Online Social Network Fundraising Advice

The other day, I was talking to Ginny Tocci, a client from the Brain Aneurysm Foundation (BAF). She was relating how BAF uses DonorPages, not only for their own events, but for individual ‘activity events’, such as when a supporter runs a marathon, and uses DonorPages to raise money for BAF. Two stories stood out:

One BAF donor, a woman related to a victim of brain aneurysm, would occasionally send in small checks, giving what she could. Each donation was perhaps $10-20 each, totaling around $150 for the year. Like many of BAF’s supporters, she wanted to do more. So when she heard about DonorPages, and how she could set up her own personal fundraising page, she tried it out. Within a year, this $150 donor became a $5000 a year fundraiser. And since BAF was already using DonorPages for their own events, there really was no extra expense, and very little staff effort required.

The other story was a man who lost a friend to a brain aneurysm. He was running a marathon in honor of his friend, and asked how he could raise money for BAF. Ginny gave him his own DonorPages site, and he reached out to his friends, family and colleagues, who donated over $14,000, supporting his efforts. Most of these donations came online, via his social network fundraising page. And since DonorPages is integrated with DonorPerfect, there was no manual entry of the transactions required. A very important time-saver for Ginny and her small staff at BAF.

Ginny describes DonorPages as a “wonderful tool” that BAF can provide supporters, making it much easier for them to do more and raise more. She intends to more heavily promote the use of DonorPages by individual supporters. The examples given are exceptional ones – not every $150 a year donor will raise $5000 (for a tidy 3,333% revenue increase!). But empowering your supporters with a tool like DonorPages, helping them use the Internet and Web 2.0 technology to do more for your cause, and saving your organization staff time on manual entry and the cost of reaching out to their social network, is a win-win for you and your supporters.

“The key to change… is to let go of fear.” – Rosanne Cash

There was substantial controversy generated by a recent Seth Godin blog. The author chided the nonprofit community for being slow to embrace online social network media, such as Twitter and Facebook. He asserts, rightfully so, that volunteers and supporters would be happy to help spread the word, but far too may nonprofits are hesitant to tap this resource. According to Mr. Grodin, it’s due to a fear of change:

“The only reason not to turn this over to hordes of crowds eager to help you is that it means giving up total control and bureaucracy. Which is scary because it leads to change.”

Although I agree with many of the author’s points, is it really possible that nonprofits – generally speaking – are afraid of change? The author correctly asserts that change is often the very reason that nonprofits exist. People need help. Animals need shelter. Wrongs need to be righted. Nope, nonprofits are all about change.

So perhaps it’s the people running the nonprofits? Are they scared to change? Again, I imagine “change” is a primal motivation for most everyone who works or volunteers at a nonprofit. Many in the nonprofit community are highly motivated, dynamic people who are quite fearless when it comes to doing what’s needed for their cause. They’re downright impatient for change!

So maybe it’s the use of Web 2.0 technology – not everyone is comfortable with social media outlets. Or they’re not sure how to use it to advance their cause. Most nonprofits have limited staff and resources, and they need to justify time spent using social media sites with real, measurable fundraising results. Although most social media sites are free, staff time spent developing a presence is not.

This may be closer to the truth of the fear – if it is fear – that causes nonprofits to hesitate. Whether time or money is invested in a fundraising endeavour, nonprofits need to know there will be a real return on investment. Capital campaigns need to deliver more than just online social capital – donations need to be delivered to pay the bills. Development directors are used to delivering those donations, using their hard-won experience and skill. It’s a leap of faith to give over some of that responsibility of “making the ask” to supporters, no matter how committed they are.

But the thing is, sites like DonorPages work. They deliver the donations. Or more correctly, they allow your supporters to deliver them. True peer-to-peer online fundraising applications are designed to be fundraising sites, not social media sites. They make it easy for supporters, staff, board members and others to collect online donations on your behalf. DonorPages is a great way to “expand your staff”, and give your constituents the tools they need to become an army of effective fundraisers.

Online peer-to-peer fundraising can be the key to unlocking the fundraising potential of your supporters. Make that change, and you’ll find that changing the world will be just a little bit easier.

There’s a well-known concept in fundraising called the Giving Pyramid (also known as the Fundraising Pyramid, or the Campaign Pyramid). For those not familiar, this pyramid is a strategy tool that helps plan how your nonprofit will achieve a fundraising goal.

For instance, in the green area of the pyramid above, a yearly strategy might be based on very large principle gifts and bequests ($100k) from a few donors at the top of the pyramid. Then comes more donors adding major gifts ($5k-$100k), followed by even more annual givers ($100-$5000). At the base are the many occasional givers and event participants – those who give from $10-$100 once or twice a year. The gift levels and supporter labels may change, but the concept does not – to forecast where the money is coming from to meet your goal, segment your potential donors into expected levels of giving, based on giving history.

Generally speaking, the top three tiers of this pyramid require traditional development efforts – calling a donor, meeting with them, sending personal emails, letters or mailings. But with the advent of peer-to-peer online social network fundraising, you have the opportunity to recruit your committed supporters from all levels to work for your cause as surrogate fundraisers. And if you give them the proper tools and guidance you can greatly expand the size and base of your pyramid, as illustrated by the red outer areas of the pyramid.

How so? By giving your existing donors, board members, volunteers and staff access to personal fundraising pages, such as DonorPages, you make it so much easier for them to promote your organization, event and cause to their friends, family and peers. DonorPages provides your supporters with a web URL that they can send to everyone in their email contact list. And, because their web page can collect credit card donations, they don’t have to bother with paper checks and cash. These features alone make fundraising for your cause more ‘painless’, and will increase your results.

But the real power and value of personal, peer-to-peer Web 2.0 online fundraising is this: when your committed supporters tell your story to people who know and trust them, a donation is far more likely to be the result. As covered in a previous post, your supporter is the message. In other words, not only are you training your committed supporters to be fundraisers, but each of your supporters will have anywhere from a few dozen to hundreds of personal contacts, all of whom are much more likely influenced by your supporter than by your organization’s website. People give to people more than they give to institutions.

This is no pyramid scheme. It works. So I highly encourage you to give your supporters the tools they need to be true fundraisers, working to fund your cause.