Fall Fundraising Update: There’s Still Time to Make an Impact!
We’ve passed our December 1 deadline for the Fall Fundraising Campaign, and gifts are still coming in! Thank you for all that you are doing to help ensure the success of our fall fundraising efforts. Your own financial support, coupled with events you’re hosting and the Friends and Family letter writing campaign, is bringing us closer toward our $50,000 goal. To date, gifts and pledges that have come in during fall fundraising total $42,000, but there’s still much work to do: wrapping up Friends and Family letter writing, collecting event proceeds, and contacting individuals who typically contribute at the end of the year.
If you still have letters to send, please do so at your earliest convenience. Corporations and foundations look at support by members and friends to gauge our strength and determine whether or not they’re going to support our efforts. So, it’s not just the dollars raised but, the number of people participating in giving that counts, too! Once gifts begin to arrive, collect remittance envelopes and record donations on the donations tracking form until you think you have them all. Once you have them all:
- Carefully review checks and remittance envelopes for accuracy and for omissions such as expiration dates on credit cards, failure to check one of the gift designation boxes, or unsigned checks, etc.
- Be sure “Friend and Family” or “Events” is circled and that your group name is written on each envelope.
- Once all your donations are ready to go, please bundle the checks and remittance envelopes together and send them directly to the New York address on the remittance envelope:
RESULTS Educational Fund, Inc. / P.O. Box 10413 / Uniondale, NY 11555-10413
- Also, in addition to mailing your checks to the bank, be sure to send your donation tracking form to the D.C. office ([email protected]).
Expressing gratitude: Acknowledge your donors’ support by sending a thank you note promptly after you receive their donation. RESULTS has created thank you notes that you can download from our website and print. A quick handwritten note expressing your appreciation at the bottom of the note card adds extra recognition for the donor. If you have been unable to confirm that one of your potential donors has made a contribution, thank them for considering a gift to RESULTS and remind them to send in their donation if they haven’t already done so. RESULTS will send an official acknowledgement letter for tax purposes, but the thank you note that you send will be especially valuable because it lets the donor know that you received the gift and appreciate their support. Remember, there’s no such thing as thanking a donor too much. When you see donors out in the community, say the magic words!
In addition to Friends and Family letter writing, some of our groups have been holding fundraising events this fall. Major kudos to San Jose, Ann Arbor, Columbus, and Chicago volunteers for making hugely successful events possible in your communities! If you know anyone in the Washington, D.C. area, please contact RESULTS staff for details on the upcoming December 9 house party fundraiser in D.C.
Finally, remember that anyone can donate online at anytime. Just go to our Donate page for more information. If donating online, be sure to write Friends and Family or the event and city in the note box. Thanks to everyone for supporting RESULTS and RESULTS Educational Fund during our annual Fall Fundraising Campaign. Your work in garnering these resources is critical to our organization!
If you have questions or need more information, please contact our Development Director Donna Howard at (202) 783-4800 or [email protected].
Happy Holidays!