Both sides have a point. It is difficult to break $400 or even $200 when items are priced at a quarter to two dollars. The most successful sale I was a part of raised $950, but it ran for four days and there were many high ticket items. Sometimes the BOD ends up holding the bag as far as manning the sale. On the other hand, there is little to no overhead to have a yard sale. The only real cost is advertisement.

The alternative is skipping the yard sale and having estate sales. But don’t wait until a donor passes away. The past few estate sales I attended were not related to passings, but to downsizing or moving out of state. Rain or snow won’t cancel the event.

In future posts, I will expand upon different ideas and concerns.

A Basic Step by Step:

1) Find a Location. Have a volunteer donate their home. An alternative is to approach a Realtor or builder that supports your cause. Perhaps you could have one on the first floor of the model home or a spec home. It could be excellent publicity for the agent or builder and you, too. Homeowners selling their home get extra mileage out of a sale, which provides word of mouth, but interested parties must have a future appointment to see restricted areas.

2) Protect Restricted Areas. Rope off the areas that are “off limits” to shoppers. This could be the entire upstairs or a downstairs bathroom. I recommend using a first floor room, such as the living room, for the main area. Clear the countertops and put the homeowner’s small appliances in cupboards. Label large furniture pieces “Not for Sale”. Drape them with table cloths to use as display areas.

4) Protect Privacy. Remove the home owners personal possessions and furniture, aside from shelving and other flat surfaces, to other rooms. A sofa becomes a display area with a sheet draped over it. Consider not releasing the address until several days before the sale. Early publicity can include a web link “to watch” for the sale location or better yet, use it as an excuse to sign folks up for your mailing list or email newsletter.

5) Group Items. Arrange donated furniture in the room, and set up card tables. Group items with like items.

6) Create a price list. Simplify things and have a price key in each room. For example, if there is an abundance of books or linens “Tablecloths – $2.00 each unless marked, Clothing – $5.00 per bag.” This way, only the unusual or large items need to be marked, saving volunteer time.

7) Less is more. I have spent more money on sales with a well-edited selection. While a jumble of items in boxes and bags may seem appealing to the treasure hunter, it overwhelms many and fewer items are actually sold, or their perceived value is less. Don’t be afraid to refuse broken or chokingly musty items. Place these in a “free” box if they can be repaired.

Compose and purchase advertising. If the sale has a collection of things, lots of child items, or antiques – mention them when you compose your ad. The amount of foot traffic you receive from the local town paper pays for itself.

9) Look for free publicity. Newspapers usually have ad budget set aside for charity events. While they do not lend ads to causes, if you have an event – ask. Craigslist is a good place to list an estate sale, but folks looking specifically for just sales go to site like Estatesale.com, which is free to list with. Also, ask permission to place a sign at nearby businesses to further publicize the sale.

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Check back for more tips in future installments!

Now that the temperature dropped from 100 to 59 in one weekend, naturally, do you put away the classic car for the year? Some small pet rescues have a transport bus or a Spaymobile or a donated vehicle that needs repair and has been set aside or is parked during the winter. If there is no shelter or garage for it, it is typical to lay poly-vinyl or canvas tarps over them before the snow comes.

Before you button things up, I would sway you to doublethink the plastic and think about that Jeep. While a canvas tarp may not be completely water proof if you were to dump it in a bucket, sometimes they are a better alternative for cars because they actually breathe. The condensation might bead off it a little less than with plastic, but the water that comes in through tears and that follows tie lines in are not trapped. The moisture actually gets a chance of evaporating rather than creating major rust spots when water has nowhere to go. In the case of the Jeep, the condensation beaded under the tarp and rotted the roof. For quick cover-ups, vinyl is still fine, but really pay attention to long-term storage. This isn’t gospel, but something I have picked up along the way seeing some pretty shameful and avoidable damage to some good old trucks.

So, whether you are a small group with a donated vehicle or you are an individual with that clunker that you have considered fixing or donating but for now its parked in the yard, take care of it. Stamp out rust before it stops. The car will have a higher donation or resale value or it will keep on going after its peers are in the junk yard.

Once upon a time, in the mid-1990s to be exact, there was a young man name Jason living out of his car and making trips back and forth to a storage unit. With $80,000 in medical bills and a variety of surgeries to reconstruct his face and fuse his spine. But he had a dream. Some thought the idea of an internet Coupons site was eccentric or a pipe dream. After all, the internet was just a passing blip, wasn’t it? First, an internet coupon swapping group started. Jason made a few friends, including a local woman who let him use her shower and a woman out of state, named Barb, who was Jason’s cheerleader, encouraging him to never give up. Through the kindness of a friend who allowed him to use a corner of his desk, to encouragement from across the miles, Jason evolved from broken and penniless to selling coupon submission software and founding MyCoupons.com, which he sold in a multimillion dollar deal.  Jason remembered those who helped him when he had nothing and returned the favor to some of them by offering them jobs.

There is no truer tale of “Teach a Man to Fish” that I have read in a long time. No one ever gave Jason a hand out – they all gave him a little of their time, encouragement and use of a hot shower until Jason was again on his feet.

In the spirit of giving that the site MyCoupons.com was founded on, have you ever considered that coupons help spread the donation dollar just a little more? Not all animal organizations accept financial donations. In some towns, the local county-funded shelter that does not have a non-profit “friends of the shelter” group often only accepts in-kind donations, such as heartworm medication, pet shampoo and pet beds. They just have no system for employees to accept private funds. Before you purchase medication to donate to a local pet rescue or shelter, coupon codes from 1800PetMeds Coupons might help $100 turn into $125 worth of items with a deftly spotted coupon code.

How does this really help? If a shelter, even if its the county pound, receives tools to keep pets healthy and parasite free, more pets make it to the adoption area and have a chance at a home rather than being sorted out as unhealthy. When potential adopters do not come home with fleas on their skin and clothes, they don’t view the shelter as a dirty place where only “problem dogs” go, but a place to save a life and adopt their best firend.

I have used other sites before for coupons, but have been frustrated when half the codes just don’t work. MyCoupons has a stable of Coupon Pros that not only constantly hunt for codes, but edit and curate those sent by member contributors. CouponPro Dale tosses out all the old 1800PetMeds and Petsmart Coupons, it seems. You can even follow him on Twitter to receive reminders on all the other companies he curates, as well. There are literally thousands of coupons to be had at any given time from hundreds and hundreds of websites. So, next time you are looking to buy supplies for donation or a key item for your charity’s next auction, shave a few dollars off of the bill, first!

To fund the purchase, if you do not have a concert promoter in your ranks to donate them, and most often you don’t, consider asking a sponsor to purchase the tickets and give them credit in your program or advertisements for supporting your group. The excited bidders may get a bargain on the tickets, but might get swept up in the excitement and bid on other items, or may very well bid beyond face value. In addition, its a great way to expose new folks to your message.

Just a thought.

This post brought to you by Cauzoom. All opinions are 100% mine.

Social media has changed the landscape of volunteer recruitment and fundraising for non profit organizations and the beginnings of many grass roots efforts alike. You can "Like," "Share," and of course, even donate to a variety of organizations deftly with applications on Facebook, MySpace and others. Sites with a social component have cropped up that are specifically dedicated to charity.

The latest such site is Cauzoom! Upon investigation, Cauzoom! shares a few elements with other sites already in existence, but with one small difference.

The first site that I was aware of that used a social element was Razoo. A few organizations I support tried it for a whirl. The pluses is that the site revolved around just charities, so you didn't have to wade through band pages. The site did offer contests and incentives to charities to win additional grants which was a definite plus (free money!). The downside of the site is that supporters felt that it required a lot of involvement in creating profiles and keeping up with it and was trying to replace Facebook. A few folks hesitated to give away their information to yet another site. Razoo is still a great site, but you need the volunteer base to have a person who can be just as involved in it as Facebook, sometimes to build a community.

Cauzoom! is also project-centered rather than cause-centered, similar to the Pepsi Refresh contest site, but projects don't appear to be specifically competing for each other for prizes. Instead of just votes, the "voters" specifically donate money to the cause. The group sets the goal amount and their own deadline, it appears. Once the cause is funding, then the project is funded, rather than competing for donations they may or may not receive. In that respect, it reminds me of Donor's Choose, but the scope is not limited to only classroom projects.

The big difference, aside from these small differences, is that donors may also choose to buy merchandise to benefit the cause. For example, you might buy a Best Buy gift card for $100. Best Buy will contribute $10 to the cause. That may not seem like an outrageous or substantial amount, but you are buying something you would normally buy anyways and its benefiting the cause. Sites, such as iGive already allow donors to purchase items to benefit their favorite group, but in this case you don't have to remember to use a toolbar. The selection of items might be limited to one choice per cause, but the choices appeal to a broad range of people and the donor can directly see the amount of the donation added to the grand total, rather than waiting for the group to report or for a monthly report and having to guess how much their purchases individually garnered.

Cauzoom! is very , very new. I am going to investigate how it actually operates in practices in the future on this blog.

Does Cauzoom! sound like something that would fit your cause or does it seem to scatter your message to work with sites such as this? Write and let me know.?affid=64

When you pull the tarps off this year and think ahead about the next, I would sway you to doublethink the plastic. While a canvas tarp may not be completely water proof if you were to dump it in a bucket, sometimes they are a better alternative for cars because they actually breathe. The condensation might bead off it a little less than with plastic, but the water that comes in through tears and that follows tie lines in are not trapped. The moisture actually gets a chance of evaporating rather than creating major rust spots when water has nowhere to go. For quick cover-ups, vinyl is still fine, but really pay attention to long-term storage. This isn’t gospel, but something I have picked up along the way seeing some pretty shameful and avoidable damage to some good old trucks.

The way to cut to the chase is to rely on the old concept of personally addressing each subscriber or supporter with modern technology. Instead of sending out a Tweet or a mass e-mail, you can use an SMS Gateway to send a short text message to their phones, whether they have a “smart phone” or a “dumb phone.” It goes straight to the intended recipient without the middle man.

The possibilities include automatic messages as appointment reminders, alerts to attend a charity fundraiser on a specific date, or an alert to letting them know that the latest donation campaign has kicked off. The recipient may text back an RSVP or forward it on to friends. The cell phone company has used the feature for sales pitches, why not put the technology to good use? Of course, you will only want to send messages to subscribers who have opted in to contact or have expressed interested in receiving them. The exception might be a personal appointment to meet with the chairs of the organization, which would more likely be considered personal contact.

The possibilities for the technology are extensive. I would love to receive reminders from the vet clinic about an appointment. It is great to get the call, but not so great when I’m driving. Maybe principals should text parents when their child doesn’t show. Better yet, maybe text the actual kid and warn them that you’ll text mom and dad next if they don’t put one foot in front of the other. For the non-profit sector, maybe separate messages could go out as an exciting countdown to the Christmas Ball with trivia questions. Supporters could text back their answers or suggestions and be rewarded with special mention or a drawing to bring other companions at no cost.

On the Cdyne website, it looks like you can get going for .09 per text, and the cost reduces based on volume, down to .03 per text. A $9.99 monthly fee is also assessed.

Have you tried out this idea for your organization, or have you received such messages? If so, tell me what you think.

A few of the highlights:

• There always seems to be an extra $5-25 off at 1-800Petmeds.com. That’s useful if you run a pet charity and need to buy something special for the 150 lb dog you just don’t have the right dosage for. Pet Street Mall and Petsmart also have codes.
• Offers from HP, the Apple Store and Sony, not to mention MacAfee for all of your virus-busting needs.
• Discounts at Tractor Supply Store. Have you ever been to one? Everything from horse feed to landscaping items to protective gear.
• Autozone and O’Reilly’s to keep your vehicles running.

If you are purchasing or procuring items from any of these businesses, and hundreds more, take advantage of saving a few extra dollars. You can put what you save towards saving another life or comforting another person.

This familiar widget can be created on the ChipIn site very easily, and the code can be tailored to a variety of formats that a wide variety of platforms can understand. Just be aware, that if using on Wordpress, you can only use it if you host your blog on your own domain as it is against Wordpress TOS. Also, the shockwave script only appears in “publish” or “preview” mode.Please do not attempt to actually donate to this one, because it won’t go anywhere. It is for illustrative purposes only. It is not connected to a Paypal address.

For a legitimate group, not only does it motivate donors, but the constant updates cut out the “middle man” and save time for volunteers seeking updates as well. Funds are processed through Paypal, which is very familiar to those donating on the internet already. A widget is best used if a small, reasonable goal is targeted as people like to be part of the “winning team” and feel that they are making a difference versus a small drop in a bucket that may never be filled.

However, the widget went from being used by legitimate causes to just about anyone. Because the address that is receiving the donations is hidden, it can easily create a situation where someone is falsely collecting funds. However, it was more frequent for individuals to not pretend that they were collecting for something they were not, but counting on you seeing so many widgets that you will get them confused. Another scenario is that because you do see a widget, you think they have been “checked out.” One young lady was asking for over $20,000 to build a “No-Kill Sanctuary for Dogs.” Behind the scenes, there was never going to be a shelter. She had made graphics to look convincing, but in reality, she was trying to gain trust with shelters in order to attempt to take unaltered dogs to start breeding and fighting them. She was “found out.”

The more innocent misuses are people using them to fund their savings goal, or dream of buying a boat. In of itself, if everyone is aware that they are gifting money to the person and it is not a donation, to each his own. Perhaps ChipIn should create a widget that clearly carries a disclaimer.

Technologically, the widget will not appear in Wordpress based blogs in draft mode and is sometimes only viewable when published. This is an improvement. The widget is compatible with blogger.

In my opinion:

From a technology perspective, ChipIn is a valuable widget and gets high marks. A s a consumer, you should do the same research of the person behind the widget as if they were handing you an envelope or asking for a donation in person.

What is this mysterious spectre? No, its not a Titanic-exhibit-gone-creepy.  Rather, it’s the new Ghost Ship at Morey’s Piers. Nope, no rotating midway Viking ship here, but rather an interactive haunted house. For your next volunteer amusement park “thank you” or wish granting trip for teens, there is finally something more at the park for those not of the faint of heart, but the too faint of stomach or faint neck for roller coasters.

1. Auction or raffle winners can use them as gifts for others.
2. A well stocked gift basket has a little something that appeals to everyone in a family or office.
3. Gift baskets often include items that the recipient would not regularly buy, but would be adventurous to try.
4. Someone may not care for the consumable items, but the basket style may be perfect for a nook in their home.
5. Local businesses may give inexpensive, small items as donations. Pair movie tickets and a low denomination gift certificates from a restaurant with movie style snacks to create a basket for a night out.

Of course, if the event is connected to a Poker Run, choose gift certificates that fit in a saddle bag a bit more safely.

The ones that are “keepers” may not all be businesses of close personal friends.  The magnets that are in novelty shapes tend to stick around longer than the boring “business card on a sticker” varieties. If a magnet is shaped like a Chinese take out box, a paint brush, a car, a dog, or anything else out of the ordinary they are just too cute to throw out.  If you decide to give magnets to potential customers or donors, make it count. Make it creative and make it fun.  it will stick around, or be passed on to someone else who might call you because its too cute to throw away. Just ask Grandpa.

May is NAVTEQ’s Map Update Month. What does this mean for you? It is a gentle reminder to update your GPS system. Every year, new highways are built, streets are bypassed for new arenas and subdivision configurations change. It may not be critical if you stick within a three mile radius, but I know folks who took a cross country trip with outdated maps and they were really turned around. They were lost and it took an hour or two a few times to right themselves.

According the the NAVTEQ Navigation Benefits Study study, using a GPS device conserves approximately $200 in fuel per year, reduces CO2 emissions by 20%, and saves time. Time on the road saved in hours equals 4 full days per year!  How? Since a driver isn’t aimlessly driving around and looking for a destination in “hit or miss” fashion, less fuel is wasted and time is trimmed from trips.

For those of you who participate in volunteer transports, you know just how critical this is. Rescue transports are planned with precision, with only 15 minutes allotted for a bathroom break for the dog and to buffer traffic and delays.  Cats and rabbits really don’t get bathroom breaks on the trip, but it provides extra time to make sure that they have the water the supplies the need for the next leg of their journey.For more information, click on www.mapupdatemonth.com.  There is a list of downloads on the site for both independent GPS units and systems built in to various makers and models of cars.  It is a worthy investment before playing “around the world.”

Yesterday, I was investigating a dog rescue group and a local thrift store. A friend of mine wanted an opinion on the rescue group, as they offered to take a large number of dogs from a county pound and she had never heard of them before. The thrift store is in my local area and benefits a charity I have never heard of. Upon performing basic internet searches, I was really surprised that these organizations were running their websites on free space, or were found on a url as long as Yao Ming’s arm. Pop ups, and very clumsy navigation made the groups look like fly-by-nights.  A group that looks rag-tag and disorganized is not getting my donations.

I am abundantly aware that operating a website for a group often is at the mercy of a volunteer and costs money. However, with the Unlimited Web Hosting specials I found at Nexx, there really is no excuse not to have even a simple informational website, attached to your own domain and free of popups. One would think that everyone has gotten the message by now, especially folks handling such important tasks of creating or preserving the image of a small nonprofit organization or grassroots movement, but many groups are still stuck in a website from 1998. One excuse made is, “Our volunteers are mostly seniors.”  My 88 year old great-aunt sends dirty jokes to my aunts via email on a weekly basis and zings around with her Webtv.  I’ll have to hire her out to them.

For $10 per month, the hosting plan includes a free domain name to get you started. To drive traffic to your url, they are providing a $50.00 credit to both Google Adwords and Facebook. Not familiar with Facebook advertising? When you log into Facebook, look at the column at the right hand side of your page. Your group could be there, and your ad would appear to people who were specifically targeted by keywords, or on pages that mesh with what you are about. Conventional wisdom dictates that someone has to see a message or concept three times before they act. If they see a Facebook ad, see a Google Ad and see your website when they click on one of those….Bingo!  If you don’t see major results, it didn’t hurt to try it for free. Free is my second favorite price to cheap. Free would be my favorite price, but I don’t always trust Free…unless it is thrown in as a bonus with something cheap.

A one year package at Nexx normally adds up to $71.40 per year, so it is a rock bottom bargain.  Some groups are reluctant to spend any money, but the potential a website has to drive donations is priceless and the savings is fiscally responsible.  No tech savvy? No problem. Nexx offers one-click installation for Wordpress and other blog platforms if a journal-type website is more your speed to constantly update your contributors and the world.

There must be a catch at this price.  Actually, upon my through investigation, there are no add-on fees.  The service guarantee is very equitable as well. There is a 30 day money back guarantee.  Within 30 days of activation or upgrade, a full refund is issued if you are not satisfied. Even if you have a site already, it is worth giving a new concept and new site a whirl. The investment is small to play around with a new idea.

This information is so timely. I was so frustrated I could spit yesterday when one of my other websites was down with no warning for about three hours. While it wasn’t a site that I depend on all the time, or play with everyday, it was a big disappointment. The service I was using frequently shorts out the server that the site happens to be on. I wonder if its just a hard drive under some guy’s desk that gets kicked when he was playing World of Warcraft. Darn ogres.

With a larger scale organization, things are not that quite cut and dry. Changes involve calculated moves as they affect hundreds or even millions of individuals from volunteers, to help recipients to employees. Here is where consulting for nonprofits may almost be demanded by donors and it would be imprudent not to at least try.

The National Executive Service Corp (NESC) provides help to non-profit educational, religious, cultural and health-oriented groups at a fraction of the amount a for profit consulting firm would charge.  Services is at this time limited to the New York, Connecticut and New Jersey area. Consultants are chiefly senior professionals who have experience in a specific sector to advise and mentor.  Risk assessment, branding, nonprofit executive search, board development and retreat projects, and fiscal management are just some of the areas of focus depending on the needs of the client non-profit.  If your group is at a crossroads or lacking a solid foundation in one of these areas, have you considered a little outside advice?  If so, what did you do?  Have you enlisted a consulting service or did you turn to another solution?

Volunteer opportunities that are a one time gig, or require a time commitment of less than 2 hours per week are being sought.  Also, if the volunteer need not handle currency, that would be a plus. Opportunities that require even less are highly welcome to receive the most amount of volunteer interest possible.  Please submit your specific calls for volunteers, with the guidelines in mind.  The volunteer opportunity must be able to be filled by someone that fits this profile:

• The volunteer need not have a specific degree or certification.
• The volunteer does not need to own special equipment (i.e., sensor equipment, a dump truck)
• Gender of the volunteer does not matter.
• Age of the volunteer is 16 or over.  Upward age does not matter.
• Volunteer opportunity can be fulfilled as a one time gig, or in a time allotment of less than 2 hours per week.

There will be two categories: Live opportunities, where a volunteer needs to appear in person at a site, or needs to be in close proximity.  The second category is for virtual opportunities.  The volunteer CAN be in close proximity or further away, but the opportunity does not call for meeting regularly in person to fulfill their duties.

Please submit opportunities with the following information:

Name of organization or cause
Type of cause (if not obvious from the name. What are you all about?)
Physical location (city or locality)
Decription of opportunity
Time commitment
Dates of opportunity if applicable
If the opportunity is an ongoing need or at the volunteer’s convenience, indicate it.

Send the following information to: volunteers  at gmail.com.  The list will be published at the discretion of houndsgood.com.  Some opportunities may not be published due to space, complexity of the opportunity, or if the cause conflicts with the mission of Houndsgood.com.

Deadline for submiission  but will be rolling, but it would be super nice if you could submit by january 23rd.