VOLUNTEERS ARE A powerful force for good in the world. Millions give their time, effort and money to charitable causes such as feeding the poor, educating the uneducated, tending the sick and fighting for the dignity and rights of their fellow men, women and children. Today, doctors, dentists and nurses pay their own way to sail floating hospitals to places like Africa and Southeast Asia. They treat thousands of people in places where modern medicine is practically unknown. Former presidents and leaders of nations have picked up a trowel and hammer to build houses, AIDS clinics and roads and inspired others to join them. Volunteers dig wells for villages that need clean water. Entrepreneurs have brought solar and wind power to places that electric wires have failed to reach. They've created a system of writing and taught literacy in villages that have never had a written language before. They've made micro-loans to women and men to help them create small businesses in countries where more people are unemployed than have jobs. Tens of thousands of teachers, mission workers and other volunteers have helped educate millions out of poverty. There are a thousand ways to help. Fund-raising is just one, but it is one of the more fundamental ways to help do good in the world. Every effort to provide aid and relief to those who are suffering and in need starts with the money needed to fund it. Food must be found and transported. Aid stations have to be built. Rescued animals need to be fed. It all costs money. One of the major ways volunteers become involved in charities and efforts to do some good thing in the world is by helping those organizations to raise money. This book will guide through the sometimes confusing business of fund-raising for your favorite cause. It may not be your cup of tea. You might prefer digging latrines to asking for donations, but don't reject this form of volunteering before you try it. There is nothing more powerful you can do to launching an effort to provide your fellow humans with real help or to promote the arts or save the planet than to raise money to support the effort.