Running a charity is a great thing to do and certainly something to be applauded, but it’s not easy, and you’ll find that no matter what sector or niche you want to raise money for, there’s a lot of competition. There are thousands of charities all vying for the same money, and if you want to stand out, you’ll have a lot of work to do.
However, although this is important, it’s also crucial to save as much money as possible when you run a charity – this way, you can donate more to your specific good cause. With that in mind, here are some ways you can save money when running a charity so you can make the most of the good work you do.
Hire an Ad Agency
It might not seem to make much sense when you think that to save money, you need to hire an ad agency, but the truth is this can help hugely. Although you will need to spend money on the agency, if you choose a good one that really knows how to advertise when it comes to charities, you’ll be saving yourself a lot of time and effort coming up with ad campaigns yourself – that time and effort can be put to better use elsewhere.
On top of this, an ad agency will be able to offer you access to a variety of special grants, like the Good Ads grant, that will give you free advertising, and they’ll know how to use search advertising and other ideas to your advantage. All in all, although there will be an initial cost to consider, hiring experts is the best thing you can do to save money in the long run and gain more donations than you would have otherwise.
Use Technology
Technology can be one of the most useful things you can use when it comes to saving money for your charity yet still making the most of finding new donors. Tools like social media, video sites, and emails can all be used effectively to spread your message as widely as possible and bring in more donations.
The fact that this can all be done quickly and easily, often just using a smartphone, for example, means you’ll save money on finding new donors, which can be expensive if you use traditional methods, like direct mailing, for example. When you use technology, which might include creating an app or having a great website with interactive elements, you can be sure people will want to find out more about what you do and, ideally, give you money while you save money at the same time.
Use Your Volunteers Well
When you run a charity, you’ll need to employ people because if you want to be successful, you will need experts in place to help you, and they’ll be professionals who need to be paid. However, you can also have a good volunteer scheme in place, ensuring you can use people who don’t need to be paid to do some – perhaps the bulk – of your work.
The key is to take care of your volunteers so that they feel appreciated and want to keep coming back to help. Training more people because others have left will take time and money, but keeping happy volunteers will be much more cost-effective.