You don’t have to be a media or marketing maven to create a buzz around your non-profit. It does take some time, a little creativity and a willingness to try new things. No matter if your charity is saving animals, kids or trees, you can engage your audience and attract new supporters through a few well-thought-out activities.

Here are four ideas for creating buzz:

• Adopt a school. Partnering with an elementary, middle or high school is a great way to introduce young people to volunteering. At the same time, you’re educating a new generation about your charity’s work. And the kids are likely to tell their families and friends about it. It could take time to find a school willing to create a partnership, but it could be well worth the effort!
• Create a contest. Contests are a great way to create a buzz. Just solicit a donation from a business or supporter. Fun experiences, like a river rafting trip or hot-air balloon ride, or a product or service that ties into your mission, are all great ideas for contest prizes. If you’re an art museum, give away a painting. If you’re a youth services organization, have the kids create a sculpture. If you’re saving the environment, a great contest prize is a ready-to-plant raised vegetable garden. You can either sell raffle tickets or solicit entries on Facebook and other social media outlets.
• Enroll in classes and seminars. Your local community college, technical school or university probably offers free or low-cost classes in technology, web design, social media or marketing – or dozens of other business-related topics. You’re likely to meet other business people and business owners that will soon learn about your non-profit. If you don’t have time to attend classes, look for half-day or one-day seminars that will both teach you valuable skills and expose your charity to a new audience. And if you cannot find the time to attend, send a co-worker, or even a volunteer.
• Produce a simple event. Not a fundraiser—fundraisers are to raise funds. Other events can simply create buzz. For example, if you have a new building, hold an open house. If you’ve recently acquired a donation, find local groups who might be interested, and invite them to check it out. Or, contact an expert in any given field and ask them to give a presentation. Invite the public or make it a private event. Just reach out and inform people about your organization.

Creating buzz simply takes a little time, some creativity, and willingness to ask people for help. It can be a great way to spread the word about your non-profit!

Volunteers can cost your non-profit organization money. While they don’t get a paycheck every two weeks, are not enrolled in your healthcare plan and don’t require any payroll taxes, volunteers are more of an investment than free employees.

Improper volunteer management can cost a charity dearly. Consider the case of one non-profit volunteer who was dismissed inappropriately. She campaigned for 18 months to clear her name, causing widespread negative publicity for the NPO, along with the expense of an internal investigation. Eventually, she was cleared and the executive director was forced to apologize. Who knows what impact the negative publicity had on donations?

Advertising, networking and recruiting for volunteers takes an investment of time. And sometimes there are out of pocket expenses – like background checks and training supplies. You don’t want to add in the costs of fighting a lawsuit to that total, do you? A volunteer recently sued a non-profit for discriminating against her because of a disability. Even though volunteers are not employees, it’s a good idea to become familiar with and follow the guidelines of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act.

This particular case was settled in favor of the NPO, but they still had a significant outlay of cash to cover legal defense. The ideal defense is a good offense; so to avoid expanding problems and expenses, consider creating a policy and a procedure for volunteer complaints. When volunteers submit complaints or grievances, acting quickly can prevent the problem from growing in scope and in cost.

Finally, a thorough background and credit check on potential volunteers can also help you avoid litigation – especially if your organization serves vulnerable populations. Keep your employees, clients and other volunteers safe by conducting thorough volunteer background checks.

Auctions—either live or online—are a popular way for nonprofits to raise money. They can be a lot of hard work, but auctions can be fun, too. There is a right way to run an auction: you’ll know you did when you see a big audience, they have a great time and you hit your fundraising goal.

If your organization has an auction coming up or is considering one, here are 7 tips to consider that could make it more successful!

1. Remember, it’s supposed to be fun! Create an atmosphere of excitement that will keep your volunteer committee inspired to continue through the planning process. It’s a big job to do an auction successfully, so make it fun and energetic.
2. Give people a reason to attend. Is it a celebrity guest? Amazing auction items? An intriguing theme? If you become known for surprises, trips or fabulous wine, people will look forward to coming every year.
3. Don’t try to run the auction alone. It takes many hands to gather the auction items, solicit donations and support, advertise the event, prepare the space, hire the auctioneer and the other thousand pieces that go into fundraising auctions.
4. Rushing won’t help. Allow plenty of time: six to nine months is considered the minimum.
5. Choose quality over quantity for auction items. An items that goes for $50 will take as much time to merchandise and sell as an time that goes for $500.
6. Find the right volunteers. Approach it like a business. Figure out the jobs that need to be done, write job descriptions and match volunteers to the jobs they’re most suited to. For example, retailers can design the displays, graphic designers can do the invitations and programmers can help with the database operations.
7. Keep great records so next year’s fundraising auction is just as successful—and easier.

If you decide to host a fundraising auction, do your homework and do more preparation, planning, and promoting than you think you’ll need.

My friend Kathryn recently joined a local non-profit board, on which I used to serve. She asked if for ideas for improvement, so I shared one. As a former board member, donor, and major supporter of the cause, it seems logical that I would receive frequent updates in the form of newsletters (online or in the mail), invitations to events, and other information. Because I do not, they are missing out on additional support—monetary and otherwise, that I could be providing, if only they were top-of-mind. As far as I know, they don’t even exist anymore!

This non profit organization’s outreach needs a lot of improvement. How about yours? How many supporters do you have who feel like I do? Who don’t hear from you enough?

As a non profit director or manager, you serve two masters (or mistresses, as the case may be!): your clients and your support base. To under serve either is a misstep. So, take a look at your outreach efforts:

• How often do your supporters hear from you? If it’s just once a year when you ask for a donation, consider increasing the frequency of your contact–and your message.
• How do your non profit’s supporters prefer to be contacted? You may be mailing printed newsletters to super-green folks who hate junk mail and wish you’d provide an online newsletter delivered to their email boxes.
• What are you sharing with your supporters? Believe it or not, they want to hear what you’re up to! Share success stories. Profile a client, employee, or volunteer who deserves praise. Communicate a particular need. You may be surprised at the response you receive!
• Are you saying “thank you?” If you let your supporters know that you appreciate their past support, they will be more likely to give again—whether it is of their time or their money.

What is your community saying about your charity? You can have thousands of fans and evangelists for your cause, who tell everyone they know about the work of your non profit origination, or you can have people who say nothing—because they simply don’t have any information to share. Give people something to talk about—keep your donors, volunteers, and former board members informed!

These days, nonprofits are more dependent on volunteers than ever. You probably cannot imagine running your nonprofit organization without them. So where do you go when you need new volunteers as a result of reduced staff, increased workload, or volunteer turnover?

Think technology! Check out these tools that can make this important task much easier:

1. Software: Volunteer Reporter is one software program you might try. It’s designed to help streamline volunteer management with reports, spreadsheets, templates, and other features, based on a powerful database model. Find the volunteer with the right skill set for a particular job in minutes, or prepare a custom report for a board meeting .The software’s online subscription service integrates with your website, and allows volunteers to log in from home to track hours, and you to post opportunities and accept applications online.

2. Newsletters: keep volunteers updated and informed with simple online newsletters. You can try a template-based online program, such as Constant Contact, for free, and if it works for you, pay a fee for ongoing use. Simply input your information, load your database of email addresses, and the newsletter is delivered instantly. Links to yours or other websites, photos, and interactivity are all part of Constant Contact’s offerings. Remember to ask volunteers for their email address so that you can add them to the list! Keep former volunteers engaged and encourage them to volunteer again with regular contact.

3. Register with an online volunteer database: Try VolunteerMatch or 1-800-Volunteer.  These services will help you get noticed and match your organization with appropriate volunteers in your area. You can easily match skills with needs, manage your volunteers, and compile reports through 1-800-Volunteer. And both services will put your organization’s name, mission, and needs in front of thousands of interested volunteers every day.

4. Use online classifieds: Think of Craigslist.org as a free online classifieds section of the newspaper. In fact, many newspapers’ classifieds sections are becoming increasingly skimpy, thanks to Craigslist’s emergence as the dominant place for buyers and sellers to meet. And, Craigslist is where employers and employees are finding each other, too. So take a cue from savvy employers and put your volunteers needed ad right where your potential volunteers will see it: Craigslist. It’s easy to get started, update, or delete your posting, so give it a try!

Using technology to recruit volunteers is easier, faster, and more effective than ever. Give these tips a try and you’ll see what we mean.

What is your nonprofit organization’s personality like? Is it pretentious, or welcoming? Will potential donors, staff, and volunteers think it’s stiff and formal, or casual and fun? More importantly, does the organization’s personality align with its mission and goals?

It is important to communicate your NPO’s personality in a way that resonatess with your targeted donors and supporters. The first place to analyze this piece of your communications strategy is your website—because that’s where most people will go to learn more.

Is your website content and design friendly or pretentious? Welcoming or chilly? Serious or upbeat? Determine what “voice” best matches your organization’s goals and its mission. Does the website content match that ideal voice? Or will visitors feel a disconnect between what they perceive about your organization and what is communicated on the website? Make sure your charity’s goals and needs are clearly communicated in a voice that matches your mission.

How easy is it to donate to your organization through your website? Will potential donors be turned off by too many steps and windows? Can visitors interact through comment boxes, easily sign up for a newsletter, or learn more about the organization? Are volunteers easily able to communicate their desire to help?

Picture your website visitors in your mind: are they happy and smiling, learning what they want to know, or are they frustrated and confused? You want them to think your organization has a good personality. You can help by ensuring the website is easy to navigate, that they clearly understand your purpose and needs, and that they can interact easily with your organization.

If your organization has a bad online personality, consider revamping your website.