Events

Fundraising events are a foundation for many nonprofit fundraising programs. But they are the most inefficient way of raising money.

Lots of fundraising is built around socializing, isn't it? Whether it's a formal fundraising event or not, we are often organizing large or small groups of people in social situations. So it's really important to know your social skills and be able to throw a fabulous party.

Charity Dynamics, a provider of comprehensive online marketing and fundraising solutions for nonprofits, announced that nonprofit organizations across the country have now raised more than $100 million directly through the company’s Boundless Fundraising solution since it first launched less than three years ago.

Boundless Fundraising is a suite of online fundraising applications that enable participants in nonprofit special events to extend their fundraising efforts through Facebook, email and mobile devices. More than 75 U.S. charities currently use the applications as part of their overall event marketing and fundraising strategy.

Add this to the annals of extreme fund raising: jumping off a 41-story building to raise money for charity.

Endurance events, such as marathons and bike cross-country expeditions, have long held appeal for participants who ask their friends and relatives to “sponsor” them by making donations. But another  type of event has entered the extreme fund-raising circuit—and is raising hundreds of thousands of dollars.

More than 100 rappelling events have occurred since 2008, when Over the Edge, a Canadian company, brought the concept to the United States.

While crews work to erect tents and stages for the upcoming Newport jazz and folk festivals, the festivals' creator and guardian angel continues to build something else: a legacy that he hopes will continue long after he's gone. New York jazz impresario George Wein, who started the festivals more than 50 years ago, took them nonprofit earlier this year to shield them from the financial ups and downs of corporate funding.

The America’s Cup Event Authority has chosen a Newport, R.I.-based organization, Sailors for the Sea, as its first partner in a new international program intended to better preserve and protect the oceans of the world.

The authority is now beginning pre-regatta activities before the next America’s Cup competition, set for 2013 in San Francisco, and a key component of the 34th America’s Cup legacy program is promoting sustainability of the ocean waters, organizers said in a prepared release.

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research seems to have it all wrong, going against conventional fundraising wisdom at seemingly every turn. Yet the $57 million MJFF raised last year ($50 million of which went toward its mission) tells a different story. The foundation, which has funded more than $240 million in research since its founding 10 years ago, is light on its feet and built for speed.

ElizaJ, providers of upscale, self-contained restrooms for special events, has recently announced a new “Fundraising Division” geared towards helping nonprofits and other organizations meet their fundraising goals through successful events.

Every year tens of millions of Americans ask friends to sponsor them in events ranging from 3-mile "fun runs" to 100-mile bike treks. The largest such event — the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life — raised more than $400 million last year. Meanwhile, the ever-growing movement includes tens of thousands of tiny "thons," collecting for schools, hospitals and homeless shelters. As soon as the weather warms, the walkathoners take to the streets, proudly parading in their oversize T-shirts and ribbon pins.

Campbell & Company is excited to announce five different events to discuss the implications of the Giving USA 2011 report for nonprofits in all fields. A national webinar, titled “First Look: Giving USA 2011,” will be held on June 21, 2011 at noon CDT, followed by events in Chicago (June 22), Cleveland (June 24), Boston (June 29), and Washington D.C. (June 21). Each event features an interactive panel of distinguished nonprofit leaders.