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Fundraising is the process of soliciting and gathering money or other gifts in-kind, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Money is anything that is generally accepted as Payment for Goods and services and repayment of Debts. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gather funds for non-profit organizations, it is sometimes used to refer to the identification and solicitation of investors or other sources of capital for-profit enterprises.

Contents 1 Organizations 1.1 Professional fundraisers 1.2 Religious organizations 1.3 Political campaigns 1.4 Public broadcasting 2 Taxation 3 Types 4 Relationship building 5 Events 6 See also 7 Notes and references

Organizations

Fundraising is a significant way that non-profit organizations may obtain the money for their operations. A non-profit organization ( abbreviated "NPO" also "not-for-profit" is a legally constituted Organization whose objective is to support or engage These operations can involve a very broad array of concerns such as religious or philanthropic groups such as research organizations, public broadcasters, and political campaigns. A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos Philanthropy is the act of donating money goods services time and/or effort to support a socially beneficial cause with a defined objective and with no financial or material Research is defined as Human activity based on Intellectual application in the investigation of Matter. Public broadcasting refers to radio television and other electronic media outlets that receive some or all of their funding from the public A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group

Some examples of charitable organizations include student scholarship merit awards for athletic or academic achievement, humanitarian concerns, disaster relief, human rights, research, and other social issues. The word student is etymologically derived through Middle English from the Latin second-type conjugation Verb "studēre" A scholarship is an award of access to an institution or a financial aid award for an individual student scholar for the purpose of furthering their Education Sport is an Activity that is governed by a set of rules or Customs and often engaged in competitively Humanitarianism is an active belief in Humanism (the idea of the value of human life whereby Humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans A disaster is the impact of a natural or human-made hazard that negatively affects society or environment. Human rights refers to the "basic Rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled Research is defined as Human activity based on Intellectual application in the investigation of Matter.

Professional fundraisers

Many non-profit organizations take advantage of the services of professional fundraisers. A fundraiser is an Event or campaign whose primary purpose is to raise money for a cause These fundraisers may be paid for their services either through fees unrelated to the amounts of money to be raised, or by retaining a percentage of raised funds (percentage-based compensation). The latter approach is expressly forbidden under the Code of Ethics of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), a professional membership body. ^[1]

Many non-profit organizations nonetheless engage fundraisers who are paid a percentage of the funds they raise. In the United States, this ratio of funds retained to funds passed on to the non-profit is subject to reporting to a number of state's Attorneys General. In most Common law jurisdictions the Attorney General, or Attorney-General, is the main legal advisor to the government and in some jurisdictions may in addition ^[2] This ratio is highly variable and subject to change over time and place, and it is a point of contention between a segment of the general public and the non-profit organizations.

Religious organizations

Equally important are fundraising efforts by virtually every recognized religious group throughout the world. These efforts are organized on a local, national, and global level. Sometimes, such funds will go exclusively toward assisting the basic needs of others, while money may at other times be used only for evangelism. Evangelism is the Christian practice of proselytisation. The intention of most evangelism is to effect Eternal salvation to those who do not follow the Usually, religious organizations mix the two, which can sometimes cause tension.

Political campaigns

Fundraising also plays a major role in political campaigns. A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group This fact, despite numerous campaign finance reform laws, continues to be a highly controversial topic in American politics. Campaign finance reform is the common term for the political effort in the United States to change the involvement of money in Politics, primarily in Political The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Political action committees (PACs) are the best-known organizations that back candidates and political parties, though others such as 527 groups also have an impact. In the US, a Political Action Committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group regardless of size organized to elect political candidates A political party is a Political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within Government, usually by participating in electoral A 527 group is a type of American Tax-exempt organization named after a section of the United States tax code,. Some advocacy organizations conduct fundraising for or against policy issues in an attempt to influence legislation.

Public broadcasting

While public broadcasters are completely government-funded in much of the world, there are many countries where some funds must come from donations from the public. Pledge drives commonly occur about three times each year, usually lasting one to two weeks each time. A pledge drive is an extended period of Fundraising activities generally used by Public broadcasting stations to increase contributions Viewership and listenership often declines significantly during funding periods, so special programming may be aired in order to keep regular viewers and listeners interested.

Taxation

Organizations in the United States established for charitable purposes are allowed to raise funds from many sources. They are given a specific designation by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), commonly noted as 501(c)(3) organizations. The 501(c is a provision of the United States Internal Revenue Code ( listing 28 types of Non-profit organizations exempt from some federal Other nonprofits such as fraternal associations have different IRS designations, and may or may not be eligible to fundraise. Financial information on many nonprofits, including all nonprofits that file annual IRS 990 forms is available from GuideStar. GuideStar wwwguidestarorg is the leading source of information about U

Types

Many non-profit organizations receive some annual funding from a financial endowment, which is a sum of money that is invested to generate an annual return. A financial endowment is a Transfer of Money or Property donated to an Institution, usually with the stipulation that it be invested Investment or investing is a term with several closely-related meanings in Business management, Finance and Economics, related to saving Although endowments may be created when a sizable gift is received from an individual or family, often as directed in a will upon the death of a family member, they more typically are the result of many gifts over time from a variety of sources. Family denotes a group of People affiliated by consanguinity affinity or co-residence In Common law, a will or testament is a document by which a person (the Testator) regulates the rights of others over his or her Property

A capital campaign is when fundraising is conducted to raise major sums for a building or endowment, and generally keep such funds separate from operating funds. These campaigns encourage donors to give more than they would normally give and tap donors, especially corporations and foundations who would not otherwise give.

Special events are another method of raising funds. These range from formal dinners to benefit concerts to walkathons. A benefit concert is a Concert, show or gala featuring musicians comedians or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose often directed at a specific A walkathon ( walk-a-thon) or walking marathon is a type of community or school Fundraiser where participants raise money by collecting donations or pledges Events are used to increase visibility and support for an organization as well as raising funds.

While fundraising often involves the donation of money as an out-right gift, money may also be generated by selling a product of some kind, also known as product fundraising. A fundraiser is an Event or campaign whose primary purpose is to raise money for a cause When goods are donated to an organization rather than cash, this is called an in-kind gift. Girl Scouts of the USA are well-known for selling cookies in order to generate funds. The Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA is a Youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad In the United States and Canada, a cookie is a small flat-baked treat usually round containing milk flour eggs and sugar etc It is also common to see on-line impulse sales links to be accompanied by statements that a proportion of proceeds will be directed to a particular charitable foundation. An impulse purchase or impulse buy is an unplanned or otherwise spontaneous purchase

A number of charities and non-profit organizations are increasingly using the internet as a means to raise funds; this practice is referred to as online fundraising. Online fundraising is the use of Internet-based technology marketing and communication techniques by Non-profit organizations to bring in revenue frequently as Donations For example the NSPCC operates a search engine which generates funds via Pay per click links. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children ( NSPCC) is a UK charity campaigning and working in child protection Pay per click ( PPC) is an Internet advertising model used on Search engines Advertising networks and content websites such as Blogs

Some of the most substantial fundraising efforts in the United States are conducted by colleges and universities. Commonly the fundraising, or 'development,' program, makes a distinction between annual fund appeals and major campaigns.

The donor base (often called a file) for higher education includes alumni, parents, friends, private foundations, and corporations. Gifts of appreciated property are important components of such efforts because the tax advantage they confer on the donor encourages larger gifts. The process of soliciting appreciated assets is called planned giving.

The classic development program at institutions of higher learning include prospect identification, research and verification of the prospect's viability, cultivation, solicitation, and finally stewardship, the latter being the process of keeping donors informed about how past support has been used.

Relationship building

Often called donor cultivation, relationship building is the foundation on which most fundraising takes place^[3]. Most development strategies divide donors into categories based on annual gifts. For instance, major donors are those that give at the highest level of the organization's fundraising scale and mid-level donors are in the middle. More sophisticated strategies use tools to overlay demographic and other market segmentation data against their database of donors in order to more precisely customize communication and more effectively target resources. A market segment is a subgroup of people or organizations sharing one or more characteristics that cause them to have similar product needs ^[4]

Events

• Band Aid (1984), Live Aid (1985) and Sport Aid (1986), for famine relief in Ethiopia
• Walk Against Want in Australia
• Red Nose Day in the United Kingdom
• Christian Aid Week in the United Kingdom and Ireland

See also

• Accountable Fundraising for a new type of fundraising. Band Aid was a British and Irish charity supergroup, founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in order to raise money Year 1984 ( MCMLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar) Live Aid was a multi-venue rock music concert held on. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) Sport Aid (also known as Sports Aid) was a charitable event held on May 25 1986, raising millions of pounds to support famine relief in Africa Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) A Famine is a phenomenon in which a large percentage of the population of a region or country are so undernourished that death by Starvation becomes increasingly common NOTE This intro is the result of careful NPOV work Please do not make potentially controversial edits to it without first discussing on the talk page The Walk Against Want is an annual event held in support of Oxfam Australia (formerly Community Aid Abroad) an independent organisation that works with For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character or scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work often to relieve tension The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Christian Aid Week is an annual door-to-door Fundraising drive by the charity Christian Aid. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Accountable Fundraising is the term used to describe a Non-profit organization holding its members "accountable" for their donations by showing them the direct impact
• American Institute of Philanthropy. The American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP is a 501(c(3 nonprofit organization that was created by Daniel Borochoff in 1992 to address the continuing need for
• Friendraising. Friendraising is a form of Fundraising that involves befriending an organization or individual for the purpose of helping support the financial aspect of a Charity
• Fundraiser for a list of typical kinds of fundraiser events. A fundraiser is an Event or campaign whose primary purpose is to raise money for a cause
• Online fundraising A new trend in fundraising. Online fundraising is the use of Internet-based technology marketing and communication techniques by Non-profit organizations to bring in revenue frequently as Donations

Notes and references

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