pound coinsThere can be little doubt that over the next few years funding will be increasingly difficult for many organisations to find. It is likely to be the medium sized organisations that will struggle most and there is pressure for many organisations to collaborate or merge.

Increasingly we are seeing stories relating to the cuts that local councils will potentially make in next years budgets. There may be some opportunities for some organisations who are in a position to bid for council work but many will suffer. As the cuts bite it is quite likely to put an increased pressure onto voluntary services as people lose their jobs, face added stress and depression.

How can you generate income for your organisation.

This is a brief look at how Information Technology can help your organisation to increase the funding available to your organisation.

I should start by stressing that ICT is a key method by which you can reduce costs and increase efficiency inside an organisation and by reducing costs you can increase your available income for the provision of services.

For example, many organisations have around a third of their supporters who don't want information sent by email, they prefer a letter. For some it is that they don't have internet access for others it is a preference.

To write, print, envelope and post a letter costs around 70p if you send 10 letters a week that is £7 or £364 a year. Your supporters can help you by accepting email updates and if you can manage without letters then you are effectievely contributing to each organisation.

The needd to consider ethical policies and how comfortable you are with some of the proposed solutions.

Ebay

an update of the bring and buy sale - this can be a little labour intensive but if you have a willing volunteer who can find suitable items then ebay can provide a relatively easy way of raising funds. Do remember to add your Post and Packing or you could lose money on the deal.  (registered charities can register with ebay and allow people to contribute a percentage of their sales income back to you)

Website

an attractive, informative and up to date web site can keep people informed about your activities, on your website you can then use a variety of methods to raise funds.

Donate Button

On your website and on your email signature provides an opportunity for people to click and support you via a Pay Pal account.

Gift aid form

A form which people can complete and gift aid their donations

Sponsorship

Who is your site aimed at? Is there a commercial organisation who would like to talk to your clients? Then they may be prepared to place a sponsorship message on your site. One organisation we work with has been offered £400 a month to place an advert on their site.

Google Adsense

Google can place a series of adverts that relates to the content on specific pages of your website. You will receive a small sum for each click. It can be useful to see how Google interprets your content. For example a youth site recently posted a news item about a paint balling day for young people - the adverts were for body armour, guns etc. This, in part, was due to the emphasis on safety equipment used in the fun day, and not on the outcomes of the day.

Affiliate shops

I have added an Amazon shop to the ICT Champions web site. Amazon will pay 6% of any sales registered user, so if you can persuade your supporters to buy their electrical items and books via your link you will be able to raise money.

Charity Giving sites

There are also sites such as http://www.justgiving.com/ where you can host affiliate shops and share in the proceeds raised.

The above ways of making your website pay requires that you have people visiting your site.  See the article Driving people to your site.

By the way - I am happy to speak at meetings and to offer support to people within the West Midlands contact Pete@illuminateict.org.uk