When you first decide to set up a charity or not-for-profit organisation, it’s common to assume that you’ll just have everyone donate money to you and you’ll use it for good.

That, obviously, is why you’re setting up your charity in the first place.

This is also where people can go wrong, to the point that it can kill an NFP before it even gets properly started. Even when you’ve been going for a while, it’s can be easy to forget the fundamentals, and after the initial rush of love and support, you find yourself struggling.

Before accepting donations there are a couple of things you need.

These first few may sound a little obvious, but are often overlooked in the overwhelm of everything else.

You’ll need a bank account, set up in the name of the organisation and separate from any of your own accounts, or those of others on the board. It won’t to do use your own, even for the interim.

When you’re ready to start putting money into it, you need to consider your supporters and contributors.

How will you be accepting donations? What methods can others use to give you money? There are plenty of options:

You can use one, a few, or all of the above. The main thing is to make it easy for people to donate to you. An online tool, for example, where they can click a few buttons is easier and more likely to occur than them having to go into a bank and physically deposit money.

You also need to know what it is you want the funds for, how you’re going to use them, and how much you’ll need.

Once you’ve figured that out think about how you’re going to ask for it. Essentially, this is a well-constructed marketing campaign, speaking directly to specific audience, asking for their help.

All these factors form a good strategy that increases the chances of success.

Finally, you’ll need a system for sending invoices and receipts, managing a customer database, and for recording and reporting all income and expenditure.

Software, like Admin Bandit, will help you to manage these essential components and get you set up to make your life easier. Not only that, it will also make it easy for you to get the support you and your organisation need.

Starting off with a good strategy and the systems to the support you will give you the opportunity to carry on doing the good you always wanted to do.