Direct donation appeal (letter, email, newsletter, social post)

Ask your own people directly for a gift towards a specific, costed need.

Typically raises

$2,000

$200–15,000 per campaignest.

About $200 per organiser hour

Based on a small group's network of dozens to a few hundred

Is it right for us?

Money: $2,000–10,000
Work: An afternoon
Helpers: 1–2 people
Lead time: 2–3 weeks
Red tape: None

Common: a familiar newsletter ask that every group makes

People: 1-3
Organiser time: 5-15
Lead time: 2-4 weeks
Up-front cost: Nothing up front
Risk: none
Who can use it: Anyone can ask. Donors only get the 33⅓% tax credit if the recipient is an approved donee organisation and issues a proper receipt.

Suits: One person (athlete, performer, student), Church, Charity, Community group, marae or service club

Less usual for: Kindy or early learning, Primary or intermediate school, High school, Scouts or Guides, Cadets (ATC, Sea Cadets), Sports club or team, Kapa haka, choir, theatre or band

When: Summer (Dec–Feb), Autumn (Mar–May), Winter (Jun–Aug), Spring (Sep–Nov), Christmas, End of the school year

How big a job: An afternoon, 1–2 people

How it works

The money, as an example sum

Sell at $50 a gift, keep $50, so 40 gifts = $2,000. That’s about the typical result.

Using the figures on this page. Your prices and costs will differ.

Where the money figure comes from

ESTIMATE: no NZ benchmark data found; range reflects a small group's own network (dozens to a few hundred people). Treat as illustrative.

Last checked October 2026. Ran this? Tell us what you raised and we’ll use real results to improve the figures.

Step by step

Pick one concrete, costed need (e.g. '$1,800 for new junior goalposts').
List everyone with a real connection: members, parents, past players, old boys/girls, parishioners.
Write a short appeal: the need, the amount, the deadline, how to give (bank account + reference, or a Givealittle link).
Send personally where you can; a named person asking beats a group email.
Post a progress figure weekly.
Issue receipts promptly (donee organisations: include all IRD-required fields).
Thank every donor within a week and report what the money bought.

Getting the word out

Even a well-run plan fails if nobody hears about it. There are two asks, and the first one goes out first.

Ask for help: Members to pass the ask on to people they know.
Ask people to buy: People and businesses to give.
When to start: Ask for helpers first, as soon as the date is set. Start the public ask about 3–4 weeks out, and book newsletter and paper notices before that: small newsletters close early.

Where to put it

Asking people yourselfMost yeses come from someone asking directly. Give every member a short message they can send to family and workmates.
Email lists and group chatsYour members’ email list and the class, team or church group chats. Short, with one date or one link.
School, club and church newslettersYour own newsletter is free and read by the families most likely to say yes. Check when it closes.
Local Facebook pages and community groupsPost in your town’s community page and local groups (check their rules), and share from your group’s own page.

The full guide to getting the word out: every channel from flyers to the evening news, with lead times and costs.

What you’ll need

Place: Not neededNone needed
Landowner’s permission: Not needed
Council permit: Not needed
Food rules: Not neededNo food sold
Alcohol: Not neededNo alcohol sold
Gambling rules: Not neededNot gambling

Only an approved donee organisation can issue receipts for the 33 1/3% donation tax credit, and only for gifts that buy nothing in return.

Make more from it

Business matches donations for a set window
can double gifts up to the cap
donors give more when each dollar counts twice
Givealittle page for online gifts
often 20-50% more gifts (estimate)
lets distant supporters give and issues receipts automatically for donee groups

Tips

Mention the tax credit only if you are on the IRD donee list: '$100 costs you $66.67 after your tax credit'.
Give suggested amounts tied to things ('$50 buys a ball').

Watch out for

Vague appeals ('support the club') raise little.
Over-asking the same parent group that already pays fees and runs every other fundraiser.