Look at the cars in your parking lot!

Need to raise money quickly for a specific project?

You could spend a couple hours creating a sponsorship proposal, research who to send it out to, start sending it out to people, and then wonder why nobody is responding.

Or you could take a walk out to your parking lot and look for company cars that frequent your establishment. You know, the ones parents drive to pick up their kids, the one a patron drives to stop in the box office and pick up tickets, or the one being driven by the HVAC guy who you have had a lengthy relationship with.

Why?

Because those are the people who know the value of whatever it is that you are doing and they likely work with or for people who can write you a check. It really is as simple as that.

You don't have to educate them on your mission; they get it. If you are treating them right, they will help you IF you can muster up the courage to ask them and if you are willing to give them something of value, like a link on your website, a banner in your parking lot, or an ad in your newsletter.

And if that person isn't in a position to write a check, he or she probably knows someone at their company who can write a check for $500 for something they care about!

If you want to raise more than $500, the point to the story is still the same. People who are familiar or connected with your mission are far more likely to give you money than someone who doesn't reallly know what you do.