--- title: "Daily Buzz: Define Your Third-Party Fundraising Guidelines" id: "48544" type: "post" slug: "daily-buzz-define-your-third-party-fundraising-guidelines" published_at: "2019-11-08T21:17:46+00:00" modified_at: "2019-11-08T21:17:46+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2019/11/08/daily-buzz-define-your-third-party-fundraising-guidelines/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2019/11/08/daily-buzz-define-your-third-party-fundraising-guidelines.md" excerpt: "If a third party wants to throw your association a fundraiser, great! Just make sure it follows your fundraising guidelines. Also: Should your AMS be a customizable or configured model?" taxonomy_category: - "Fundraising" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "Business" - "Fundraising" - "guidelines" - "nonprofit" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "C-Level" - "Executive Team" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Daily Buzz: Define Your Third-Party Fundraising Guidelines You’re sitting in your office when you get a call: An outside organization or individual wants to host a fundraiser for your association. You eagerly, excitedly agree to it—only to find out later that you’re responsible for the fundraiser in everything but name. Invitations, marketing materials, onsite staff—you name it, and your team is expected to do it. To save your association exasperation, [Kivi Leroux Miller from Nonprofit Marketing Guide (opens in a new tab)](https://www.nonprofitmarketingguide.com/blog/2019/11/07/guidelines-for-third-party-fundraisers/) suggests developing third-party fundraiser guidelines. “Guidelines in writing can save both you and your volunteer fundraisers a great deal of time, energy, and other types of frustration,” she says. “After all, your nonprofit has legal, ethical, logistical, brand, and fundraising standards that your volunteers may know nothing about. Don’t make them guess about these things (or remain blissfully clueless).” So, what should third-party fundraising guidelines include? For starters, they should outline the application process for a third-party fundraiser, if your organization has one. From there, the guidelines should define the level of staff support that will be offered, marketing standards, brand assets available, messaging rules, and how to handle finances. Then, once you’ve established and written out your association’s third-party fundraising policies, make them accessible. Put them on your association website, for example, so that anyone interested can easily locate them. ### Customization vs. Configuration > When shopping for a new AMS, don’t go down the customization rabbit hole without knowing the drawbacks. In our experience, configuration can meet 95 -100% of an association’s requirements. Read the post to learn why configuration is a better choice. [https://t.co/fQcPCHZ2YW (opens in a new tab)](https://t.co/fQcPCHZ2YW) > [pic.twitter.com/gjdwIKoSg7 (opens in a new tab)](https://t.co/gjdwIKoSg7) > > — MemberSuite (@membersuite) [November 6, 2019 (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/membersuite/status/1192109993199390728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) **You want an association management system** (AMS) that’s customizable to your needs—or do you? “Customization involves rewriting the codebase for an association’s specific needs. Sometimes customization is necessary to handle truly unique needs. But customization comes with upfront and recurring costs. You should know about those costs before signing a contract,” [explains the MemberSuite team on its blog (opens in a new tab)](https://www.membersuite.com/blog/why-you-should-think-twice-about-ams-customization) . On the other hand, configurable AMS models are often more sustainable, with lower costs. “Configuration is the modification of software *without* having to rewrite the codebase,” the team says. “The implementation of configurable software is less lengthy and expensive since no development time is needed. During implementation, the SaaS vendor’s team is focused on configuration changes and data migration, not software development.” ### Other Links of Note **Associations’ biggest competitor:** [Colleges and universities (opens in a new tab)](https://www.wbtsystems.com/learning-hub/blogs/competition-for-associations-in-the-lifelong-learning-market) , says the WBT Systems blog. **Need some social media inspiration?** The Wild Apricot blog shares [how five nonprofits leverage their social channels (opens in a new tab)](https://www.wildapricot.com/blogs/newsblog/2019/11/07/nonprofit-social-media-strategy) . **The holiday season** might be the most festive time of year, but for meeting planners, it’s also the busiest. *Smart Meetings* explains [how to stay healthy amid the chaos (opens in a new tab)](https://www.smartmeetings.com/meeting-planning/health-and-wellness/122250/health-tips-busy-holiday-season) . (siraanamwong/iStock/Getty Images Plus) [Jeff Hsin](https://associationsnow.com/author/jeff-hsin/) [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/jeff-hsin/) Tags: [#Business](https://associationsnow.com/tag/business/) [#Fundraising](https://associationsnow.com/tag/fundraising/) [#guidelines](https://associationsnow.com/tag/guidelines/) [#nonprofit](https://associationsnow.com/tag/nonprofit/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [Video2025 Summit Award Recipient: Florida Association of Free and Charitable ClinicsOctober 3, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/10/03/2025-summit-award-recipient-florida-association-of-free-and-charitable-clinics/) - [Video2025 Summit Award Recipient: Building Owners and Managers Association of Greater Los AngelesOctober 3, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/10/03/2025-summit-award-recipient-building-owners-and-managers-association-of-greater-los-angeles/) - [VideoA Donor First Look, “Unlocking Legacy: Estate Planning Essentials for Association ProfessionalsJanuary 7, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/01/07/a-donor-first-look-unlocking-legacy-estate-planning-essentials-for-association-professionals/) - [TemplateMembers onlyEthics Toolkit for AssociationsMarch 31, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/03/31/ethics-toolkit-for-associations/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2019%2F11%2F08%2Fdaily-buzz-define-your-third-party-fundraising-guidelines%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !