Charities Rely on Creative Fund-Raising : Philanthropy: Nonprofit groups turn to entrepreneurial methods of obtaining money as donations decline.

As the holiday season kicks into high gear, a Thousand Oaks charity that provides counseling for the terminally ill is selling Christmas tree ornaments in a busy mall for $15.

In Simi Valley, a clinic that offers low-cost health care is crafting and selling holiday gift baskets that fetch up to $55.

An Oxnard shelter for homeless men is operating two thriving thrift stores, using the profits to serve 10,850 free meals this month alone.

And the United Way, seizing on the public’s concern over crime, has recently vowed to funnel more dollars to groups that aim to prevent child abuse and gang violence.

Increasingly, leaders of nonprofit groups say, Ventura County charities are turning to new and entrepreneurial ways to raise money to make up for donations that have declined in recent years.

The lingering recession has made individuals more discriminating about where they will donate hard-earned dollars, they say, and charities have learned they can no longer rely solely on traditional methods of raising money, such as making direct appeals for cash.

Funding is too unpredictable under that formula, charities say. An informal sampling of nonprofit groups in Ventura County last week, for example, revealed that some charities are experiencing higher-than-normal donations as Christmas approaches, while others have seen a slight downturn.

“The ideal situation for charities today is to get at least 80% of your funding from entrepreneurial efforts,” said Frances Prince, executive director of Conejo Valley Senior Concerns. “That makes you less dependent on the general economy.”

The trend toward creative fund-raising is a national one, and it was not triggered solely by an ailing economy, said Berta Steele, an administrator with the Ventura County Community Foundation.

With 40,000 tax-exempt charities established nationwide in 1993 alone, there is increasing competition for dollars, said Steele, who heads up an information clearinghouse for nonprofit groups in Ventura County.

At the same time, the need for social services has increased because of the poor economy, she said.

In Ventura County, charities that have been around for a decade or more have matured and become more sophisticated in their approach to fund-raising, she said.

“In order to stand out, you need to be creative when asking for money,” Steele said.

Although philanthropic groups have long used such tactics as auctioning gift items and holding gala dinners to augment donations, today’s enterprises tend to be more business-oriented and complex.

Conejo Valley Senior Concerns, for example, started a program this year called “Utilipay.”

In contracts with General Telephone, Southern California Edison, Ventura County Cablevision and Southern California Gas Co., the charity has agreed to collect utility payments at the Goebel Center, a seniors’ building in Thousand Oaks.

In return, the utilities pay the charity 30 cents for each bill collected. Executive Director Prince said the enterprise is expected to contribute $20,000 to the center’s $542,000 annual budget.

The recession has caused donations to drop by 20% over the past two years, Prince said. Utilipay will help make up the difference, allowing the group to continue its programs of hot meals, counseling and recreational activities for about 1,800 seniors each year, she said.

“Things like this are the wave of the future for charities,” Prince said.

Some revenue-raisers are much simpler.

The Hospice of the Conejo presents its “Tree of Life” each holiday season, said director Grethe Rivera. For $15, shoppers in The Oaks mall in Thousand Oaks can buy Christmas lights or ornamental stars, she said.

The decorations are placed on a Christmas tree in the mall in memory of someone who has died, she said. People have been very generous this year, Rivera said, and the fund-raiser will help raise thousands for the hospice’s $170,000 annual budget.

“There were times when we thought we might have to shut our doors,” Rivera said. “We feel good that we have been able to go through hard times and survive.”

At the Simi Valley Free Clinic, volunteers are making baskets filled with chocolates and teas and selling them through direct mail advertising, said Fred Bauermeister, executive director of the clinic.

The gifts can also be purchased at selected businesses in Simi Valley, Bauermeister said. In the past, the group would get people to donate baskets and would then auction them off, he said.

But the clinic’s board of directors learned that making them in-house and selling them directly worked better. Fewer volunteers were needed and the cost of renting a banquet room was eliminated, Bauermeister said.

“Doing it this way is more efficient,” he said. “So in the long run, it will be more profitable.”

Bauermeister said he expects to sell $3,000 worth of the baskets by Christmas. That is a significant chunk of the clinic’s $80,000 annual budget, he said.

Not all new fund-raising efforts have such a capitalist bent. The United Way, which makes grants to 55 social and health service agencies throughout Ventura County, has opted to narrow its focus after donors said they want more say in where the agency distributes funds.

Officials at United Way last month announced a plan to increase the money they allocate for child abuse and gang violence, top concerns listed by Ventura County residents in a survey.

The charity’s leaders hope that by focusing its efforts, people will be more apt to contribute. The Community Foundation’s Steele predicted that such market-oriented strategies will continue in the years to come.

“You’re going to see more of it as nonprofits become more sophisticated in their approach,” she said. “And it is a promising trend, because everybody wins.”