Hi Hello, I am a docent at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in albuquerque, NM. some years ago we set up a group call the Amigos to help raise fund for various volunteer events. when we discovered we could be very successful we decided to rove the Center with a set fund each year for educational purposes. Our Center has a Foundation that is also tasked with raising funds, so we discovered that we needed to keep our group separate. We continue to rely on volunteers, but we have separate operating rules and do not use Center facilities for our meetings. My experience with small musical and dance organizations over the years taught me that we did not need nonprofit status and that could actually create more problems than benefits. We call ourselves a club and run a minimal set of unanimous decision-making rules. Selection of the participants in the organization and planning is important and we keep our group to nine members. We give all major volunteers and docents first call on the events we organize which are mainly guided trips to Mexico and Latin countries, since that is our bent and many of us speak spanish. This has been going on for about 8 years a d proves to be successful. This is a short description but contains the high points: a club with organized operation procedures, an limited group of decision-makers.
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Kenneth Fenner JD
DOCENT
Albuquerque NM
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-01-2018 04:51 PM
From: Nancy Schomburg
Subject: Volunteer Directed Fund Raising
We are looking to establish an annual fundraising campaign directed to our volunteers. We'd like to include our Volunteer Advisory Committee in all phases of the campaign by involving them in the planning, organizing, and then, cheerleading. I'd also like for the campaign to have a fun component and encourage a sense of community among the volunteers.
We launched a small one last year in support of our 25th Anniversary, calling it 25 for 25, asking them each to donate $25. We surpassed our goal with only about a third of the volunteers participating, and it was, of course, met with mixed reviews from the volunteers.
I am interested in hearing if any of you have done something similar, if you have, I'd love to hear what you did, how it worked, and lessons learned from the experience.
Thank you!
Nancy Schomburg
Manager of Volunteer Services
Grounds For Sculpture
80 Sculptors Way
Hamilton, NJ 08619
groundsforsculpture.org
office: 609-249-0247