Fundraising is the term referring to the process of soliciting and gathering money by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gather funds for not-for-profit organizations, it is sometimes used to refer to the identification and solicitation of investors or other sources of capital for for-profit enterprised. Money is a marketable good or token that acts as a store of value, a medium of exchange and a unit of account. ...

Fundraising is the primary way that non-profit organizations obtain the money for their operations. These operations can involve a very broad array of philanthropic concerns such as religious groups, research organizations, public broadcasters, and political campaigns. When special events are arranged to raise funds, they are often known as fund drives, pledge drives, or, sometimes when television is involved, telethons. A non-profit organization (often called non-profit org or simply non-profit or not-for-profit) can be seen as an organization that doesnt have a primary purpose to make a profit. ... Philanthropy involves the donation or granting of money to various worthy charitable causes. ... Religion, a term sometimes used interchangeably with faith, is commonly defined as belief concerning the supernatural, sacred, or divine, and the moral codes, practices and institutions associated with such belief. ... For the suburb of Melbourne, Australia, see Research, Victoria. ... Public broadcasting (also known as public service broadcasting or PSB) is the dominant form of broadcasting around the world, where radio, television, and potentially other electronic media outlets receive funding from the public. ... A political campaign is an effort to reach a certain political goal. ... A telethon is a portmanteau of the words television and marathon. ...

Some examples of charitable organizations include student scholarship merit awards for athletic or academic achievement, humanitarian concerns, disaster relief, human rights, research, and other social issues. Etymologically derived through Middle English from the Latin second-type conjugation verb stŭdērĕ, which means to direct ones zeal at; hence a student is one who directs zeal at a subject. ... Note: The term scholarship can mean either the methods employed by scholars (see scholarly method) or an award of access to an institution and/or money for an individual for the purposes of furthering their education. ... A sport consists of a physical activity or skill carried out with a recreational purpose: for competition, for self-enjoyment, to attain excellence, for the development of a skill, or some combination of these. ... Plato is credited with the inception of academia: the body of knowledge, its development and transmission across generations. ... Humanitarianism is the view that all people should be treated with the respect and dignity they deserve as human beings, and that advancing the well-being of humanity is a noble goal. ... Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ... For the suburb of Melbourne, Australia, see Research, Victoria. ...

Equally important are fundraising efforts by virtually every recognized religious group throughout the world. These efforts are organized on a local, national, and global level. Sometimes, such funds will go exclusively toward assisting the basic needs of others, while money may at other times be used only for evangelism. Usually, religious organizations mix the two, which can sometimes cause tension. Evangelism is the preaching of the Christian Gospel, or by extension any other form of preaching or proselytizing. ...

Fundraising also plays a major role in political campaigns which, despite numerous campaign finance reform laws, continues to be a highly controversial topic in American politics. Political action committees (PACs) are the best-known organizations that back candidates and political parties, though others such as 527 groups also have an impact. A political campaign is an effort to reach a certain political goal. ... Campaign finance reform is the common term for the political effort in the United States to change the involvement of money in politics, primarily in political campaigns. ... In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group organized to elect or defeat government officials in order to promote legislation, often supporting the groups special interests. ... A political party is a political organization that subscribes to a certain ideology and seeks to attain political power within a government. ... A 527 group, named after a section of the United States tax code, is a tax-exempt organization that is created primarily to influence the nomination, election, appointment or defeat of candidates for public office. ...

While public broadcasters are completely government-funded in much of the world, there are many countries where some funds must come from donations from the public. Pledge drives commonly occur about three times each year, usually lasting one to two weeks each time. Viewership and listenership often declines significantly during funding periods, so special programming may be aired in order to keep regular viewers and listeners interested. (Commercial television interestingly has a similar situation to this, known as sweeps). Commercial broadcasting is the practice of broadcasting for profit. ... In the United States the sweeps period determines local advertising rates. ...

Fundraising organizations in the United States are given a specific designation by the Internal Revenue Service, noted as 501(c)(3), as a nonprofit organization. A fundraising organization must outline a mission statement, which states its main purpose and objectives, and its overall policies. Major organizations will list the programs with which it is involved in, the kind of funding it receives, and how it allocates its expenses. In addition these organizations are rated annually for both efficiency and compliance by the American Institute of Philanthropy and other watchdog groups. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the United States government agency that collects taxes and enforces the tax laws. ... 501C3 refers to section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code that exempts payment of federal income taxes for groups that are organized for charitable, religious, scientific, literary or educational purposes. ... Strategic planning is a way to identify and move toward desired future states. ...

Many non-profit organizations receive some annual funding from a financial endowment, which is a large sum of money that is usually invested to generate a sizable amount of interest each year. Endowments are generally created when a sizable gift is received from an individual or family, often as directed in a will upon the death of a family member. Corporate entities also may also contribute to endowments, which are often handled by charitable organizations known as foundations. A financial endowment consists of funds or property donated to an institution, individual, or group as a source of income. ... Investment is a term with several closely related meanings in finance and economics. ... In finance, interest has three general definitions. ... This article is about the domestic group. ... In the law, a will or testament is a documentary instrument by which a person regulates the rights of others over his property or family after his death. ... A corporation is a legal entity (distinct from a natural person) that often has similar rights in law to those of a Civil law systems may refer to corporations as moral persons; they may also go by the name AS (anonymous society) or something similar, depending on language (see below). ...

While fundraising often obtains money in the form of gifts, money may also be generated by selling a product of some kind. Girl Scouts are well-known for selling cookies in order to generate funds. The Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts of the USA in the United States) is the largest intenational youth organisation for girls and young women. ... This page is about edible cookies. ...

Some prominent charitable fundraising events

• Band Aid (1984), Live Aid (1985) and Sport Aid (1986), for famine relief in Ethiopia
• the annual Terry Fox Run, in honour of Terry Fox, for cancer research in Canada
• Red Nose Day in the United Kingdom

Cover art for the original Do They Know Its Christmas? release – artist Peter Blake Band Aid is a British and Irish charity supergroup founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in order to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia by releasing a record Do They Know... 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... U2 at Live Aid (Wembley Stadium, London) Live Aid was a multi-venue rock music concert held on July 13, 1985. ... 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sport Aid (also known as Sports Aid) was a charitable event held on May 25, 1986, raising millions of pounds to support famine relief in Africa, and is the sporting event with the most participants in history. ... 1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Origins Charity work to aid the starving has developed from religious alms in previous centuries to organised charities in the modern day. ... The Terry Fox Run is an annual charity event race held in numerous regions across the globe in commemoration of cancer activist, Terry Fox, and to raise money for cancer research. ... Terry Fox on his run Terrance Stanley Fox (July 28, 1958 – June 28, 1981) was a Canadian athlete and cancer treatment activist. ... Cancer Research UK is a United Kingdom based charity, established in 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. ... For a description of the origin of the term comic relief see comic relief. ...

External links

• American Institute of Philanthropy (http://www.charitywatch.org/)
• Better Business Bureau (http://www.bbb.com/)
• Charity Navigator (http://www.charitynavigator.com/)
• The Nonprofit Fundraising Wiki (http://fund-development.com/fundraising-wiki/)