NABET, NABET 2020 CONFERENCE

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Not-for-Profit Fundraising Methods: Evidence from a Rural Setting
James Meersman

Last modified: 2020-06-19

Abstract


This paper compares not-for-profit fundraising methods in rural communities and seeks to understand how they differentiate from that of urban and sub-urban settings. Additionally, this study attempts to evaluate which methods of fundraising work best in communities with smaller populations. From a managerial accounting perspective, not-for-profit entities in rural communities are the most at risk for lacking the appropriate resources to fundraise. Furthermore, rural areas must rely on alternative strategies that do not rely on large scale campaigns often observed with urban, national, and international not-for-profits. Rural areas are regularly in need of the services that many not-for-profits can provide. However, the cost for non-local charities to provide these services in distanced areas is often too high, resulting in limited accessibility. Rural not-for-profits provide invaluable resources to the communities they serve, but fundraising limitations often thwart their ability to accommodate all of those in need. Taking a field study approach, this paper seeks to identify which methods of rural fundraising are most efficient, and which strategies constitute best practice relative to not-for-profits in other settings.