Why not? The sky is the limit.

You are a fundraiser. Do you use your time effectively? Have you ever done the math?

• What is the fundraising goal for your organization?
• What do you earn per hour as an income? $35,000 per year = $17/hour
• How do you fund raise and how much time does each activity require? Grant writing, hosting events, other
• How much money are you currently raising per activity?

Sample fundraiser’s scenario: Mary makes $40,000 per year and she does three events per year. One is a golf tournament, which raises $5,000; One is a silent auction and dinner, which raises $12,000 per year; And the last event is a film festival, which raises $20,000. She has nearly covered her salary. Has she made any money for the organization? We can look deeper into the marketing efforts and say there has been an increase in revenue because of exposure. If the fundraising goal was to cover her income I’d say, “Yes, she got the job done when you take into consideration the advertising and potential new business.” Will her boss think she got it done? Depends on the fundraising goal.

Fundraising becomes much easier and more cost-effective when you build networks. It is not challenging to do. It takes some time in conditioning your organization to understand the benefit, which gets you out from behind the desk. Success does not happen overnight but given the right permissions it can happen within six months.