Several options are available to fund such a community activity as a book festival organized by a non profit organization. Though massive challenges exist in finding funds especially because of the current economic depression, the organizers of the event can try these methods in order to acquire funds to support the book festival. A commonly used method to solicit for funds which the organizers of the book fair can use to raise funds is to organize special charity events.
Through such charitable activities, the donor base for the community book festival will be increased as valuable publicity regarding the affairs of the festival will be highlighted (Berry & Arons, 2005). Despite the considerable amount of expenses involved in hosting such charity events, the recognition which the event will attract helps in advertising the event and can help form partnerships from local corporations.
Novel fundraising ideas likely to attract massive attention from members of public can help the organizers of the book festival to solicit enough funds to undertake the event. Currently, such novel ideas as selling items on eBay is an effective way in which a lot of funds can be availed to fund the event.
EBay which is the largest marketplace auction has a special program known as ‘EBay Giving Works’ in which non profits solicit funds through making direct sales or community selling of the auction items. Through community selling, eBay sellers are encouraged to donate some portion of the auction proceeds to specified non profit projects. Email advertising is another novel method to source for funds. Volunteers as well as anonymous visitors to the organizations’ website can be requested to fund the book festival.
Through online forums, the visitors of the website can be made aware of the community book festival and be requested to donate funds for the activity. Thus, the web portal of the organization should be geared towards fundraising solicitation as well as funding activities (Young, 2007). Through creation of a secure online donation page, guaranteed funds can be obtained. Internet donors as well as well wishers are a powerful and reliable means to pull funds.
The federal as well as State governments of USA offer grants to support the missions as well as activities of the Non profits (Berry & Arons, 2005). Organizers of the community book festival can get in touch with the relevant authorities and present their proposal for funding.
State and federal grants are geared towards financing community development projects as well as social services assistance programs. Acquiring funding through grants is not risky since the funds are intended to offer public service to members of the society. Nevertheless, a lot of research needs be done in order to know the right kind of Government grant to apply for to adequately cater for all the expenses of the community book festival.
Sourcing funds from corporations, federated funds as well as foundations which are philanthropic can an ideal way of getting funds for the community festival (Young, 2007). Genuine presentation of the usage of the funds is vital before the organizations can release the funds. Through selling of different gifts as well as goods, the organizers of the book festival will acquire a substantial amount of funds.
Forming business partnerships with people involved in sales can help increase sales. A mutually beneficial relationship will indeed be formed when the sellers give a certain percentage of the proceeds towards the book festival. It is important to make aware to the potential buyers about the partnership so that charitable persons can be motivated to purchase the products since they know some percentage of money will be used to fund a charitable cause.
In conclusion, sourcing for funds for a non profit community venture need be an activity that incorporates fun and thrill. The contributions obtained from donors must be used transparently. This will motivate them for any future requests.
References
Berry, J., Arons, D. (2005). A voice for non profits. Massachusetts: Brookings institution press, 2005.
Young, D. (2007). Financing nonprofits: putting theory into practice. New York: Rowman Altamira, 2007.