Helpful Fundraising Tips

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1 Getting the Word Out... Marketing Your Event Helpful Fundraising Tips Make a List and Check It Twice Make a list of potential donors. Include everyone you know. Start by making a donation yourself online through the IFOPA website, your gift will set the tone for others to give. Friends and Family Send s to everyone you know. If you have a large list of s, we may be able to help you using our mass tool. You can announce your event and ask for credit card donations that can be processed through the IFOPA website for your event. One a Day Ask a different person each day to make a contribution. If you get four $25 gifts, you will have raised $100 in less than a week. Don t be afraid to ask for larger gifts. Most donors would prefer that you suggest a gift amount. The number one reason people don t give is because they are not asked. Double Your Money - Matching Gift Programs Many employers offer matching funds programs. Your $50 donation could turn into $100. Inquire with your personnel/hr department to complete the paperwork required to get your gift matched. The Mighty Pen Send a letter in the mail to friends, family, and co-workers asking for their support. Let them know if you are fundraising in honor of someone. Explain why the cause is important to you; heartfelt messages get the best response. Give them the option of donating on-line to your fundraiser on the IFOPA website. If you have a large mailing list, the IFOPA may be able to assist you with the mailing. Don t forget to send a thank you note to people who donate. Talk It Up Ask for a few minutes on the agenda of any meetings you will be attending or local civic organizations. Rotary, Kiwanis and Lion clubs are always looking for speakers! Explain why you are raising money and ask for everyone s support. If you are dedicating your efforts to someone who has FOP, tell that person s story. Advertising Most family fundraisers are advertised by means of flyers that are handed out and/or posted around town, word-ofmouth, and local newspaper ads. In addition, local radio and cable television stations often have Community Bulletin Boards that will publicize your charitable event at no cost. Local newspapers will sometimes do a timely public interest article that helps promote interest in and awareness of your fundraiser. The IFOPA can help you create promotional materials. We can also send you the IFOPA Brochure, IFOPA/FOP Facts in Brief Sheet, and other promotional material for reporters, volunteers, etc.. The IFOPA can also post your event on our website. Social Media Facebook, Twitter, and the like are great ways of getting the word out about your event. The IFOPA can also post your event on the IFOPA Facebook page as well. IFOPA Fundraising Tips 1

2 Purpose of Your Fundraiser We prefer that you promote the purpose of your event on all promotional materials as All proceeds benefit the International FOP Association, Inc. General operating dollars are critical to the success of IFOPA. It is important to support IFOPA activities which include: research, educating the general and medical communities about FOP, member and family member assistance, various symposia & meetings, printing & postage of acknowledgments & other materials, the Resource Center, publishing of the FOP Connection & Milestones newsletters, and more. Suggested wording you can use to promote unrestricted fundraising is raising funds for the International FOP Association (IFOPA), a 501(c)(3) support organization of FOP families that funds the FOP research laboratory, assists with patient needs, maintains a Resource Center, educates the general and medical communities about FOP, and provides information, comfort & encouragement to those with FOP all around the world. Some IFOPA families believe that fundraising is easier and more successful if you pick a particular goal or special project, such as funding research, buying a particular piece of equipment, assisting the patient needs committee (L.I.F.E.), etc. If you decide to take this approach, please contact the IFOPA for more information on how to include the additional wording on all your promotional materials to properly restrict the funds raised. In your publicity and advertisements, please do not say that all or every dollar of the money raised by your event will go to FOP research. It would not be true. Some of the proceeds from your event may be used to reimburse you for the expenses of the fundraiser. Furthermore, as stated above, while most of the money received by the IFOPA goes to research, it is inaccurate to say that it all does. Non-research expenses of the IFOPA include the administrative costs of running the organization (i.e.. telephone calls, postage, secretarial salaries, copies, printing, etc.), support-service expenses (i.e. guidebooks, newsletters, emergency cards, patient needs advice), and general education expenses (i.e. brochures, resource center, Symposium). All these services are a vital part of what the IFOPA does to eliminate the isolation of those suffering from a one-in-two million condition. Fair Market Value (FMV) Several years ago, the IRS informed charities that it was concerned about taxpayers claiming charitable deductions for the full ticket price of charity events (e.g. charity balls, benefit concerts, golf tournaments, auctions) when only the part that exceeded the value of the items received (FMV) was legally deductible. As a result, the IRS now requires that the charity holding the event inform its donors of the value of the benefits they receive (FMV). In fact, they have requested that charities print this FMV information on the invitations and on the ticket and on the receipt that the donor receives. The IFOPA will assist you in determining the FMV of your event. Please call us and we can determine if the IRS requirements are relevant. If they are, we will help you calculate the FMV and suggest ways of providing this FMV information to your patrons on the invitations and tickets. Whatever type fundraiser you have, the IFOPA will ultimately need to have the FMV information for the receipts and acknowledgments that it sends out. Calculating Fair Market Value Fair market value is not simply the price you paid for a dinner, greens fees, etc. This is particularly true if you obtained items at a discount or had them donated. The fair market value is the price that your patrons would have paid for those same items at a regular vendor i.e. at a restaurant, on a golf course, etc. In general, Meals at a hotel or restaurant: the FMV is the price of the same meal in a comparable dining room or restaurant, including drinks and tips; Attendance at a reception: the FMV is the value of the food and drink served, plus coat check, parking, and any other included amenities; IFOPA Fundraising Tips 2

3 Entertainment at a reception: the FMV includes the cost of seeing that entertainer in a regular theatre or other setting; Golf tournament entry fees: the FMV is the standard cost to play golf at the same course, (including cart and green fees), plus the value of anything else given to the players e.g. food, beverages, gifts, parking, etc. Favors: the FMV of your event should include the value of any favors if their cost is above $5.00. The IRS has ruled that bumper stickers, buttons, pens, and other low cost tokens have a fair market value of zero for tax purposes and need not be included in the FMV. In general, a FMV expense is the cost of something that the guest directly receives as opposed to something needed for the functioning of the event. For example, the printing cost of a program that is meant for the patron to take home should be part of the FMV; however, the printing cost of the invitations should not. The invitation is an expense of having the event and not a thing of value received by the guest. People who are invited and do not attend received the invitation, but only those who were there receive the program. Wording on Invitations, Programs and Tickets Since it is possible that all the expenses will not be known at the time the invitations and/or tickets are printed, the language used on them to comply with the IRS requirements can vague. The following list contains a few examples: Luncheon with multi-level prices (ex. $50 per regular ticket, $100 per sponsor level): The invitation would say $25.00 of each ticket is not tax deductible (or whatever amount is the estimated FMV value of luncheon and entertainment) or Contributions over $25.00 are tax deductible. Auction: The catalog should list each item with its fair market value and the statement, Purchasing an item for more than the fair market value as listed in this catalog results in a tax deduction for the amount above the price listed. See Donated Items for more information. Raffles vs. Drawings: Please note that most states have specific requirements and/or licenses regarding raffles that you need to investigate. In general, the purchaser of raffle tickets does not get a tax deduction; therefore, please do not call the purchase price a donation. It is recommended to instead have a Drawing. If it is a free drawing, with a suggested donation instead of a price, it may be deductible and will not be subject to state raffle requirements. If you have any questions, please call the IFOPA. Other Events: Please discuss your particular event with the IFOPA. We will try to make the process easy, fun, and in compliance with the various applicable rules. You or your donors may also wish to seek additional information and advice from tax accountants. Expenses and Budgets: If your event will be processing a lot of checks and/or expenses, you might want to consider selecting someone to be the treasurer of your event. His or her only job would be to handle the money, both incoming and outgoing. This would allow you to concentrate on the other aspects of your fundraiser. In addition, having a treasurer would mean that primarily one person works with the IFOPA accountant. This consistency would make the process flow more smoothly. Expenses: The expenses of your event may be handled in several ways and we ask that you call the IFOPA to discuss which method would be best for you and your fundraiser: IFOPA Fundraising Tips 3

4 You may pay the expenses yourself and consider it like a contribution to the IFOPA, but without the tax deduction; or You may pay the expenses yourself and then request reimbursement from the IFOPA by submitting the receipts with the IFOPA s Expense Reimbursement Form. Many people then send the IFOPA a contribution for the amount of the reimbursement. This way, they can take a tax deduction for the amount as a charitable donation that they could not take as a fundraising expense; or Some reasonable expenses of the fundraiser may be paid directly by the IFOPA, but only after receipt of a proposed budget showing expected expenses and revenues, and after approval. This approval is dependent on whether funds have been received from the event yet, past fundraising experience, and other factors. A side benefit is that the sales tax may be waived when a 501(c)(3) charity is paying the bill, but only if the IFOPA is registered with the Attorney General s office of your state and the proper forms are filed. Budget: When the IFOPA is directly paying the expenses, it is required to have a proposed budget (see attached form). This is a requirement that the IFOPA must abide by for auditing purposes. In fact, we strongly suggest that everyone holding a fundraiser prepare a budget even if the expenses will be paid by the host or from the proceeds. Preparing even a preliminary budget encourages you to think about the financial aspects of the event, which will make estimating the easier. We have provided a sample proposed budget which you can use in this process. Also, the IFOPA accountant is able to help you with this process, so please give us a call if you would like assistance. A budget should list the expected gross intake of funds (from ticket sales, hole sponsors, whatever), the expected expenses, and the resulting expected proceeds. It should be submitted to the IFOPA as early in the process as possible so that our bookkeeper can make suggestions and be ready to help you as necessary. Optimally, you want to keep track of your actual expenditures as they arise and update the preliminary budget periodically. This is generally hard for you to do as the fundraiser approaches, but it is a perfect job for your treasurer, and another good reason for having one. It is also helpful if you keep a special file for all of the financial papers related to your fundraiser, such as checks, bills, payment records, invoices, estimates, etc. With some other tips from us, we are confident that the accounting will not become an unmanageable problem. Record Keeping Consistent and complete record keeping is the key to the IFOPA being able to properly and promptly process the money from your fundraiser. The most important information to keep track of is the name & address of the donor (often, but not always, reflected on the check), and how much of the check is a deductible gift versus value received. With most fundraisers, the easiest way of record keeping is to simply write the key information on the back of each check (or on a post-it note attached to it). As soon as you get the check, jot down how many tickets were purchased, how much (if any) is a charitable gift requiring an acknowledgment and/or receipt, and any other urgent information. Remember! Always write down the donor s address if it does not appear on the check or if more than one person s donation is represented by the check. For example: If someone buys items at a garage sale that total $16.35, but writes the check to the IFOPA for $20.00, you would write $16.35-M (for merchandise) on the back of the check. The IFOPA will do the math and send them an acknowledgment that shows the total amount of the check ($20), what is deductible ($3.65), what is not ($16.35), and how those amounts were determined. What matters most is that you and your helpers be consistent in what you do, and that you tell us what the numbers mean. IFOPA Fundraising Tips 4

5 For a golf tournament or an event with tickets at set prices, you could indicate the number of players or tickets on the check (1G, 2G, with G = guest) and we will do the calculation necessary to determine how much of the check is a gift. Again, you must be consistent and tell us what the numbers mean. If the entire check amount is for purchases and, therefore, no portion of it is deductible, you do not need to indicate anything on the check. However, it would be helpful if you grouped such checks together with a rubber band or clip and attached a note reminding us that the connected checks are pure purchases. Similarly, any checks you receive that are pure contributions should also be clipped together with a note. This will hopefully keep us from getting confused about why there is no number on the back of the check. If the donation is in the form of cash and the donor would like an acknowledgment for their donation, we must have the donor s name, address, donation amount, and what (if anything) they received. Cash donations given that do not want an acknowledgement can be either mail to the IFOPA together or the Event Coordinator can make a credit card payment through our website noting that the money was cash received at the event (no acknowledgment would be issued.) For some fundraisers, another way of record keeping is to create a simple form that has blanks for all the information the IFOPA and/or you may want to monitor. The IFOPA can happily create this form for you to ensure the proper information is recorded, just ask us to! Donated items If you receive a donated item, it is important to obtain the below information. Reference the Gift in Kind (GIK) Form. Donor s name Donor s address Donor s Tax ID Number (for an individual their Social Security Number, for a business their Federal Identification Number) A description of the item donated The fair market value of the item (provided by the donor) The date we received the item Sending Checks and cash to the IFOPA We suggest that you forward the checks and cash to the IFOPA at least once a month. You may want to do this more often as your event gets closer and you start receiving checks more frequently. To be safe, we strongly recommend that you send the checks by a method that can be tracked. Please note that certified mail cannot actually be tracked unless the package has been lost for a month. The post office offers tracking for an extra fee and Federal Express or UPS packages can always be tracked. Acknowledgments and Receipts The IFOPA sends acknowledgments and receipts for several reasons. First and foremost, we want the contributor to know that we are genuinely grateful for every donation. We also want everyone who donates to the IFOPA, for whatever reason and through whatever contact, to become part of our general mailing list. This is how an organization increases its donor base, which is especially important at our annual mailing time. The IFOPA also sends receipts because the IRS requires that we tell donors how much of their contribution is tax deductible, and to calculate that we must have the FMV information discussed above. Furthermore, the IRS now requires a letter of acknowledgment from a charity for any donations over $250 in order for the donor to be eligible for a tax deduction. For donations under $250, a canceled check is sufficient for tax purposes. IFOPA Fundraising Tips 5

6 The IFOPA will send to each contributor a receipt/acknowledgment that details the following: the donor s name and address, the purpose of the gift (i.e. your event), the amount of the contribution, the deductible portion of the gift, the non-deductible portion of the gift, and how said portions were calculated. If the donor has received nothing in exchange for the gift, the phrase No gifts or benefits have been received in exchange for this contribution will be clearly displayed on the letter. Acknowledgments and receipts will be sent as checks are processed. Therefore, please make sure that we have the FMV information for determining the amount of the charitable deduction as early as possible. If you would not like any of your donors added to our mailing list, receiving copies of the Milestones newsletter in addition to receiving any acknowledgment, please send us a clearly labeled list, otherwise they will be added to our list. The IFOPA mailing list is never shared nor sold with anyone. Miscellaneous Information FOP Connection, the IFOPA Newsletter for Members: Your event will be acknowledged to our members in our newsletter, FOP Connection. We do not print the total amount of money raised, however, because we think every fundraiser, big or small, is very important. We want to encourage participation in the fundraising process because we all have the same goal - a treatment and cure for FOP. If you would like a particular person to receive special acknowledgment in the newsletter, please let us know when you forward the donations. We encourage all Event Coordinators to write an article about the event, please send it as well as some pictures of the event to the IFOPA office. Credit Cards: The IFOPA accepts credit card donations on our website at Your donors can indicate it is for your event. We also have credit card readers available (with use of a smart phone) that is able to take credit card purchases. Please call the IFOPA if you are in need of a way to accept credit card payments. Promotional Materials IFOPA is happy to provide a reasonable amount of brochures, pamphlets and other informational materials promoting and explaining IFOPA and our goals and accomplishments. Please let us know your needs as soon as possible so that we can make sure we have the sufficient quantities available. Write a Thank You The IFOPA depends greatly on its donors and supporters. Please let us know if there are any special way we can acknowledge your donor(s) or event. IFOPA Fundraising Tips 6