TipDeck.com » Fundraising and Charity http://tipdeck.com Home of the how to videos and instructions Mon, 01 Aug 2011 04:59:26 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 How to Record Dividends Declaredhttp://tipdeck.com/how-to-record-dividends-declared http://tipdeck.com/how-to-record-dividends-declared#comments Fri, 15 Jul 2011 04:59:36 +0000 Sofi http://tipdeck.com/?p=10947 How to Record Dividends Declared How to Record Dividends DeclaredDividend is one of the primary medium of distributing the profit to the shareholder. Normally, only a portion of the total profit earned by the company during a specific financial year is paid to the shareholders and the remaining portion is reinvested in the business. The part of the earnings paid to the shareholders is known as dividend, whereas the amount of profit reinvested in the business is called retained earnings. A company can distribute dividend on the shared only when it has profit during a specific business year. The amount of dividend is determined at the annual general meeting of the company. Normally, the dividend is declared in cash or as a percentage of the profits earned by the company during the particular year. Further, the percentage of declared dividend remains same for the shares of a specific class. After declaration of dividend, the amount became part of the liabilities of the firm and reduces the amount of cash available to the business. Therefore, if a company does not have the required amount of liquidity, it prefers to issue stock dividends instead of cash.

Instructions

  • When you are recording the declaration and payment of cash dividend for a firm, have to consider four dates associated with these transactions. You need to consider the date of dividend declaration along with the ex-dividend date, date of recording, and date of payment. The date of declaration refers to the specific date on which the resolution is passed to pay the dividend in cash to the stockholders and is recognized by the firm as a short-term debt or liability. At the same time, the ex-dividend date refers to the date from which the stocks stop selling with dividends attached. The date of record is the date on which the stockholders are recorded in the ledger as the legal recipient of the cash dividends. On the date of payment the firm discharges the dividend payable liability by distributing dividend check among the entitled stockholders.
  • On the date of dividend declaration, a due entry is passed in the books of the firm to transfer the amount of profits to a dividend payable account. The Retained Earnings account is debited with the amount of declared cash dividend and the Dividend Payable account is credited for the corresponding amount.
  • On the date of record, no journal entry is passed in the books of accounts and ledgers of the firm. Only a memorandum entry is recorded mentioning that the firm will pay the dividend to the holders of the specific class of stocks on the specific date of record. If the company pays different rates of dividend on stocks of different classes, the same has to be mentioned in a distinct and exact manner.
  • On the date of dividend payment, the company has to pay the due amount of dividend in cash and close the short-term liability associated with the declared dividend. So the Dividends Payable account is debited for the amount paid to the entitled stockholders and the cash or bank account is credited for the specific amount.

Watch a video instruction on wall street horizon dividend report: feb 22, 2010

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]]> http://tipdeck.com/how-to-record-dividends-declared/feed How to Write a Donation Letterhttp://tipdeck.com/how-to-write-a-donation-letter http://tipdeck.com/how-to-write-a-donation-letter#comments Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:00:46 +0000 Sofi http://tipdeck.com/?p=8818 How to Write a Donation Letter How to Write a Donation LetterA successful fund raising campaign always depends upon good writing. Fund raising letters sounds many as good sales letter. A donation letter is an important letter to write if someone is involved in any non-governmental or voluntary organization. It is important that you sound professional while writing letters. Here are some tips for you to raise your funds by writing donation letters.

Have a good introduction: A good introduction is the key constituent of any good donation letter sample. Donation letter template is a good guide to anyone who needs to understand the format of a fund raising letter. In the introduction paragraph discus what the non-profit will accomplish if a donation is received and who will be the beneficiaries of the donation.

Choose the specific amount: Fundraisers sometimes think that if they state a specific amount, they will discourage the top grade donors. But in reality, most people only want to contribute the standard expected amount, somewhat like spending in a restaurant. If you suggest a specific, reasonable amount for the contribution, your readers are more likely to contribute. They can write out their checks for that amount and feel satisfied they have contributed their amount sharing to feed the needy, help the unprivileged people. States the specific amount of your request towards the end of your letter after the readers have read all the necessary information regarding donation.

Choose the donor: If you are asking for the donors for fund rising for a social cause, your needs should be specified in an organized manner and it could be reach to a prospective sponsor. Always begin the letter with a formal regards mentioning the name of the person addressed in the letter. While stating what you expect from the addressee, ensure that you do not sound needy. Write the letter in such a way that the addressee feels like being an active part of a good cause and is convinced to donate to the eve. Separate the new prospects from those who have contributed in the past. Explain to past donors how much good their contributions have already accomplished.

Give contact information: Provide the contact information and your name and organizations detail as the person can direct questions to somebody if they have further inquiries. Make ensure the organization know that any amount in which the organization wishes to contribute will be acceptable. Thank the individual or company in an advance manner.

Format carefully: The use of font size, bullets and numbered should be format very carefully. Informational paragraphs also help readers scan and comprehend information easier. Don’t make your paragraphs too long. A minimum of four or five lines are a good length, but don’t make any paragraph longer than eight lines. You can bold your letter to make it give it more clarity to some places.

Donations are usually a major contribution in helping a non-profit to organization and contributions generally helps to alleviate the problem. This could be ended in a friendly appeal from every aspect.

Watch a video instruction on: how to write a request for a donation letter

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]]> http://tipdeck.com/how-to-write-a-donation-letter/feed How to do Super Fundraiserhttp://tipdeck.com/how-to-do-super-fundraiser http://tipdeck.com/how-to-do-super-fundraiser#comments Thu, 17 Mar 2011 15:00:59 +0000 Sofi http://tipdeck.com/?p=8140 How to do Super Fundraiser How to do Super FundraiserFundraising is an activity in which you tend to collect a lot of help in cash and kind, and more importantly, build awareness about the concern that you are working towards and setting your theme to further its causes. The more you are able to build an image on the psyche of your guests or attendees, the more successful is your program and your cause. You can take a few steps in making sure that your fundraiser becomes a success and is considered as a super fundraiser.

 

  1. Fundraising has a lot to do with getting in touch with people from different walks of life. It is difficult to get people to listen to what you have to say and what they are subscribing to and how they are going to benefit from that. People will only hear when your talk about what they want to hear, what they are concerned about.
  2. People are busy, taken up with all their needs and travails of their daily life and you need to find ways to make them hear your concern. Your planning should start with all possible ways of visibility and accessibility to the potential subscriber. You should plan to meet these people in ways like get-together, benefit luncheon or dinners, walks or runs held for your concern, door to door approaching, face-to-face solicitations in shopping plazas, holding benefit concerts, website postings, etc.
  3. Your image will help you a long way in making people accommodate you in order for you to tell them what you are talking about. You need people to work for your concern who have a positive image and a known history to have worked for a good cause in the past. Trust factor is the biggest concern when you are setting out to make people pay out of their pocket for a cause that they might like to subscribe.
  4. Positive interaction is also another ways to build confidence and alleviate concerns of potential subscribers. Listen to the people willing to subscribe and try to find out what they are concerned about why they want to help in the first place. Understanding their concern will help you find out people with identical thinking who might have initial inhibitions about contributing towards your cause.
  5. Always be ready to provide financial details if someone questions your financial integrity because fundraising is often seen with a lot of suspicion due to scams, etc and people are jittery to be trusting enough.
  6. Always be ready for constructive feedbacks and encourage communication and participation of your subscribers. Always keep channels of communications with your subscribers open so that they can feel welcomed whenever they want to approach you.
  7. Remember that word of mouth is as much a strong campaigning strategy as any other more professional and sophisticated approach. Try to use your subscriber base to get involved into this word of mouth campaign in order to broaden your base of subscribers.

Surely, communication and people awareness are the most potent ways to build a super fundraiser.

Watch a video instruction on fundaraising event ideas

 

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]]> http://tipdeck.com/how-to-do-super-fundraiser/feed How to Run a Successful Fundraiserhttp://tipdeck.com/how-to-run-a-successful-fundraiser http://tipdeck.com/how-to-run-a-successful-fundraiser#comments Sun, 21 Nov 2010 03:01:31 +0000 Sofi http://tipdeck.com/?p=5838 How to Run a Successful Fundraiser How to Run a Successful FundraiserWhen you are undertaking fundraising, you have to solicit and gather contributions in form of money and other resources by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, and governmental agencies. Traditionally fundraising was done mostly by asking people for donation on the streets or at their doors. But with the improvement in technology the face-to-face methods of fundraising have been expanded now to online methods of fundraising. So a modern fundraiser can raise funds from the comfort of his home, organization, or workplace. Even there are a number of non-profit organizations which use the service of professional fundraisers for raising funds. These professionals normally receive their remuneration either as fees irrespective of the collected funds or as a percentage of total funds raised by him. But whatever may be the technique of raising funds, any type of fundraiser requires a dedicated and effective team to make it successful. For making the fundraiser a success you have to motivate the team to collect more and more funds for the organization.

Instructions

  1. Similar to other ventures, raising funds begins with a well devised plan. So you have to begin your fundraising process for an organization by formulating a plan. First of all, you have to decide the exact purpose for which you will be raising the funds. After deciding the purpose, you have to select the targeted individuals who will be interested in seeing your purpose accomplished successfully.
  2. You have to form two groups with two different set of people to perform the main aspects of raising funds. The first group will be responsible for compiling the list of people to visit and recruit for raising funds. At the same time, the second group formed by you will do the actual fundraising activities like selling, visiting, or collecting, by going out and meeting the people.
  3. The first group formed by you has to compile the complete list of people on the first day of fund raising drive. This compiled list will help the second group in meeting the people easily and perform their fundraising activities. The second group also has to be ready and start their activities as soon as they get the compiled list of donors from the first group.
  4. There are a number of different ways for raising funds from the people. The easiest way is to provide something for the donation. But it is always important to offer something significant which will make the other person likes, wants and moved to donate funds for your purpose. A simple and normal method of raising funds can be selling carnations. For example, you can put a theme like “send flowers to your friend or lover”. People will compete with each other to send flowers and your entire stock of flowers will be sold out. Members of your second group can meet people and convince them about a cause to get the required funds. For example, if you are raisin funds for a charitable hospital, the volunteers can convince people about the medical care required for poor and collect the donations.
  5. Along with these traditional methods of raising funds, it is equally important to let the people know about you fundraising drive. You must let the people know the purpose for which you are collecting the funds. You can use word of mouth publicity or hang up posters or pass out fliers. But ensure that people must be aware of your initiative and motive. You can also use some advanced technologies like emails, article marketing and social networks to reach and convince people about the fund raising initiative and its purpose.

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]]> http://tipdeck.com/how-to-run-a-successful-fundraiser/feed How to Market a Fundraiserhttp://tipdeck.com/how-to-market-a-fundraiser http://tipdeck.com/how-to-market-a-fundraiser#comments Mon, 01 Nov 2010 03:00:21 +0000 Sofi http://tipdeck.com/?p=5508 How to Market a Fundraiser How to Market a FundraiserIf you are a nonprofit concern, your funding sources need not be limited to charity and donations alone. Fundraising campaigns are a great way to collate funds and support your group’s mandate. From fairs to dance nights, movie shows, lotteries, dinner parties and casino nights, there are a host of ideas you could choose from for your fundraising event. However, without a successful marketing campaign, your fundraiser can prove to be a no show. Apart from wasting time, money and effort, failure to raise funds can break the morale and confidence of your group.

When marketing a fundraising program, the primary focus should be on informing the public at large about the planned event. Follow the tips below to learn how to market a fundraiser and you could end up with a winning campaign in your hands.

1. Identify a team of volunteers – The first step in creating a successful fundraiser lies in its effective marketing. Identify a team of volunteers and assign them with different aspects of the event. Prepare a marketing plan and allocate work according to respective skills. Division of work allows people to focus on just one area of any large event. Volunteers with administrative skills can be allowed to manage the organization aspect of marketing the event.

2. Start at the grass-roots level – Your basic aim is to let people know that you are planning a fundraising program. The best place to start spreading the word around is at the grass roots level. If you are an established nonprofit, you probably have a community in existence already, consisting of your core group of activists, members and supporters. This group is your first target and you need to make sure that you make maximum coverage within the group’s circle of influence.

Take-home fliers, newsletters with campaign details, postcards, phone calls and emails are some of the means to alert all potential and previous donors about the upcoming event. The activity you do at the grass roots level can become very useful in spreading the word outside your sphere of influence.

3. Reach the local community through papers and news stations – Whether you are planning a variety show or a turkey dinner, your local community needs to be aware of the upcoming event. Approach the local newspapers, weeklies and college papers, who are generally interested to cover area events. You would need to stress on the importance of the fundraiser and how is it going to privilege the cause you want to support. Local radio and television stations are also a great option to advertise the event through free public service announcements.

When you contact the local paper for a press release, try making your story unique. A live entertainment show anchored by a local celebrity may succeed in getting your article featured in the news daily than having just a plain announcement of the event.

4. Make use of social media – Social media applications like blogs, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other networking sites are a good way to market your fundraising event. They come free and are useful tools to publicize and gain volunteers and supporters for the event. Networking sites can serve as a constant reminder about the fundraiser. You can use the local press and news stations to inform people about your blog and networking sites.

5. Publish the success of your fundraiser – It is important to send a thank you note to all attendees when the event is over. Communicate the success of the event though newsletters and press release in local dailies.

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]]> http://tipdeck.com/how-to-market-a-fundraiser/feed How to Set-Up a Non Profit Foundationhttp://tipdeck.com/how-to-set-up-a-non-profit-foundation http://tipdeck.com/how-to-set-up-a-non-profit-foundation#comments Mon, 11 Oct 2010 03:01:24 +0000 Sofi http://tipdeck.com/?p=5181 How to Set Up a Non Profit Foundation How to Set Up a Non Profit FoundationA nonprofit foundation is an organization set up for non-commercial purposes and whose primary objective is to address a social need. The existence of a nonprofit foundation is for lending support to causes of community concern such as arts, education, charity, religion or some other public endeavor. Profit maximization is not a goal for nonprofit concerns, and the shareholders or trustees of the organization do not aim for financial gains. Any income earned or funds received by the foundation must be utilized for its own expenses and programs.

Here are some handy tips that will assist you if you wish to set up a nonprofit foundation:

  • Draft a mission statement - You should be very clear as to why the foundation should exist in the first place. This intent of thought needs to be formulated as a mission statement, which describes the purpose of the organization, the services it offers and the beneficiaries of the service. The values and principles, which drive the foundation, also need to be spelled out. The mission statement needs to be convincing and forceful as it mirrors the essence of the organization in all publications and funding appeals.
  • Decide upon a name - You need to name your foundation. A name that fits with the goals of your organization needs to be finalized.
  • Seek an attorney’s help - It always makes sense to consult a lawyer having nonprofit law expertise. An attorney can guide you while filing the articles of incorporation, applying to the IRS for tax exemption and reviewing materials before submission to various regulatory agencies.
  • Engage a Board of Directors - You need to form a board, which should have sufficient number of members as per the state requirement. Recruitment of board members calls for careful selection of qualified and talented individuals who are able to identify with the goals of the foundation. The board needs to review and authorize the mission statement formulated above.
  • Draft bylaws and articles - Bylaws govern the day-to-day operation of the foundation. Though it is not mandatory to file bylaws, they need to be drafted and approved by the board.

Articles of incorporation legally separate a foundation from its board and staff. They create a legal existence for the organization separate from the identity of its staff and managers. Articles should be approved by the board before submission.

  • File for incorporation - Articles of incorporation are to be filed with the appropriate state agency. Specific prerequisites for incorporation are determined by each state.
  • Open a bank account - You need to open a bank account in the name of your organization.
  • Set up an accounting system and create a budget - You need to hire an accountant to help set up an accounting system. It is vital that all income and expenses are properly accounted for. An accountant familiar with nonprofit organizations is a good option.

A budget should be developed looking at all potential income and planned and contingent expenses. Sources of funding need to be figured once a budget is drawn up.

  • Apply for a federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) - Nonprofit foundations need to apply to the IRS to obtain a federal EIN. The EIN is required when filing tax documents and has to be applied for even when the organization has no employees.
  • Apply for tax-exempt status - You need to apply to the IRS for being exempted from paying federal taxes. Once the IRS accords recognition, you can file for state and local tax exemptions.
  • Obtain license for raising funds - A license needs to be acquired, if the foundation plans to solicit funds within the state or city.
  • Apply for mailing permit - A mail permit entitles you to discount on bulk mailings. It makes sense to apply for a permit if there is substantial mailing to be done to parties.

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]]> http://tipdeck.com/how-to-set-up-a-non-profit-foundation/feed How to Raise Moneyhttp://tipdeck.com/how-to-raise-money http://tipdeck.com/how-to-raise-money#comments Thu, 19 Aug 2010 23:00:45 +0000 Sofi http://tipdeck.com/?p=4602 How to Raise Money How to Raise MoneyIt is always a generous thought to raise money for charity. Although you have to be the first person who contributes to the fund, yet you need help from others to amass a good amount of money. You can take the help of your friends and neighbors who may be more than pleased to help you in this good cause. There can be many institutions near your house that will be willing to help. It depends on you to reach out to them and ask for charity. Most people have a deep interest in contributing towards charity but don’t know how to go about it. So when you contact such people and convince them that you are earnest in your intentions, they will be too happy to give. Later on, you can let these donors know how much money you could arrange and how you used this money for the betterment of the society. Let us look at a few ways which can tell us how to raise money.

  1. You can keep donation boxes in prominent places with a message which tells the people to help a particular cause. You can keep these boxes in stores near your house. You can also place them in office, college and school canteens. People feel more inclined to help after having a good meal which keeps them in good mood.
  2. You can also arrange to get raw food materials from children which may not give direct money but will help your cause a lot. School children are usually requested to bring nominal amounts of non-perishable food items like rice, flour, lentils and even potatoes and onions. You can ask each class to bring one item only. In this way, the whole school will contribute hugely to your cause and you can get a substantial quantity of the food items to use. Each student has to give only a little but feels happy to be a part of this good cause.
  3. A fair can be arranged in the community where you live where each house prepares a unique food item. You can also vary this by instructing everyone to bring only baked cakes, biscuits and pastries. The food items can be sold off in the fete and the proceeds can be given for charity. But make sure that the members who contributed food items should get back the money they spent on the dishes. The remaining amount should be gifted away.
  4. A variation of this fair can be one which showcases talent in your neighborhood. You can ask the children and the elders to present an item which can be a dance or a song number. A magic show will also perk things up. Everybody wishing to see the show should purchase tickets, the money from which can be used for charity.
  5. An auction is also a good way to raise money. This can begin by asking organizations and stores to give you some items for free. If you convince them about the sincerity of your intentions, then some of them will be very willing to help. After getting these items, you can auction them off to get money. But again, inform the organizations and stores of the money you could collect and how you used it.

There are many ways in which you can raise money. You only have to be a little creative and think of innovative ideas to make people participate in the fund-raising process.

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