If you have a just cause and you need a donation to fund it, there are many methods you can use to achieve this. However, you will experience some challenges along the way, and here is why.

The problem that many organizations are facing these days is that people are leading much busier lives than they ever used to, so capturing their attention and keeping it is more difficult than ever.

Not to be discouraged, the most successful organizations are using new tactics to keep the donations pouring in and they’ve proven to be more effective than ever. In fact, overall charitable giving in the US actually increased 2.7% in the last year.

This article contains some tested methods you can utilize to help you get the need funding for your project. First, what are donations.

• What is Donation?
• How Can I Get Money For Donations?
• How to Receive Cash Donations
• Who Will Give Me Money For Free?
• What to Say When Asking For Donations
• 9 Websites Where You Can Get Strangers to Give You Money
• 6 Ways to Attract Donations From People Who Don’t Carry Cash
• Ask For Money From The Rich
• Wealthy People Willing to Help Those in Need
• How to Get People to Donate Money to You

What is Donation?

A donation is a gift someone gives to a cause they believe in. If you have ever put a dollar into a collection plate or hat, you have made a donation.

No one has to give a donation; donations are voluntary. In addition to disease research, many schools, arts groups, museums, churches, and groups that help the poor rely on donations.

Read Also: How to Acquire More Money Online Without a Credit Card

Donations usually take the form of money, but giving anything away to a cause could be considered a donation — like giving books to a library or bringing deviled eggs to a school potluck.

How Can I Get Money For Donations?

People often say that the hardest part of crowdfunding is asking for donations. Perhaps you’ve received donation requests from others (friends, family, your local public radio station), but you’ve never had to craft one yourself. 

Don’t worry, you can overcome the feeling of vulnerability that comes with asking for help by following our donation request tips

1. Inspire giving by telling your story honestly

If a donor connects to your story they will be more willing to donate. Keep your first ask simple, especially if you have a long story. Encourage potential donors to visit your page to get the full story—and to become part of it with their donation.

2. Tailor your message to who you are asking

The best way to receive a positive response—and a donation—is to appeal to each potential donor’s individual interests. If you know someone who would respond better to a warm, lighthearted email, keep your wording informal and bright.

For a colleague who may respond better to a formal approach, deliver your message accordingly.

Asking for personal donations

Sending a personal fundraising letter to potential donors can increase the number of donations you receive. This may sound time consuming, but it’s incredibly effective.

It separates your message from the dozens of spam requests a person might receive. And it shows that your request is about more than money—it’s about the relationship.

Asking for charity donations

If you’re raising money for a nonprofit, remember to emphasize the tax benefits of making a donation to your cause.

3. Create a sense of urgency

It’s important to convey a sense of urgency when sharing your fundraiser. Without that urgency, your potential donors may consider waiting to donate—requiring you to ask them again down the line.

Explain what will happen if you don’t raise the money, and you’ll likely see a spike in donations. Keep in mind that even negative consequences can still be framed in a positive light.

4. Use email to your advantage

One major strength of email: You can ask friends and family to forward the non-personalized portion of the message to their own circle. Consider crafting a block of text they can easily use for that purpose, and calling it out as such in your email.

5. Make it easy to donate

While this is obvious, it can be easy to forget: Make it easy for people to make a donation. Include the link to your fundraiser in your ask, and don’t be afraid to point out exactly where the donation button is located on your fundraiser. 

6. Be specific in your ask

Give potential donors specific reasons why they should donate to your cause. Some ways to be specific include using numbers, making a checklist, and listing expenses.

It can also be effective to get specific with the requested amounts—for example, “A $125 donation will allow Jenny to fill one month’s prescriptions.”

7. Get creative with how you ask

You don’t need to use a formula when it comes to crafting your donation requests. Start your request with the beneficiary’s favorite poem or song lyric? Sure. Include photos or videos? Absolutely. Format a request creatively? As long as it works.

Veering away from traditional formulas will make your fundraiser stand out. Just make sure the approach you choose fits your fundraiser and motivates people to get involved.

How to Receive Cash Donations

Open a bank account in the name of your organization or cause. This typically requires documentation, so bring along your charter, by-laws, articles of incorporation and other types of paperwork that can be used as proof of your organization’s mission and principles.

Mandate two signers for all cash transactions with your bank account. This “double-signature required” costs no more to implement but it goes a long way to reassuring donors and members alike that your organization is on the up and up.

Draft a standard “cash donation form” and require each gift giver to fill one out each time a contribution is made. This form should include the name of the donor, address and other contact information, a place for the cash amount, date and it should also spell out any terms under which the donation—all or in part—is allowable as a tax write-off. Add a line for the signature of the person accepting the donation.

Qualify every cash gift to make certain it fits within your organization’s mission. Make certain it has no “strings” attached and that there is no conflict of interest or quid pro quo implied within the contribution before your group accepts it.

Agree to a standard method for processing contribution box donations. Use what’s called a double-handed counting system requiring at least two members of the group to witness every donation box transaction.

Physical control of these boxes must be rigorously monitored. Keep a detailed record of the times, dates and people counting, transferring, depositing or otherwise moving donation box funds.

Set reporting limits for cash donations to create legal checks and balances. Some groups require consensus before a set amount can be accepted (e.g., $1,000) to make certain special interests are monitored on the group’s behalf.

Consider using a third party service like Pay Pal to process cash gifts. No website is required (though many clubs find it’s easy to link to Pay Pal via a homepage link) and supporters can make secure donations from their banks or credit cards.

The paper trail is comprehensive and easy-to-use. Pay Pal can also set up automatic monthly subscriptions for frequent givers.

Set up Excel (or other database software program) spreadsheets to track all cash receipts. Break out cash box donations, checks, credit card transactions, Pay Pal proceeds and auxiliary revenue receipts to keep tabs on where the group’s cash is coming from for future marketing efforts.

Work with a banker or accountant if your membership does not include a team member comfortable with finances. Always send a thank you letter to gift givers immediately after their cash donation has been received.

This extra touch, when sent in a timely manner, reminds the donor of their contribution, speaks volumes about the group’s gratitude and sets the stage for future campaign appeals.

Who Will Give Me Money For Free?

People who give money away really wishes to give a portion of their abundance reserve to individuals who are having money related issues. Be that as it may, some philanthropy programs don’t have straightforward giving procedure.

Indeed, even the ones that do have straightforward methods can’t permit coordinate exchange between the givers and beneficiaries.

Accordingly, destinations that give chance for individuals who give cash away online start to seem everywhere throughout the World Wide Web. These destinations permit individuals in require asking cash on the web and contributor to pick which individual to offer cash to.

There are additionally destinations which are taken care of by one individual benefactor where individuals can ask for gift after expressing their causes.

There are a few reasons making individuals ask for individuals who give cash away on the web. A few people are having trouble with satisfying their fundamental needs.

They frantically require cash to purchase sustenance, garments, utilities, and paying for their lease. They may likewise require help with paying their bills, for example, telephone bills or home loan bills.

These rich individuals additionally help understudies who are having trouble with paying their educational cost and in the edge of dropping out from their investigation.

They likewise help cover bills to guarantee that the understudies will have sufficient stipend for living while at the same time examining.

What to Say When Asking For Donations

How you ask is just as important as who you ask to support your organization. As Hamza Yusuf said, “Don’t ever diminish the power of words. Words move hearts, and hearts move limbs.”

It comes down to this: you need strategy and the right words to inspire your partners to donate. Here are five easy ways to boost your wording when asking for donations.

1. Their name. Using a prospect’s name is like music to their ears. It creates a personal connection and shows the reader/listener that you’re talking to them individually and not the hundreds of people you’re sending the letter to (even if you are). It’s a way to help them feel important and that they’re more than just a record in your database.

2. You. After a person’s name, “you” is the sweetest word ever heard. Used correctly, it creates a 1-1 conversation, even in writing. In an ask, use “you” to show the donor what’s possible – “You can help change a life.” And that’s much more compelling than “Give so we can meet our goal.”

3. Together. The word “Together” is all about relatedness and belonging, which we all crave. When you show a prospect how they can partner with you to make a difference, it shows them how their donation plays a part. They can envision their role and how they’ll help change a life. Most people WANT to make a difference in the world, but they either don’t know how or don’t have time. By working together with your nonprofit, they can fulfill their personal desires to help others.

4. Because. This transition word helps you explain things. It’s a connector that shows reasons, which are important in fundraising. For example “Please give today, because children are waiting for help learning to read” shows WHY they should give today. Using “because” can help you get into the detail of why your work matters, which will connect your reader/listener emotionally.

5. Now. People give when there’s a sense of urgency. Using the word “now” shows people that immediate help is needed. If your need isn’t a priority for the prospect, they won’t give. Create a sense of urgency by explaining why their support is needed now and what could happen if they don’t give.

9 Websites Where You Can Get Strangers to Give You Money

1. GoFundMe

• Best for: Individuals
• Funding rules: You can still get your money even if it’s only partially funded
• Cost: A 2.9 percent processing fee and 30 cents per donation

Probably best-known for its funding capacity for medical and hospital bills, GoFundMe can help you raise money for just about any fundraising campaign and there are no deadlines or goal requirements.

You’ll have to state your case and explain why you need others to provide financial donations to you.

GoFundMe is mobile-friendly and is easy to share on social media. Like Crowdfunder, GoFundMe encourages you to give donors consistent updates on your progress, outside of just raising the money.

In total, users on GoFundMe have raised over $5 billion.

There is a standard processing fee of 2.9 percent and 30 cents per donation fee. You can withdraw your money at any time. If you’re interested in using GoFundMe, read through their FAQ page

2. Crowdfunder

• Best for: Small businesses that need capital
• Funding rules: You need a term sheet and pitch deck
• Cost: It’s subscription-based that starts at $299 a month

Do you have a business you’re building and need to raise capital? This is exactly what Crowdfunder helps you do, however, your business idea needs to be fully planned with all of the necessary documents, such as a business plan.

Crowdfunder connects you to investors who are going to want to fully understand how your business is going to yield them a return that’s worth it for them. Think: SharkTank and the questions the sharks often ask the contestants.

In order to get started, you need a term sheet and pitch deck.

The site has helped startups raise over $150M and fundraising fees start at $299 a month, with their premium package costing $499 a month.

3. Fundly

• Best for: Anyone
• Funding rules: You can still get your money even if it’s only partially funded
• Cost: Free to create and share your campaign, but they take a 4.9 percent fee from each donation, plus a credit card processing fee of 3 percent

Similar to Indiegogo, Fundly is flexible with the types of campaigns you want to create. The site, which has helped people raise over $330 million, doesn’t have any restrictions around “raise requirements” and doesn’t have start up fees either.

When you land on their homepage and before you start your campaign, they ask you to choose whether you are an individual or nonprofit. If you are an individual you can log in using your Facebook account.

If you want to see how others are using the site and what kinds of campaigns are successful, can filter categories to show everything from the most popular projects to memorials and trips.

4. Indiegogo

• Best for: Individuals and nonprofits
• Funding rules: You can still get your money even if it’s only partially funded
• Cost: 5 percent fee

If you have something interesting to share with the community, Indiegogo is your site.  It’s another popular site to raise money is Indiegogo, which is a few years older than Indiegogo project requirements are different than Kickstarter.

For one, they allow you to set up nonprofit projects and as long as the campaign isn’t illegal, you can post it. Their marketplace is filled with creative and innovative ideas based around tech, design and more. The products posted on Indiegogo may inspire people to buy since it’s not on the mainstream market yet.

If your project is only partially funded, that’s okay too, you can extend your campaign with InDemand, which doesn’t have any fundraising target or deadline limits.

If you’re not able to stick to your shipping schedule, Indiegogo refunds the purchase to buyers.

5. Kickstarter

• Best for: Those who have a business idea, product or invention
• Funding rules: There’s no partial funding allowed
• Cost: A 5 percent cut of total funds raised, plus payment processing fees of 5 percent and 20 cents per pledge

Launched in 2009, Kickstarter has become a household name in crowdfunding.

Some of the most memorable Kickstarter campaigns include feline-centric card game Exploding Kittens (raised over $8M), The Pebble Time Watch (raised $20M), and The Veronica Mars Movie Project raising $5.7M.

The site is geared to products people have created.

The more information you can provide about your project, the better. Kickstarter allows you to customize your own page and add your own videos to make your idea stand out.

Kickstarter outlines clear project eligilibity, and your project needs to have a clear timeline, from start to finish. Get details for your requirements for projects.

Remember that partial funding doesn’t count, so if your goal is $40,000 and you only raised $10,000, you won’t be able to withdraw that money. Project timelines can be anywhere from 30 to 60 days.

Also, you can’t set up projects that pertain to charity or offer any kind of equity or investment opportunities. Here’s a list of what they don’t allow.

Payments are accepted on Amazon.

6. FundMyTravel

• Best for: Individuals who need money to travel
• Funding rules: None
• Cost: Free

FundMyTravel was specifically geared to help those who want need funds to travel the world. The site was started to help those in need of money for travel-focused campaigns.

Based on what was posted from the community on their homepage, most travel-related funds that were fulfilled had to do with volunteering for altruistic causes in poor African countries, or continuing one’s education in a foreign country with helping others as the end goal, once that person graduates.

If your cause falls within these parameters, FundMyTravel might be a solid option for you to post your campaign. All you need to do is create your campaign, share it through social media and email, and then get funded

It’s free to create your account and share your campaign. Once people donate, FundMyTravel takes a 5 percent cut.

7. CyberBeg

• Best for: Individuals who have financial problems
• Funding rules: None
• Cost: Standard PayPal fees for each transaction

CyberBeg is a site that provides help for people who are “financially unfortunate.” When you land on the site, it almost looks like it might be a scam just from the noticeably outdated design.

However, what they lack in design, they make up for in no fees being taken out of your transaction when someone donates to your cause. The only fees are taken from your PayPal transaction.

CyberBeg notes on their FAQ page that the PayPal transaction is not necessarily anonymous because PayPal displays either your name or email address on the page. It tells you how you can change your settings on PayPal to avoid this problem.

8. Begging Money

• Best for: Individuals who have financial problems
• Funding rules: None
• Cost: Standard PayPal fees for each transaction

Begging Money is a straightforward site that works a little differently than Kickstarter or Indiegogo in that it doesn’t charge any fees from the donations you receive.

You receive the funds through PayPal and in the sign-up prices, you need to create a PayPal.me link to protect yourself from scammers. You need to write at least 400 words explaining why you are asking for money and then select the appropriate category for your request.

The requirements for signing up are fairly simple and they encourage you to be sincere and truthful about your situation.

If you want to increase visibility of your request letter, you can upgrade and pay for this option, but just know that there are no refunds if you upgrade.

9. BoostUp

• Best for: Individuals who have long-term financial goals, such as buying a home or car
• Funding rules: None
• Cost: Free, but you have to connect your bank accounts to the platform

BoostUp is a blend of donations and a savings account, as they help you with your long-term goals too. You need to have a savings account in order to start a project with BoostUp.

Friends and family can donate to your fund, along with various brand partners the company works with. For example, for a limited time, they offered a $500 boost towards the purchase of a new car.

6 Ways to Attract Donations From People Who Don’t Carry Cash

Charity apps

With people everywhere glued to their smartphones, it makes sense for fundraisers to find inventive ways to use them.

Among the best-known charity apps is Charity Miles, which tracks how far a phone’s owner walks or runs, and then donates accordingly to their chosen charity (over 30 are featured) through Apple Pay, PayPal or other means.

The more recently-launched SnapDonate allows a smartphone camera to recognize charity logos, so that users can donate on the spot (currently the Android version can recognize the top 150 or so U.K. charities).

Some organizations even design their own apps: the UN’s Share the Meal allows users to quickly donate $0.50 to feed a child for a day, with over 16 million meals paid for to date.

So should all charities be building apps? Website developer White Fuse says definitely not: mobile app downloads are decreasing overall, and building one is a huge job.

While charity apps are an interesting way to engage people beyond the financial transaction, Pearson says they’re unlikely to be “as disruptive” as contactless technology.

Text/SMS donations

Text or SMS donations have huge potential: after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, they contributed an estimated $43 million to relief efforts.

The amounts tend to be small, but there’s evidence that people are open to spending more. In 2017, Comic Relief introduced a £20 option for text donations during its annual Red Nose Day fundraiser — these maximum donations alone totaled £5.4 million.

The U.K.’s Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA) expects the value of donations by text message to grow by nearly £10 million in 2017/18, Third Sector reports, generating £124 million income.

About 60 percent of SMS donations came from fundraising phone-ins such as Red Nose Day in 2016-17, according to the PSA. But text-to-donate is a viable route for smaller charities too, says Cause4’s Wright: “It’s relatively old, simple technology that has the potential to engage different groups and respond to specific events or campaigns.”

The simplicity of texting is part of its appeal, agrees de Gregorio: the fundraising technologies or ideas that work are those built on existing behaviour, rather than requiring extra steps. “Sending a text is a very frictionless way of donating, you get phone out, type in a code and send.

That’s super simple compared to going to a website, giving your name and address, making a Gift Aid declaration and so on.” SMS is also a great way to keep in touch with supporters who opt in to communications: 90 percent of text messages are read within an hour of being received.

Enable donations on social media

Driving visitors to an organization’s website is challenging even for big-name brands, says Wright, so go where your potential donors are. That might be on social media.

While Twitter’s #DONATE function requires a few steps before a donor can make one-click donations, Facebook’s Donate button is more straightforward. Available in the U.S. since 2015, it has just been rolled out in the EU — and de Gregorio says it’s a “phenomenal” opportunity.

“If you can fuse the sense of community with amazing content that inspires people to give, the potential is massive,” he says. De Gregorio’s team managed the fundraising for a telethon in the U.S in early 2017 — one of the first to be broadcast live on Facebook Live and use Facebook Donate. They raised close to $280,000 via the new function in just a few hours.

There is a cost (Facebook charges a 5 percent fee on donations), but this shouldn’t put small charities off. “You’re not having to invest in buying a technology,” de Gregorio says.

“And if you aren’t making it easy to give, your potential supporters may seek out an alternative organization to give to… we encourage organizations of any size who’ve got a Facebook presence to be the first with tools like these.”

Optimize your website for online donations

Start by making your website donation route as user-friendly as possible.

“Too many charities make this long or unwieldy,” says Wright. “Most online visitors aren’t keen to share lots of personal information or fill out forms, when a simple click on PayPal would do the trick.”

Make your ‘donate now’ button — which you can download from most online donation websites — easy to find, she adds. And provide options: suggest different amounts and remind users of the difference they can make by giving examples of what each will pay for.

New software as a service (SaaS) technology, already popular among small businesses selling online, is also making it easier for small charities to have a fully integrated donation facility on their website without needing much customization.

It also avoids sending donors to a third-party provider, which is usually branded differently and incurs a fee, says Andy Pearson, managing director at web developers White Fuse, whereas SaaS offers “free or very low-cost setup options” and competitive ongoing subscription prices.

Whether paying third-party fees or investing in their own website, the costs can feel like a luxury for small charities. But it’s an essential way to “future-proof” the organization, Paul de Gregorio, director of digital engagement at Open Creates told MissionBox.

“Irrespective of their size, organizations need to make sure their sites are beautiful and work extremely well, including on mobile,” he says. “A very high proportion of donations are not completed because of a badly-designed process.”

Ask For Money From The Rich

Get in Touch People Who Give Money Away to Individuals

The first thing to do to is to Get in Touch People Who Give Money Away to Individuals. Find their profile and find as many information as possible. It can be their identity, their life-style, their hobby, their profession, their social life and their all activities. It’s all about them.

Most millionaires are usually not active in social media. Social media is a kind of restriction and wasting time for them.

Their life generally focuses on building the business, sending their children to education and personality classes in the purpose of growing them up with millionaires’ minds, involving their wives in some social activities, and gathering with their groups as millionaires.

So, how do you find their profile? Find it on magazines, books and exactly on internet, too. There are usually special magazines for businessman or millionaires in which the contents are all about them.

Read books is also beneficial. Read especially biographies. Great people, in this case, the millionaires, are often written in books for their inspiration and life story.

Don’t forget to connect with the internet, too. It is quite possible that some big websites display the millionaires’ profile to public.

Now a big question is how you get in touch with them. Make sure you have already had their profile on your hand.

Get yourself involve in one of their life-parts which may be joining their hobby, being their work partner, being a friend for their families, offering and providing services to them, and etc.

Email Rich People for Money

After getting yourself involved in the millionaires’ life parts, be their mate. They will be very generous to you if you have already been their mate.

.Doing hobby together, working in partnership, rising interaction with their families, and offering them services are the ones called good personal approach. Got this?

They would include you to their daily life interaction, for instance, appreciating you with party invitation, job offering in high position, money loan, or even money cash bonus.

Remember! “What you pay what you get”. Your good deeds toward them will be your big benefits. Furthermore, if you provide a big loyalty then you deserve to request money from millionaires.

Find Millionaires That Give Money to Help People

Not only the actors or actresses who can attract people by being “eye-catching” but you yourself also have a right to do it. Catch their attention with your personality, skill, attitude, ability and loyalty.

Therefore, they might see you as an important person to get in touch with, a potential partner to recruit, and a trusted one to share a business with. Thus, you are able to result or request money from millionaires, right?

Work for them

Considered as a simple way, working for them is always possible. Will Smith said, “If you want to be rich, work!” Work for them and derive money from them. That is the best you can do.

Find List of Millionaires Who Give Away Money

Almost millionaires are very keen on collecting branded goods either for daily accessories or collection. Offer them one of which with special prices and get them as your best customers.

In this case, your target is the woman, girls, or other family members in the group of millionaires. They usually consume things in a very expensive price.

This way, you can make use of their concern and attraction to make or request money from millionaires.

Charity : the God’s formula

You know Bill Gates? Mark Zuckerberg? They are one of the millionaires who have a high social interest in giving fund to those who need it, either in the field of education, social life, orphanage life, or other fields. We can’t be like those persons at first, however, we could do the same as they do

Charity is the God’s formula. The more you give, the merrier you get. The bigger you give, the best you will get. Good deeds will simply return in the same way.

What if you have nothing to share or give as a charity? Well, it’s not a big deal. Take this case as an example: you may invite orphans to do some activities, such as selling, in which the profit will be all contributed to them. God knows what you do in the world for the good one, He will pay you bigger than you have actually done.

Get married with one of them

This last secret may be uncommon. However, it is quite possible and reasonable. You can simply refer to the life story of Nia Ramadhani, one of the most famous Indonesian actress.

She tried really hard to find a way becoming fulfilled in life. It was not easy. One of her smartest choices was to get married with a son of wealth. His father is a billionaire.

Nia Ramadhani was then destined to become a daughter-in-law of one of the richest families. She can now, one way or another, request funds for her investments. 

Wealthy People Willing to Help Those in Need

1. Chuck Feeney

Lifetime Giving: $7.5 billion (all of current net worth)

Feeney decided to give all of the cash he made from Duty Free shops to good causes via his The Atlantic Philanthropies. Now 81 years old, he’s even given his house away and lives in rented accommodation.

2. Karen and Jon Huntsman

Lifetime Giving: $1.55 billion (160% of current net worth)

Husband and wife team, the Huntsman’s made their billions through chemicals. Jon survived prostate and mouth cancer and, as a result, established the Huntsman Cancer Institute.

3. W. Barron Hilton

Lifetime Giving: $1.3 billion (137% of current net worth)

Barron Hilton, of Hilton Hotels fame, joined the company bearing his father’s name in 1950. Following his father’s example, he has committed the bulk of his personal fortune to the Hilton Foundation.

4. Gordon and Betty Moore

Lifetime Giving: $5.37 billion (71% of current net worth)

Moore co-founded Intel in 1968 but these days he is focused on philanthropy. He retired from his corporate positions in 2006 and currently runs the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation with his wife

5. Eli and Edythe Broad

Lifetime Giving: $4.22 billion (57% of current net worth)

Through The Broad Foundation, billionaire financier and housebuilder Eli Broad and wife Edythe have created groundbreaking independent institutions in each of its three investment areas of public education, science, and the arts.

6. Irwin and Joan Jacobs

Lifetime Giving: $706 million (50% of current net worth)

Irwin Jacobs cofounded mobile chipmaker Qualcomm in 1985, but since retiring from its board in 2012, he has focused on giving away his fortune through the Jacobs Family Foundation. It funds community change and works to empower individuals.

7. George Soros

Lifetime Giving: $12.1 billion (49% of current net worth)

Known as the man who broke the Bank of England, billionaire Hungarian financier Soros is also one of the world’s most generous people. He launched his philanthropic work in South Africa in 1979. Since then he has given most of his wealth to his Open Society Foundations, which works in over 100 countries around the world.

8. Julian and Josie Robertson

Lifetime Giving: $1.56 billion (43% of current net worth)

The “Wizard of Wall Street” Julian Robertson earned his billions from hedge funds. Now alongside his wife and family, he has created the Robertson Foundation to fund not-for-profit groups and to encourage philanthropy from the billions he made from the financial boom in the 1980s and 1990s

9. Bill & Melinda Gates

Lifetime Giving: $32.91 billion (41% of current net worth)

Easily the most famous philanthropists in the world, the Gates’ have encouraged other billionaires to give their cash to their foundation. Warren Buffett did so saying he didn’t have a clue how to give his immense cash away.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation issues grants for initiatives and programs across the globe, focusing on agricultural development, emergency relief, global libraries, urban poverty, global health, and education

10. Warren Buffett

Lifetime Giving: $25.54 billion (39% of current net worth)

Despite being one of the world’s richest men, Warren Buffett always shunned the trappings of wealth and still lives in the first house he bought. Buffett made a commitment to gradually give all of his cash to philanthropic foundations and will leave the bulk of his wealth to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

How to Get People to Donate Money to You

1. Create great content and stories

People love a good story. Creating engaging and relatable content, whether in newsletters or YouTube videos, is a surefire way to draw supporters to your cause. Show the journey of one impact client in an inspiring way, and people will line up to make that transformation go further.

2. Report on the impact of donations

If you want people to give you their hard-earned money, you’ve got to show them that it will make a difference. Let people know exactly what their donation will do – whether it’s buying school supplies for one student, feeding a family for a week, or building materials for renovating a community center.

After your campaign is over and the money has been put to use, give an update on how the project went. Show your donors what they accomplished.

3. Use social proof

Social proof is the “everyone is doing it” mentality. When people see those around them contributing to a cause, it makes them think that it’s the right thing to do.

You can take advantage of social proof by boosting your followers, letting people publish to Facebook or Twitter when they make a donation, and sharing testimonials of volunteers who work with you.

4. Make online donations easy

The smoother your interface, the easier it is for people to donate. You don’t want potential supporters to get frustrated halfway through because your donation process is tedious. Make giving convenient by setting suggested giving levels. The fewer clicks, the better.

5. Say thank you

If you want donors to come back again and again, show your appreciation again and again too. You can give shout-outs on Facebook, Twitter, or other social networks. Send individual letters and emails, and give updates on the campaign’s success.

Make donors feel like a part of the team. For more tips on this, check out some creative ways to say thank you and ways to build community with your supporters.

6 Organisations That Donate

GiveDirectly

GiveDirectly is a nonprofit organization operating in East Africa that helps families living in extreme poverty by making unconditional cash transfers to them via mobile phone. GiveDirectly transfers funds primarily to people in Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda.

GiveDirectly collects donations from private donors on its website as well as foundations. In 2015, the organization received a $25 million donation from Good Ventures, a private foundation started by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and his wife, former Wall Street Journal writer Cari Tuna.

In 2017 GiveDirectly received $5 million in Bitcoin from the Pineapple Fund.

Charity Navigator

Charity Navigator is a charity assessment organization that evaluates charitable organizations in the United States, operating as a free 501(c) organization, that accepts no advertising or donations from the organizations it evaluates.

Charity Navigator was launched in spring 2001 by John P. (Pat) Dugan, a wealthy pharmaceutical executive and philanthropist. 

The group’s mission was to help “donors make informed giving decisions and enabling well-run charities to demonstrate their commitment to proper stewardship” of donor dollars. Initially, Charity Navigator provided financial ratings for 1,100 charities, and it has data on 8,500 as of mid-2017.

In 2011, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance selected Charity Navigator as a Money Management Innovation for “helping millions of people become philanthropists,” and it was on Time magazine’s top 50 websites of 2006 list.

However, in a 2014 Chronicle of Philanthropy interview on the nonprofit sector, Nicholas Kristof identified it with a trend he deplored: “There is too much emphasis on inputs and not enough on impact,” Kristof said.

“This has been worsened by an effort to create more accountability through sites like Charity Navigator. There is so much emphasis now on expense ratios that there is an underinvestment in administration and efficiency.”

A 2014 survey of attitudes toward charity evaluation lauded Charity Navigator in six of seven categories.

Feeding America

Feeding America is a United States–based nonprofit organization that is a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks that feed more than 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community-based agencies. 

Forbes ranks it as the second largest U.S. charity by revenue. Feeding America was known as America’s Second Harvest until August 31, 2008.

Feeding America works to educate the general public and keep them informed about hunger in America. The national office produces educational and research papers that spotlight aspects of hunger and provides information on hunger, poverty and the programs that serve vulnerable Americans.

Feeding America’s public policy staff works with legislators, conducting research, testifying at hearings and advocating for changes in public attitudes and laws that support Feeding America’s network and those the organization serves.

In 2017, Feeding America announced a plan to increase the nutritional value of food from food banks. By 2023, the group plans to offer more fruits and vegetables, and provide training so they can distribute more produce, whole grains and lean proteins.

There are more than 200 Feeding America food banks, each of which is “notable” for the work it does in its own area. A complete and current, list is available at the Feeding America web site

Global Giving

The GlobalGiving Foundation is a US-based non-profit organization that individuals and companies can donate to through the website globalgiving.org. It is supported by a network of implementing, corporate and institutional partners.

Potential donors can browse and select from a wide offering of projects that are organized by geography or by themes such as health care, the environment and education. 

A donor can contribute any amount using a credit/debit card, check, PayPal, Apple Pay, stock transfer, DAF, or M-Pesa. Donors can purchase gift cards which recipients can redeem in support of a project of their choosing.

GlobalGiving funds itself by retaining a 5-12% nonprofit support fee plus a 3% third-party processing fee for each donation. 

The nonprofit support fee covers the cost of providing support and training to nonprofits, conducting rigorous due diligence on organizations, and conducting field visits. GlobalGiving’s administrative overhead is 3.0%.

Companies can also use the GlobalGiving platform to allow their employees, customers, partners, or foundation entities to donate directly to grassroots social and economic development projects around the world.

GlobalGiving as a web-based fundraising platform is fundamentally different from the World Bank Development Marketplace because it is based on social networks and real-time feedback between donors and grassroots social entrepreneurs or “project leaders.”

Each organization pitches one or more development projects to prospective donors on the website. The funding decision for each project is crowd-sourced to the public, rather than determined by a team of experts, as in the Development Marketplace.

However, in practice, organizations that promote themselves through email and social media campaigns vastly improve their fundraising potential. Each project depends on evangelists (people who spread good news) to flourish.

The funding and project update history for each project is public and acts as a form of reputation system for the organization implementing the project.

American Red Cross

The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as The American National Red Cross, is a humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States.

It is the designated US affiliate of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the United States movement to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

The organization offers services and development programs

How Can I Get Free Money From The Government

Whoever said “nothing in life comes free” didn’t take into account government programs that help people pay for things like college, day care and a new home.

Most of these programs are funded by taxes, so technically you pay something, but they’re as close as you’ll get to getting free money from the government. Note that the COVID-19 pandemic may affect the availability of some of these programs.

1. Get help with utility bills

Need help paying your heating or phone bill? These programs may be able to help:

• The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program helps low-income households cover heating and cooling costs. Grants are issued via states, which receive funding from the Department of Health and Human Services. Each state sets its own eligibility requirements, including income levels.
• The Lifeline program offers discounted phone and internet service. Lifeline is an income-based program, so you must meet certain eligibility requirements.

2. Find money for child care

Day care is a major expense for many families. Annual costs for infant care range from just shy of $5,000 in Mississippi to more than $22,600 in Washington, D.C., according to the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit organization focused on low- and middle-income workers.

The Child Care and Development Fund can help ease the burden for low-income families. Administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the fund gives states, territories and tribes money to distribute to families to help pay for child care.

Grants are income-based and typically cover care for children under 13. Find the Child Care and Development Fund contact for your state.

3. Recover unclaimed money

This isn’t so much free money as it is money owed to you. It could be a long-forgotten deposit paid to a utility company, a lost savings bond, unclaimed life insurance benefits or an uncashed paycheck.

These unclaimed funds are turned over to the state when the owner can’t be located, often due to a clerical error or companies having an old address on file. Visit unclaimed.org, a site affiliated with the National Association of State Treasurers, to find out if you have money waiting to be claimed.

During the 2018 fiscal year, West Virginia and Maine each doled out about $17 million in unclaimed funds. In 2019 Florida returned $323 million.

4. Get down payment assistance

You want to buy a home but can’t afford a down payment. Enter state-based down payment assistance. These grants and loans help you cover the upfront costs of purchasing a home.

In Nevada, for example, prospective homeowners who qualify can pay a fee and receive a grant of up to 5% of their home loan value to put toward a down payment and closing costs. Help isn’t reserved for low-income borrowers. For government loans, Nevada’s grant program is available to those with an annual income below $98,500.

5. Find tax credits for health insurance

The future of the Affordable Care Act is murky at best. But for now, the premium tax credits issued via the program are alive and well. Here’s how they work:

Individuals and families who buy coverage through the government’s health insurance marketplace (Healthcare.gov) can qualify for a credit toward their insurance premiums.

The credit can be paid directly to your insurance provider, lowering your monthly payments, or paid out as a tax credit when you file your return.

6. Apply for college grants

College grants, like the federal Pell Grant, can make it easier to pay for college. Students who are eligible for the Pell Grant could get up to $6,345 for the 2020-21 award year.

Read Also: Making a Living Selling Woodwork Online

The exact amount awarded is based on factors that include financial need, the cost of attendance and enrollment status. Students can apply for the Pell Grant by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. The application is also used to qualify for many state and institutional grants and scholarships.

Other federal grants for college include:

• The Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant.
• The Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant.
• The Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant.

You can also look for scholarships using the U.S. Department of Labor’s scholarship search tool.

How do You Encourage Donations Quotes

Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little.” Edmund Burke

“Fundraising is the gentle art of teaching the joy of giving.” Hank Rosso

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much” Helen Keller

“Only by giving are you able to receive more than you already have” Jim Rohn

“It’s not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving.” Mother Teresa

“Giving is not just about making a donation. It is about making a difference.” Kathy Calvin

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Winston Churchill

“I don’t think you ever stop giving. I really don’t. I think it’s an on-going process. And it’s not just about being able to write a check. It’s being able to touch somebody’s life.” Oprah Winfrey

“Love grows by giving. The love we give away is the only love we keep. The only way to retain love is to give it away.” Elbert Hubbard

“You cannot receive what you don’t give. Outflow determines inflow.” Eckhart Tolle

“The manner of giving is worth more than the gift” Pierre Corneille

“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” Vincent Van Gogh

“Charity begins at home but should not end there.” Thomas Fuller

“No one has ever become poor from giving.” Mary Angelou

“The highest forms of understanding we can achieve are laughter and human compassion.” Richard P. Feynman

“If you need to raise funds from donors, you need to study them, respect them, and build everything you do around them.” Jeff Brooks

“We need to value donors as much as we need value from them.” Reinier Spruit

“Giving to those in need will bring more joy than money could ever buy.” Dave Ramsey

“Giving is an attitude. It is not dependent on the amount of money in your bank account. It’s a heart issue.” John Di Lemme

“Happiness can be the result, not of spending more money on oneself, but rather of giving money away to others.” Christian Smith

How do I Write a Donation Letter

1. Salutation. Greet your potential donor with a friendly opening. Personalize it with their name whenever possible. You might need to do this manually, or you can use nonprofit software and marketing tools to automatically populate names into your letters and emails.
2. Explanation of your mission. If your recipient isn’t very familiar with your organization, a concise explanation of your mission and purpose is important. This is the “hook,” the first place to encourage readers to emotionally connect with your work. If your recipients have engaged with your nonprofit before (whether as current or lapsed donors, volunteers, etc.), this is also the place to acknowledge that.
3. Your project, event, or needs. Next, briefly explain what you’re fundraising for. Why are you sending the letter? It might be a specific project or event that needs funding, or you might be conducting a fundraising campaign to raise support for your organization more generally. Whatever the reason, be exact and transparent about it.
4. Compelling details. In the middle section, add some compelling details to help illustrate your needs. Describe your project or event and the impact it will have on your community. Provide examples of your past work, or share a story about a particular constituent or campaign. This is where you should focus on engaging your reader emotionally to motivate them to take action.
5. A specific request. Next, clearly state your specific request. Your reader won’t feel as compelled to donate if your request is too generic. Ask for a specific amount, but make it clear that any support will be appreciated. If possible, tie your request to a specific impact it will have. For example: “Your donation of $25 will help provide a backpack full of school supplies for a local student in need.”
6. A call-to-action. Wrap up your letter with the concrete next steps that you want the reader to take. This will depend on the exact purpose of the letter. For an email, include a direct link to your donation page. For a physical letter, provide clear instructions for readers to send you a check or find your online donation page.

The main idea is to focus your letter around one key goal. Depending on your exact goal for the letter, you may choose to promote your main donation page, recurring gift options, event registration page, or volunteer sign-up form. Never overwhelm your reader with multiple or vague requests.

You just need to ensure you’ve got easy-to-use online fundraising tools set up to direct your readers to. 

Final Words

Granted, getting donations might not be as easy as you think. However, following the tips and suggestions above will surely bring you great results.