By adding the Bed & Bread Club logo to its trucks, the Detroit Salvation Army promotes its monthly giving club.

A simple fundraising idea has given millions of people a place to sleep and a hot meal. The Salvation Army’s Bed & Bread Club has raised more than $100-million nationwide in the last 25 years by persuading people to give monthly.

The charity asks donors to give at least $10 a month, or $120 for the year. More than 19,000 people are now making gifts, and nearly 70 percent of them give additional gifts that exceed the minimum annual requirement.

The Bed & Bread Club is the brainchild of Barbara Antrim Bledsoe, who devised the idea while serving as director of development of a Kansas City, Mo., rescue mission.

Opening all the mail the mission received from donors, Ms. Bledsoe, who is now retired, says she was struck by how many people wrote notes to say they wished they could give more. Monthly giving, she realized, could allow them to do so.

Ms. Bledsoe’s first letter about the Bed & Bread Club, sent to 4,000 people, prompted more than $300,000 in donations for the rescue mission. A handful of other missions imitated the idea, but Ms. Bledsoe eventually decided to share it with the Salvation Army.

“We were not good at public relations,” she says of the missions. ”I wanted to see how far the program could go with more PR.”

She says she knew that the Salvation Army, which serves the same people as rescue missions, would do a better job of spreading the word about Bed & Bread. Indeed, more than 100 local Salvation Army units now have the clubs.

Ms. Bledsoe went on to establish a direct-marketing consulting company that continues to help the Salvation Army establish and run Bed & Bread Clubs.

One of the most successful is the one in the Army’s Eastern Michigan Division in Detroit, where Ms. Bledsoe first shared her idea. That city’s Salvation Army added the Bed & Bread logo to its mobile food trucks, which helps publicize the club, and also started a Jr. Bed & Bread Club for elementary and middle-school students.

The Detroit Salvation Army uses direct mail to recruit new club members. Among the recipients of its first appeals was Dick Purtan, a Detroit disc jockey who decided to hold an annual radiothon to get people to join the club and give a year’s worth of dues. The radiothon has since raised more than $26-million.

This year, in conjunction with the radiothon, the Detroit Bed & Bread Club held a “tweetathon” on Twitter. It generated 16,000 tweets about the club and a $50,000 donation from the Ford Motor Company. The Ford gift was matched dollar for dollar by Mr. Purtan, the now-retired disc jockey, which provided a $100,000 contribution.

Send an e-mail to Holly Hall.

One sign the giving climate is getting better: When we asked fundraisers this spring to name their biggest challenges, not one talked about the economy.

But that doesn’t mean fundraising is easy. Jamie Ersbak, a donor-relations assistant at PATH, the global health charity in Seattle, told us he felt pressure because of “the death of the unrestricted gift” and the number of donors who want to earmark their money for specific purposes.

Kathy Butler, executive director of the Okanagan College Foundation in Kelowna, British Columbia, said she faced the same challenge fundraisers have encountered since the profession began: Forming stronger relationships with donors and convincing them to give more.

See more thoughts from fundraisers in this video, and tell us in the comments below about your biggest challenge in seeking gifts.

Still, holding onto those new donors has been a challenge; some of the charities say many donors stopped giving after two years or more.

The number of donors to 13 religious shelters nationwide increased by 12 percent, to 15,555 people, from 2008 to 2010, before declining slightly last year to 15,421, according to an analysis of donations of $10,000 or less by Brewer Direct, a marketing-consulting firm.

The dollar value of donations during that time increased by 30 per cent to more than $1.8-million.

The size of the average gift grew from a low of $152 in 2008 to $175 last year, and the number of gifts made annually also rose, from 2.6 to 3.2 gifts per donor in 2011.

But the missions are now losing nearly 30 percent of their multiyear donors annually, so the future isn’t looking as bright, said Randy Brewer, president of the consulting company.

Some missions in the study did better than others. At the Allentown Rescue Mission, in Pennsylvania, for example, the number of donors increased in 2008 and 2009, but its total giving drooped by about 20 percent in those years. And while the mission is now raising as much as it did in 2007, fundraising is harder, says Gary Millspaugh, executive director.

“We know that a lot of active donors in their 60s and 70s are helping adult children who lost their jobs,” he says. “It is somewhat encouraging that we got more people to give, but the level of giving tells us that there are still difficulties in getting people to give more or the same as they used to. ”

Mr. Brewer, the consultant, said he’s helping the missions try new ways keep more donors from withdrawing their support.

For example, some groups are asking for smaller sums and making phone calls to follow up on direct mail.

What ways have you found to keep donors from cutting their support to your organization?

Send an e-mail to Holly Hall.

Ms. Pelletier, executive director of the Rainforest Foundation, is participating in “Live Below the Line,” a five-day campaign to call attention to global poverty and raise money for groups fighting it. Participants, including employees of more than a dozen nonprofits, pledge to spend just $1.50 a day, the amount that the world’s poorest people—about 1.4 billion—survive on.

The campaign is organized by the nonprofit Global Poverty Project. Its online fundraising tools enable donors to support charity workers and others who are living on a tiny food budget.

So far, the Rainforest Foundation has received roughly $5,000 through Global Poverty Project’s campaign Web site and by appealing to supporters through e-mails and social media.

While she’s now an enthusiastic participant, Ms. Pelletier says she didn’t immediately think the campaign was a good fit for her group. There’s no obvious connection between conservation and poverty, and she wondered if supporters would be confused.

But then she did a little research and realized what a good educational opportunity it would be to show people how logging and other forces can rob people of vital resources.

The rate of extreme poverty among indigenous people is far higher than in the general population, she says. ”One of the main causes occurs when indigenous people lose control of their livelihood—land.”

Ms. Pelletier says she thinks the campaign is helping introduce her group to more people. In the last few days, the Rainforest Foundation has received about 1,200 new “likes” on Facebook, reaching more than 5,600.

As for Ms. Pelletier’s belly? It’s making do, she says. And by subsisting on rice and beans, her kids, 5 and 7, are gaining a deeper understanding of poverty than they can glean from conversations about their parents’ work abroad in Africa and Latin America.

“They’re proud of what they’re doing and telling their classmates,” she says. They’re also asking if they can add leftover Easter candy to their beans-and-rice diet: Is that technically free?

Send an e-mail to Caroline Preston.

The nonprofit hopes to become the environmental equivalent of DonorsChoose.org, which raises money for teachers in classrooms across the country.

The organization has already achieved great success in New York, where it has operated for the past three years. Since Ioby got started, it has raised $250,000 for New York grass-roots environmental efforts, with gifts averaging $35. Among the results of those donations: About 250 tons of food waste were composted, 36 farms and gardens were started, and nine bike and recreation days were held.

The organization hopes opening its online platform nationwide will enable groups and individuals to raise a total of $300,000 in a year.

“We wanted to connect people to environmental projects that were local, where they could see the problem and really do something that would actually fix and address the problem,” says Erin Barnes, co-founder of Ioby.

The nonprofit especially hopes to reach young and minority donors, who might not regularly contribute to environmental causes because the problems “seem insurmountable,” says Ms. Barnes. She says that she hopes the ease of giving online and the local nature of the projects will appeal to people who don’t typically give to conservation groups.

Unlike some online fund-raising sites, Ioby doesn’t make charities forfeit the money they raised if they don’t reach their goal. Fees start at $35 for campaigns to raise $1,000 or more; drives to raise less than $1,000 can be conducted free.

Charities face one requirement if they raise all the money they sought: They must supply photos and videos to donors that show their contributions made a difference. “People who are your best activists can be your best donors,” Ms. Barnes says.

Here’s how Ioby works:

Jim Manis, chief executive of the Mobile Giving Foundation, and Bernard Lord, chairman of the Mobile Giving Foundation Canada, said in an interview that they are working with some cellular service providers to allow $20 donations—double the current $10 limit—and recurring donations, though they gave no timeline on when those features would be available.

Mr. Lord said 75 percent of donors are willing to give $20 or more through text messaging, according to research his group has conducted. Forty-seven percent say they are willing to donate $25 or more through the platform.

Text-message gifts remain popular, the two men say, even though it is quickly becoming just as easy to give through a smartphone, tablet, or other device that links to a charity’s online-donation site.

“It’s of such a tremendous value because of its simplicity,” Mr. Manis said.

The Federal Communications Commission is inviting comments on a proposal to allow public radio and television stations to raise money for any nonprofit. Now stations are solely allowed to raise money for their own programs and operations, in part because regulators wanted to ensure broadcasters put all their energy into educational programs.

Stations have been allowed to raise money for big catastrophes, for example after Hurricane Katrina. But they had to go through a special process of getting a waiver from the federal communications agency.

Under the FCC plan, public radio and television stations could spend up to 1 percent of their annual broadcast time—about 88 hours per year—doing on-air fundraising appeals for any charity they want to help.

The FCC is now seeking comments on several issues. Among them, the commission wonders if it should:

* Place limits on the kinds of causes that could get airtime.

* Require stations to submit annual reports to the FCC on their fundraising activities to benefit other organizations.

* Ask stations to prove they have not exceeded the 88 hours of fundraising.

FCC officials said that their request for comments will soon appear in the Federal Register. After that, comments will be accepted for 30 days, and another 30 days will be allotted for replies to the initial round of comments.

Do you think changing the rules is a good idea? Might your cause benefit? Let us know in the comments section below.

Send an email to Holly Hall.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation kicked off the Cultures of Giving Donor Challenge on April 17.  It offered a dollar-for-dollar match—up to $20,000—for donations made online to each of the 22 charities, all grantees of the foundation.

During the campaign, charities also competed in one-day contests to see which ones could raise the most to improve education, health, or the financial security of the people they serve.

At the end of the competition, Kellogg also offered a $100,000 prize to the charity that raised the most in the 10-day drive. The winner was the American India Foundation, a charity that raised $325,752.

Pradeep Kashyap, vice chairman of the India foundation’s board, said the organization sent e-mails about the fundraising effort to donors nationwide, including board members. The first e-mail was followed by a second one tailored to the foundation’s 15 board members and a larger “council of trustees,” made up of 35 people. The group also made phone calls to donors it knew could afford to make big gifts.

The American India Foundation and 16 other charities raised more than $20,000 apiece, while the remaining five charities together raised $48,349. Altogether, the 22 charities succeeded in raising $1,338,301, with Kellogg kicking in $915,000.

Send an e-mail to Holly Hall.

Andrew Watt, president of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, says the high turnover rate among people who solicit money at charities is the result of short-term thinking.

Data suggest that fundraisers swap jobs every two years or so, in part because they are lured by better salaries and titles. But Mr. Watt says it takes more time in a job to master the skills that fundraisers need. In an interview with The Chronicle, Mr. Watt urges fundraisers to take the long view on their careers.

Video by Cody Switzer.

Send an e-mail to Raymund Flandez or Cody Switzer.

Gary Ravetto, a fundraising consultant, received a slew of comments on The Chronicle‘s LinkedIn group after posing this question from a former client. She asked Mr. Ravetto for advice about her new development director whose meetings with donors often take place at a bar.

“His strategy has been to get them drunk and they more easily reach for their checkbooks,” Mr. Ravetto wrote. The client, he added, “wants to know if this approach is acceptable or should she stop it. There have been no complaints thus far.”

Judging from the online comments prompted by the post, many fundraisers believe that mixing alcohol and fundraising is an unethical ploy, though some fundraisers point out that it’s common practice and not necessarily a problem. Among the comments so far:

Marifrances Boccia, alumni relations professional, New York: “The client has the right to decline the drink and doesn’t have to open any pockets or checkbook.”

Jim Allen, director of resource development, Parkinson Society Canada, Toronto: “I have certainly witnessed my share of over-indulgence at charity functions and cases where staff were buying the drinks. … At my charity, we have a policy of no reimbursement for personal drinks or for buying drinks for others. This is a policy I totally support.”

Matthew Brockmeier, consultant, Milwaukee, WI: “It is not about alcohol per se but rather about adhering to the highest ethical standards, doing things that will not raise liability issues, and developing relationships for the long term. In all of these areas, getting donors drunk fails, at least in my book.”

Brian Jaffe, charity auctioneer, Accord, NY: “‘Getting someone drunk’ is dated as a concept. The only way to ‘get someone drunk’ is to hold them down and use a funnel. The salesman who turns in these large bills is probably a big drinker himself and is taking advantage of his expense account. I’m sure he is a great salesman and may need his drinks for fortitude. His donors drink as they choose, and many people can use this as an excuse to justify their behavior, but I doubt the drinks affect major donations. … I don’t think this is a major ethics issue.”

Let us know what you think by joining the conversation on LinkedIn or putting your comments in the space below.

Send an e-mail to Holly Hall.