansad Marg, New Delhi-110001). These networks encourage their member companies to be socially responsible. There are also many other business networks and associations at the city level such as lions/rotary clubs. You should contact the person who has the responsibility for receiving and dealing with appeals. Start sooner rather than later as you will find that many budgets are already used up if you do it too late. If you have a personal contact, telephone and take an appointment. Or you can send a letter to the correct person and follow it up whether they have received the letter and if interested in the proposal. The letter should be brief as they are busy people. The letter should say who you are, what you do and why your work is important, why you are looking for money and why they might be interested in supporting you. Whether you need a new building or a new emergency ambulance, always connect the need for money to an immediate goal. There is no use saying that you want to build up your corpus. Even when you are appealing for general operating funds, always describe the specific animals that need help and exactly how they will be helped by the funds. Avoid long words, long sentences, long paragraphs, meaningless words, idioms, etc. Highlight key features. You can attach some photographs of the injured animals at your shelter to leave an impact of the urgency for money. Do not just mention good publicity but make a list of mediapersons you expect to cover the event and the expected viewership. Think about the benefit of the company amd what it might be worth to them. Attach a leaflet or a brochure, nicely written and designed. Sometimes you can get them things which they cannot get access to by themselves, may be a reception at a banquet hall attended by a leading film actress/actor as the star guest. TRUSTS AND FOUNDATIONS Trusts and foundations are grant-making bodies set up specifically to give money for charitable purposes. They are usually endowed with a corpus and distribute the income earned each year through grants. There are not many foundations in India and they are mainly attached to major business groups. For example, Sir Ratan Tata Trust attached to the Tata group of companies. Find out about any private foundations established by wealthy (and not so wealthy) people as a vehicle for their philanthropy. To find out about foundations, contact: Centre for Advancement on Philanthropy (CAP), Mulla House (Jehangir Wadia Building), 4th Floor, 51 M.G.Road, Flora Fountain, Mumbai-400001 and Indian Centre for Philanthropy (ICP), Sector C, Pocket 8/8704, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi-110070. You will need to find out which foundation has your programme related schemes and apply accordingly for your projects. Local foundations support local projects which address the problems of the city or region where they are based. National and international foundations support national programmes and projects that are innovative and of national significance. They usually confine their support to one-off grants or recurrent grants made for a period of up to three years. The larger foundations have brochures that set out their donation policies and application procedures. Be innovative. If a trust says “poverty alleviation programmes” then animal care in the villages should be your focus with a description of how animals are the mainstay of the village economy along with the lack of government veterinary/rescue services. If the trust says “health” then rabies control should be your main point. Tailor your project appeal round what they want, not what you want. NRIs The people living and working overseas may have higher disposable incomes and the difference is enhanced by the low foreign exchange value for the Indian rupee. So even small sums from the donor can be important for your work. NRIs living abroad have strong family links with their home country and culture. You can market your cause to the non-resident community through publicity in overseas Indian newspapers. Many overseas newspapers have got corrrespondents in India. Contact them and ask them to write an article about your work, giving your address and need for funds.Write to the editor to publish your letter on the ‘letters to the editor page’ asking if anyone is interested in helping you with your fundraising. Most confederations of Indian organisations have a directory of people abroad. This includes organisations like NASSCOM .Communities like the Jains and Marwaris have lists of their people abroad.You can send direct mail to these people and corporates. Contact the Indian Embassy in the foreign country for details of business and community groupings, women's associations. You can approach banks to include an appeal with bank statements being sent to NRIs who hold rupee accounts with the bank. Another approach is to find an individual in that country whom you can nominate as your branch officer . In fact set up an overseas support group to raise money for you among their own friends and contacts and send the same to you. Give the group a specific project/s to raise money for and a target for the amount they should raise. Ask them to apply to register themselves as a charity and apply to trusts/foundations in their country. Many NRIs want to contribute directly to their own states or even districts. If you cannot use the money (for instance you are in Karnataka and the person wants to donate for Tamil Nadu), then contact or direct them to an animal organisation that exists there. If you or someone you know is going abroad , make a strategy and goal before you go . Take along brochures, pamphlets and may be a short video (10-15 minutes) showing your work. Take the names of Indian associations in the area you are visiting, Indians who are doing well in their own fields, relatives of relatives, local trusts that can be contacted ( look through the internet). If possible set up appointments from before. This saves time once you reach there. TOURISTS AND VISITORS Tourism is an extremely important contributor to the national economy. You can attract tourists to visit you by arranging events and activities at your project. Some tourists like to do something unusual during their stay which brings them closer to the country by visiting local craftsmen and buying their produce, visiting national galleries and museums, etc. Develop your contacts with hotels tour operators and guides.Through them you can do the following: – Ask the hotel to stock your pamphlets either in each room (and make sure that you have enough as each visitor may go away with one). You can get these 29 pamphlets sponsored by a local gift shop or someone who wants to appeal to the hotel visitor. – You can get these pamphlets put at the hotel reception table or in any of the shops in the hotel – You can get pamphlets put in tour busses and handed out to passengers en route – You can ask the tour operators whether they will make your facility as one of the stop overs on the tourist route – You can ask the tourist buses whether they will allow you to stick posters inside or outside the bus – You can place donation boxes either at the hotel reception/restaurants or in the buses – You can ask the hotel to add Rs 1 or more , with the permission of its clients to the bill. They can have a poster on their reception explaining this. That money can be given to you every month. People passing through, who have heard about your work or people coming on a tour organised by you or the donor agency for its committed supporters can see the projects they are helping. You can conduct workshops and tell visitors of what you are doing and how they too can actively participate/contribute to your charity. Keep a visitor’s book to write their name, address, contact number and email address. Give them publicity material about your work and ask them if they are interested in doing something for you afterwards or even make a donation then and there. If your organisation has foreign or Indian volunteers working during their vacations or for a longer period, they can be extremely helpful in fundraising when they return home. They may be able to help you with sources of money or link you with potential donors. GOVERNMENT SOURCES All government schemes have an animal component. Panchayat monies,Jawaharlal Nehru Yojana, MP and MLA funds, state and central animal husbandry departments, the animal welfare department in the central Government, the Animal Welfare Board of India. All departments like rural development, education, women development etc fund NGOs in different ways. Make proposals for each department. Ask someone in Delhi or the state capital to send you the annual report of each Ministry. For instance, the Backward Classes Development Corporation might fund you to train people of that group in paraveterinary subjects. All banks have a funding component as well. Find out policies, procedures and the timetable of distributing money. Personally contact the person responsible for receiving applications. Identify people who can lobby government effectively and are able to develop good relationships with civil servants to process your proposal as well as politicians/MP/MLAs responsible for the particular area of work. Be professional in your relationships and set high standards of integrity in your dealings. To build a good case of support understand their motivation for giving and how you might be able to meet a need that they are responsible for.
INTERNATIONAL DONOR AGENCIES
	There are many international donor organisations in India.Most embassies also have a small direct funding programme.More funding is being given to NGOs than to governments. Donor agencies allocate a sum of money to give away before the end of their own budget year.They fund projects that fit within their programmes, priorities and guidelines. If you receive international funding you should be able to show them what you are going to achieve with their money. They fund organisations with successful track records and good management and avoid organisations that have wasted money or are corrupt. Spread your work or experience to ensure that they back your organisation to benefit others. They expect a working partnership to exercise a greater degree of control over how you run the programme and also your organisation’s transparency, accountability and credibility of the actual financial position to ensure that their money is not being misused. To receive foreign funding you must have FCRA permission. Identify potential donors and find out about their programmes and procedures for writing an application. Fit their interests, their policies and their geographical focus. Develop the right project for them to support and liaise with the grant officers. Sometimes you need to find a partner organisation in their own country. It is better to make a personal contact with the donor than just writing in so that you know what they are looking for and you can highlight these facts when submitting your application/proposal.
FUNDRAISING PROJECTS
	1. ANIMAL-FRIENDLY CLUB - MEMBERSHIP Start a Kindness Club in schools, colleges or social clubs which can include members of all age-groups. Write a formal letter or a brochure that will spell out everything that the club seeks to do. Nominate someone in each place who will be the nodal person for the club. Put a poster on the notice boards announcing the club and asking for members. Give a deadline and the name of the person to be contacted. People pay a subscription to be associated with your group and pledge to fundraise in turn. You can have monthly, quarterly or annual subscriptions for members -say Rs 50-100 for students and Rs 500 for service people. For people who donate more than a certain amount their names can be put on the notice boards. Put the money in the corpus of the club, then put down the objectives and rules - frequency of the meetings, selection of office bearers and their tenure, defining the powers of each post, membership rules and duties. The member should learn first aid, be a vegetarian, attend to the suffering animal immediately, must know the animal related laws, must educate others on the legal and moral rights of animals, must feed homeless animals and adopt one as well. Collect money from the members regularly add it to the corpus and use its interest for the feeding and treatment of sick animals, install water troughs near the rubbish dumps where stray animals cluster and arrange to clean and fill them up daily. The members , if children, can work in their holidays and donate their earnings to the club funds. 2. RAFFLES A raffle is a opportunity to buy tickets for a chance to win one of a several prizes. The draw of these prizes is held at the end of a specified period of time. You need to have a team of 10-15 people to sell tickets and books of numbered tickets with stubs. Keep a record of the ticket stubs given to each member and the amount brought in by each one of them. The tickets can be sold for Rs 10 - 50. The secret of selling raffles is to approach people while they have their purses out — shopping malls, local fetes and so on. You can also try door to door sale or enroll school children to do this. Be sure to make a note of people’s names and contact numbers on the stubs. Print the prizes on the tickets. If you can get a celebrity to make the draw, advertise this as well. You might need to put in some money initially to print the tickets unless you find a sponsor and the tickets can carry his name as well. Find companies that will sponsor the prizes. These do not have to be very large or fancy— known brands like Pepsi or Coca Cola can be approached to sponsor prizes such as T-shirts and caps carrying their logo, bookstores can sponsor gift coupons, computer companies like NIIT can sponsor training courses, and so on. These prizes can be printed on the back of the tickets.People like winning whatever the prize. 3. MOVIE PREMIERES Movies benefit from publicity. So if you can guarantee media coverage, you can ask film producers to give you the premiere of their film for your charity. Once you have a commitment for the movie and the attendance of its leading cast members, you can either ask a local cinema house to give you their premises for the show or else find a sponsor to pay the rental. The rent varies from city to city -for example in a city like Delhi it may be Rs. 35,000 plus the entertainment tax and in cities like Chandigarh or other small towns, it may be Rs 2-3,000. Sometimes you can get the theatre for free if you show the film in the morning when they have no scheduled show. You will need to arrange a round trip airline tickets for the stars, hotel accomodation, a cinema hall, local transportation, publicity for the event, tickets, sale outlets. You will also need to apply for and get entertainment tax clearance. You can either sell the tickets yourself or get a single sponsor who gives you money and then takes all the tickets.If you can find one sponsor to take the whole show for a certain amount of contribution to your charity, you will avoid the complication of printing and selling tickets. There are many corporate houses that have schemes to promote their brand and hence can be approached. Or else contact a reputed event management company to manage it for you. Tickets can be priced high since it is a charity show. All agreements must be written and signed beforehand by all the concerned parties to avoid confusion later on. 4. PET SITTING This is a service for busy pet owners to take care of their pets in their absence. This can be a daily/weekly service or during holidays when people leave their pets behind. Whether you sit independently or employ a staff of sitters, there is money to be made by providing this valuable service to your community. Pet sitting involves limited start-up costs and you can start it from your home with just a telephone. Pet sitting does not require any past experience or expertise but a background in working with or caring for pets helps. A good way to begin is to visit vets, dog trainers and pet store owners and ask them to tell pet owners about your service. Leave behind flyers for them to distribute and put a notice in their clinic. Approach pet owners (get a list from vets) and get their reaction to your proposed business. Find out how often they travel and what arrangements they make for their pets when leaving them behind. Determine if they would be receptive to your service. Ask how much they would be willing to pay for in-home care and what they expect from such a service. Once you have analyzed and are satisfied, you will feel more confident and energetic about opening a service. Select a catchy name. Advertise through pet shops, veterinary clinics, animal newsletters, animal programmes,pet columns in newspapers, yellow pages, rotary and other clubs, college magazines, community halls, departmental stores, bulletin boards etc. Pet sitting is enjoyable as each pet and customer is different, adding variety and interest to the job. By opening a pet-sitting service, you provide an attractive alternative for pet owners, enabling them to travel assured that their pets are in good hands. Once you get started, it is very important to have an introductory meeting with the client and his/her pet to get acquainted with the pet and its routine. The meeting helps to reassure the client. Explain your pricing and what the customer receives for this fee. Fix up the time of your visit. Set up your conditions using common sense to avoid problems later on, eg if the pet dies in a road accident due to free access to the outdoors given by the owner or disappears for many days, you cannot be held accountable. Point out to owners that they must provide you with a leash or allow you to supply your own, otherwise you will not be able to sit for their pets. Make sure that the pet’s enclosure/area is secured. Finally, you need to carry a first aid kit which should contain the following items: gauze bandages, cotton wool, adhesive tape, dettol/savlon, scissors, antiseptic/antibiotic ointment, betadine lotion, disposable gloves, clean piece of white cloth, tissue paper, thermometer, iodine/benezene tincture. Keep a first aid book that will come in handy.Always ask the name of the vet that the animal is familiar with in case an emergency arises. 5. PET HOTELS Every holiday time, pet owners are faced with the problem of what to do with their pets. There is a need to provide safe and healthy boarding facilities for pets and money to be made from it. A pet hotel is an extension of the pet sitting service and takes in pets rather than going to them. You can start one from your home (garden or terrace) or rent a small place where you are permitted to start a kennel. Make a certain number of small dog houses depending upon the space available and make sure that the area is fenced off. Initially you can start with 4-5 dog kennels spaced apart so that the dogs cannot fight with each other. You can put one kennel on top of another like bunkers so that you can accomodate more kennels and utilise your space effectively. If you have 1,500 square yards of space you can easily build 20 or more kennels. If you do not have a garden at all, you could keep them inside your house and adapt your furniture and flooring accordingly. You will have to make arrangements for food as each dog will probably have different dietary habits. Work out a cost chart as to how much each meal will cost you with milk, rice, chapattis, bread, vegetables etc and work out who is going to buy the raw material from the market daily. You might need a small initial investment to make the kennels, get leashes, dog bowls, print admission cards and other basic requirements. You will also need to work closely with a vet and arrange bi-weekly checkups to see that there is nothing wrong with the animals in your care. Advertise through chemist shops, vet clinics, pet stores, local newspapers etc - the same peole mentioned above. Fix up a meeting in advance with the dog and its owner so that you get acquainted with the animal. In that meeting the owner would also like to satisfy himself/herself that you are capable of handling and caring for the animal. At the time of admission, get complete information on the dog’s eating habits, routine, any quirks or preferences as well as an emergency number of someone familiar with the dog in case he reacts so badly to the kennel that he has to be taken away. Self-employment will give you an increased sense of self-worth and confidence in your abilities. The satisfaction you will derive is only one of the many benefits you will experience. Being a caretaker of animals gives you flexibility with your daily schedule. It is entirely upto you whether you would like to handle all the pets yourself or would like to employ others to do so. You can advertise through colleges and schools as there are many young people who would enjoy working with animals on a voluntary basis. This will help in reducing the costs of hiring people. But make sure that each one learns or knows his job properly to avoid any mishap since each animal left in your care by their owners is your responsibility. 6. AMBULANCE SERVICES Many people face problems with time and transport with regard to getting their pet to a vet. Start a round-the- clock mobile ambulance clinic that will pick up pet animals and take them to a vet for a certain fee. This could also be a subscriber service with people buying a year’s subscription which entitles them to a certain number of visits per year. For example, 15 free ambulance visits a year for just Rs 2000 which will cover the cost of transport and treatment of the animal excluding vaccinations. You will need a van which you can either purchase or approach a manufacturer to donate one — even a second hand vehicle will do. Fit it uplike an ambulance with oxygen, a first aid kit, stretchers, bird cages, paper rolls, blankets, catching sticks, a net, muzzles, rubber gloves, a rope, a tape muzzle or a slip noose, bandages, gunny bags, towels a wooden plank and a register. Advertise through animal related programmes, columns, shelters, vet’s clinic, chemists shops,departmental stores. You will need to have a pool of participating vets to whom you make a fixed payment per month/year in return for their services rather than per case. You will need money for a driver, petrol, and vehicle maintenance. You can recruit volunteers and animal lovers to man this service. The volunteers can be paid bus fare only and each one can be trained for a month by the vets and rescue experts. Apart from earning money, this service can be extended to pick up sick and injured stray animals and take them to a shelter. You can form a group of 6-8 volunteers each who will do the field work while the rest will attend phone calls, keep a track record of rescued animals, co-ordinate with vets and so on. 7. CELEBRITY EVENTS Roping in celebrities or singers for a special show is an excellent way to raise funds and awareness for animal welfare. This can take the form of a dinner with a celebrity, getting him/her as the chief guest for a live performance such as fashion shows, dances and so on. Again this requires tying up accomodation, travel, a suitable event venue, food and drinks, advertising and so on. You can either do it yourself or bring in an event manager. Be sure to have a press conference with the celebrity strongly endorsing concern for animals. You can tie up with 2-3 reputed showrooms/departmental stores to get the celebrity visit their store for 10-15 minutes each. Get sponsorships for endorsing the celebrity’s visit for a certain amount. Many organisations may know a celebrity but cannot afford the cost of bringing him/her in. Another way to do it is to get the celebrity’s permission and rent him/her out to an organisation that will use their presence to get publicity and will pay you an amount for that priviledge. For instance a Rotary Club may want a celebrity for their annual installation ceremony and would be willing to pay your group if they could get one. If your group is in a position to do so , get several dates from several celebrities for the year. You can then “sell” these dates to other organisations. 8. CHARITY ART SHOWS An art exhibition requires many months of preparation. You will have to begin by requesting (personally) the artists to participate in this event and contribute their best works. Artists price their own works and receive 50% of what is sold. You can also organise a solo show of an eminent artist. Find a sponsor for a five day show. Book a banquet hall at a known hotel for free for one evening and then take a smaller room on the exhibition floor (if they have one) for the next 4 days to display and sell any leftover paintings. The four days later is important because there will be confusion if you have to change your venue. Request for cocktails on a complimentary basis and put their names on the invitation or find liquor/aerated drinks sponsors for the same. If the hotel does not sponsor the drinks, ask them to give snacks for 500 people and find an outside sponsor for drinks. You need a sponsor/s to cover your printing of invitations. If you don’t get the hall free at a hotel, then you need to book a hall, get the panels for hanging, a few posters to be put in other venues to advertise the event etc. Do not calculate how much you will make on the basis of all the pictures sold : a really good event will sell 50% of the work so keep your costs low. Make a press kit with a write up and several pictures for each reporter. Give it out at least 10 days before the event, follow up with personal calls to art critics of each paper. Also you have to have it in the What’s Today column for all the days that you have the exhibition. You must get the press publicity at least one week in advance otherwise no one will turn up. Also, if you have a sponsor, you should take out an ad in the paper for that morning so that people who have not been invited can come on the following days if they are interested. If you have FM or a similar service in your city, try to get the RJs (radio jockeys) to talk about the programme from 10 days before. Print about 50 posters only and put them up at places where the well off go. Put up posters near cinema halls, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, etc. You will need an excellent mailing list. The list of invitees has to be made with great intelligence as this will determine whether your paintings are bought or not. Most of the sales take place on the first day itself as selling after the cocktail requires huge effort. Therefore the more people, the more sales. It is 10% of the invitees that usually buy. Also, only 15%-20% of the people invited come. Therefore to get more people in, you will have to overinvite. Do not just invite the standard celebrities and socialities (though that is necessary). Prepare a guest list - get those people who have money but are never invited anywhere to the fashionable places (Marwaris, Jains, industrialists, jewellers, etc) - target people who go to art galleries, people living in posh colonies having two or more cars/telephones, cellphone users. Take the names from boutiques, the better class restaurants, the industry CEOs list and from art galleries. There is a tendency to call only “hep” people who rarely buy. On the otherhand there are hundreds of people with real money like exporters who rarely get called anywhere but spend a lot of money. Send out invitations with a brochure stating the purpose of the event, where the money collected will be spent and a list of artists contributing to this cause. These invitations must be sent out at least 10 days before the event. Remember that politicians and officials are not buyers. So keep their list at a minimum unless you want to use them to bring other people in. Also try and rope in as many companies/hotels as possible who will buy for their corporate offices. Ask the sponsoring hotel social/ banquet head to help you out with names. You cannot send less than 2000 cards if the art for sale is Rs 50 lakh and above. All paintings should be hung up a day prior to the event or the next early morning of the D-day with numbers and artist’s name clearly marked. Each panel should be spot lighted. You will have to have hanging arrangements made from before with the hotel. You cannot make holes in the wall so it has to be a combination of panels and easels which you may have to borrow from art galleries for all the exhibition days. Each picture will have to be prominently displayed to get anyone to buy them, around the hall so that people can drink in the middle and move round the hall looking at each painting. You have to arrange for thick nylon thread and nails and lights over each painting. The hotel will provide the lights if asked for well in advance. Involve as many local celebrities as possible to keep the buzz going. Two days before the event ring up as many people as you can - all the people who have invited by card and remind them to come. Get press and television coverage. When the guests arrive, be prepared with well-dressed ushers who will show them around and monitor the sale. Prepare atleast 500-800 price lists for the guests as no one buys paintings until they have a list in their hands. Each usher must have a list and as each painting is booked, the usher who has booked it must tick mark on his/her list which has his name on top and must put down the name and address of the buyer so that it can be crosschecked. All paintings you get must start from the serial number of 1 and correspond to your list. The serial number must be pasted on the painting at the back and then the same number on the price list. When the paintings are sold, mark sold paintings with red dots/bindis. the name and address/phone of the person and the information put on a sticker which is pasted at the back of the painting. A copy of this information should given at the main desk along with the name of the usher who got the buyer. If people want to come and see the paintings while you are hanging them, you can allow them as many will buy at that time itself. Therefore you can start the show with a few bindis on which always encourages people. You should have a table outside with two accountants, a billbook, a register for the names of buyers, as manyof your publications as possible, a write up on your charity and what it does, membership forms, donation boxes and a drop in visiting cards’ bowl (which can come in handy for your next show). Put up a notice board with your charity’s writeup, achievements and pictures so that people know they are buying for a genuine cause. You should also keep brownpaper/newspaper and string and a young volunteer/s to do the packing in case people want to take their paintings away with them - if they pay the full amount. Paintings may also be left behind on partial payment for collection later. Remember , the art market is saturated as each city has a number of galleries. Therefore your art sale must have some special quality: – paintings of artists that no gallery has – paintings at a price that no gallery has – paintings specially made round a theme for your event 9. PORTRAITURE If you know an artist who is well known, perhaps you can tie up with him/her to do charcoal/pen and ink/ pencil portraits of people. You can get a sponsor to put an ad in the paper or put posters up and give a special price. For x sum of money, the artist will do a portrait of the buyer. You can split the proceeds with the artist. 10. T-SHIRTS and CAPS Get a well known or an upcoming designer or artists to design T-Shirts and caps for your charity with motifs and messages. See what the trend is and what colors people prefer and design the T-Shirts accordingly. Contact a printer and get the cost breakup for each design/color, the type of cloth to be used, different sizes, labelling, packaging etc. The colored t-shirts cost less than the white ones. The maximum order that a printer takes is for 500 tshirts. Price them reasonably keeping in mind the cost incurred and the MRP (market retail price) so that you can cover the costs plus get profits also. If you can find a sponsor for printing, all the better. The T.Shirt and its printing should not cost more than a total Rs 125 and you can sell them for Rs 300. Since a known designer is involved you can create a lot of hype about the product and its price. People tend to buy good stuff at reasonable prices and that too designed by a person known for his/her excellent and expensive creations for the society. Organise an exhibition followed by either high tea or cocktails on the first day. The same procedure is applied as mentioned for the art sale. See how the response is and for the leftover stock, advertise through your website (if any) or get in touch with shopping mall websites giving your charity’s profile - its latest fundraiser, response and contact details for purchasing. Approach retail stores to carry these T-shirts. Ask schools and sports clubs to stock them in their stores or you can get permission from the principal and have a special sale at a college/school. You can also sell during festival fetes. Since this is an ongoing process, if you are selling from the retail outlets, the screens of the designs have to be kept safely as they tend to tear or dry up. 11. JEWELLERY Jewellery designing can be based on a theme or concept. Get a designer to do a unique collection of jewellery with animal or other motifs. For this you will have to underwrite the cost of production of the jewellery which can be very expensive. Alternatively you can ask a reputed jeweller to manufacture them for your charity. They will bear the cost of production, you will market the collection and promotions, and take a percentage for the charity. Before the final jewellery is conceptualized, masterpieces are made that are slightly bigger in size than the actual pieces that will be sold. This is to see if the design on paper has been incorporated properly and masterpieces are used for the product shoot for preparing catalogue/ brochures and pictures for newspapers/magazines for publicity. So start the production well in advance, supervise the whole process and finish it on time. Identify the franchisee outlets in your area - send them a formal proposal, a product catalogue which has the item code number and MRP prices. Follow up on your proposal, meet them personally to show them the pieces. Work out the mark up price in advance keeping in mind the actual cost for the producer, your share plus the third party who shows interest in bulk purchasing your product to be put in their showroom or chain stores (if any) across the country. For promoting your jewellery, organise a small fashion show displaying your jewellery designs at an exclusive venue. Approach modelling agencies to speak to models about donating their services or get young college girls who believe in your charity. You can also get upcoming models. You can display your collection in show cases and modules at banquets for 3-4 days and invite a local or known personality as a special invitee. You can even throw in a cocktail or tea party if you can find someone to sponsor it. Either the jeweller can provide you show cases or contact people who organise exhibitions to give it on a contract basis. Mention item code and price on each item. Besides the pieces on display the selling stock should remain at the cash counter packed in neatly designed packages. Atleast four people should handle the cash counter, one each for making bills and keeping the cash inflow and two responsible for the jewellery stock. You will need security for the jewellery, so have your volunteers moving around. Send out invitations - you will need a top notch mailing list. Get it from boutiques, jewellery showrooms, fashion designers. Invite celebrities, designers, actresses, industrialists, politicians, etc. Put a sponsored advertisement in newspapers for public viewing and buying. Ads should start coming out atleast 4-5 days before the actual event. If you do not get an ad sponsor then publicise the event through media write ups with photographs. Contact reporters and freelance photographers of various newspapers/magazines to take photographs of someone wearing the jewellery. Many newspapers have a city edition and are always looking for unusual events to photograph. Make sure that you send out invites with photographs of the products to each reporter. 1 2. PET PRODUCTS Pet products include biscuits, canned pet foods, collars, leashes, bedding/quilts, dogcoats, toys and so on which you can manufacture or take the distributorship of. Study the market for the type of pet products available and the customer preferences. Dog biscuits and canned foods should be vegetarian. Collars can be made a little fancy for occasions - with bow strings, satin ribbons, danglers with bells, small plastic flowers or toys. They can be striped, polka dotted with vibrant colors. Bedding and dog coats can be made attractive by adding frills, patch works, piping with different colors, or a running stitch on them making different patterns. Source it cheaply, mark up the price and sell it through vets and pet stores giving them a commission if they want it. 13. FUN RUN Although a run serves no concrete purpose in itself, it can be used to raise money and awareness for a cause eg, you can have an ‘AHIMSA RUN’ for animals. Individuals run together over a pre-arranged route. The money is raised from entry fees from each runner, sponsorship from T-Shirt makers or shoe industries, refreshments or side stalls. Small prizes for participation can be sponsored by local companies. You can distribute certificates to them as well. Runs are best organised in the mornings when the weather is pleasant. For publicity, stick posters and distribute leaflets at public buildings, schools, colleges, libraries, sports clubs, restaurants etc. Request the participants to arrive in good time before the race starts. Get the names and addresses of participants. Invite 3-4 celebrities to flag off the race and to be present at the end as well as talk about the cause. Put collection boxes at the entrance, exit and other suitable places with your people keeping an eye on it. You will need lots of volunteers to avoid chaos. Do not forget to arrange for first aid attenders in case of any accident or injury. Invite the press to cover the event. At the end of the event, invite company sponsors, donors of prizes, and anyone else who helped in a big way as well as a representative of the cause for whom you are all fundraising to address the gathering. Get media support to further your cause. The success of such events attract potential sponsors with whom you can organise similar events in future. 14. AUCTIONS Auctions are becoming an increasingly popular way to fundraise. You first need to collect items for the auction. For instance exclusive paintings by wellknown artists, exclusive poems by wellknown poets, formal wear by designers, antiques, memorabilia of famous people, autographs,cartoons and so on. Approach people like film stars, maharajas, cricketers, politicians, television personalities and ask them to contribute something to be auctioned. For smaller auctions you will have to ask for donations locally. If people cannot find any items to donate, ask them to make or bake something special. The local shop, restaurant might give a free meal or a gift voucher. You require at least a month or six weeks to set up the actual event but you might need several months to collect all the items. Next you have to decide on a date and a venue which has enough space to display the items and provide seating. Get a personality to compere the show speaking about the person who has contributed and his/her item, in between telling them about your organisations achievements as well as cracking jokes or adding humour to the show. This is very important to keep the buyers interested. The auction starts with the minimum bid which means that the item cannot be sold less than this reserved amount. The auction can be a part of another event such as a cocktail or dinner party. You can make the event either by invitation or else open it to the public. Print numbered catalogues (with advertisements) for sale which can be raffled at the end. These can serve the dual purpose of earning advertising revenue. You can sell refreshments before the auction begins and even during the proceedings, giving time to people to study their catalogues and preventing the disruption of a constant stream of people getting up. Your returns will depend largely on the size of your audience as well as the quality and popularity of the goods offered. For the contributors, it is the opportunity to buy something for considerably less than its real value and to experience the excitement and thrill of a real auction with no risk. It also helps if you produce a celebrity auctioneer. The auctioneer opens the bidding himself and ups it in stages until a buyer is found. The more charismatic and persuasive your auctioneer is, the more bids you are likely to get. Save the best lot until last but let them know that from the start that this has been planned. Place the cashiers desk at the back to keep an account of the cash or cheques coming in. As each item is sold, let the volunteers make a note of the name of the winning bidder and give the slip to them to be exchanged at the cashier’s desk. You will need to arrange for storage, security, packaging and transport of goods. When the auction is over, thank everyone for supporting the event and send them a thank you note or a card and something special to thank your auctioneer. People do like to know how things turned out and they will be more willing to contribute or attend again if they feel you were grateful and the event was a success. Send another press release saying how successful the auction was, how many people came and include statements from your auctioneer as well. 15. COLUMNS Media columns are one the easiest ways to raise funds and spread awareness about animal welfare. You should talk to local newspapers and write to magazines for a weekly adoption cum animal news column. These columns have proven extremely popular and have brought in memberships as well as homes for abandoned animals. The columns can either be original or you can use excerpts from books . You can include household remedies for different animal ailments. You can have a column on one subject a week or a question and answer column.You can liaise with your vets to give you information about treatments if you receive inquiries . You can make quizzes, puzzles, crosswords in newspapers and also in websites under the games or entertainment section. Put a small note at the bottom of the column that all those interested in animal welfare should contact your charity - give the address and phone number. You can also include a request for donations in cash or kind such as food or medicines or even adoption. Either the newspaper gives you free space for the column. Or you get paid for the piece. You can even get an industry to sponsor the column and put their name in. 16. COLLEGE FESTIVALS Every year colleges organise annual festivals with plays, jam sessions, antakshari, quizzes,debates, music and dance. This is the best occasion to collect money from students. You can also put up small handmade donation boxes at refreshment stalls to collect change. Request the DJ (disc jockey) to speak for about two minutes about the charity and its aims. Ask a sponsor to underwrite a special animal quiz and meet the organisers of the festival to see if this can be included. 17. BAND If any of your members or volunteers are musical, you can also get together a band that will play at birthday parties on payment. 18. AIRLINE PACKETS International and national travellers often have leftover foreign or Indian currency. You can ask different airlines if they can support your charity by passing around a donation box during the flight. The airline can also have donation envelopes carrying your charity’s profile and the need for money, on each seat which can be sealed and returned to the airhostess by the donor passenger. It would help in bringing the animal welfare into the mainstream of consciousness and also collect an amount for your projects. If someone donates send them an individual personalised ‘thank you’ mentioning that they had donated on a particular airline and how grateful you are for their contribution. Do tell them to the use that their money has been put to. The airlines can also write to their frequent fliers for contributions. The envelopes can be printed by a sponsor who will put his company’s name on them as well. 19. CHARITY BOXES You can put up medium sized attractive transparent charity boxes at airports, hotels, travel agencies,bookshops, departmental stores and restaurants. These boxes can carry leaflets about animal welfare and the purpose of the collection eg., the building of a shelter, or an ambulance for animals etc.Make sure that each box is locked and that you have the key. Send volunteers around regularly to empty the boxes. If one location is not doing well, shift to another. 20. TWO RUPEES ON EACH PURCHASE This is a no-fuss great returns fundraising idea. It can be done with both manufacturers and retailers. If dealing with manufacturers, the company will donate one rupee or so for every product sold. This will be advertised on the product packaging as well as through the media. You can set it up with any product manufacturer, say a biscuit company or a soft drinks manufacturer. See if you can rope in a celebrity to promote the product and the charity tie-up. As far as retailers go, a small amount of Rs 2/- or less is added onto every purchase in selected shops with the consent of the consumer and earmarked for the charity. The mechanics of collection as to how often the charity will pickup the proceeds (weekly, fortnightly or monthly) needs to be tied up with each shop/product manufacturer. 21. ADVERTISEMENTS FROM COMPANIES Souvenirs and brochures are an excellent way to raise money through advertisements. Ask companies to advertise in these explaining to them that the money collected from the ads will cover one of your many projects and also guaranteeing them good public relations and publicity. Companies are often prepared to support you by placing an advertisement in a brochure or a publication - may be your annual report or the programme you produce for fundraising events, known as ‘goodwill advertising’. It is paid for to create goodwill for the company rather than sell more of its products. Get a directory of corporate houses in your city with the contact person’s name and telephone numbers. Usually get each corporates’ average turnover so that you can target them accordingly. You can ask local shops, departmental stores, individual donors as well. Call them up and tell them about your charity and the purpose of your call. Take an appointment and submit your proposal personally or fax them and follow it up with a telephone call. Make sure that you are well informed about your charity - what it does, how many projects are being handled, how is it going to benefit the organisation if the particular company places an advertisement in your souvenir. When you approach companies to advertise in a brochure or a publication, prepare a rate card that gives the different rates for a full page, half page, etc - work out an affordable price. Fix the rates beforehand for the inside cover, first page, back cover, back inside page, and the pages in between. The advertisements can be half or full page, black and white or coloured. The rate of advertisements on the inside cover and first page should be more than the rest. The back cover and back inside the cover can a little less than the front cover but certainly more than the in between ads. Encourage them to place ads for the front/ back or back inside cover page convincing them of good publicity for their organisation. If there are more than one ad for these particular pages, put full page flaps so that each one gets the mileage. Outline the sort of audience that the publication will reach and give some idea of the benefits that the company can expect by advertising in your publication. This will include the number of people as well as the sort of people who will see the publication. Approach companies that you think might be interested - this includes your previous supporters, local companies who are keen to be associated with your cause or there is some connection between their business and what you do. Follow up your communication by telephone and tell them which other companies have agreed to advertise. Once you get some companies to agree it becomes easier to get others to decide to do the same. Offer to design the advertisement for them - this is useful if you approach smaller companies, you might even charge them a fee. Always show them a copy of the proof and get them to sign it as approved so that if there any mistake, you cannot be blamed. Do not be discouraged if there are rejections to your proposal. Approach them well in advance so that you collect a good number of ads before the actual release of the souvenir. Include articles, achievements and other information about your charity with contact numbers as well. Remember that the purpose is not just to put ads but to tell people about your cause with an appeal to everyone to contribute or support your cause wholeheartedly. If you can get a printer or a corporate to sponsor the printing, this will cost you nothing. Be sure to send each advertiser a copy along with your thanks. You can have a small tea party in a conference hall for the release function if it coincides with some event. People expect something in return, maybe in the form of an entertainment evening, which can be combined with the souvenir release. You can request a local celebrity to perform or invite a personality to release your souvenir and speak highly of your cause. This encourages people to contribute more. Invite the press and ensure that sponsors’ names are prominently mentioned in the press release. 22. ANIMAL DAY Every year we celebrate environment or animal day/ week where we usually think of holding seminars, meetings, competitions (quiz, poster, debates) etc, to create awareness among the people. Everyone has a good time - except the animals in whose name all this takes place. Therefore, instead of participating in such meaningless exercises, the best way to spread awareness is through your work. You can also celebrate Animal Welfare Day/Fortnight like the army’s flag day by giving boxes to children to collect money in return for a small paper animal motif sticker. Make small hand-made banners stating the purpose of your collecting funds. You can collect funds from cinemas, pubs, theatres, shops, departmental stores, temples, churches etc. The more people you send around, the more money you will collect. The collectors can wear something like T-shirt or caps with the organisation’s name and logo printed on them for easy identification. They should carry pamphlets of the organisation and be able to answer questions on where the money will go and for what purpose. You need to display the name of your charity clearly. The contribution boxes need to be closed or sealed as this assures the donor that the money will go where it is intended. Each box should be numbered. 23. STALLS (INDIAN DOG SHOWS, FAIRS, FETES, FESTIVALS ETC) When dog shows, carnivals, diwali fetes, college festivals are taking place, buy a stall where you can put pet products such as dog biscuits, dog collars/coats, t-shirts, key-chains and stylish mugs with animal pictures on them, pet care books and so on. You can also paint tiles/plates/ mugs, design cards and display them. Arrange an attractive display so that people get attracted to the stall - you can put artifical flowers, frills, colourful cloths and ribbons. You can sell homemade food or items that you have made from waste items (penstands etc) or anything that you can offer to sell. Have volunteers direct people to your stall. Promote the adoption of homeless dogs and give them the addresses/contact numbers from where they can pick up the animals of their choice for free. It is even the better to get their names/numbers and when the fete is over, follow up inviting them to your shelter/hospital to pick up the animal. This is necessary as people tend to forget or prolong the matter as per their convenience and it is the animal that suffers. You can put a donation box as well as animal organisation membership forms and brochures. This way you can get volunteers as well. Request a vet to be present so that people can get free consultation regarding their pet animals. Put a suggestion box where people can put in their suggestions/complaints. Distribute law pamphlets and a list of animal helplines which they can refer to for emergencies involving animals. 24. ANIMAL SHOP If you have a suitable space, you can start a fashionable outlet only for animal-related products. You can even work out an arrangement with showrooms that provide a range of products and give you a section to display and sell your products. They may agree to do a separate section for your charity without any markup price or rent. All items should have an animal theme. The stock can include bathrobes, stuffed toys, silver/gold jewellery, table linen, bed sheets, posters, mugs, keychains, picture frames, icecream moulds, crockery/pottery, hairbands, ribbons, stationery - wrapping paper/writing paper/pens/ pen holders, socks, school bags, tiffin boxes, water bottles, pencil boxes, notebooks, car stickers, t-shirts, animal-CDs, caps, stamps, soaps, shampoos, tic powder, dog medicines, dog biscuits, leashes, collars, greeting cards, towels, kerchiefs, glasses, carry bags, audio tapes (panchatantra etc). For this you will need to do the home work getting a list of people who manufacture these products - call or write to them asking for the costings, market retail price and work out as how you would like the supply to be - either on whole sale purchase and sell the product at your marked up price or on approval which means that you take the material from the supplier and as it gets sold you make the payment to the supplier. All items will bear the shop or charity logo and be entirely exclusive. When you are ready with your products, invite a local personality to inaugurate it and the press to cover the programme. Keep some photographs of your products and a brief writeup about the purpose of an exclusive shop for pet products handy to be given to the photographers to publish it in their newspapers/magazines. This helps to publicise your products. Get a list of people with pets from the veterinary clinics, hospitals, other pet product shops and send each one of them a flyer (it is inexpensive) or a brochure with a list of products, item code number and the price. 25. DIRECT MAIL Direct mail, with the cost of the promotional material and postage, is expensive. You need to budget for these costs in your plans. You may only genrate a small surplus in the first year. But you will have a list of active supporters, many of whom will go on to support you for many years if you ask. Many people who know your organisation if you are working actively in your area, are prepared to give generously. The only pre-requisite is a good mailing list. Think of people who might like to support your organisation. Also get a list from rotary/sports/entertainment clubs. Send out a written appeal to each one detailing the cause and what the money will be used for. Include brochures and pictures, if possible, of animals in your shelter and a short writeup of how they got there and the success you have had in rehabilitating them. Include a self addressed paid for business reply envelope. This is important as the person may not always keep an envelope or a stamp handy and in the process forget. Mention that all donations to the charity qualify for certain income tax exemptions. This is also very important to emphasise to the people who are willing to make large donations but hold back because of payment of tax. There are only 80G (50%) and 35CCB (100%) income tax exemptions. So specify for which one your organisation is eligible for. Requests, that can also be part of a direct mail appeal, can include a suggestion to people to leave in their wills a part of their money/assets to animal welfare through any charity of their choice. 26. 30 SECOND TELEVISION SPOT OR STILLS IN CINEMA Approach one or two known or upcoming personalities to feature in an advertisement promoting your cause. You can get an advertising agency to create an advertisement for free as part of their social commitment. Advertise the organisations projects with on the spot shots at the animal shelter/hospital and voice over. This should not be more than 30 seconds. You can also make stills which carry your charity’s name and adddress and a picture. Approach your local cinema halls to make stills to be shown before the movie starts and during the interval. A lot of channels and cinemas carry public service advertising for free. 27. SELLING STAMPS You can print colourful stamps/stickers.The initial expenses can be sponsored by a local company in return for the stamps carrying the company name, maybe on the reverse. These stamps can be sold by children from door to door. You will have to ask principals whether you can get the school to take part. The child/children who sell the most stamps will get prizes/certificates. 28. FOOD FESTIVAL Approach local restaurants/fast food centres to dedicate a day or week to animal welfare when the restaurant will serve only vegetarian food and donate a part of its sales for animal welfare. You can even add your special dish or homemade food to the main menu and get the proceeds for the same. You can also sell recipe books. In return you will get the restaurant publicity and goodwill. You can even get into a coupon scheme where the restaurant will give you coupons to sell for that day/week and people can cash them in for the set menu. 29. CREDIT CARD TIE-UPS Approach a credit card company for an arrangement whereby a certain percentage of every purchase made by credit card users will go to your charity. This can be included in their credit card policy to allot a certain percentage to various charities. They can make a special Animal Credit Card. In return you will have to advertise among animal welfare supporters to subscribe to the credit card company and bring in new clients. The more clients you get the more benefit you will get from the proceeds. 30. FUNDS FROM EMBASSIES Many embassies have schemes for small development projects funded under the Small Grants Scheme. Find out the schemes under which you can apply by writing to the development officers in embassies. They usually fund projects which have a capacity building/training element. Project support is usually for one year but in exceptional cases, funding may extend up to a maximum of three years. The Recipient NGOs must be registered under the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act, 1976. The organisation has to submit their yearly progress reports on projects undertaken. 31. QUIZ SHOWS ON TELEVISION There are various games/quiz shows telecasted on television. For every correct answer the participant gets a cash prize, gifts or gift hampers/vouchers. There are regular announcements inviting the public to participate - the participants are selected by the panelists on the basis of their initial performance and then appear on the main show. Whenever there are such game shows, always participate as you never know when luck may strike. In some of these games celebrities take part and they donate their earnings to a charity. The filming of the programme takes place months in advance if you can find out from the producer of the show or from the advertising agency, as to which celebrity is taking part when then contact the celebrity and ask them if they will contribute their winnings to your charity. 32. CORPORATE GIFTS Throughout the year corporate houses send gifts to their clients specially on occasions like Diwali, New Year or birthday greetings. Prepare a list of corporates you want to approach. Usually corporates place orders two months before the season so you will need to decide the products that you are offering at least 3-4 months in advance.Try to make a range of products that will go with the image that the company wants to project. Make a presentation of your products telling them how the deal will help your charity. You need not make these products yourself. Often you can get them from small manufacturers. Once your product has been selected, prepare a written agreement to be signed by both the parties. Most corporates are looking for innovative ecofriendly naturebased products. 33. GREETING CARDS Producing cards yourself is not an easy way to make money.The initial printing costs are high and then, to place them in shops is difficult. Most bookshops take 30-40% of the cost and you have to go every few days to see which card has sold out and needs to be replaced. If the cards do not sell then you are stuck with a loss and paper does not last for very long.If you have a tied sale ( people who have committed to buying them already) then they can be printed but even then the money that you will make is not much. Alternatively, contact the director of established card companies. Request them to design/earmark a few cards for you and give a part of the proceeds to your charity. Many of them - Archies, Hallmark, ITC - take on a few charities every year. They print and sell the cards which have the logo of the charity on them and give a percentage to the charity. Enter into a written agreement with regard to the percentage to be given to your charity of the total sales from each outlet all over the city/country. Once it has been finalised you can show the samples to corporates and request them to buy these cards.If it goes will, the card company will repeat this every year as it increases their sales as well. 34. AUTOGRAPH SALES Many people are fond of collecting autographs of famous people, be it film or pop stars, models, ministers, politicians, cricketers. They keep writing to these people for their autographs. Since most of the time they are busy only a few may oblige. You can make a list of famous people and send them blank cards with a polite request to sign them, giving the reason as to why you are asking for it and explaining to them that the money collected from the sale of autographs will go to your charity. Send them your charity’s brochure and self addressed stamped envelopes as they may not bother to get one themselves. When you start receiving them, put them into plastic covers so that they remain intact. Be patient as it may take 6-8 months to receive replies. Once you have collected 100 or more, you can sell them through an auction. Send information of what you did with the money collected through their autograph sales to the celebrity so that he will help you again. 35. BOOT SALE You can raise money through a weekly/monthly boot or jumble sale to which members or outside donors contribute things that are no more of use to them: books, clothes and toys, stationary, games, showpieces, artificial jewellery and so on. Collect items that have a resaleable value, and prepare a list with the item’s name and price. Put price tags on each item and spread by word of mouth about the jumble sale. Put flyers in departmental stores, beauty parlours, clinics, colony gates, etc. You can also drop in slips in the residents letterboxes. One handwritten slip can be xeroxed and disturbed. The money collected may vary for each sale but can be used for buying food and medicines for the colony’s homeless animals on a regular basis. 36. LUCKY DIP You can organise a ‘Lucky Dip’ every Sunday in a central park, where people of all age groups can participate in your game. Fill a bucket with water and place a bangle or small bowl in it. It should be slightly heavy so that it does not float in water. Invite people to try their luck by throwing a 50 paise or one rupee coin into the bucket aiming at the bangle or the bowl. It should fall inside the bangle or bowl only. For Rs. 10/- you can give three chances to throw the coin. If they lose in all the chances you get to keep the money. If they get lucky even once or in all the three chances, you pay double the amount. This not only keeps the people entertained but helps you earn small sums of money as well. 37. DISCOURSE SESSIONS Everyday we see or listen to religious people on television and radio. Their discourse sessions are attended by thousands of people all over India.Many of them have the ability to raise large funds for a project. Get a list of the popular speakers with a large number of followers (e.g.Murari Bapu, Sudhanshu Maharaj etc). Meet them personally requesting them to help your charity raise funds by speaking about what it does for the animals and how the money will be utilised. You can have boxes taken round the hall by volunteers. Distribute leaflets/brochures and membership forms. You are sure to get new members and donations. Leave your name and contact number with the administration office where such sessions are held. People may like to contribute later. 38. TEMPLE ALMS Go to the local temples in your area requesting the temple administrators to allow you to keep donation boxes in the premises for public offerings (charava). Usually all kind of offerings are deposited with the temple’s trust. If the trust agrees, instead of the donation boxes the temle can give a part of the offerings to your charity. You can put a table (if the authorities allow) in the compound or outside with your organisation’s brochures, pamphlets, membership forms and a donation box. This will help in building people’s trust that their money is being used for a good cause and make new members as well. 39. BENEFITTING FROM DISCOUNTS You can buy specific books that are not available in the market at a discount of 30-40 percent directly from the distributor or publisher and then sell them at full price. The balance amount goes to your charity. 40. ENGRAVING BRICKS Each person who donates a specific amount gets his name engraved on a brick which is used for building a shelter. For a larger donation the shelter can name a room in the nameof the donor. Encourage people to donate by engraving their names on the bricks being used for your shelter/hospital or water troughs. The donor names may not even be put on each brick but make a note of each contributor and a special book listing every donor can be drawn up on completion of the building and kept on public display. A mural on a wall can be decorative as well as informative. You could persuade a local business to buy a whole wall. Specify the amounts for all the items such as bricks/tiles, walls, rooms/sheds to be named after the donor before collecting donations as some may give a very small amount and still expect this publicity. 41. BIRTHDAY PARTIES AT ANIMAL SHELTERS Encourage your friends and relatives to organise birthday parties at your shelter cum hospital. Request each one to bring home made food for the animals at the shelter. The money meant to buy presents for the birthday boy/girl can be given for medicines for the shelter animals. This kind of party is unusual and might work for people always looking for new ideas for entertainment. You can make fliers and hand them out in schools. 42. RANGOLI/MEHENDI DECORATION Learn a skill like making rangoli or mehendi decorations. There are many books available in the market that teach these arts. You can do it at weddings or festivals like teej and karvachauth and charge money for your services. 43. RAKHIS Make rakhis with different motifs on them. Take 2-3 satin ribbons, zari or thin silver/golden or coloured threads, make a plait and tie knots at the end of it. Put a small bunch of silver threads with different sized colored beads mounted one on top of another. You can stick little stars, add glitter to it. You can make small animal motifs - take silver foil and mould it in an abstract form or flowers and stick it on a small piece of cardboard of any shape (square/circle/ triangle/rhombus). You can put water proof colours on the foil to make it look more beautiful. Place this piece in the centre of the rakhi thread. Price them reasonably and sell it to your friends, neighbours and relatives. 44. PAINTING CERAMICS & SELLING POTTERY Ceramic painting is very easy. This does not require much of a skill but if you are good at painting, it is an advantage. You can ask your friends or family members to try their hand at it. Buy mugs, plates, tiles which are not very expensive from a local grocery store. Buy ceramic colours and paint brushes from the stationary shop - you can start off with a few primary colors and mix them to get more shades. Go through various magazines or books for designs or make your own. Bake the pottery according to the directions on the paint. When you have made a collection of your art work, put a price on it and sell it to your friends or at a fete. These make unique presents. Keep a few items at local boutiques. You can get professional studio potters to do a sale for you. Get a list of potters from art galleries and pottery teaching institutes. Contact each one of them sending them your proposal to contribute at least ten or more of their best works for the cause. Give a deadline or submission -but give them at least two months. You can contact potters from other cities as well if you or they can manage the transportation of their consignments safely. If not then stick to the ones in your city only. Ask them to mark their own prices including their costs and profits plus some margin for your charity as well. You can divide the sales 50-50 with them to allow for easy sharing. All this requires at least 4-5 months of planning in compiling the lists, writing or meeting each one of them personally, getting their approval, fixing up the date, venue and setting up the display, designing and printing of invitations, pre-publicising the event for reviews in newspapers and magazines, etc. Once you get all the pottery items, make sure that none of the pieces are broken during delivery and repack them properly. Keep a stock of bubblefilm, newspapers and brown tape. After that it becomes your responsibility to prevent any item from breaking. Each item should be properly marked with the potters initials, serial number and the price. Put all the lists together and compare them with the items received to avoid any confusion later on. Make a final list and xerox atleast 100 copies of the list for the visitors for easy identification of the potters’ work and their prices. Markers, labels and lists should be kept handy in case the price tags are misplaced or come off. To exhibit pottery, tables and pedestals will be required. Request galleries to give these on a minimum rent or for free. Put coloured paper or table clothes to cover the tables. Placing items on a flat base looks very monotonous so put bricks/boxes of different sizes under the cloth or cover them with coloured paper. Put each potter’s work together with a name tag in front. Props such as dry flowers/stems, coloured stones/ paper, wooden base, etc., can be used to add substance to certain items. If you can get someone to sponsor the printing of invitation cards and few catalogue, all the better. You can also get an advertisement in the local newspapers sponsored as well. Hold an exhibition at a cultural centre or local art gallery inviting potential buyers. Galleries also have a list of buyers so request them to share it with you. Give your exhibition a name and give details of the venue and mention a few names of the participants in your press releases and all of them on your invitation cards. Send one press release with photographs of the pottery to each newspaper and magazine. Send it to art critics also. Follow up by calling them up if they have received it or would like some more information about your charity and the event. This is essential to gain publicity for your cause and is an open invitation to all who would like to see or buy pottery, not because of the cause involved but are fond of that art form. Your volunteers should accompany the buyers to carry their items so that they can pick up more. A visitor should not like to go up and down in selecting and keeping the items at one place so there should be atleast 10-15 volunteers through out the day to help them around and manage the crowd as well. Two people should be at the exit with a list of each exhibitor to cancel out the items sold and note them down. Two for managing cash transactions and some volunteers to pack each item properly. Keep a supply of carry bags, bubble film/ newspapers, bindis, scissors, scotch tape, cartons, etc. If a buyer has selected an item but would like to make the payment later, put a bindi on it and make a note of his name/address/contact number at the cash counter. Make sure to take some advance payment as you would not like to hold up an item for a customer who has no intention of buying later on and losing out the money from others as well. When the exhibition is over, send a cheque with a thank you note to all the potters telling them how their participation helped you in generating funds for the cause. Write to the sponsors as well. Give reports to the press about the response from the public and the events’ success. This is the outline for any show that you may like to plan on these lines. 45. GROW A SAPLING Make a small nursery where you can sow the seeds of fruit, bird friendly trees and flower plants. Look after them and when the seed becomes a sapling or the flowers bloom, sell them to your neighbours, housing associations to be planted in their colonies. You can also sell them to companies, hotels and mandirs for planting them in their premises. Flowers get a lot of money especially, during valentine’s day, friendship or rose day, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Once you establish goodwill in the market, you can tie up with companies and hotels on contract basis which means that they will not buy flowers from anyone else but you. 46. SCRATCH CARDS Scratch cards are popular. You can make inexpensive cards - cut boxboards into small sizes like a magic cashcard with silver panels. Make it colourful so that it attracts attention. Write the product’s name or draw a picture or even put the item code number in a rectangular box. Cover it with a rubber solution so that the name/number is not visible. Let it dry. Make similar ones for the number of prizes you offer. Put prizes on just a limited number, few can have an amount of money to be donated to the charity and the rest can have a joker’s face with better luck next time! The total amount scratched off by the supporter determines his/her contribution to your group. You can tie up with local shops to give away small items as prizes. You can work it out either way - the shop hands over the prize directly to the winner upon being shown the card with the item or you can distribute prizes in the end when all the cards have been sold out. 47. PAINT A CANVAS Painting is both fun and creative. You can contact kindergarten schools and ask the principal or teachers to show you the artwork of the kids. As children are sensitive by nature and make things as they perceive, their works can be sometimes amazing. Like CRY picks up the designs from the children under their care and each card mentions the endorsements going to their charity. You can also contact polytechnics where art is taught as an individual subject and pick up the best works or ask each one of them to paint a canvas within a week’s time. It can be based on a theme which becomes restricted or allow them to display their own creative designs. The canvases can be put on exhibition at an art gallery or exhibition halls at hotels for five days. Invite a local personality for the inauguration for publicity and make him buy one as well. Find out if any showrooms are coming up in your area as they would like to buy paintings to decorate the place. Invite them to choose from your collection. You can also take pictures and show them to a card manufacturing company for printing them for your charity. This way you get the designs for free. The company can bear the costs and sell them through their outlets. You can get a certain percentage of the total sales. Publicity is very important to ensure that you sell all the canvases. Give out press releases with photographs giving the names of the schools/colleges who have contributed to your cause. You may get more support from other schools. 48. PICNICS AND OUTINGS FOR FAMILIES On weekends, families with children love to go out for picnics and that is the time you can step in with your own special catering service. Make use of your contacts - if you have friends or relatives in this business, encourage them to join hands with you. Ask them to provide their catering services through you on a commission basis. Make a deal - you get them the business and they offer their services. You can publicise this through printing one page leaflets about the quality of your service with your name and contact number in the end. Find out the place where the newspaper delivery men pick up their stocks from in the morning. Request them to distribute it with their newspapers. This service may take some time to start off well but be patient. Repeat this exercise every week. You can xerox leaflets for further distribution to institutions as well. To begin with try your friends and neighbours to place orders with you. This will help in spreading the service by word of mouth and make more contacts. If your service is good you might even get orders for catering to birthday parties. You can offer to look after them well without their being bothered to cook and pack