Whether it’s a school fundraiser, church fundraiser, or group fundraiser, your fundraising idea probably depends on dozens of people. So though your goal is simple – to raise money – the people and many pieces of information that you need to track can quickly become a management nightmare, and I’m not even counting the hours that you spend emailing and making phone calls.

How much easier would your life be with a common fundraising website to answer questions, provide forms online, communicate important calendar dates, and make general announcements? A LOT. You post your fundraising information, dos & don’ts, FAQs, order or permission forms, and general announcements ONCE. Your fundraisers go to the website to get their questions answered, so you don’t have to provide repeat responses to every question. More of your time is spent actually fundraising and meeting goals rather than managing the fundraising process.

So the fundraising website is a great idea and perhaps something you’ve thought of before. But how do you get one up and running when you know little about web development and have no budget (you’re trying to RAISE money, not spend it!)? Google has an answer for you (no surprise there). Google Sites gives you an easy way to create websites and also hosts them for FREE. Essentially, it’s a basic content management system that requires no html experience, so no coding required. Google Sites takes advantage of other Google tools like Picasa & Google Docs, and you will need a Gmail account. You can get more information on http://sites.google.com. Set up fundraising central command by using this free tool. Features that you may want to use include:

•    Announcements about your fundraiser – how much you’ve raised so far, etc.
•    Slideshow of fundraising event pictures (from Picasa, Google’s online album)
•    Calendar of fundraising meetings & events (from Google calendar)
•    Download fundraising files and documents from the website
•    Create a fundraising contact or order form (from a Google spreadsheet document)

You can get creative & play with what Google Sites offers. We haven’t made a Google website specifically for fundraising yet, but a friend did make one for a volunteer site. Check out this example Google website – I think it’s great considering there was no ‘web development’ involved.

Send us a comment if you want to find out more about our experience with Google Sites, or let us know how your fundraising site goes! We’ll post a link to your school, church, or group fundraiser site right here.

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