The current economic crisis has left many nonprofit organizations scrambling, trying more than ever to do too much with too little. Executive directors are spending hours inputting donor information into their database … program directors are doubling up and doing administrative work.
What’s a struggling organization to do?
Some savvy nonprofit organizations are turning to craigslist for fast, inexpensive outsourcing, hiring, in-kind donations and more.
Two summers ago Alex’s Lemonade Stand started a a national internship program to grow their social media. According to Melissa Jones, Social Media Specialist for Alex’s Lemonade, using craigslist ads, along with a bit of Facebook advertising, drew applicants from around the country. A mix of 20 high school and college students, along with a few college graduates were brought on and paid a stipend of $200. The results? 25,000 new Twitter followers in six days.
Several years ago I worked with a small community educational organization. When the Executive Director decided that we needed to go beyond our middle school programming to see our kids through high school and, eventually, college, one of the first things he implemented was an after school student drop in center. Trouble was our budget was already set for the year and we didn’t have a dime to put into it. I began to research funders but we all know that the grant process can be a lengthy one.
Zoe, one of our program directors placed a series of advertisements on craigslist seeking everything from furnishings to computers to games and books. In less than one month our new student drop in center was fully furnished, equipped with a computer lab and outfitted with a library. One generous donor sent in 20 brand new SAT prep books!
In my own burgeoning business I’ve used craiglist any number of ways including:
- Logo creation
- Creation of pdf editable forms
- eBook formatting
- 1-3 hour administrative tasks
In addition to craigslist, there are a number of sites offering high quality freelance workers, including:
oDesk
Rent-a-Coder
vWorker
Elance
Freelancer
How could your organization use craigslist to streamline your operations or fundraising?
What are other ways your nonprofit can raise more money – with less resources? Find out in Simple Development Systems: Successful fundraising for the one-person shop! Download and find out why one reviewer calls Simple Development Systems her “Bible for the one-person shop!”
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I can’t wait to meet with you personally.
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