Greetings!
Every group I work with tells me that
fundraising is their biggest challenge. Before your group starts to create
fundraising goals, they should take a close look at their expenses and
determine if all of them are necessary this year. Four basic steps that can
help your group reduce costs are listed below. What ways has your group saved money? We'd like
to share your ideas with the rest of the groups in the state. Please let us
know by sending an e-mail to localgroups@wisconsinrivers.org. |
Four Steps to Reduce Your Budget
1. Plan
I know, I know the dreaded planning word. A
planning process does not need to be long and complicated. All your board and/or
members need to do is spend an hour discussing what you want to accomplish this
year, and even more importantly, what tasks are not priorities for the next
year. This will help you avoid saying yes to every great idea that is proposed
throughout the year, that you may not have the funds to accomplish. River Alliance can help your group work
through this process without much blood, sweat, and tears, but maybe with just
a few post-it notes!
2. Budget
A plan also helps you set a budget. Once you
have your plan, determine how much each task will cost. Knowing the amount of
money you plan to spend for the entire year can help you avoid being short for
projects that occur at the end of the year. Having a budget will also help you
say no to new proposals that just don't fit your plan or financial abilities at
this time.
3. In-kind donations
Once you have a draft budget, take a look at
each item and ask which of the items in your budget could be in-kind donations?
An in-kind donation (when the actual item is donated instead of cash) saves
your group money and is often an easier donation for a business than cash. Food
for your meetings and events (the best way to keep people attending your
meetings is food!) is usually an easy in-kind donation to get.
4. Reduce expenses
One of the simpler ways to reduce costs is using
electronic media (E-mail, website, Facebook, etc.) instead of printing a
newsletter or other publications. Do
keep your members comfort level with e-media in mind. You may still need to
print some newsletters, but start to offer an e-version too and a way for
people to self-select to opt-out of the paper version. Milwaukee Riverkeeper started offering an
opt-out option for the print version of their River Currents newsletter. The response has been so great that they are
now printing half as many newsletters as they used to! |
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WPR Talks to River Friends
Water Quality Monitoring on Wisconsin Public Radio
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Larry Meiller  | Our
friends Kris Stepenuck (UWEX and DNR) and Sarah Grainger (Valley Stewardship
Network) were on Larry Meiller's show on Wisconsin Public Radio recently. They
did a great job spreading the word about the great work groups do to track the
quality of our rivers and streams across the state. We encourage you listen to
the program.
Listen to WPR interview>>
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