The Nuts and Bolts of a Donation Jar Campaign

The Nuts and Bolts of a Donation Jar Campaign is something many of our groups in The Community Cats Grants ponder during their fundraising efforts. We currently have 40 groups from 18 different states working hard to raise money for their spay/neuter programs that help community cats! More info to come!

Many groups chose is to launch a Donation Jar Campaign. But what exactly does it entail? This week, we’ll be talking about the nuts and bolts involved with such a campaign.

The Nuts and Bolts of a Donation Jar Campaign

I love donation jars. I think it is a great way to get your organizations name out in the community as well as bringing in necessary donations. Community awareness is key. One of the first fundraising programs that the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society started was a donation jar program and we have had it for 25 years and it brings in almost $10,000 every year even with out “cashless” society.

1. Double the Effort

It helps to be able to have donation cans that say that say for every dollar donated that there will be a match. But even without that you can be successful!

2. Amount of Cans to Place

When starting a donation jar program you can start small, just 5-7 locations. You can use regular coffee cans and design a nice, clean label with a picture of a kitty (usually a kitten draws well). Many people let the managers or the folks behind the counter select a kitty picture that they like. This helps them become more engaged with the organization and helps to feel like a fundraiser.

The best performing locations are convenience stores, grocery stores and liquor stores. You can put them anywhere, though, just like we do! If you have a business, offer to take a can! It is another way to get the word out. An unexpected benefit? Many of our volunteers joined our group because of seeing our donation cans!

When I asked donors how they heard about us. I would often hear, “Your donation cans are everywhere.” That is music to my ears… It means that our community and market knows about us and what we do!

3. Frequency of Checking Cans

Once you have cans set up at your locations how often should you check them? It depends on the location and volume of donations. For busy locations, I check the can every other week. For other locations, once a month is fine. In order to keep the can fresh, you might want to change the picture every month or so. You want people to know that you are helping more than one cat or kitten. Also, the stores like the attention! Be prepared, though. Some cans will get stolen and you will lose money. You need to let these situations go and be understanding of the location’s management and their limitations to theft.

4. Tracking Donations

How do you track donations? We use an excel spreadsheet and track the donations from each can. We have held annual contests where the can with the highest amount of donations for the year will get an announcement in the local paper. We have also listed the top 5 performing locations in our newsletter that goes out to several thousand donors. Offer to have representatives from these locations at your special events or give them tickets to your auction! They will appreciate any attention you can give them, so be inventive and appreciative. We also send out holiday cards to all of locations, thanking them for having our can at their store. We want to be good stewards to our donors and these locations are donating to us!

5. Volunteers and Coordinators

Do you have volunteers for your program? We do. We have a coordinator and several others who pick up the cans and monitor locations. We have also had volunteers in the past do the can tracking and deposits. This is a really easy and fulfilling job to do and really doesn’t take much staff time (if you have fundraising staff). It is really a community-based, grass-roots fundraising effort!

Do you think you might want to start a donation can program? Spring is the best time as you can focus on those innocent kittens! Make the most of it and have fun and enjoy! Feel free to  share your donation can stories on our Community Cats Podcast Facebook Page!